Should We Take the Bible Literally or Figuratively?

CatholicExchange.com ^ | April 17, 2007 | Mary Harwell Sayler

[Salvation]

Mary Harwell Sayler	Other Articles by Mary Harwell Sayler Printer Friendly Version
Should We Take the Bible Literally or Figuratively?

---

April 17, 2007

Question: I started going to a Bible study in our parish and usually enjoy it but am thinking about dropping out. Several people in our group said we should never take the Bible literally, but what's the point of reading the Bible if it doesn't mean what it says?

Discussion: The Bible does mean what it says. However, God's ways can be so mysterious that people do not always understand what's said or why, especially on first reading. Some may write off the whole Bible as being merely symbolic or allegorical, while others take every word as the kind of literal truth you get when you say something like, "The fire is hot." Symbolically, that same fire represents the power, warmth, and enthusiastic fervor poured into Christians by the Holy Spirit. You can approach the flame literally or figuratively, but either way, the fire is "true." 

As the living word of God, the Bible is also true to itself and the spiritual truths expressed in a variety of tones, formats, and literary styles. Many themes and purposes arise in its pages, but the overall goal shows the salvation and redemption of man by the Almighty God, beginning in Genesis and going all the way through the final Amen in Revelation. So as you study the Bible, don't worry about whether you should take the words literally or figuratively. Just take them. Read them. Study them, and get to know what the Biblical record shows about the ongoing relationship between human beings and the God of love.

You might also take another tack in your Bible study. For instance, try thinking of yourself as an investigator or a Christian reporter looking for the who, what, when, where, why, and how of your Judeo-Christian heritage and the life-giving truth of God's loving mercy and forgiveness. As you do this, consider:

the Who of God — i.e., the character and power of the One to Whom you speak;

the what of the conditions, circumstances, or context surrounding the larger spiritual truth that a book or chapter presents;

the when of the past, present, and future as well as the timelessness of eternity in which a Biblical truth or statement affects God's people, including you;

the where of the place and culture from which the text arises;

the why of the law recorded, the wisdom taught, or the prophecy spoken;

the how of the literal, figurative, or poetic words that the inspired writer utilized to tell a story and present a spiritual truth in the most effective way.

Generally speaking, the Who, what, when, where, and why of the Bible will express our Judeo-Christian background and beliefs, whereas the how has more to do with the means by which the Bible presents a spiritual truth. Unlike modern libraries that separate fiction from nonfiction and both genres from poetry, a single book of the Bible may contain an eclectic mix of Godly commands, historical events, poetic lines, and allegorical tales. Between genres, thin lines may overlap, but don't let them trip you up. For instance, if you read something that troubles you or that you don't understand, just do a little research by looking up the verse or passage in a reputable commentary. Better yet, see if the Catechism of the Catholic Church covers that specific topic. To ease the search, just look for a key word on a website that contains the complete Catechism.

Most importantly, begin and end each Bible study session or independent reading with prayer for God to guide the discussion and increase your understanding. Then trust that He will. The same Holy Spirit who scripted the story of God's love into the Holy Scriptures knows how to write His word into your spirit today.

 

© Copyright 2007 Catholic ExchangeMary Sayler has studied the Bible since early childhood and leads discussion groups in her local parish. In addition to being a poet, freelancer, and assignment writer for the religious markets, she works with other writers and poets through her website http://www.catholicpoetsandwriters.com/.

[annalex]

We should take the Old Testament in the light of the New Testament, in the sense put in it by the inspired writers and attested to by the Fathers of the early Church. No figurative interpretation should take precedence over the literal interpretation, if the literal interpretation is available and has a patristic origin. Everything else is inserting your own meaning into the Bible.

[kerryusama04]

I’m not going to hijack Salvation’s thread.

[kerryusama04]

Did you read the part of my post that indicated my desire for them to have another thread discussing the relevancy of the Bible to a Catholic? My post was not about the Sabbath and was only slightly off topic. If the Catholic Church believes it can rewrite commandments, why bother reading scripture at all?

[Frank Sheed]

Father John Corapi in his excellent EWTN series on the Catechism (Sunday nights at 8:00) makes specific reference to 111 (and following) especially for interpretation.

Note too that Jimmy Akin has written an excellent book on the "Senses of Scripture."

