Gerhard on the Importance of the Seminary Classroom

An interesting passage from Gerhard's Method of Theological Study on the importance of live classroom instruction and the danger of being a self-taught theologian.

But we most especially commend to him [the future theologian] the frequent and diligent hearing of public lectures, and earnestly discourage despising them:

(1) God has promised a special grace, blessing, and the working of the Holy Spirit to godly assemblies instituted in the churches and schools (Ex. 20:24, Matt. 18:20, Heb. 10:25).

(2) The examples of the saints in the Old and New Testaments show that oral instruction has been especially recommended to future ministers of the church. The patriarchs handed down the main points of heavenly teaching to their successors orally, for they had not yet been put into writing. (Luther on Genesis: “The fathers’ sermons were not written in books but in heaven. Hence the time is called “Thohu,” because there was no Law nor books but sermons were delivered orally through the fathers to their posterity.”) After the Law was written, the prophets taught the same things to their students in schools orally, and thus they are called “sons of the prophets.” Elisha was a disciple of Elijah, whom he called into his school and chose him to be successor in the prophetic office (1 Kings 19:20). In the presence of Elisha “dwelt the sons of the prophets in Gilgal” (2 Kings 4:38)—that is, there was a theological school there where the students of the prophets spent their time, and Elisha directed and oversaw their studies. The college of the priests and Levites was nothing else but a theological school where junior Levites were instructed and prepped for the ecclesiastical ministry. In the Babylonian captivity Daniel set up a theological school, lest the knowledge of heavenly doctrine should perish. After the return from captivity in Babylon, Ezra and Nehemiah also raised up schools alongside the reconstruction of the temple. Paul sat at the feet Gamaliel (Acts 22:3). The apostles were taught in Christ’s school. Pantaenus taught in the school of Alexandria and was succeeded by Clement of Alexandria, whose student was Origen. Dionysius of Alexandria was a hearer of Origen, and after him Athenodorus (Eusebius, bk. 5, ch. 9 and bk. 6, ch. 2). Tertullian and Cyprian were in the school at Carthage; at Caesaria, Origen and Gregorius Neocaesariensis; at Antioch, Malchion the Rhetor, who refuted [Paul of] Samosata; in Nicomedia, Lactantius, etc. Therefore, in this way, by perpetual succession in the school of Christ, students who will one day be charged with the ministry of the church have been instructed by teachers orally.

(3) The living voice has greater force [ζώσης φωνῆς μείζων ἐνέργεια]. “Live speech has some kind of hidden force and makes a fuller impact,” says Jerome (Letter ad Paulin.). “The live speech of a teacher has marvelous power.” Scaliger (Exerc. 308): “The voice has greater effect, but reading is mute and when overly extended becomes tiresome.  Things heard are more firmly impressed through a sense of discipline, the servants of which are the ears,” etc. For these reasons, things received by hearing stick to one’s memory better and more reliably than things gained from attention to reading.

(4) Autodidacts do not operate with as much dexterity in judgment and speak more irregularly than those instructed by others in schools. They are also more often the ones to cause disturbances in the church.

© Concordia Publishing House.  From an upcoming publication of Johann Gerhard, On Interpreting Scripture and Method of Theological Study, Theological Commonplaces I­–II.

Used by permission.  No additional permission is granted to reprint or distribute this quote.

The Christliche Bet-Stunden of Sophia, Margravine of Brandenburg-Prussia

In 1628, a devotional hymnal was printed in Onolzbach (Ansbach), Bavaria, which had been Lutheran since 1528, under the auspices of Paul Böhm. It was called Horae Christianae, Christliche Bet-stunden (The Christian Hours) and, according to its title-page, reflected the use of court at the private chapel of the Margravine, Lady Sophia of Brandenburg-Prussia (then ruled in personal union), etc., Duchess,
née Duchess of Brunswick-Lunenberg.

The hymnal was designed for daily use at 3 o'clock in the evening (as stated even on the title-page), which is to say, Vespers, "for praying and singing." We are also informed by the title-page that the hymnal had already ben in use "for several years" by the time of this publication "at the gracious request of other pious Christians in these perilous times."

