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Adopted said:
May one infer by this that there may be a proper use of allegory rather than a misuse? Or, is allegory always to be passed off as Scripturally immature imagination? <img src="/forum/images/graemlins/bananas.gif" alt="" />
Absolutely! <img src="/forum/images/graemlins/yep.gif" alt="" /> Scripture itself uses allegory . . . but again it is inherent in the text itself and should not be imposed upon a text. Some examples of allegory can be found in the Lord Christ's description of Himself, e.g., "I am the door . . .", "I am the true vine . . .", etc.

Perhaps one of the more infamous impositions of allegory upon a text is found here:

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2 Kings 6:4-7 (ASV) "So he went with them. And when they came to the Jordan, they cut down wood. But as one was felling a beam, the axe-head fell into the water; and he cried, and said, Alas, my master! for it was borrowed. And the man of God said, Where fell it? And he showed him the place. And he cut down a stick, and cast it in thither, and made the iron to swim. And he said, Take it up to thee. So he put out his hand, and took it."
One of the more fanciful interpretations of this text says that the axe head represents the Church, which although may appear to have perished eventually rises to the top and reigns on the earth. [Linked Image]

I'm sure one could try and justify such an interpretation by pointing out certain "similarities" between the axe head and the Church as well as other items in this account. But there is no "similarities" to be found anywhere in Scripture that equates this or any other axe head with the Church. "Scripture interprets Scripture". <img src="/forum/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />

In His grace,

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simul iustus et peccator

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