The Old Testament in the Heart of the Catholic
Church
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In the Catechism, the bishops united with the Holy Father teach [CCC 111]
that there is someone in overall charge of interpreting what the Bible
means - and it's not you. The bishops mean that
(a) a distinguished panel of experts is in charge of telling us what the
Bible means.
(b) the Holy Spirit, who inspired the Bible, is in charge of protecting
its meaning.
(c) the ordinary person is too ignorant to figure out what the Bible
means.
Just notice how much the wrong answers teach you in this question. No
matter who tells you otherwise, a distinguished panel of experts is not in
charge of telling us what the Bible means. Also, no matter what anybody
says, an ordinary person like you is not too ignorant to figure out what
the Bible means.
On the other hand, it is good to learn what smart people who study the
Bible for a living have to say. However, as the right answer teaches you,
there's a difference between being smart, and being in charge. The Holy
Spirit, who inspired the Bible in the first place, is in charge of
protecting its meaning - not you, not me, not any mere human being.
<<
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It is not unusual in English for the same word to have two totally
distinct meanings. English has many words like that, such as the word
'bat,' which can mean 'what a baseball player uses to hit with' or 'a
small furry mammal.' We easily use context to figure out which 'bat' is
meant. For more than a thousand years, ordinary speakers of English also
did that with the words 'man' and 'he.'
The words ''man'' and ''he'' may be used in context to mean a male human
being. However, for well over a thousand years, the same words have also
been used in context to mean a ''generic'' human being (a baby, child, or
adult of any skin color and either sex), as in the phrase, ''all men are
created equal.'' [Declaration of Independence]
Just like 'bat,' the English word 'man' has two totally distinct
meanings, and ordinary English speakers have always been able to use the
context of the sentence to figure out which is meant.
In fact, as far back as written records exist, the English word ''man''
has had these two meanings. 'Man' could always in context mean ''generic
human being.'' For instance, the seventh-century Anglo-Saxon Chronicle
speaks of the woman Aorchengota, ''a holy maid and a wonderful man
(wundorlic man).''
As you can see, English speakers in the 600s were already quite clear
that the word 'man' did not necessarily refer to a male human being. It
was very, very clear to them that Aorchengota was in no way a male human
being, but that she was still a 'man,' in the sense of a wonderful
(generic) human being.
For as far back as we have records, the English words 'man' and 'he'
could also refer in context to a 'generic human being' and did not
necessarily refer to a male human being. Just ask Aorchengota.
Around 1970, some academics with advanced degrees, but absolutely no
competence in the science and history of how English words have been used,
began to claim some peculiar (and completely inaccurate) things about the
words 'man' and 'he.' These academics and their followers may have taught
you to be deeply offended by the words 'man' and 'he.'
These academics have cheated you out of your linguistic heritage. If you
do not understand that the words 'man' and 'he' could always mean 'generic
human being' in English, then over a thousand years of English usage
becomes unintelligible to you.
'All men are created equal' will not have the meaning to you that the
writers of the Declaration intended. To you, Aorchengota will no longer be
a 'wonderful man.' That is a lot to give up to be offended by claims about
'man' and 'he' that are not even true.
The first reason to teach you about 'man' and 'he' in this course is
practical. The English translation of the Catechism of the Catholic Church
quite frequently uses "man" and "he" to refer to a generic human being.
Since you're going to be reading from the Catechism a lot, it just makes
good practical sense to give you some practice in doing what English
speakers have been doing for over a thousand years: using context to
determine whether the words 'man' and 'he' (and 'his') refer to a generic
human being, or a male human being.
There is a deeper reason to teach you about this phony controversy about
'man' and 'he,' which is directly relevant to your study of the Old
Testament. That's for later.
For now, this course will do you a very small service. It will help you
to remove any sense of outrage or offense regarding the words 'man' and
'he,' and thereby enable you to recover a small but significant part of
your linguistic heritage, which no one should have tried to take from you
in the first place. <<
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''He who hesitates is lost'' means
a. don't hesitate, or you will be lost.
b. females who hesitate are not lost.
c. only male human beings who hesitate are
lost.
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If you see a sign on a beach that says, ''Warning! Man-eating sharks!'',
that means that
a. everybody had better stay out of the
water today.
b. if you're a female, the sharks will not
attack you.
c. only males had better not swim
today.
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Words often have different meanings, depending on context. Here are three
sentences that can be used to illustrate this point: ''The baseball player
picked up the bat. It was small, warm, and fuzzy. It fluttered its wings,
and then settled back to sleep.'' Together, the three sentences mean
that
a. the baseball player picked up a baseball
bat with unusual properties.
b. the baseball player picked up a small
flying mammal.
c. people have no ability to figure out the
meaning of a word from context.
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When we can easily see that ''He who hesitates is lost'' and ''man-eating
sharks'' refer to all human beings, regardless of sex, skin color, or age,
that means we
a. are unable to figure out from context
whether the words ''he'' or ''man'' refer to a generic human being.
b. are oppressors who falsely believe that
the words ''he'' or ''man'' can refer to a generic human being.
c. can usually easily figure out from
context whether the words ''he'' or ''man'' refer to a generic human
being.
