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Beginning Catholic: Understanding The Bible: A Catholic Guide To The Word of God [Ecumenical]
BeginningCatholic.com ^ | not given | Beginning Catholic.com

Posted on 08/20/2008 11:08:01 AM PDT by Salvation

 

Understanding The Bible:
A Catholic Guide To The
Word of God

Too many Catholics aren't comfortable reading and understanding the Bible.

Let's look at the most essential principles taught by the Catholic Church for reading and interpreting Scripture.

For a strong faith, it's important to know this!

The Bible is uniquely important

The Holy Bible is unmatched in importance for learning about God, his plans for us, and how he has worked through human history for our salvation.

Pope John Paul II wrote:

[Sacred Scripture] is truly divine, because it belongs to God truly and genuinely: God himself inspired it, God confirmed it, God spoke it through the sacred writers—Moses, the Prophets, the Evangelists, the Apostles—and, above all, through his Son, our only Lord, in both the Old and the New Testament.

It is true that the intensity and depth of the revelation varies [within the Bible], but there is not the least shadow of contradiction [between different parts of Scripture].

(Pope John Paul II, Apostolic Letter Patres Ecclesiae,
January 2, 1980)

Since God inspired & confirmed the Bible, we had better know how to read it correctly!

Key principles for reading Scripture

These three points are essential to a basic understanding of the bible:

  1. God is indeed the principal author of Sacred Scripture.
  2. God made use of specific people that wrote in a human language, and did so at a particular time and place in history.
  3. At times we have to work carefully to determine exactly what a sacred author is asserting to be true, distinguishing that from something he's using as an image to help us understand the truth more clearly.

We need to look at each of these points in detail...

God is the principal author of Scripture

If there is only one thing you remember about understanding the Bible, let it be this point!

To get it just right, I'll quote from the Compendium of the Catechism of the Catholic Church:

God himself is the author of Sacred Scripture.

(Compendium of the Catechism, #18)

(The Compendium of the Catechism has a wonderful section on understanding the Bible within the part about Divine Revelation. You should read all of #6-24 to get a full understanding, but #18-24 are specifically about Scripture.)

God chose to reveal to us certain truths for the sake of our salvation. This message of salvation is the set of revealed truths which we call the "deposit of faith," or Divine Revelation. The Bible is primarily concerned with telling us these truths, which are without error. God himself made sure of that.

The Second Vatican Council (Vatican II) said it well: "everything asserted by the inspired authors or sacred writers must be held to be asserted by the Holy Spirit" (Dei Verbum, #11).

Got it?

Good. That's the most essential point for reading & understanding the Bible. Now, remember that point as we look at some other details...

God made use of people to write the Bible

This is important: God did not "dictate" the Bible, word for word, to people who just wrote down his words. Instead, he did something...

...more amazing!

He made use of specific people to write the various sacred books of the Bible. And although God gave each author special grace to aid him in this work, each author wrote in a way that was natural to him.

This is also really important for a true Catholic understanding of the Bible. We have to understand this point completely, or we risk a serious misunderstanding!

The Second Vatican Council put it this way:

In composing the sacred books, God chose men and while employed by Him they made use of their powers and abilities, so that with Him acting in them and through them, they, as true authors, consigned to writing everything and only those things which He wanted.

(Vatican II, Dei Verbum (Dogmatic Constitution on Divine Revelation), 11)

These writers used the language of their time, and they used words and wrote in a style that reflected their own personalities and educations.

Some people get nervous when they start reading about this point—don't be! This is important for a solid understanding of the Bible.

Let's summarize it this way:

  1. These men had to work with the imperfections of human language and understanding.
  2. Despite this limitation, the Holy Spirit still used them to write the message of salvation in a way that was completely accurate.

John Paul II made this point when he addressed the Pontifical Biblical Commission in 1979:

The language of the Bible is to some degree linked to language which changed over the course of time.... But this only reaffirms the paradox of the [Christian] proclamation of revelation: ...people and events at particular points in history become the bearers of an absolute and transcendent message.

(Pope John Paul II, Address, April 26, 1979)

This is really quite astonishing—God was willing to work through people to tell us his saving truth. He revealed his divine truths via historical acts, using events and people of his choosing.

And he did so using...

