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The fourfold interpretation

A short medieval Latin saying illustrates the four levels or senses of exegetical interpretation:

Littera gesta docet,
Quid credas allegorica,
Moralia, quid agas,
Quo tendas, anagogica.

The letter teaches historical facts,
Allegory what you should believe in,
Tropology (moral) what you should do,
Anagogy (eschatology) where you should strive at.

Examples of the fourfold interpretation

sensus literalis:
Jerusalem	=	the capital of the Jews
Temple	=	Solomon's temple
sensus allegoricus:
Jerusalem	=	Holy Church
Temple	=	the body of Christ
sensus moralis:
Jerusalem	=	the soul of man
Temple	=	the individual Christian
sensus anagogicus:
Jerusalem	=	the heavenly City of God
Temple	=	the dwellings of the blessed

(Cf. Heinrich Plett. Einführung in die rhetorische Textanalyse. Hamburg 1973:92f.)