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Around 1970, some theorists and academics in the English-speaking world
began to claim that the English word ''man'' had only one meaning: ''male
human being,'' that ''he'' and ''his'' at all times referred only to
males, and that everyone should be highly offended and feel deeply hurt if
anyone tries to use the word ''man'' to mean ''generic human being.'' This
shows that
a. the human race had forgotten the English
word for ''generic human being.''
b. humans are no longer able to figure out
the meaning of a word from context.
c. theorists and academics can sometimes
believe incredibly silly things.
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In the early 15th century, the bishop of Beauvais (pronounced
''bow-VAY''), France, who was the former rector (director) of the
University of Paris, with the help of dozens of Catholic priests and
religious (many of whom were sitting professors of theology from the
University of Paris) tried nineteen-year-old St. Joan of Arc as a heretic,
made her sleep chained to her bed in a tiny cell, then required her, an
illiterate peasant, having had little rest and continually fearful of rape
or worse from her guards, to arise each morning, stand, and face a small
army of professors, who not only questioned her but badgered her with
carefully-composed trick questions for days on end. At last she faltered
to their satisfaction, and then this Catholic bishop and those Catholic
professors from the most famous Catholic university of the day condemned
St. Joan as a heretic before God and the Catholic Church, and they all
watched as the civil authorities burned her alive at the stake. From these
facts we may conclude that
a. Roman Catholic bishops never sin, and
their judgments are always correct.
b. theology professors never sin, and their
judgments are always correct.
c. we all are prone to sin, and we all can
make horrifying errors in judgment.
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A heresy is an idea that clearly conflicts with what the Catholic Church
solemnly teaches. About a hundred years after Christ's death and
resurrection (around 140 AD), a baptized Christian named Marcion
(MAR-see-on) taught that Christ was the Son of God. This teaching is
a. a truth handed on by the Catholic
Church.
b. a heresy contrary to Catholic
teaching.
c. an idea that is neither true nor
false.
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Marcion also taught that there were two Gods, the God of the New
Testament, who stays completely apart from the world but sent his Son, and
a vain and angry God of the Old Testament, who created the sinful,
material world we all must live in. This teaching is
a. a truth handed on by the Catholic
Church.
b. a heresy contrary to Catholic
teaching.
c. an idea that is neither true nor
false.
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Marcion taught that Christ was the Son of God. He also taught that God's
Son, Christ, was sent by a different God than the one who inspired the Old
Testament. Marcion's ideas were found by the Catholic Church to contradict
the faith of the apostles. When Marcion continued to teach these things
after being told that they contradicted the faith, he was expelled from
the Catholic Church in 144 AD. This shows that
a. absolutely everything in an idea has to
be in direct conflict with what the Catholic Church professes in order for
the idea to be a heresy.
b. if something in an idea is determined by
the Catholic Church to be in direct conflict with what the Catholic Church
professes, it is a heresy.
c. what matters is whether the most
important idea is faithful to the Church's teachings, not whether some
particular point contradicts the faith.
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In effect Marcion taught that the Old Testament was not part of the
''real'' Bible. His ideas were popular, and they had to be resisted very
vigorously. This shows that
a. it doesn't matter if someone has ideas
that contradict the Catholic faith, as long as we all get along.
b. it is important that the Catholic Church
point out ideas that directly contradict her teachings.
c. the world would have been the same, and
everything would have been just fine, if Marcion's ideas had won.
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In this book, after you choose your answer, checking it against the
correct answer is
a. allowed, but only if you're
confused.
b. optional if you're sure you're
right.
c. something you need to do every time.
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Using an ''incremental approach'' to teach you means
a. giving you long, brilliant lectures
about each important idea.
b. teaching you ideas a little at a time,
over a long period of time.
c. treating only one topic per lesson, then
moving on to other things.
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In this text, the letters ''CCC'' stand for
a. Catalogue of Catholic Concepts.
b. Catechism of the Catholic Church.
c. Compendium of the Catholic Church.
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The last sentence of CCC 123 begins (Yes, you do have to look it up):
a. ''The Church, following the apostles,
teaches that Christ died for all men without exception...''
b. ''The Church has always vigorously
opposed the idea of rejecting the Old Testament...''
c. ''The Eucharist is properly the
sacrament of those who are in full communion with the Church.''
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When you see the word ''man'' or ''men'' in an English sentence
a. it automatically excludes women,
one-half of the human race.
b. it automatically refers exclusively to
male human beings.
c. it might refer to a ''generic human
being,'' without regard for age or gender.
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At Mass, if the priest chooses Eucharistic Prayer IV, he says,
''Father... You formed man in your own likeness and set him over the whole
world....'' This means that
a. man is formed in the likeness of
God.
b. only males are formed in the likeness of
God.
c. women are not formed in the likeness of
God.
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When theorists and professors since 1970 teach that the words ''man'' and
''he'' refer only to males,
a. they are pointing out that, around 1970,
every human being on earth forgot the English words for ''generic human
being.''
b. they are saying something silly, since,
for over a thousand years, those English words have also meant ''generic
human being.''
c. they make us aware that, since 1970, all
human beings have lost the ability to use context to find the meaning of
words.
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When such theorists and professors tell us that we need to say, ''He or
she who hesitates is lost,'' because ''He who hesitates is lost'' excludes
women,
a. they are pointing out that, around 1970,
every human being on earth forgot the English words for ''generic human
being.''
b. they are saying something silly, since,
for over a thousand years, that English word has also meant ''generic
human being.''
c. they make us aware that, since 1970, all
human beings have lost the ability to use context to find the meaning of
words.
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copyright (c) 2001 John
Kelleher. All rights reserved.
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