The Navarre Bible has outstanding commentary on the Bible verse by verse in such a way as to make it easily accessible to all.

III. THE HOLY SPIRIT, INTERPRETER OF SCRIPTURE

109 In Sacred Scripture, God speaks to man in a human way. To interpret Scripture correctly, the reader must be attentive to what the human authors truly wanted to affirm, and to what God wanted to reveal to us by their words.⁷⁵

110 In order to discover the sacred authors' intention, the reader must take into account the conditions of their time and culture, the literary genres in use at that time, and the modes of feeling, speaking and narrating then current. "For the fact is that truth is differently presented and expressed in the various types of historical writing, in prophetical and poetical texts, and in other forms of literary expression."⁷⁶

111 But since Sacred Scripture is inspired, there is another and no less important principle of correct interpretation, without which Scripture would remain a dead letter. "Sacred Scripture must be read and interpreted in the light of the same Spirit by whom it was written."⁷⁷

The Second Vatican Council indicates three criteria for interpreting Scripture in accordance with the Spirit who inspired it.⁷⁸

1. Be especially attentive "to the content and unity of the whole Scripture". Different as the books which compose it may be, Scripture is a unity by reason of the unity of God's plan, of which Christ Jesus is the center and heart, open since his Passover.⁷⁹

The phrase "heart of Christ" can refer to Sacred Scripture, which makes known his heart, closed before the Passion, as the Scripture was obscure. But the Scripture has been opened since the Passion; since those who from then on have understood it, consider and discern in what way the prophecies must be interpreted.⁸⁰

2. Read the Scripture within "the living Tradition of the whole Church". According to a saying of the Fathers, Sacred Scripture is written principally in the Church's heart rather than in documents and records, for the Church carries in her Tradition the living memorial of God's Word, and it is the Holy Spirit who gives her the spiritual interpretation of the Scripture (". . . according to the spiritual meaning which the Spirit grants to the Church"⁸¹).

3. Be attentive to the analogy of faith.⁸² By "analogy of faith" we mean the coherence of the truths of faith among themselves and within the whole plan of Revelation.

The senses of Scripture

115 According to an ancient tradition, one can distinguish between two senses of Scripture: the literal and the spiritual, the latter being subdivided into the allegorical, moral and anagogical senses. The profound concordance of the four senses guarantees all its richness to the living reading of Scripture in the Church.

The literal sense is the meaning conveyed by the words of Scripture and discovered by exegesis, following the rules of sound interpretation: "All other senses of Sacred Scripture are based on the literal."⁸³

The spiritual sense. Thanks to the unity of God's plan, not only the text of Scripture but also the realities and events about which it speaks can be signs.

1. The allegorical sense. We can acquire a more profound understanding of events by recognizing their significance in Christ; thus the crossing of the Red Sea is a sign or type of Christ's victory and also of Christian Baptism.⁸⁴

2. The moral sense. The events reported in Scripture ought to lead us to act justly. As St. Paul says, they were written "for our instruction".⁸⁵

3. The anagogical sense (Greek: anagoge, "leading"). We can view realities and events in terms of their eternal significance, leading us toward our true homeland: thus the Church on earth is a sign of the heavenly Jerusalem.⁸⁶

118 A medieval couplet summarizes the significance of the four senses:

The Letter speaks of deeds; Allegory to faith;
The Moral how to act; Anagogy our destiny.⁸⁷

"It is the task of exegetes to work, according to these rules, towards a better understanding and explanation of the meaning of Sacred Scripture in order that their research may help the Church to form a firmer judgement. For, of course, all that has been said about the manner of interpreting Scripture is ultimately subject to the judgement of the Church which exercises the divinely conferred commission and ministry of watching over and interpreting the Word of God."⁸⁸

But I would not believe in the Gospel, had not the authority of the Catholic Church already moved me.⁸⁹

[pgyanke]

Thank you for that. It’s amazing how clearly the Catechism can cut through to the heart of the matter...

[wideawake]

(1) There was once a New York Sentinel newspaper in NYC. It was unaffiliated with the Roman Catholic Church.

(2) There has never been a Catholic journal in NY called "The American Sentinel."

(3) There is nor record of a Redemptorist College in Kansas City in 1883. Redemptorists of that region have been attending the Redemptorist Colllege in Waterford, WI for at least 70 years. There is a St. Louis University in St. Louis, MO that has an association with the Redemptorists, but no Redemptorist College (it's a Jesuit university).

