Anagoge (ἀναγωγή), sometimes spelled anagogy, is a Greek word suggesting a "climb" or "ascent" upwards. The anagogical is a method of

mystical Mysticism is popularly known as becoming one with God or the Absolute, but may refer to any kind of ecstasy or altered state of consciousness which is given a religious or spiritual meaning. It may also refer to the attainment of insight in u ...

or spiritual interpretation of statements or events, especially

scriptural Religious texts, including scripture, are texts which various religions consider to be of central importance to their religious tradition. They differ from literature by being a compilation or discussion of beliefs, mythologies, ritual prac ...

exegesis Exegesis ( ; from the Greek , from , "to lead out") is a critical explanation or interpretation of a text. The term is traditionally applied to the interpretation of Biblical works. In modern usage, exegesis can involve critical interpretation ...

, that detects allusions to the afterlife. Certain medieval theologians describe four methods of interpreting the scriptures: literal/historical,

tropological Tropological reading or "moral sense" is a Christian tradition, theory, and practice of interpreting the figurative meaning of the Bible. It is part of biblical exegesis. Doctrine According to doctrine developed by the Church Fathers, the lite ...

, allegorical, and anagogical.

Hugh of St. Victor Hugh of Saint Victor ( 1096 – 11 February 1141), was a Saxon canon regular and a leading theologian and writer on mystical theology. Life As with many medieval figures, little is known about Hugh's early life. He was probably born in the 1090s ...

, in ''De scripturis et scriptoribus sacris'', distinguished anagoge, as a kind of allegory, from simple allegory. He differentiated in the following way: in a simple allegory, an invisible action is (simply) ''signified'' or ''represented'' by a visible action; Anagoge is that "reasoning upwards" (''sursum ductio''), when, from the visible, the invisible action is ''disclosed'' or ''revealed''. The four methods of interpretation point in four different directions: The literal/historical backwards to the past, the allegoric forwards to the future, the tropological downwards to the moral/human, and the anagogic upwards to the spiritual/heavenly. In a letter to his patron

Can Grande della Scala Cangrande (christened Can Francesco) della Scala (9 March 1291 – 22 July 1329) was an Italian nobleman, belonging to the della Scala family which ruled Verona from 1308 until 1387. Now perhaps best known as the leading patron of the poet Dante ...

, the poet

Dante Dante Alighieri (; – 14 September 1321), probably baptized Durante di Alighiero degli Alighieri and often referred to as Dante (, ), was an Italian poet, writer and philosopher. His ''Divine Comedy'', originally called (modern Italian: ' ...

explained that his ''

Divine Comedy The ''Divine Comedy'' ( it, Divina Commedia ) is an Italian narrative poem by Dante Alighieri, begun 1308 and completed in around 1321, shortly before the author's death. It is widely considered the pre-eminent work in Italian literature a ...

'' could be read both literally and allegorically; and that the allegorical meaning could be subdivided into the moral and the anagogical.

References

Biblical exegesis {{biblical-studies-stub

See also

References