Human language and knowledge

God also used human language and knowledge—with all of its limitations—to tell us his eternal truths.

He conveyed things to people through words and actions that made use of the ways of speaking and thinking that were common at the time. God worked this way so it would be possible for humans to write down or pass on these eternal truths.

The people who experienced these events and received God's divine messages either wrote them down later, or would pass them on in a reliable oral tradition that was later written down under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit.

Of course, sometimes we have to work carefully to get past the imperfections of human language and knowledge in order to see what God wanted to tell us. This is an important step for understanding the Bible!

Unlocking the original meaning

We can easily put these principles to practical use when reading Scripture.

First, learn to understand exactly what the inspired authors meant when they wrote their words. A good Catholic commentary will help explain any relevant language, concepts and cultural references. (I recommend the Navarre Bible commentary, which is outstanding in its explanations and its desire to help you see how the Church understands even the smallest details of the Bible.)

That's an essential first step—if you don't understand what the sacred author was saying to people in his own cultural context, in terms as they were used at the time, you won't be able to clearly see what God is saying through him.

But don't worry! It's really not hard to get this right for many passages. And once again, a good commentary will do the heavy lifting for you.

And once you understand the sacred author's actual message...

Embrace the Word of God

The whole point of reading and understanding the Bible is to encounter God, understand the revelation he has given us, and grow in faith.

So now that you've read a passage of Scripture and understand what the author is saying...

...take that next step—listen to God!

Scripture is a living thing, meant for people in all times & places. God speaks through it now just as much as he did when it was written.

To help our faith grow as we read Scripture, the Church gives us three important points for interpreting and understanding the Bible:

  1. "Be especially attentive 'to the content and unity of the whole Scripture'" (Catechism, 112). It all fits together, so don't just look at parts in isolation.
  2. Read the Bible within "the living Tradition of the whole Church" (Catechism, 113), since the Holy Spirit guides the Church in interpreting Scripture. Especially helpful is seeing how the Saints, Popes, and Church councils have commented on Scripture.
  3. Pay attention to "the coherence of the truths of faith among themselves and within the whole plan of Revelation" (Catechism, 114). Like point #1, above, the entire deposit of faith forms a wonderful unity—doctrine sheds light on Scripture, and Scripture on doctrine.

Let the Bible enkindle your faith

Some people feel intimidated when they start to read Scripture.

But not you!

Now you have a solid foundation for understanding the Bible. The basic principles contained in this article will help you overcome many uncertainties people have with Scripture.

So start reading!

Ignorance of the Scriptures is ignorance of Christ.

(St Jerome)


TOPICS: Apologetics; Catholic; History; Theology
KEYWORDS: bible; catholic; catholiclist
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Ecumenical thread. Please follow the Guidelines for Ecumenical threads
1 posted on 08/20/2008 11:08:02 AM PDT by Salvation
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To: nickcarraway; Lady In Blue; NYer; ELS; Pyro7480; livius; Catholicguy; RobbyS; markomalley; ...
Catholic Discussion Ping!

Please notify me via FReepmail if you would like to be added to or taken off the Catholic Discussion Ping List.

2 posted on 08/20/2008 11:09:39 AM PDT by Salvation (†With God all things are possible.†)
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To: All
Beginning Catholic: The Catholic Church's Origin [Ecumenical]
Beginning Catholic: Church Authority In Scripture [Ecumenical]
Beginning Catholic: Catholic Tradition: Life in the Spirit [Ecumenical]
Beginning Catholic: Infallibility: Keeping the Faith [Ecumenical]
Beginning Catholic: Moral Conscience: Catholic Teaching for a Strong Faith [Ecumenical]

Beginning Catholic: Catholic Morality: Life in Christ [Ecumenical]
Beginning Catholic: When Was The Bible Written? [Ecumenical]
Beginning Catholic: Books of the Catholic Bible: The Complete Scriptures [Ecumenical]
Beginning Catholic: A Strong Start in the Faith: The Catholic RCIA Stages [Ecumenical]
Beginning Catholic: The RCIA Inquiry Stage In the Catholic Church [Ecumenical]

