3rd – early 5th century

The Antiochene School: The Historical-Grammatical Method and Typology against Allegory

Lucian of Antioch founded a school in Antioch that soon became a rival to the Alexandrian one; opposing allegorical interpretation, he proposed studying Scripture by the historical-grammatical method, which makes it harder to manipulate the text in the interpreter's interest. The Antiochene school insisted on a literal approach, which gave room for typology and excluded arbitrary interpretation that could hide the plain historical meaning. John Chrysostom, a pupil of Diodore of Tarsus, adopted this approach and preached from every book of the Bible; his sermons were published as commentaries.