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Aus der Bibliothek von Prof. Wolfgang Haase, langj�igem Herausgeber der ANRW und des International Journal of the Classical Tradition (IJCT) / From the library of Prof. Wolfgang Haase, long-time editor of ANRW and the International Journal of the Classical Tradition (IJCT). - Einband leicht abgenutzt, insgesamt leicht vergilbt, sonst guter Zustand / Binding slightly worn, generally slightly yellowed, otherwise in good condition. - PREFACE Current interest in the allegorical exegesis of the early church has been largely stimulated by modern attempts to both understand and define exegesis itself. The present work is no exception. Examining how the nature and task of exegesis have been defined in a historical period outside our own offers a unique and perhaps important vantage point from which to view and question our own contemporary understanding. It is this achievement of another perspective which gives special value to a historical study that bears on a contemporary issue. There are two distinct elements in the historical investigation of allegorical interpretation. One is a question of the method employed in allegorical exegesis; the other is a question of the theological basis for allegorical exegesis. All too often concern with analysis of the method through comparison with the criteria of modern critical method has led to an eclipse of interest in the theological structure on which allegorical interpretation is based. Instead of seeking possible correlation with modern methods of exegesis, allegorical method ought rather to be studied by examining interrelations between the method and the whole complex of theological understanding within which it is set. In particular Origen�s method of interpretation is theologically determined by a specific understanding of the form in which Christ is present in Scripture, the role of Scripture itself in the process of redemption, and how the individual is related to the biblical text. Such a study of Origen�s exegesis in relation to its own underlying theological structure can be fruitful for the modern discussion of exegesis by illuminating from a quite different perspective the theological questions which any method of exegesis must answer. It is not the method of Origen�s allegory which is useful today - its authority and value presuppose the Hellenistic thought world - but rather the network of theological assumptions upon which it rests. The set of questions which those assumptions define provides a unique perspective from which to view our own methods of exegesis. I was especially fortunate during the course of this study to participate in the intellectual life of both the American and the German University. I would like to thank my American advisors, Dr. Jane Douglass, Dr. Ronald Osborn and Dr. Burton Mack for valuable critique and fruitful suggestions. To my mentor, Prof. Ekkehard M�hlenberg, I owe a special debt of thanks for his insightful direction of my research and his friendly support. A timely completion of this project would not have been possible without the assistance of Hannelore Arnold who typed the manuscript and of J�rg Salzmann who checked references and compiled indices. Lastly I would like to thank the University of G�ttingen for the time made available to me for research alongside my teaching activities as Wissenschaftliche Assistentin.