Description: What is history and how does it impact biblical interpretation and theology? Allegorizing History seeks to begin answering this question by arguing that conceptions of the past and the purpose(s) of history impact biblical interpretation and vice versa. Furthermore, it is shown how philosophy and theology inevitably affect the understandings and practice of historical writing, thereby making all history figural or allegorical. Famous for his Ecclesiastical History of the Anglo-Saxon People and biblical commentaries, the Venerable Bede is studied in dialogue with Augustine, contemporary theology, and historical theory to make this interdisciplinary argument.
Brief description: Timothy J. Furry earned his PhD from the University of Dayton. He is Instructor of Religion and Philosophy and Chaplain at Cranbrook Kingswood Upper School in Bloomfield Hills, MI. While his intellectual interests range widely, his current and primary research aims at retrieving ancient Christian practices of reading Scripture figuratively and allegorically in such a way that is intelligible and persuasive in our contemporary setting. He works across the disciplines of biblical studies, systematic theology, historical theology, and philosophy of history. In addition to past articles, chapters, and books, he has two forthcoming books under contract with Cascade, both centering around Christian figural reading.