(4) The St. Louis Province of Redemptorists was founded in 1875 - when the first American Redemptorist professed his vows - with jurisdiction over Kansas City and most of the American west. It seems unlikely that the Redemptorists got a whole college up and running while they were still raising funds for parishes, and unlikely that they would start by founding a college anywhere other than where they were headquartered.

It seems even more unlikely that there would be no record of such a college.

(5) The Redemptorist website has no record of any Fr. Thomas Enright. They have records on Redemptorists in America going back to the Revolution.

Your source is a fabrication.

And, even if it were not a fabrication and Thomas Enright was a real Redemptorist, Thomas Enright's personal opinion is not and can never be Church teaching.

Had this fictional Enright existed, he would have conceded that his opinions were entirely his own and subject to correction by anyone more knowledgeable than he.

[Tax-chick]

Excellent information. Thanks, Frank!

[Frank Sheed]

http://members.aol.com/johnprh/sab1.html

[kerryusama04]

"You may read the Bible from Genesis to Revelation, and you will not find a single line authorizing the sanctification of Sunday. The Scriptures enforce the religious observance of Saturday, a day which we never sanctify." Cardinal Gibbons (for many years head of the Catholic Church in America), The Faith of Our Fathers (92d ed., rev.; Baltimore: John Murphy Company), p.89.

[al_c]

Is the Bible important to Catholicism, if at all, and how much?

Have you ever been to a Mass? If so ... did you listen? Not trying to be a smartaleck here ... just wondering if you've explored your own querie.

[al_c]

If the Catholic Church believes it can rewrite commandments

Which set of 10 came first ... Catholic or Protestant?

[Tax-chick]

I would like to see you guys discuss: To What Degree does the Bible Matter to Catholicism?

Why?

It seems to me that, if you're truly interested in learning about this subject, you'd simply go to the "Catechism of the Catholic Church" and read what the Catholic Church, officially, says.

After that, if you're deeply interested, you could read the source documents identified by the footnotes in the CCC. After that, if you're exceptionally interested, you could begin reading the sermons of the Greek and Latin Fathers, most of which are reflections on Scripture, in its many senses.

I fail to see how the discussion of a group of laypeople would edify you about "Catholicism" in some way that the official - publically available, in English - teachings and historic understandings of the Catholic Church would not.

[Frank Sheed]

Anything to assist your harried life, Mrs. Tax!

I’ve found that keeping a small, compact version of the Catechism by my reading chair has devolved into the equivalent of a dictionary. I refer to it more and more. And, now with book in hand, Fr. Corapi’s series is even more appreciated for the gem it is. He has estimated that over 2 billion people have watched that series, and Lord only knows how many languages it is translated into! He once said it would still be showing in 25 years!

F

[Invincibly Ignorant]

Which set of 10 came first ... Catholic or Protestant?

Jewish. :-)

[Tax-chick]

Cool. I’ll have to see if it’s available on DVD.

[Between the Lines]

If the Catholic Church believes it can rewrite commandments, why bother reading scripture at all?

Sorry, I did not know that you were Catholic. From the tone of your post I just presumed you were not and that you were spoiling for some kind of a fight.

As for me, Catholic beliefs do not change anything as to why I should read the Bible.

[Frank Sheed]

Well said! For someone who is not interested in “hijacking Salvation’s thread,” he is doing a superb job of “hijacking Salvation’s thread!”

F

[kerryusama04]

I was raised Catholic, but left because I don't believe any church has the authority to change the commandments. Why not just take my question at face value and assume I'm not out for a fight?

[Frank Sheed]

http://www.fathercorapi.com/The-Teaching-of-Jesus-Christ-Catechism-Series-48-talks-on-DVD-—200DVDS-P126C2.aspx

A bit pricey! I decided to just watch as often as possible until I have seen each one 5 times. I should reach that by the year 2022. At least you know where I am on Sundays at 8:00. Of course, I could Tivo the thing!

[kerryusama04]

I fail to see how the discussion of a group of laypeople would edify you about "Catholicism" in some way that the official - publically available, in English - teachings and historic understandings of the Catholic Church would not.

Sooo, are you saying that lay people ought to just defer to the Church and not read scripture on their own?