Beginning Catholic: Accept No Substitutes: Catholic Orthodoxy [Ecumenical]
Beginning Catholic: Basic Tenets of Catholicism [Ecumenical]
Beginning Catholic: The Creed Of The People Of God: The Essentials/Catholic Belief [Ecumenical]
Beginning Catholic: Creeds: Apostles, Nicene, Athanasian [Ecumenical]
Beginning Catholic: Catholic Purgatory: What Does It Mean? [Ecumenical]

Beginning Catholic: Understanding The Bible: A Catholic Guide To The Word of God [Ecumenical]

3 posted on 08/20/2008 11:11:58 AM PDT by Salvation (†With God all things are possible.†)
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To: Salvation

bump


4 posted on 08/20/2008 11:13:08 AM PDT by Mrs. Don-o ("Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a great battle." - Philo of Alexandria)
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Comment #5 Removed by Moderator

To: Righter-than-Rush

Did you read the Guidelines for Ecumenical posts?

Please do.


6 posted on 08/20/2008 11:14:55 AM PDT by Salvation (†With God all things are possible.†)
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To: Righter-than-Rush

This is an “ecumenical” thread in the Religion Forum. Antagonism is not allowed.


7 posted on 08/20/2008 11:21:39 AM PDT by Religion Moderator
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To: Salvation
God chose to reveal to us certain truths for the sake of our salvation. This message of salvation is the set of revealed truths which we call the "deposit of faith," or Divine Revelation. The Bible is primarily concerned with telling us these truths, which are without error. God himself made sure of that.

So, does this mean the Bible is only inerrant when teaching theological matters?

8 posted on 08/20/2008 11:25:21 AM PDT by Zionist Conspirator ( . . . ki lo' `al-halechem levaddo yichyeh ha'adam, ki `al-kol-motza' fi-HaShem yichyeh ha'adam.)
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To: Salvation
Come Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of Thy faithful and enkindle in them the fire of Thy love. Send forth Thy Spirit, and they shall be created, and Thou shalt renew the face of the Earth. Amen.

Let us pray.

O God, who didst instruct the hearts of the faithful by the light of the Holy Spirit, grant us by the same Spirit to have a right judgment in all things and ever rejoice in His consolation, through Christ our Lord. Amen.

9 posted on 08/20/2008 12:07:10 PM PDT by Oratam
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To: Oratam

Thanks for that prayer.


10 posted on 08/20/2008 12:10:11 PM PDT by Salvation (†With God all things are possible.†)
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To: andysandmikesmom; Antoninus; ArrogantBustard; celticfreedom; CTK YKC; dan1123; DaveMSmith; ...
If you want to be on the Catholic Theology for non-Catholics list but are not on it already, or if you are on it but do not want to be, let me know either publicly or privately.

Previously posted:

On Salvation Outside the Catholic Church
The Great Heresies
SALVATION PAST, PRESENT, AND FUTURE
JUSTIFICATION IN CATHOLIC TEACHING
Hermits and Solitaries [Ecumenical]
THE PRIESTHOOD DEBATE
RIGHTEOUSNESS AND MERIT
A Well-Rounded Pope [Ecumenical]
A Monastery to Last 1,000 Years [Ecumenical]
Explaining Purgatory from a New Testament Perspective [Ecumenical]
In the Crosshairs of the Canon [How We Got The Bible] [Ecumenical]
'An Ordinance Forever' - The Biblical Origins of the Mass [Ecumenical]
Beginning Catholic: Church Authority In Scripture [Ecumenical]
Beginning Catholic: Catholic Tradition: Life in the Spirit [Ecumenical]
Christian Atheism
Vatican plea to uncover Virgin Mary and show her breast-feeding baby Jesus
Why do Catholics have to confess their sins to a priest instead of praying straight to God? [Ecu]
Our Times: The Age of Martyrs
The Eucharist - the Lord's Sacrifice, Banquet and Presence
Beginning Catholic: Catholic Morality: Life in Christ [Ecumenical]
Chosen In Him: The Catholic Teaching on Predestination [Ecumenical]
The Sacraments [Ecumenical]
Beginning Catholic: A Strong Start in the Faith: The Catholic RCIA Stages [Ecumenical]
Beginning Catholic: The RCIA Inquiry Stage In the Catholic Church [Ecumenical]
Catholic Art
Evangelicals: Change of Heart toward Catholics
Beginning Catholic: The Creed Of The People Of God: The Essentials/Catholic Belief [Ecumenical]
An open letter to Mr. Stephen A. Baldwin, Actor, and “born again” Christian.
Beginning Catholic: Catholic Purgatory: What Does It Mean? [Ecumenical]

11 posted on 08/20/2008 12:28:57 PM PDT by annalex (http://www.catecheticsonline.com/CatenaAurea.php)
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To: Forest Keeper

Remembering our recent discussion, here’s a thread that does a nice summary of what the Scripture is and is not.


