Day 15: Interpreting Scripture (109-114)

• We are GRATEFUL to be journeying together in this way

• We want to learn MORE

• God, we want you to reveal yourself EVEN MORE

• God has revealed Himself through Sacred Scripture and Sacred Tradition

• BUT…

• So often, we don’t know

• This is such a great gift to be able to dive more deeply

• So over the past couple of days we talked about how God revealed Himself FULLY

• His FULLNESS OF HIS REVELATION is through His Son, Jesus and His deeds and words that gets committed to writing in some ways through Sacred Scripture and committed to being handed on through SACRED TRADITION and how it is interpreted by The Magisterium

• Ok got that

• We also talked about how God wanted to reveal Himself to us

• He has spoken ONE SINGLE WORD

• ONE UTTERANCE in whom He expresses Himself COMPLETELY

• So we VENERATE SACRED SCRIPTURE

• We recognize how TRULY INSPIRED and how TRUE Sacred Scripture is

• Today we will talk about how the Holy Spirit is not only the INSPIRER of Sacred Scripture

• He is also the INTERPRETER of Sacred Scripture

• So how do we, as Catholic Christians, interpret The Bible?

• THAT IS SO IMPORTANT!!

• We will be given some really basic principles with THREE CRITERIA for interpreting Scripture in accordance with the Holy Spirit who inspired the Scripture

1. We need to be ATTENTIVE to the CONTENT AND UNITY of the WHOLE SCRIPTURE-we look at the WHOLE BIBLE, we do NOT look at JUST ONE PIECE

2. We read Scripture within the LIVING TRADITION OF THE WHOLE CHURCH-so not just Scripture, but also the Fathers of the Church, Sacred Tradition, etc.

3. We have to be attentive to the ANALOGY OF FAITH

• Those are the three criteria we will look at in order to interpret Scripture CORRECTLY

• Those are the three criterion…the criteria?...criteria, yeah…those are the three THINGS that are going to be spelled out today!!

• Let's say a prayer

Prayer by Fr. Mike: “Heavenly Father, we thank you so much. We're so grateful. We are so grateful for you. That you are, and that you reveal yourself to us, that you reveal the depth of your heart to us. That you gave us your only beloved Son so that we might not perish but that we could have eternal life. And you give us your Holy Spirit to guide us and and to continue to guide us into all Truth. Lord help us, help us to read the scriptures according to your spirit. Help us to live according to your spirit so that we can pray according to your spirit and that we may, by your will and by your gracious gift, dwell with you Father, Son, and Holy Spirit for all eternity. We make this prayer in Jesus’ name. Amen.”

• And there we are!!

• So let’s start with Paragraph 109, “In Sacred Scripture, God speaks to man in a human way.”

• THAT IS SO IMPORTANT!!

• We highlighted this yesterday

• The author of Sacred Scripture is THE HOLY SPIRIT

• AND…

• The author of Sacred Scripture is THE HUMAN AUTHOR

• They are BOTH TRULY AUTHORS

• That may seem like a contradiction

• IT IS NOT!!

• IT IS A PARADOX!!

• IT IS A MYSTERY!!

• They are both the authors (Fr. Mike said they are both the HUMAN AUTHORS but I’m pretty sure he meant to say The Holy Spirit and the human authors are BOTH THE AUTHORS of Scripture. Don’t @ me on this! 😉)

• Paragraph 109 continues, “To interpret Scripture correctly, the reader must be attentive to what the human author truly wanted to affirm and to what God wanted to reveal to us by their words.”

• We have to discover the Sacred Author’s INTENTION

• THAT IS SO IMPORTANT!!

• WE HAVE TO KEEP THAT IN MIND!!

• Why?

• Because Scripture TRANSCENDS CULTURES

• Because Scripture TRANSCENDS TIME

• There are phrases that you and I will use in the course of our daily lives that if you were to translate them into another language, it would be NONSENSE and GIBBERISH

• Idioms are one example

• If you tried to translate another language’s idiom into English you would be like, “What are you SAYING??”

