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How Not to Interpret Scripture
Crisis Magazine ^
| March 21, 2016
| MICHAEL HAYES
Posted on 03/21/2016 3:43:44 PM PDT by NYer
There is a class that most college students will take at one point in their academic career. It is the course on Western CivilizationWestern Civ for short. It is a feeble attempt to supplement the modern college curriculum (typically in two freshman-level courses) with what used to be the very backbone of a liberal education. The course revolves around classics of the Western Tradition: Platos Republic, Virgils Aeneid, Augustines Confessions, Descartes Meditations, and Lockes Second Treatise on Government. But one text in particular, I think, has been subject to mistreatment and misusethe Holy Bible.
The problem is simple. One of the goals of the Western Civilization class is to teach students the ways in which certain texts have shaped the world in which we live. This often does not happen within the modern secular university.
The reason for this is that most people charged with teaching such classes have been deeply steeped within the modern worldview; as such, their understanding of scripture is quite different from the approach that shaped the ancient and medieval world. Typically, there are three ways to understand scripture available to the modern mindnone of these are true to the actual historical reading of the Bible; more importantly, none of these accurately reflect the way in which the Bible has been understood within the Catholic intellectual tradition.
The first of these three approaches to scripture is fundamentalism. This view, which has been popular in America for over a century, is a byproduct of the Protestant rejection of the interpretive tradition of the Catholic Church. Instead of relying on a tradition of apostolic tradition (full of flawed human beings, to be sure) or on the powers of human reason (which are often mistaken) to aid in our understanding of Gods Word, the fundamentalist view simply accepts all passages of the Bible as literal, historical truths. If the genealogy from Adam suggests that the world is 6000 years old, so be itregardless of what human reason, through the sciences of geology, biology, anthropology, and all the rest may say. The word of God is meant to be taken literally at every stepand our faith demands that we reject our own reason when it conflicts with this literalistic approach to the scriptures.
While this approach to scripture is somewhat influential throughout America, the second approach is constantly growing in popularity among those with a weak background in theology and history, and especially among those who spend a considerable amount of time on the internet (i.e., the young). It is largely derivative of the fundamentalist view, except it is highly antagonistic in nature. This approach to scripture is largely characterized by a highly uncharitable reading of various passages with the intention to undermine their moral, spiritual, or religious authority. Popular authors like Richard Dawkins and Christopher Hitchens, and popular figures in entertainment like Bill Maher are spokesmen for this approach.
You expect me to believe that snakes can talk? Or that the first day could have existed before the creation of celestial bodies? How childish, how absurd, they say, without ever attempting to penetrate the text in pursuit of deeper, spiritual, truths.
This view, while rarely endorsed by college faculty (for even most unchurched professors understand how anti-intellectual it actually is) is nevertheless very popular on college campuses due to the combination of theologically uneducated youths, the internet (where misinformation abounds), and a desire to view oneself as intellectually superior; picking on people of faith is an easy target when one thinks that such people are naive, superstitious, and simply irrational, given the assumption that everything in the Bible is to be understood (by people of faith) to be literal, unambiguous, scientific, historical truth.
The final approach to scripture encountered on college campuses, while certainly more intellectually respectable, is equally unhelpful when trying to gain an understanding of the way in which scripture shaped our world. This is the historical-critical method, developed in the early modern period by philosophers like Benedict Spinoza. Writing in a period of religious persecution and widespread theological controversy, Spinoza argued that biblical scholars should read scripture as if it were not the word of Godas if the many books of the Bible had no collective unity, no overall meaning as a whole, no purpose beyond what the human author, in his own historically limited view of the world, could have intended.
This became the model of all secular Biblical interpretation within modern universitiesthe Bible was a collection of ancient writings, stemming from particular and contingent historical circumstances, which could give us insight into ancient Jewish and Christian thought, but is not necessarily reflective of any higher, deeper truths.
The problem with all of these approaches, at least, within a Western Civilization class, is that they are peculiarly modern. That is, they are entirely inappropriate for understanding the way in which the Bible shaped the Western world within the context of ancient and medieval history, which is typically the context in which they are examined.
If the goal of a Western Civilization class is to help students understand the way in which these texts have shaped the world; if it is to involve them in the great conversation that extends back to the fathers of our Western culture, we ought to teach our students how the great minds within the Catholic intellectual tradition understood the word of God, as it was this Catholic tradition that shaped the West.
Students are often surprised to find that St. Augustine, an ancient Roman in a world of pagan superstition, argued that the creation stories in Genesis are not to be understood as scientific, cosmological truths. They are puzzled by the fact that Aquinas, a medieval monk, praises reason, philosophy, and science in addition to faith. This is a product of their lack of exposure to the very worldview that produced Christendoma blind spot in the college education of many.
