Literalism and Esotericism

The most common alternative to Biblical Literalism holds that the texts consist of a random hodgepodge of myth, history, parable, and precept, from several authors. Another hermeneutical approach draws a distinction within Literalism--exoteric vs. esoteric. In that approach, Esotericism asserts that at least some, if not all, of the texts can be grasped as literally true, once the language in which they are actually cast is properly understood. The most prominent Esotericism is Kabbalism, the primary variety of which is based on the thesis that letters have numerical values. However, while in some versions, the esoteric and the exoteric levels are parallel, in others, the latter is presented as posterior to the former. The challenge, not always appreciated, to the assertion that the Esoteric grounds the Exoteric, is to explain, and not merely to insinuate, the derivation of the latter from the former. In the absence of such an explanation, Esotericism can remain a fascinating but inconsequential entertainment.