"Perilous times" are a theme here. The dedicatory verses are Psalm 50 ("Call on me in the time of trouble, and I will deliver you, and you shall praise me") and Psalm 42 ("Why are you downcast, O my soul, and so disquieted within me? Wait on God; for I will yet thank Him because He helps my countenance and is my God")

Then without further instruction we are introduced to the Hours, under the rubric "The First Week," by a General Confession:

Almighty, everlasting, and merciful God and Father, we poor sinners confess and acknowledge from the bottom of our heart that we have grieved Your high Majesty with our great and manifold sins, whereby we have disobeyed Your Word, resisted Your holy will, slandered Your name, despised the warnings wherewith You threaten the willful, and have not taken it to heart, nor been afraid, but have sinned wickedly against You with pride, despising of Your Word, disobedience, avarice, unchastity, unrighteousness, hatred, jealousy, quarreling, murder, and falsehood, and other countless sins, and thereby invited upon us Your just anger and heavy punishments, temporal and eternal, if You should enter into judgment with us : these our iniquities sorely oppress us, and overwhelm us, and are grown too heavy for us, as it were a heavy burden.

But we take refuge in Your boundless grace and mercy, and beseech You not to enter into judgment with us great and wretched sinners, nor to punish us according as we owe, but to remember Your mercy which has been since the beginning of the world. Be pleased to accept the intercession of Your beloved Son, our Lord Jesus Christ and only High Priest. For the sake of His holy merit and perfect obedience have mercy upon us, forgive us our sins, and graciously take away from us the distress and danger that await us, or else diminish it. Punish us not in Your wrath, nor chasten us in Your hot displeasure; for You are merciful and gracious, patient and of great goodness, and have promised to deal with us not according to our sins, and not to repay us according to our iniquities.

We also heartily beseech You to grant us true repentance and amendment of life, to incline our heart toward You, to sustain us in Your godly fear, and in Christ Jesus to grant us eternal salvation; who live and reign, one God, the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, most blessed forever. Amen.

This is followed by a "Prayer in Time of Need" composed largely of psalms:

O almighty, everlasting, and merciful God, You are our dear Father. We Your children lie in great distress, sorrow, and misery. With a humble heart we confess that we have deserved the present punishment by our great and manifold sin.

O Lord, dearest Father, we heartily beseech You, punish us not in Your wrath, nor chasten us in Your hot displeasure.

O Lord, hear our prayer, receive our supplication because of Your truth, hear us because of Your righteousness, and enter not into judgment with Your servants, for before You none living is righteous. From depths of woe we cry to You: hear our voice, let Your ears attend to the voice of our weeping. If you would take an account of sin, O Lord, who will stand before You? For with You there is forgiveness. We have sinned with our fathers, we have acted wickedly and have been ungodly. Yet deign not to deal with us according to our sins, nor to repay us according to our iniquities.

O Lord, we know and believe (howbeit strengthen and increase our faith!) that You will have mercy upon us, and receive us tenderly as a Father has mercy on his children: "Let him call on me and I will hear him. I am with him in trouble. I will bring him out of it." You said this Yourself, O Lord; You made Your promise certain to us. Yea, Your beloved Son, Jesus Christ, confirmed these Your words with a precious oath, saying, "Verily, verily, I say to you, if you shall ask the Father anything in my name, He will give it you."
Therefore, dear Father, we bend the knee of our heart before You, and cry in this trouble to You alone, for we know not what to do; our eyes look to You. You know our frailties, You remember that we are but dust.

O Lord, turn again to us and be gracious to us. Fill us early with Your lovingkindness, and we shout and rejoice all the days of our life. Make us glad according to the time that You afflicted us, after we suffered so long adversity.

O Lord, remember us, and defend us. We are called by Your name, and we are Your people. Pour out Your displeasure on the factions and sects, our enemies, and the adversaries of Your Word; for Your anger endures for a moment, and You delight in life. Weeping lasts for the evening, but in the morning joy. You will not forget the cause of the poor, and the hope of the needy will not perish forever. You comfort us in anguish, and in time of trouble we call upon You to hear us.

O Lord, say to the Destroyer, "It is enough. Remove your hand away." For with You help is found, and Your right hand can change all things. When this needy man called, the Lord heard it, and helped him out of all his troubles. When the righteous cry, the Lord hears it, and delivers them out of all their trouble. The Lord is near to those who are brokenhearted, and helps those who are contrite in spirit. Mercifully hear this the prayer of Your dear children, according to Your gracious promise, and turn away the punishment which we rightly deserve; through Jesus Christ, Your beloved Son, our only Mediator, High Priest, Atoner, and Savior, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one true God, forever and ever. Amen.