• Here is Sacred Scripture which was written over a 2,000 year time period going back to Abraham 4,000 years ago and Jesus 2,000 years ago

• So 4,000-2,000 = 2,000 for the non-math majors out there 😉

• That’s what we are talking about now

• It is spanning CULTURES

• It is spanning GENERATIONS

• The human author is going to be affected by THEIR CULTURE

• The human author is going to be affected by THE MODES OF FEELING AND SPEAKING AND NARRATING THEN CURRENT

• Dei Verbum states in Paragraph 110, “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.”

• So not only do we have to take into account the human author’s INTENTION, TIME PERIOD, ETC.

• BUT…

• What is the LITERARY GENRE?

• The big example is Genesis Ch 1-11 are PRE-HISTORY

• Genesis Ch 12 to the end are giving us HISTORY

• PRE-HISTORY IS REALLY UNIQUE

• Genesis Chs 1 & 2 are a TRUE ACCOUNT OF THE CREATION OF THE WORLD

• That is the REALITY

• At the same time, is it a TRUE BIOLOGICAL ACCOUNT of the creation of the world?

• NO!

• That was NOT the Sacred Author’s intention

• It was NOT to give a BIOLOGICAL ACCOUNT

• It was to give the SUBSTANTIAL ACCOUNT

• It was to give the REASON

• WHY did God create the world?

• WHO created the world?

• In the case of the early chapters of Genesis, the questions that SCIENCE asks are WHAT AND HOW?

• The question that FAITH asks are WHO AND WHY?

• SO KEEP THAT IN MIND!!

• So we’ve tried to discover the Sacred Author’s intention

• Paragraph 111 says, “But since Sacred Scripture is inspired…”

• IT’S NOT JUST THE SACRED AUTHOR!!

• The other author is the HOLY SPIRIT!!

• Sacred Scripture is GOD-BREATHED!!

• Paragraph 111 says, “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’”

• So there is a HUMAN AUTHOR 

• AND…

• There is a DIVINE AUTHOR

• So Matthew says this

• And Luke says this other thing

• We can account for those differences by differences in the temperament of the individuals

• Differences in their knowledge

• Differences in their cultures they were coming from

• Because Matthew was JEWISH and Luke was originally a GENTILE

• BUT…

• The other FULL AUTHOR is the HOLY SPIRIT

• So…

• We MUST read and interpret all the books of Scripture by the light of the HOLY SPIRIT

• So here are the three criteria for interpreting Scripture according to the Holy Spirit:

1. “Be especially attentive ‘to the content and unity of the whole Scripture.’”-what this means is we NEVER ISOLATE ONE TEXT and say, ‘This is the definitive thing.’

• WE NEVER TAKE A TEXT OUT OF CONTEXT!! 

• THIS IS REALLY REALLY IMPORTANT!!

• EVERY TEXT IS READ IN LIGHT OF EVERY OTHER TEXT!!

• The WHOLE BIBLE is seen as a UNITY!!

• 73 different books with a bunch of different authors BUT the Holy Spirit is the DIVINE AUTHOR who authored ALL OF THEM

• When you hear or read the Bible, you can sometimes get the flavor of different authors

• BUT IT IS ALWAYS THE SAME DIVINE AUTHOR

       2.  “Read the Scripture within ‘the living Tradition of the whole Church.’”-this is SO SO                  IMPORTANT!!

• What does this mean?

• WE DO NOT READ SCRIPTURE ON ITS OWN

• WE DO NOT BELIEVE IN THIS IDEA OF “SCRIPTURE ALONE”

• Because Scripture DID NOT COME OUT OF NOWHERE!!

• Scripture came out of the TRADITION OF THE CHURCH!!

• 2 Thessalonians 2:15, “So then, brethren, stand firm and hold to the traditions which you were taught by us, either by word of mouth or by letter.”

• SPOKEN BY US

• OR WRITTEN DOWN BY US

• Sacred Scripture and Sacred Tradition are both INCREDIBLY VALUABLE

• Sacred Scripture and Sacred Tradition are both ESSENTIAL

• So we always read Scripture within the LIVING TRADITION OF THE CHURCH

• This is the FENCE-POST on the ISLAND!! (Do you remember when we talked about the island with fences? Well it was only 3 whole days ago!! Day 12 😁)

        3. “Be attentive to the ANALOGY of Faith”

• What is ANALOGY OF FAITH?

