Article – Metaphorical Interpretations

What is a metaphor?A metaphor compares or substitutes something abstract and less immediately present with familiar palpable imagery. Just as language is very effective at communicating information, metaphors convey new and complex information using basic and familiar concepts.All religious scriptures use metaphors to transmit ideas about God and divinity. The Hindu Upanishads are filled with metaphors. Some common metaphors – like clay, the sun and the lotus — can be found across religions. Veils and clouds are often used as metaphors of ignorance across religions to suggest that they must be removed so that the knowledge shines forth.

All religions can be interpreted metaphorically, and doing so usually invites better, more empathetic understanding of the other. “Individuals who have strong symbolic interpretations of religion have less need for closure and are more open to experiences of otherness, lending the promise of enrichment to encounters with others,” says Marianne Moyaert, a scholar of comparative theology. Commonly used symbols and metaphorical thinking – using images like the potter and the wood-carver, for example — enable us to cut through the dogmatic particularities of each belief system and to then better see the underlying unity and similarities.

The Jewish philosopher Maimonides argued that the Torah (the first five books of the Hebrew Bible) should be interpreted on two levels: the literal level and the allegorical level. The literal level is the plain meaning of the text, while the allegorical level is the deeper meaning that is hidden from the casual reader.This applies to  most scriptures