Next we find hymn texts appointed for the First Week, beginning on Sunday (I abbreviate for the sake of time):
1. O Herre Gott, begnade mich (Matth. Greit., 6 sts.) [Have mercy on me, Lord my God]
2. O Herre Gott, dein göttlich Wort (M. Luther, 8 sts.) [O Lord our God, Thy Holy Word]
3. Erhalt uns, Herr, bei deinem Wort (M. Luther [et al.], 7 sts., including Ihr Anschläg…, So werden…, Verleih uns Frieden… and Gib unsern Fürsten…) [Lord, keep us steadfast in Thy Word]
Monday:
1. Aus tiefer Not (Luther, 5 sts.) [From depths of woe I cry to Thee]
2. Nimm von uns, Herr, du treuer Gott (Anon., 7 sts., tune: Vater unser) [Remove from us, Lord, faithful God]
3. Gib Fried zu unser Zeit, O Herr (Wolfgang Capito, 3 sts.) [Grant peace, O Lord, in these our days]
Tuesday:
1. Erbarm dich mein, o Herre Gott (Erh. Hegenwald, 5 sts.) [Have mercy on me, Lord my God]
2. An dich hab ich gehoffet Herr (Ad. Reisner, 7 sts.) [In Thee, Lord, have I put my trust]
3. Mag ich Unglück nicht widerstahn (M. Queen of Hung., 3 sts.) [May I my fate no more withstand]
Wednesday:
1. Ach, Herr, mich armen Sünder (Anon., after Ps. 6; 8 sts.; tune: Keinen hat Gott verlassen) [Ah, Lord, on me, poor sinner]
2. Ein feste Burg ist unser Gott (M. Luther, 4 sts.) [A mighty fortress is our God]
3. Wenn wir in höchsten Nöten sein (Paul. Eber., 6 sts.) [When in the hour of utmost need]
Thursday:
1. Ach, Herr, straf mich nicht in deinen Zorn (Lud. Oler., after Ps. 6; 3 sts.) [Lord, punish me not in Thy wrath]
2. Ach Gott vom Himmel sieh darerin (M. Luther, after Ps. 12; 6 sts.) [Ah Lord, look down from heaven, behold]
3. Wär Gott nicht mit uns diese Zeit (M. Luther, 3 sts.) [If God had not been on our side]
Friday:
1. Allein zu dir, Herr Jesu Christ (Conr. Hubert, 4 sts.) [In Thee alone, O Christ our Lord]
2. Wo Gott der Herr nicht bei uns hält (D. Just. Jon., 8 sts.) [Were God not with us at this time]
3. Herr, wie du willt, so schicks mit mir ([Kas. Bienemann], 3 sts.; tune: Es spricht der Unweisen Mund, or: Es ist das Heil) [Lord as Thou wilt deal Thou with me]
Saturday:
1. Herr Jesu Christ, du höchstes Gut ([Barth. Ringwald], 8 sts.; tune: Der Herr ist mein getreuer Hirt, or: Herr Jesu Christ, ich weiß gar wohl) [Lord Jesus Christ, Thou highest good]
2. Ach Herr du allerhöchster Gott ([Barth. Ringwald, asc.], 14 sts.; tune: Kommt her zu mir) [Oh Lord, of all the God most High: an alphabetical hymn on the Law]
3. Geduld sollt han auf Gottes Bahn ([Lud. Hätzer], after Rom. 5; tune: Es woll uns Gott genädig sein) [Use patience e’er, God’s ways to fare]


Thus the first Week of a Six Week cycle. The remaining five weeks will be covered in subsequent posts.


(Translation © 2014 Matthew Carver, from Horae Christianae, Christliche Bet-stunden, das ist: Etliche Christliche Gebet und Gesänge, aus heiliger göttlicher Schrift… Paul Böhm: Onoltzbach, 1628.)

Gerhard on the Three Uses of the Law, sort of

An instructive observation from Gerhard on the three uses of the Law, but it's not quite what you think. In the very next paragraphs following the quote below Gerhard does teach the three uses of the Law according to the Formula of Concord, but here he is specifically discussing the three uses of teaching that it is impossible for us to fulfill the Law. From On the Law (forthcoming from CPH), § 202:

Now, the purpose of teaching that it is impossible to fulfill the Law is not to encourage or excuse carelessness, sloth, and intentional negligence...rather, it is so that (1) we, confessing the powerlessness of our abilities and the imperfection of our own righteousness, may flee for refuge to Christ, “who has redeemed us from the curse of the Law, having been made a curse for us” (Gal. 3:13); “through [Him] God has done what was impossible for the Law” (Rom. 8:3), “that He might be the end of the Law for righteousness for all who believe” (Rom. 10:4). The glory of having perfect righteousness must be reserved for Christ alone, who is “holy, blameless, unstained, separated from sinners” (Heb. 7:26). Those who ignore and reject His righteousness “seeking to establish their own, are not under the righteousness of God” (Rom. 10:3). Therefore the first use of this teaching lies in the article of justification, namely, that we not set before God’s judgment our imperfect and variously stained obedience to the Law but that we may learn that we are justified by faith in Christ. (2) The second use of this teaching lies in the article on good works, that we may learn that by the natural powers of our own free choice we cannot begin the sincere and true obedience we owe the Law, but the Law of God “must be written on our hearts” through the Holy Spirit (Jer. 31:33), so that we may begin to show not merely an external obedience but also an inner one with a spontaneous spirit and from the heart. On the other hand, because this inchoate obedience is still very far from the perfection the Law requires, we cannot boast about it before the judgment of God but are forced to confess that “all our righteousnesses are as menstrual rags” (Isa. 64:6) and that, “when we have done everything, we are still but unworthy servants” (Luke 17:10). (3) Lastly, it serves to teach us that the inchoate obedience of the regenerate is pleasing to God, not because it satisfies the law perfectly but because it proceeds from faith in Christ; through such faith its imperfection and remaining fault is covered.

Excerpt from On the Law (pre-publication), Concordia Publishing House 2015.  All rights reserved.  Used with permission of Concordia Publishing House.  www.cph.org.  

Canticle Collects from Gesangbüchlein (Bonn, 1561)

I HAVE HAD THE PLEASURE recently of looking through the expanded edition of the Gesangüchlein Geistlicher Psalmen, Hymnen, lieder und gebet . . . (Bonn, 1561). It attracts attention from the very start. Near the front of the book is a quite full Kalendar of saints and festivals, so much so that one is at first made to wonder whether or not it is a Lutheran book. Lutheran hymnals and cantionals of the period tend to be a little sparing on the Kalendar, usually preferring to keep only festivals suggested by Luther, et al., or found only in Scripture, or not too much associated with any local cult or relic. The purpose here seems to have been to have a commemoration or festival for each day of the year. The Kalendars months have phrases to the left of the arabic numerals which are meant to be used a mnemonic device. Following the months are tables and more mnemonic verses for the days and seasons, Embertides, etc. There are also nice illustrations of a dominical letter wheel and a golden number wheel.

Toward the back of the Bonn hymnal, after a very extensive collection of versified psalms set to familiar, largely Lutheran, melodies, we find the Bonn Kirchen-Ordnung, or church order, including, among other things, an Exhortation to Communion, as we often find in church orders of this earlier period. This one is followed by a number of petitions, and Luther's embolism of the Lord's Prayer, and concludes with a transition into the Words of Institution. In this way the Exhortation seems to hint at an early form of the restoration of the Prayer of the Faithful, a series of collects now familiar to us from current Lutheran liturgical practice but once regularly omitted.

Following this, we find several collects more suited to use in personal prayers, including some founded on the Evangelical Canticles that find their regular place in Matins/Lauds, Vespers, and Compline. There is a clue, however, that they were used in public services or group settings: the responsive versicle before each Collect. I include these below in my own translation. Note: a final Collect appointed for the Te Deum has no versicle, and is excluded here because it is the Collect of Thanksgiving already familiar to us in the English (O Lord God, heavenly Father, from whom without ceasing we receive. . . ).

Benedictus

V. Thou, O child, shalt be called a prophet of the Most High.
R. Thou shalt go before the Lord to prepare His way.

Almighty God, heavenly Father, as Thou didst bring Thy Son Jesus Christ, our Lord, into the world that we, being delivered by Him from all enemies, might serve Thee in all holiness and righteousness : grant us that, taking hold of this with true faith and being delivered from all the power of the devil, we may attain to the true holiness and righteousness that avails before Thee; through the same Thy Son, our Lord. Amen.

Magnificat

V. Blessed art thou who hast believed.
R. For that will be fulfilled which is told thee from the Lord.

Almighty God, who, when the Virgin Mary's believed Thy Word, didst do to her great things, making her the mother of Thy beloved Son, our Lord, by whom we all are made partakers of Thy divine nature, and in so doing Thou didst gloriously show forth Thy merciful adoption of the poor, the worthless, and the despised : grant that we also may with true faith be devoted to Thy Word in all humility and meekness, and so become true partakers of Thy Son, and His mothers, sisters, and brethren, as He saith; through the same . . .