The approach to scripture that transformed the Western world is one in which the whole of the scriptures is interpreted through the lens of the Word of God incarnate. God, it is revealed to us, is Truth and Love. Therefore nothing within his revelation can contradict Truth and Loveany interpretation of the Bible that is contrary to the light of human reason or that contradicts the law of love cannot be from God.
Contrary to fundamentalism, our faith, and the scripture in which it is revealed, is not contrary to reason. Contrary to the critics of fundamentalism, we do not treat faith as an anti-intellectual substitute for reason. Contrary to the historical-critical method, the Bible is an integrated whole that cannot be understood merely by an analysis of its parts.
This leads to the last misunderstanding about the scriptures. It is not the Bible alone that serves as the basis for our faith; rather, the Bible is only at home within the Church, with its long apostolic tradition, a tradition of authoritative interpretation that can be traced to Jesus himself. In the Acts of the Apostles, the Ethiopian eunuch could not understand the scriptures until Phillipan apostle, charged with authority by Christinterpreted them for him.
It is rare that this apostolic, Catholic approach to Biblical interpretation is offered to students at our modern, secular universities. Thus, the graduates of these universities may ultimately become ignorant of the understanding of scripture that shaped the world in which we live. The approach to the Bible that produced the West as we know itan approach that looks for deeper, spiritual meanings, transcending the letter of the text, as part of a holistic revelation of the God that is Truth and Loveis often missing from the college curriculum. This is true even in a course like Western Civilization, which places such importance on history, interpretation, and the roots of our culture.
TOPICS: Apologetics; Catholic; Religion & Culture; Theology
KEYWORDS: bible; crisismagazine; education; michaelhayes; modernity; perpetuousity; scripture; westernciv; westerncivilization
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To: MHGinTN
You can learn a lot about the pagan world prior to Jesus resurrection by looking deeply at the Catholic Religion, because it has incorporated so many of the pagan rites and holidays into that religion. Easter is a prime example, with the Ishtar holiday (Ishtar is Easter) being put into the rituals as a Sunday cewremony to replace what the earliest Christians celebrated on Nisan 14, The Passover, as Jesus established it. It was brilliant planning, what better way to get a large crowd at your celebration than to schedule it on, or very near, a date when they were having a celebration of their own....they soon changed the intent of the celebration without having to reschedule it.
141
posted on
03/22/2016 6:53:37 PM PDT
by
terycarl
(COMMON SENSE PREVAILS OVER ALL)
To: ealgeone
The edifice known as the roman catholic church was not in existence until the late third or 4th century. There was no pope. No Mary worship. No prayers to Mary. No indulgences No purgatory Nonsense, by the third century, the Catholic church had 30 Popes...St Marcellinus 296-304. We do not pray to Mary, we ask her intercession so we pray through her, Purgatory has existed for ever.....you don't know much about the Catholic church, do you???
142
posted on
03/22/2016 7:10:31 PM PDT
by
terycarl
(COMMON SENSE PREVAILS OVER ALL)
To: terycarl
Oh I agree, brilliant planning by the father of lies. And as you point out, it soon changed the intent of the Passover to more closely fit the pagan practices of sacrificing food to idols then eating it to get the idol’s divinity in them. probably made a large increase in the catholiciism coffers, bringing those pagans into the ‘other religion’ so like their last religion.
143
posted on
03/22/2016 7:11:10 PM PDT
by
MHGinTN
(Democrats bait then switch; their fishy voters buy it every time.)
To: MamaB
144
posted on
03/22/2016 7:27:08 PM PDT
by
Salvation
("With God all things are possible." Matthew 19:26)
To: terycarl
Thank you for telling me how right you are.
145
posted on
03/22/2016 7:54:16 PM PDT
by
MeganC
(The Republic of The United States of America: 7/4/1776 to 6/26/2015 R.I.P.)
To: Salvation
Fugettaboutit, that typo wasn’t even reread worthy. My old fingers make a half-dozen of those every day.
146
posted on
03/22/2016 7:55:14 PM PDT
by
MHGinTN
(Democrats bait then switch; their fishy voters buy it every time.)
To: metmom
What "singularity" The kind that changes with the passage of time? Like priests can be married/can't be married/whatever. Or like the differences that exist between the Roman church and the EO, both of which think they are the original, true to form church and the other branch is in schism? Sigh....another day that you missed in Catechism class...unmarried priesthood is a simple rule which could be changed at any time....has no bearing on Catholic dogma whatsoever. The schism was exactly that....the Roman church existed and there were those who wished to challenge the papal authority.....now, the Pope had been in existence for a long long time before the schism, therefore it was the eastern church which split.....All, however, are still true and faithful Catholics and will someday, probably soon, reunite their groups.
