The Prophetic Faith of Our Fathers, vol. 1

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE: Gradual Reversal of Tichonius Tradition

Tichonius, it will be remembered, started prophetic interpretation in a new direction with his Seven Rules, which influenced Augustine’s doctrine of the Christian Age millennium. Tichonius’ view, not only of the millennium, but also of the nonhistorical approach to the Apocalypse—finding in its prophecies only abstract principles applicable to the church with little regard to time and place—was the source of the dominant medieval interpretation. We shall here trace the succession of writers who came under this influence until a reawakening to historical realities brought a reversal of this theory. To say that the Tichonian tradition was dominant to the exclusion of any historical approach to the Apocalypse, is not to say, however, that the historical interpretation of the book of Daniel was abandoned; the four empires of Daniel needed no discussion, because they were taken for granted. For that reason we may pass over the references to Daniel and notice the treatment of the Revelation by these Tichonian expositors. PFF1 544.1

The analytical chart on page 545 will prove to be a material aid in understanding the sequences, developments, and trends of all expositors in the medieval period we are now surveying. It also indicates the outcome of these trends, as they eventuate in the two distinctive but conflicting schools of interpretation—that of the predominant Protestant exposition on the one hand, and Roman Catholic interpretation on the other. The reader may well consult this chart frequently for these relationships, as he progresses from expositor to expositor. The first important figure is Primasius, who made Tichonius, the Donatist, respectable by eliminating certain heretical elements and thereby popularizing his theories in the Roman church. PFF1 544.2

Picture 1: CHARTING OF THE TICHONIAN INFLUENCE FOR SEVEN CENTURIES
This graph is designed to visualize the molding influence of Tichonius, and his rules of interpretation, which held sway for seven centuries. He introduced a purely mystical or spiritual exegesis of the Apocalypse, eliminating application to material historical events. It took about seven hundred years before the historical emphasis, or school of interpretation. Found entrance again into the ranks of the Roman church. In Rupert of Deutz and Anselm of Havelberg its first beginning is to be found and through Joachim of Floris and his note: data not clear.
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