Nunc dimittis.

V. Lord, now lettest Thou Thy servant go in peace.
R. For mine eyes have seen Thy Savior.

Almighty, everlasting God, we heartily beseech Thee, that, even as St. Simeon received Thy beloved Son bodily in his arms, and saw and knew Him spiritually : so we may be granted both to know and to worship Him; through the same Thy beloved Son Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.




 (Translation © 2013 Matthew Carver. Collects may be reproduced for non-commercial use.)

Who is the greatest?

Martin Chemnitz is.

So says Johann Gerhard--at least when it comes to comparing Scripture passages for the sake of drawing out their genuine meaning and harmonizing any seeming contradictions. No doubt Gerhard has in mind in the quote below all of Chemnitz's works, but especially the famed Harmony of the Four Evangelists that Chemnitz never finished and left to Polycarp Leyser. I wonder, did Gerhard know when he published these words in 1610 that he would be the one to complete the so-called Harmonia Evangelistarum Chemnitio-Lyseriana over fifteen years later?

What makes this quote even higher praise is that it is a sort of non sequitur. Gerhard blurts it out as the last sentence in a chapter on how to go about comparing scripture with scripture. He couldn't help but say it:

Now, the experts are compelled to acknowledge that Chemnitz is the great, inimitable master of comparing passages (On Interpreting Sacred Scripture, § 208, [1610 Loci Theologici, locus 2]).

Coming from one so skilled with scripture as Gerhard, I'm not sure higher praise exists among men.

Heavenly Birthday of Johann Gerhard (1582-1637), Arch-Theologian of the Lutheran Church

Johann Gerhard was a Lutheran pastor and theologian who lived about 100 years after Martin Luther. He was born in 1582, just two years after the last Lutheran confession, the Formula of Concord, had been published. He was always an excellent student in school and university, and after pursuing medicine for a while, he decided to study theology and become a pastor. In 1606, the year before Captain John Smith established Jamestown, Virginia, Gerhard received his first call—a call to be a pastor and superintendent of 26 parishes, and a lecturer at a high school. He was in his mid-twenties. Just by considering his first call, it’s obvious that his contemporaries thought very highly of the gifts God had given Gerhard. (Among us a new pastor is never made a district president or circuit counselor right off the bat.) Before he was 30, he had become a doctor of theology and had published several books. In his mid-thirties he was called to be a professor of theology at the German city of Jena, and there he spent the next 21 years, until his death. His first wife, Barbara, died after only three years of marriage, when he was 29. Three years later he married Maria Mattenberger, and lived happily with her for the rest of his life. The couple had ten children, four of whom died in early childhood, as was so common in those times.

Gerhard’s writings built up the church and Christian believers, and also defended it against attacks. His works that built up the church include his Sacred Meditations, Meditations on Divine Mercy, School of Piety, his Aphorisms, his Bible commentaries, and his many sermons, but most of all his work on the first great Lutheran study Bible, the Weimar Bible of 1640. His works that defended the church against attacks include the Theological Commonplaces and the book called The Catholic Confession. I’m happy to say that we here at CPH are doing more to make his writings known than anyone else has done for the last 300 years.

But Gerhard’s life was not just the happy life of a writer or teacher. In 1618, war broke out across Germany, a war which would continue off and on for thirty years. This Thirty Years War was especially fought between the Roman Catholic “Holy Roman Emperor” and the Lutheran Swedes, led by Swedish King Gustavus Adolphus, who did not always treat the German Lutherans any better than the emperor’s army did. Because Gerhard had been so successful in defending Lutheran teaching against the Roman Catholic Church, the emperor’s soldiers plotted to kidnap Gerhard in 1631 and bring him to Rome for trial. Yet God preserved Gerhard from their plot. On the other hand, the Swedes were angry with Gerhard because of he had been advising peace with the emperor, and so Gerhard had to face the threat of imprisonment from them, too. In 1636 the Swedish army plundered Gerhard’s estate and burned his house and farm buildings. Then in 1637 the city of Jena was raided and plundered.

