What then shall we say?

It is apparent that the traditional distinction between Antioch and Alexandria along the lines of literal/historical versus allegorical reading cannot be applied here, at least in the way it has been traditionally understood. Origen and Eustathius actually had some important things in common in their understandings of biblical interpretation. Both are convinced of Scripture’s inspiration by the Holy Spirit. They were also both convinced of Scripture’s contemporary relevance to the Christian. The difference between them lay in Eustathius’s challenge to Origen’s application of Scripture. From our perspective, both interpretations were anachronistic in the sense that they paid little attention to the author’s intended meaning. Since Scripture was inspired by the Holy Spirit, he was seen as the true author, and this broke down the historical anchoring and distancing common in our modern approaches.—Early Christian Readings of Genesis One, page 153