147
posted on
03/22/2016 8:00:58 PM PDT
by
terycarl
(COMMON SENSE PREVAILS OVER ALL)
To: NYer; Salvation; wideawake
Here are some "not really Catholics" who don't agree with you.
I know you probably think it is funny to continually post these attacks on the veracity of the Bible in the name of "immemorial chrstian tradition" and slander simple rural American people while you defend equally scientifically impossible miracles in the NT (and simple Catholic people). But I'm afraid it's not really very funny.
I'm sorry you can't seem to understand.
[Courtesy ping to Salvation because Fr. Longenecker is mentioned.]
148
posted on
03/22/2016 8:02:23 PM PDT
by
Zionist Conspirator
(The "end of history" will be worldwide Judaic Theocracy.)
To: terycarl
We do not pray to Mary, we ask her intercession so we pray through her, Purgatory has existed for ever.....you don't know much about the Catholic church, do you???Seems as if I know more than you do about the practices of the rcc.
Maybe you need to go back to catechism class!
CCC 2679 Mary is the perfect Orans (pray-er), a figure of the Church.
When we pray to her,
we are adhering with her to the plan of the Father, who sends His Son to save all men. Like the beloved disciple we welcome Jesus' mother into our homes, for she has become the mother of all the living. We can pray with and
to her.
The prayer of the Church is sustained by the prayer of Mary and united with it in hope.
To: ealgeone
Wow...way to take a stand on the issue. Since I don't really know, I like to cover all possibilities...!!!
150
posted on
03/22/2016 8:24:56 PM PDT
by
terycarl
(COMMON SENSE PREVAILS OVER ALL)
To: MeganC
Thank you for telling me how right you are. You're welcome....anytime!!
151
posted on
03/22/2016 8:29:40 PM PDT
by
terycarl
(COMMON SENSE PREVAILS OVER ALL)
To: terycarl
Ah but you can know. Just read the Word.
To: terycarl
153
posted on
03/23/2016 9:13:28 AM PDT
by
MeganC
(The Republic of The United States of America: 7/4/1776 to 6/26/2015 R.I.P.)
To: NYer
>>>>This leads to the last misunderstanding about the scriptures. It is not the Bible alone that serves as the basis for our faith; rather, the Bible is only at home within the Church, with its long apostolic tradition, a tradition of authoritative interpretation that can be traced to Jesus himself. In the Acts of the Apostles, the Ethiopian eunuch could not understand the scriptures until Phillipan apostle, charged with authority by Christinterpreted them for him.<<<<
#1 - The Eunuch was spiritually dead. The Word is spiritually discerned. This was God’s Grace in action for a sincere seeker of His Truth, so that he might be saved - God will pour water on thirsty ground (Isaiah 44:3). NOTE - Philip did NOT stay with him after he was baptized. The eunuch continued on with the Word (OT) that he had, while Philip was translated to another place to continue preaching the Gospel. Philip leading the eunuch to Christ is not a model for spiritual growth of a Believer who is - to desire the sincere milk of the WORD that you may grow. (1 Peter 2:2) Jesus encouraged the little children to come to HIM, not to organized religion. And the Kingdom of God must be received like a little child. (Matthew 18:3, 19:14, Mark 10:15, Luke 18:17) Meditate on those verses for a time. Paul writes to the Corinthian assembly that they needed milk and not solid food because they were not spiritual. He did not teach them human wisdom, but instead God’s Word. (1 Corinthians 2 & 3) It is the entrance of the Word that gives Light, even to the simple. (Psalm 119:130)
#2 - It is the “long apostolic tradition” which gave the world some of the darkest centuries of Christendom, with persecution, torture, and murder of those who dared to disagree with the state religion. It gave us Bible bans, and burnings, keeping the Word out of the hands of Believers. It was for similar religious traditions and hypocrisy that Jesus condemned the religious leaders of his time - Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You travel over land and sea to win a single convert, and when you have succeeded, you make them twice as much a child of hell as you are.” (Matthew 23) Howbeit in vain do they worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men. For laying aside the commandment of God, ye hold the tradition of men... (Matthew 15, Mark 7)
#3 - What did Paul tell Timothy - “Preach the Word.” He wrote the Corinthians that they, “preach the Word of God with sincerity and with Christ’s authority.” And to the Roman assembly that the “Word is first in your mouth and then in your heart - the Word of faith we preach.” Throughout the time of Acts they “preached the Word to the Jews first, and then the Gentiles.” Its the Word that transforms lives, not religious tradition. Jesus gave us the Father’s Word, not ceremonies and traditions. (John 17) And after Paul received the Revelation of the Mystery, it was the Truth that by Grace we are saved by faith, Blessed with all Spiritual Blessings and seated in Heavenly places in Christ Jesus! You cannot know this Truth except by hearing the Word. (Ephesians 1 - 3) Too many religious folks have never received this wonderful Revelation.
