The Bible Reborn

America - The National Catholic Review ^ | Jan 20, 2014 | Dianne Bergant

[Alamo-Girl]

Rediscovering the riches of Scripture

A revolution has taken place in the Roman Catholic Church’s understanding of the Bible. As a result, the life and mission of the church have been transformed. Biblical stories and themes formerly unknown have become familiar. This is a relatively recent phenomenon. While the Protestant Reformation in the 16th century championed biblically based preaching and teaching (sola scriptura), the Roman Church focused on traditional doctrine and insisted that its leaders alone were authorized to interpret the Bible. It was not until Pius XII’s encyclical “Divino Afflante Spiritu” (“On Promoting the Study of Sacred Scripture,” 1943) that a dramatic change in church teaching on the Bible was launched. Considered the Magna Carta of the biblical movement, this document inaugurated a new era in Catholic life.

The Second Vatican Council spearheaded a marvelous revitalizing of the Bible in the church. Many of the council participants frequently attended private lectures given by prominent biblical scholars. The Book of the Gospels was solemnly enthroned at the beginning of many general sessions. In 1965, “Dei Verbum” (“The Dogmatic Constitution on Divine Revelation”) opened the door to critical approaches to biblical interpretation. It was almost as if the Bible had been rediscovered, and those engaged in Bible study found new meaning in their religious tradition. The study of the Bible became exciting, and this excitement responded to a profound hunger in the people of God for the word of God. In a matter of decades, the hundreds of years of unfamiliarity with the Bible were quickly spanned and many Roman Catholics became as biblically astute as their Protestant sisters and brothers.

[Alamo-Girl]

Oops. I mentioned you in post 20 and forgot to ping you.

[dadfly]

good post. one of the greatest joys of the computer age has been the ability to study the Bible online, using modern computer search to generate concordances at will.

and i’m forever thankful to those brave, God fearing, souls who first dared to translate the Bible for the common man and Gutenburg’s invention of movable type, mass printing which made possible the dissemination of the Word to all of us who crave it.

[Alamo-Girl]

Soooo very true, dear dadfly! I also am very grateful to the translators and printers!

[Elsiejay]

“Now, about those criticisms of the Protestant
Reformation.........”

The Spirit moves, as and when it will.

[MichaelCorleone]

***...the Roman Church focused on traditional doctrine and insisted that its leaders alone were authorized to interpret the Bible.***

In earlier years I often complained that it was not only unfair but somewhat condescending that the Roman Catholic Church elders only were to be trusted to interpret the Bible and lead the parishioners to Christ, and not the parishioners themselves.

Then I started to attend several independent Bible studies with other Catholics and found that many ended up more confused and lacking in faith than before our studies began. Mostly, I think, due to laziness in studying the Word, arguing instead of sincerely searching for the truth, and inconsistent effort.

Based on that experience (that spanned years), I realized why the Church did what it did with respect to Bible reading. Although I still study on my own with my family, I no longer complained.

I am not trying to be sour grapes here - this truly is an exciting development and I will embrace it to be sure. I just wanted to share with you some of the pitfalls I've come across in my own journey.

[BlueDragon]

Yes, you are putting them all together very well. I take it for granted that you shall, as long as you still draw breath.

thank you for this thread.

[Alamo-Girl]

Thank you for sharing your experience and concerns, dear MichaelCorleone!

Group Bible study is a wonderful thing, but it is true that we aren't made with a cookie cutter so some will go faster, some slower, veer this way or that, twiddle thumbs or jump on a soapbox. Like school.

For that reason I always strongly encourage individual Bible reading.

Indeed, my first suggestion for a new Christian is a hot cup of cocoa, coffee or tea in a comfortable chair and the Gospel of John.

[Alamo-Girl]

Yes, indeed, dear brother in Christ! Thank you for your encouragements!

[xone]

Priests, deacons and catechists were to receive solid biblical training, because preaching, catechetics and all forms of instruction were to be rooted in the word of Scripture (No. 25).

This preparatory document urged all believers to pursue greater understanding of the church’s teaching concerning Scripture and knowledge of appropriate interpretive methods.

These two thoughts don't seem to go together. 'If all forms of instruction were to be rooted in scripture' why would 'greater understanding of the church’s teaching concerning Scripture and knowledge of appropriate interpretive methods' be necessary?

[Iscool]

How better to know God and His ways than to read and believe His words???

Psa_119:105 Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.

[xone]

Troubles abound:

Contemporary forms of liberation theology that champion gender, racial, ethnic, political or economic rights ground their demands for justice, as did Jesus, in the teachings of these prophets.

Not close.

[xone]

Perhaps the most startling statement is a simple declaration of love: “I have loved you with an everlasting love” (Jer 31:3). The divine passion expressed in these few words is mind-boggling. However, it was not unknown to Jesus who, in the story of “The Prodigal Son” (Lk 15:11-32), describes such loving sentiments in his portrayal of the compassionate father.

