Who was the first major Christian figure to popularize a figurative interpretation of Genesis?
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Accepted answer
I think it's clear that your assumption is wrong, and that figurative interpretations of the Genesis were always common amongst scholarly interpreters, such as for example St. Augustine. At the very least, he thinks that the transgression in the Garden of Eden was in fact of a sexual nature, and therefore the account as it is, is figurative.
Further, we are somewhat well aware that medieval culture in Europe was steeped in allegorical thinking. Even something like a bestiary, a compendium of beasts, would include several allegorical beasts as stand-ins for vices, for specific historical characters, peoples, etc...
To make a further point however, the idea that figurative, allegorical and literal interpretations of the same text were mutually exclusive is very modern idea.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allegory_in_the_Middle_Ages
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allegorical_interpretations_of_Genesis
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