#4 - Romans 10:17 - So faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the Word of Christ. If you claim that, “It is not the Bible alone that serves as the basis for our faith.” You are contradicting God’s Word. No one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ, the Living Word. He is the author and finisher of our faith! (Isaiah 28:16, 1 Corinthians 3:11, Hebrews 12:2, 1 Peter 2) The Word is the incorruptible Seed with which we are Born Again! (1 Peter 1:18-25) It is the God-breathed Scriptures which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. (2 Timothy 3:14-17) What more could religion, religious reasoning, or their traditions add to that?
#5 - How did Jesus stop satanic temptation - “It is written...” How did he counter religious ignorance, “It is written...” How did he deflect religious attacks, “It is written...” How did he answer religious inquiries, “It is written...” It seems there might be a pattern. Maybe one day the theologians will figure it all out and explain it to the rest of us.
We are mightily blessed to live in a time of freedom, where the Word is readily available in a multitude of formats and languages. Technology has made it possible to search the Bible in ways that no theologian even 100 years ago could have ever imagined. There is no excuse for not daily digging into God’s Word and letting His Truth speak directly to you.
“...this was not revealed to you by flesh and blood, but by my Father in heaven.” — Matthew 16:17
154
posted on
03/23/2016 12:14:26 PM PDT
by
Kandy Atz
("Were we directed from Washington when to sow and when to reap, we should soon want for bread.")
To: NYer
That’s not even a good sales pitch, unless you are a Catholic of course...
Neither Aquinas nor Augustine knew any more about God or the scriptures than modern day Bible scholars...And by their own admission they relied on their own intellectual reasoning rather than the wisdom of God in understanding the scriptures...
They even rejected the admonition of the earliest church fathers; ‘avoid and run away from any teaching that claims to be from God if it can not be found in the scriptures...
The Catholic religion didn’t exist til the 4th Century and the first pope didn’t show up til what, the 9th Century??? And that position was based on the lies written in the forged Isidorian Decretals...
It’s a nice, pious looking religion, but there’s no truth in it...
155
posted on
03/23/2016 12:31:44 PM PDT
by
Iscool
(Trump will Triumph)
To: MamaB
Thank you for saying what I have thought. It seems that they post pro-Catholic instead of pro-Bible. Tis a shame. It is like they hate the Bible. I wonder why.Most of them don't even own a Bible...The written words of God, and they aren't interested...
156
posted on
03/23/2016 12:34:09 PM PDT
by
Iscool
(Trump will Triumph)
To: Wyrd bið ful aræd
Ishtar and Easter are totally unconnected. The supposed connection has been so thoroughly debunked at all levels that I'm almost, almost, surprised that the anti-Catholic crowd here still runs with it.Like many things Catholic it has been denied, never debunked...
157
posted on
03/23/2016 12:37:54 PM PDT
by
Iscool
(Trump will Triumph)
To: Wyrd bið ful aræd
The singularity of Catholic Dogma is one of its strongest truths. Jesus has one flock. You are with Him or against Him. The numerous Protestant groups cant all be right, because there is only one truth. Yes they can...
It might be nice to imagine that we can all believe different things and all be right, but such a notion defies logic on its face.
Ya see, that's what you get for thinking...That's what logic does to us...Logic is for people who don't know something...It's the lowest rung on the ladder...Once you know something, logic fades away...
Pro_3:5 Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding
158
posted on
03/23/2016 12:42:42 PM PDT
by
Iscool
(Trump will Triumph)
To: Iscool
That is why some throw such a fit when scriptures are posted. Bless their hearts. No wonder they say Catholics Instead of Christian. Can’t be Christians if the Bible is not followed. I feel sorry for them. They could have it all but rely more on so called tradition. Just wow.
159
posted on
03/23/2016 1:02:15 PM PDT
by
MamaB
(Heb. 13:2)
To: Iscool
Amen. After my daughter, brother, husband and mom died in a short time, I did not understand why but I knew God was in control. Losing my daughter was the very worst. I had to lean on Him. Jesus is the answer, the only answer. God bless.
160
posted on
03/23/2016 1:07:00 PM PDT
by
MamaB
(Heb. 13:2)
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