Another 'odd' statement. Not unknown to Jesus? Since he was there, that is Jesus the Word in Jeremiah.

[xone]

sheila dierks | 1/10/2014 - 1:32pm Dianne Bergant is a true light in our world of scripture. She speaks for the revolutionary teachings and they are indeed there to be found. Some of the most important work of excavating the Scripture comes from those who are in the growing church of the Southern Hemisphere where life experience wed to the Word allows new meanings to emerge. The revolutionary teachings can also be found in the work of gender-sensitive thealogians, and also environmentally sensitive ones. This is a great and wonderful bursting forth in which the Word becomes blessedly re-revealed by those who are searching for the Good Word for them and for those about whom they care. An additional observation, embedded in but perhaps not made explicit, is that Scripture translations would be blessed and benefited by an emergence of inclusive language. Then words such as "men" when it is intended to include all be retranslated as "human" or other non-gendered terms. Perhaps a small but a very important step, it would, as Dianne points out, "champion... gender justice... as Jesus did."

Kinda kills the good feeling. Revolutionary teachings? Changing the Word of God to suit an agenda, same pld baloney.

[xone]

Finally, we should not forget that the psalms were Jesus’ prayers as well.

This sentence belies the purported scholarship of this article. It reveals a fundamental disconnect. From whence does the author think the words of the Psalms originate?

[xone]

From the article:

The church has always officially resisted supersessionist thinking.

Complaints were made that while the Pope did indeed eliminate certain severe expressions in the 1962 Missal’s prayer that many were finding offensive to Jews, he did not modify the old prayer’s doctrinal content. That is, the new text prays just as clearly as the old for the conversion of Israel – the Jewish people – to belief in Jesus as the promised Messiah. And this has been seen in some quarters as a reversion to the centuries-old Catholic belief in ‘supersessionism’ that many understood to have been definitively abandoned by the Church as a result of the Second Vatican

Snip from:

supersessionism

I am not familiar with Catholic Culture but there seems to be a contradiction. Based on the earlier review of the article, Catholic Culture seems more credible.

[verga]

the Roman Church focused on traditional doctrine and insisted that its leaders alone were authorized to interpret the Bible.

This statement is false. The Catholic Church has officially interpreted less than a dozen verses, and has always that that people may interpret the Bible for themselves, as long as those interpretations do not directly contradict those official interpretations.

[mitch5501]

From the article...

“I have loved you with an everlasting love” (Jer 31:3). The divine passion expressed in these few words is mind-boggling"

Isn't it just!

I'm aware that a lot of the time I come across as a giddy teenager on the RF,bursting at the seams trying to horn in on the adults conversation for the most part.Being diligent to have only one foot in my mouth at a time.

I don't care.

When I first accepted Jesus at a catholic charismatic meeting I was badgered into attending,I had little idea of what I was in for.

The more I read the more I got the feeling I was making a monumental discovery.Matthew 13:44 "Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto treasure hid in a field; the which when a man hath found, he hideth, and for joy thereof goeth and selleth all that he hath, and buyeth that field."

A certain (badgering)friend handed me a shovel and the two of us felt like Indiana Jones as we dug in that field.The more we discovered the more we began to grasp what we didn't know and the more our awe of God grew.We quickly ran out of words to describe what was unfolding before us and I began to wonder if it were even possible to exaggerate the enormity of it all.

We discovered eternity and that the Cosmic Observer,the Almighty Creator,the Father of Light,was deeply interested in each one of us as individuals.To the point He knows our hearts better than we do.We came to believe that the Word of God was a bonifide extra-terrestrial artefact and provided proof that we are indeed not alone in the universe.

Those are pretty big discoveries in anybody's book.The only thing stopping me from running around as though my hair were on fire was the fact it seemed as though no-one else had any inkling of any of this.Which sometimes made me wonder if I was slowly loosing my marbles.I'm fairly certain I'm not But I still chuckle nervously at the thought.

The point of that rant being that Christianity is the greatest discovery that anyone can ever make.Dig in that field and you will never be the same!

The Word of God is dynamite!Ushers should issue helmets and pews should be fitted with safety belts!

Thanks for the article Alamo-Girl.It's always good to see His Word held up.

And thanks for suffering me to rant a little,or a lot,or not.

[metmom]

This statement is false. The Catholic Church has officially interpreted less than a dozen verses, and has always that that people may interpret the Bible for themselves, as long as those interpretations do not directly contradict those official interpretations.

If the Catholic church has only OFFICIALLY interpreted less than a dozen verses and Catholics may interpret as they see fit as long as it does not contradict official interpretation, that means that there's only less than a dozen verses not left open to any RC's own personal interpretation.

That in effect, leaves the entire rest of the Bible open to any Catholic person's OPIOS.

And non-Catholics are derided for what again?

NOw there's not a Catholic around who can legitimately tell me that my own personal interpretation is not valid.

[Gamecock]

A dozen verses?

What have they been doing?