12 posted on 08/20/2008 12:33:17 PM PDT by annalex (http://www.catecheticsonline.com/CatenaAurea.php)
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To: Zionist Conspirator
No, that phrase simply means that God revealed to us what He chose to reveal and that which He revealed is inerrant.

Sections more pertinent to your habitual concern would be

God also used human language and knowledge—with all of its limitations—to tell us his eternal truths.

[...]

if you don't understand what the sacred author was saying to people in his own cultural context, in terms as they were used at the time, you won't be able to clearly see what God is saying through him.


13 posted on 08/20/2008 12:37:51 PM PDT by annalex (http://www.catecheticsonline.com/CatenaAurea.php)
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To: annalex
I already know that you reject total inerrancy. I was inquiring about the article and its source.

I suppose I should have known better than to ask in the first place.

14 posted on 08/20/2008 1:47:51 PM PDT by Zionist Conspirator ( . . . ki lo' `al-halechem levaddo yichyeh ha'adam, ki `al-kol-motza' fi-HaShem yichyeh ha'adam.)
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To: Zionist Conspirator
So, does this mean the Bible is only inerrant when teaching theological matters?

No. It means what it says....the theological matters are of primary significance.

I see where you're going with this though....the author might (I didn't read closely) want to carve out for himself a niche in which to say that non-theological facts could be in error. If so, he's being rather imprudent IMHO.

15 posted on 08/20/2008 2:02:47 PM PDT by Claud
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To: Claud; Zionist Conspirator
non-theological facts could be in error.

They are simply not a part of the revelation. They are a part of the limitations of human language and knowledge.

For example, a reporter might reveal an event he observed in a photograph. That is inerrant, thanks to the physics of the camera and print. However, if you magnify the print of the photograph, you will see dots of red green and blue color that were not a part of the event. They are just the imaging technology. One who would argue that the actual even had a multitude of red, green and blue dots involved because the photograph has then would not be arguing from the inerrancy of the photograph, but from his ignorance of the technology used in photography.

16 posted on 08/20/2008 3:11:45 PM PDT by annalex (http://www.catecheticsonline.com/CatenaAurea.php)
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To: Salvation

Exciting topic.


17 posted on 08/20/2008 4:03:54 PM PDT by defconw (Pray for Snow-RIP TONY, we love you.)
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To: Claud; Zionist Conspirator
the actual even had a multitude of red, green and blue dots involved because the photograph has then

the actual event had a multitude of red, green and blue dots involved because the photograph has them.

Typos that are legitimate words are the worst. There is a lesson in separating the transmission from the content in this as well.

18 posted on 08/20/2008 4:17:50 PM PDT by annalex (http://www.catecheticsonline.com/CatenaAurea.php)
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To: annalex; Claud
non-theological facts could be in error.

They are simply not a part of the revelation.

And I suppose the fact that Popes have condemned this notion of yours (non-theological matter in the Bible is not inerrant) means nothing to you or to those who think like you. Oh well. We all know so much more nowadays than those primitives did.

Since "Biblical scholars" reject the notion that the Israelites were ever in Egypt to begin with I suppose the Book of Exodus is full of historical errors as well.

19 posted on 08/20/2008 5:14:54 PM PDT by Zionist Conspirator ( . . . ki lo' `al-halechem levaddo yichyeh ha'adam, ki `al-kol-motza' fi-HaShem yichyeh ha'adam.)
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To: Zionist Conspirator
Popes have condemned this notion of yours

Got a quote? Precise language matters in these things.

20 posted on 08/20/2008 5:21:04 PM PDT by annalex (http://www.catecheticsonline.com/CatenaAurea.php)
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