• The New Catholic Encyclopedia says, “Originally, that word ANALOGY is a MATHEMATICAL term. The Greek word means ‘proportion’ and was borrowed by philosophers to refer to the relationship between concepts of things that are PARTLY THE SAME and PARTLY DIFFERENT.”

• That’s what analogies are!!

• Partly the SAME

• Partly DIFFERENT

• It means PROPORTION

• This goes back to Romans 12:6, “Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, in PROPORTION to our faith; if service, in our serving; he who teaches, in his teaching; he who exhorts, in his exhortation; he who contributes, in liberality; he who gives aid, with zeal; he who does acts of mercy, with cheerfulness.”

• The New Catholic Encyclopedia says, “The Pauline injunction is given that this gift of prophecy must be exercised according to the proportion of faith. No prophet is to be accepted who proposes anything opposed to the one Faith proper to the one Body of Christ. Such preaching would be out of proportion to, or beyond the objective truth entrusted to the Christian community.”

• It highlights the fact that every article of Faith, every TRUTH in the Faith is in relationship to EVERY OTHER TRUTH in the Faith

• This means we cannot come up with a NEW INTERPRETATION that is CONTRADICTORY, OUT OF LINE, or DISPROPORTIONATE to the OTHER TRUTHS OF THE FAITH

• They all have to be ONE

• They all have to be HARMONIOUS

• The New Catholic Encyclopedia says, “The analogy of faith, therefore, has always been associated with the one unchanging Faith of the Church. It is closely related to the notion of Tradition and soon became a norm for the early Christian writers. They saw a ‘proportion’ in the manner in which the New Testament compliments the Old Testament and in which each particular Truth continues to the inner unity of the entire Christian Revelation.”

• Ok that sounds like a word salad (And you don’t win friends with salad!! You don’t win friends with salad!! The Simpson's - You Dont Win Friends With Salad 🤣🤣🤣)

• What the Church is trying to make clear is that all of the Articles of Faith are in proportion or are in relationship to EVERY OTHER ARTICLE OF FAITH

• In that relationship and proportionality to each other, there is NEVER going to be one that CANCELS OUT ANOTHER

• So we always read Scripture IN PROPORTION

• We always read Scripture in light of EVERYTHING WE BELIEVE i.e Sacred Scripture, Sacred Tradition, and The Magisterium HAVE REVEALED

• So we pay attention to the WHOLE BIBLE

• We read Scripture within the LIVING TRADITION OF THE WHOLE CHURCH

• We recognize that Scripture is written principally in the Church’s HEART

• NOT JUST IN DOCUMENTS AND RECORDS

• And we are attentive to the ANALOGY OF FAITH which means that when we read Scripture, we ALWAYS keep in mind ALL that God has revealed in Sacred Scripture, Sacred Tradition, and The Magisterium

• These are the FENCES around that ISLAND 

• These are the GUARDRAILS around that ISLAND

• Stay inside THESE and you can just RUN and EXPLORE and PLAY and DIVE DEEPLY INTO SCRIPTURE!!

• Fr. Mike loves to mix his metaphors

• SO GOOD!!

• These 3 criteria for interpreting Scripture according to the Spirit who wrote it as well as trying to discover the Sacred Author’s intention

• THIS IS SUCH A GIFT!!

• It is SO POWERFUL that we have these tools and criteria for being able to interpret Scripture and DIVE DEEPLY

• MAN OH MAN!!

• It’s what gives us that FREEDOM to be able to open up the Bible and say that we will not be steered WRONG

• We will not be BROUGHT OFF TRACK

• We are being attentive to all 3 of these criteria

• We are reading it from the HEART OF THE CHURCH

• IT IS SUCH A GREAT CONSOLATION!!

• IT IS SUCH A GREAT COMFORT!!

• IT GIVES US SUCH GREAT CONFIDENCE!!

• Here’s hoping that you and I can dive into Scripture TODAY and FOR THE REST OF OUR LIVES!!

• Fr. Mike is praying FOR YOU!!

• Please pray for Fr. Mike and for each other

• I cannot WAIT to see you tomorrow!!