That year, the year Gerhard died, he wrote to his friend Salomon Glassius, telling him about the savagery of the soldiers: “But I am enduring all these things patiently and say along with Job: ‘The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord.’ He Himself, nevertheless, will look out for me and my household with the assistance necessary for life, for I see that my finish line is near.”[1] On August 12, 1637, the 54-year-old Gerhard became very ill, and he knew his death was approaching. In the next few days he spoke to friends and family, confessing the same faith that he had written throughout his life and making arrangements for his family and the university for after his death. Two days before his death he confessed his sins to his pastor, Adrian Beyer, and received private absolution and the Lord’s Supper from him. After receiving Christ’s Body and Blood he sang the common Lutheran communion hymn, “O Lord We Praise Thee, bless Thee and adore Thee.” Right after this, he arranged for money to be given to the poor people of his city, so that they could have a meal. The next two days he fell speechless, lost his eyesight, and most of his hearing. Yet shortly before giving up his spirit, on August 17, he uttered the words, “Come, come, Lord, come.”

(Source: Erdmann Rudolph Fischer, The Life of John Gerhard, trans. Richard J. Dinda and Elmer Hohle [Malone, TX: Repristination, 2001].)

---

[1] Cf. Fischer, Life of John Gerhard, p. 287.

Gerhard on Allegory and Dry Sermons

+ In memoriam Iohannis Gerhardi, uiri summae pietatis atque doctrinae. +

Gerhard has a wonderful discussion of allegories in his treatise On Interpreting Sacred Scripture. This section alone is worth the price of admission. Though his treatment is brief, it is a treasury of homiletical gems, and I will only discuss its barest outlines here. Indeed, it contains most everything that it took me years of seminary and experience to figure out about whether allegory may be used and if so, how. For the most part my experience has been that modern exegetes are hostile to allegorizing. Gerhard knew this debate well:

The fathers were fairly profuse in their allegories, while some today are fairly hostile to them. So what should be decided about allegories?

Gerhard warns that it is very easy to stray from the rule of faith when allegorizing (we're looking at you, Origen). He navigates the proper use of allegory in a few ways. He starts by noting the rhetorical distinction between a type and an allegory. What Paul is doing in Gal. 4:24, for example, is actually typology though he uses the term "allegory." Likewise, the fathers sometimes misuse these terms.

Next, Gerhard also insists that the literal meaning of Scripture in context is the meaning of the Holy Spirit (excepting those places where the Holy Spirit Himself interprets things allegorically or typologically). That is the basis of all exegesis and from it one can draw "various teachings, exhortations, consolations, and refutations against adversaries." For Gerhard all good allegory is simply responsible application of the text. Modern exegetes who shun allegory should consider rethinking their position along these lines. The original meaning of the text comes first, then in teaching and preaching you also have to apply it to your hearers (allegorize).

Gerhard then offers pointers on how best to allegorize. "The goal of all Scripture is Christ," urges Gerhard. "In allegories, therefore, it is His office, His benefits, and His reign that should be explained most of all." Furthermore, don't allegorize the moral Law like the Ten Commandments. Don't look for allegory everywhere. Do look for allegory in the ceremonial law and in historical narratives provided that you also maintain the facts of the actual events. Often both a type and an allegory can come from the same passage. For example, the account of David and Goliath is about Christ defeating the Devil (typology) and may be applied to the godly man overcoming the lusts of the flesh through faith (allegory). There are even times when allegory is demanded by the text or it will be especially advantageous to do so (when teaching the account of Jacob, Laban, Leah, and Rachel to your Sunday school kids your best bet is to go for the allegorical interpretation!)

Gerhard further notes how allegory makes for good preaching that is Bible rich and not dry or filled with cheeky stories:

When used appropriately and sparingly, allegories delight, stimulate, and remove tedium, which is why they are especially well suited for sermon openings [exordiis]. One must work tirelessly to make allegories appropriate, firstly and foremost that they be analogous to the faith.

This must be why Gerhard always starts his sermons with a type or allegory from the OT that pertains to the Sunday Gospel.

Finally, because allegory can be and has been greatly abused, Gerhard also gives sober warnings:

Be sure, however, not to search too far for allegories, for then they will be crude and inane. Be sure they do not militate against the chief parts of the historical account that we want to treat allegorically. Do not dwell on them longer than they deserve; instead, approach them gracefully, simply touching upon them with a few words subtly and discreetly.  Let them not be too intricate or perplexing. In short, it is not for everyone to appropriately and fittingly use allegories. Those who are less practiced in them should proceed soberly and prudently. Those who make use of allegories hastily and without discernment can easily propose something that the learned will contemn, the vicious will mock, and that will cause the weak to stumble. Undoubtedly Origen was rebuked by the ancients on this charge.