An Allegory Imagined

Some readers of the Bible have a habit of allegorizing difficult texts or passages they do not want to mean what they clearly say.  Whether that target is prophecy, law, an attribute of God, or something else, the effects of treating a literal text as a subjective metaphor or allegory can range from subtle to disastrous.

One entire book of the Bible that is sometimes subjected to extra-Biblical allegorical interpretations is Song of Songs, an eight chapter book which focuses on the delights of sexuality and marriage.  Since Christians can have difficulty with openness and clarity about sexual issues, naturally some of them dislike the strong sexual imagery and themes in Song of Songs and thus they attempt to alter its meaning--instead of being solely about human sexuality, Song of Songs is, according to them, partially or even mostly a metaphorical and allegorical representation of God's love for the humans he created.

Song of Songs is not an allegory except in the fallacious imaginations of those Christians who read into the book something that is not present in any visible form.  There are no indications that the book is about Christ and the church--especially since the church wasn't even in existence yet!  Never once in all eight chapters does the text classify itself as literature that is anything but a poetic exploration of sexual excitement and intimacy.

The ironic thing about allegories is that we have no reason to suspect that a text has allegorical significance or meaning unless the text itself identifies itself as an allegory, and, even then, we have no way of knowing the true meaning of an allegory unless the symbols and stories are defined and explained to us by the text.  For instance, unless Jesus clarified the meaning of certain parables for us we could guess at the meaning of them and blindly turn out to be correct, but we could not truly ascertain what he meant by them.

Ironically, just this past Sunday I listened to someone preach about the resurrection of Lazarus in John 11.  He interpreted many minor details of the story as allegorical aspects of what it means for an unsaved person to become saved.  Now, though I am not denying that similarities between the resurrection of Lazarus and the salvation of an individual may exist, I understand that the story of Lazarus is a historical narrative and NOT an allegory.  Whether incidental or intentional, the similarities between the two do not indicate the presence of an allegory or a story meant to be metaphorically interpreted.  In the same way, although similarities between the love expressed in Song of Songs and God's love for humans may exist, Song of Songs is not an allegory in any way.

Now, there is nothing shameful or sinful about being honest about sexuality and the fact that Song of Songs is a book of erotic poetry.  Besides, the idea that erotic literature is evil or that it makes people lust is false because God himself intentionally included such a writing in the Bible.  Christians can be reluctant to not demonize sexual writings and certain expressions of sexuality, even when the activities in question are not condemned by the Judeo-Christian God.

I write this post because about a week ago I heard a professor at the Christian university I attend (HBU) declare that Song of Songs is both an allegory and erotic literature.  The more Christians allow other Christians to escape unchallenged when they make unverifiable or false statements, the more they fail to honor truth, reason, and the Bible to the best of their abilities.