Scripture References & Reflections

- compiled by Andrew Adamany

Bible Translation - RSVCE

CCC 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."

2 Peter 3:14–16

"Therefore, beloved, since you wait for these, be zealous to be found by him without spot or blemish, and at peace. And count the forbearance of our Lord as salvation. So also our beloved brother Paul wrote to you according to the wisdom given him, speaking of this as he does in all his letters. There are some things in them hard to understand, which the ignorant and unstable twist to their own destruction, as they do the other scriptures."

CCC 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."

Matthew 19:3–9

"And Pharisees came up to him and tested him by asking, “Is it lawful to divorce one’s wife for any cause?” He answered, “Have you not read that he who made them from the beginning made them male and female, and said, 

‘For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh’? So they are no longer two but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let not man put asunder.” 

They said to him, “Why then did Moses command one to give a certificate of divorce, and to put her away?” 

He said to them, “For your hardness of heart Moses allowed you to divorce your wives, but from the beginning it was not so. And I say to you: whoever divorces his wife, except for unchastity, and marries another, commits adultery; and he who marries a divorced woman, commits adultery.”

CCC 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."

Acts 1:15–20 

"In those days Peter stood up among the brethren (the company of persons was in all about a hundred and twenty), and said, “Brethren, the scripture had to be fulfilled, which the Holy Spirit spoke beforehand by the mouth of David, concerning Judas who was guide to those who arrested Jesus. For he was numbered among us, and was allotted his share in this ministry. (Now this man bought a field with the reward of his wickedness; and falling headlong he burst open in the middle and all his bowels gushed out. And it became known to all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so that the field was called in their language Akeldama, that is, Field of Blood.) For it is written in the book of Psalms, 

‘Let his habitation become desolate, and let there be no one to live in it’; and ‘His office let another take.’

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

CCC 112 "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.

Luke 24:25-27, 44-46

"And he said to them, “O foolish men, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into his glory?” And beginning with Moses and all the prophets, he interpreted to them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself…

Then he said to them, “These are my words which I spoke to you, while I was still with you, that everything written about me in the law of Moses and the prophets and the psalms must be fulfilled.” Then he opened their minds to understand the scriptures, and said to them, “Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead, and that repentance and forgiveness of sins should be preached in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem."

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.

Acts 2:14–24

"But Peter, standing with the eleven, lifted up his voice and addressed them, “Men of Judea and all who dwell in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and give ear to my words. For these men are not drunk, as you suppose, since it is only the third hour of the day; but this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel:

‘And in the last days it shall be, God declares, that I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams; yea, and on my menservants and my maidservants in those days I will pour out my Spirit; and they shall prophesy. And I will show wonders in the heaven above and signs on the earth beneath, blood, and fire, and vapor of smoke; the sun shall be turned into darkness'

“Men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a man attested to you by God with mighty works and wonders and signs which God did through him in your midst, as you yourselves know— this Jesus, delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men. But God raised him up, having loosed the pangs of death, because it was not possible for him to be held by it."

CCC 113 "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").

Acts 15:13–20, 27-28

"After they finished speaking, James replied, “Brethren, listen to me. Simeon has related how God first visited the Gentiles, to take out of them a people for his name. And with this the words of the prophets agree, as it is written, 

‘After this I will return, and I will rebuild the dwelling of David, which has fallen; I will rebuild its ruins, and I will set it up, that the rest of men may seek the Lord, and all the Gentiles who are called by my name, says the Lord, who has made these things known from of old.’ 

Therefore my judgment is that we should not trouble those of the Gentiles who turn to God, but should write to them to abstain from the pollutions of idols and from unchastity and from what is strangled and from blood"…

We have therefore sent Judas and Silas, who themselves will tell you the same things by word of mouth. For it has seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us to lay upon you no greater burden than these necessary things"

CCC 114 "3. Be attentive to the analogy of faith.  By "analogy of faith" we mean the coherence of the truths of faith among themselves and within the whole plan of Revelation.

Romans 12:6–8 

"Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, in proportion to our faith; if service, in our serving; he who teaches, in his teaching; he who exhorts, in his exhortation; he who contributes, in liberality; he who gives aid, with zeal; he who does acts of mercy, with cheerfulness."