OTHCC Chapter 47: items 921 - 940

The Old Testament in the Heart of the Catholic Church < > All Chapters

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It may surprise you to learn, as you study things about the Old Testament in this text, that you will actually be required to read from the Old Testament as you study. Before going on, please read the entire third chapter of the book of Genesis. Genesis is the first book in the Bible. Read Chapter 3 (Gen 3) - Yes, now - then answer the following question:

A dispute breaks out in that Bible-studying club with the rule that:

''If a scholar relies on the judgments of the Holy Father and bishops united with him to help him find out what the Bible means, then he is out of the club.''

Some people in the club say that Adam and Eve is just a story. Adam and Eve never really existed. Thus, their Fall did not actually happen, but is only a metaphor for the existence of evil, and for man's weakness and proneness to sin. Others say that Adam and Eve were real and that they actually Fell.

You say, ''Well, I am very glad that you are so polite when you argue in your club, but we actually know what this answer is. In [CCC 390], for example, the Holy Father and bishops in communion with him clearly tell us that, although Genesis 3 is expressed in the language of a story, that story 'affirms a primeval event, a deed that took place at the beginning of the history of man.'''

''So, we already know the Bible's meaning here. The Fall was real. The Holy Father and bishops in communion with him, acting in the person of Christ and under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, determined this truth in order to give us what we need to study the truth of the Bible. Thus we already know that moving toward the idea that the Fall was only a story or a metaphor will take us farther from Christ.'' After you say this, you are

a.   applauded by the club.
b.   out of the club.
c.   welcomed in the club.

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The club members give you a reason for their decision about you in the previous question. They say:

a.   ''You are being professional in the way that you made your decision about what the Bible means.''
b.   ''You are helping us resolve this dispute in the way that you made your decision about what the Bible means.''
c.   ''You are not being professional in the way that you made your decision about what the Bible means.''

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This Bible-studying club with that particular rule is very real, and many Catholics who study the Bible for a living, including priests and nuns, belong to it. It's not really a club, of course, and there's not just one club. There are, however, many modern ''professional organizations'' of biblical scholars. Most of them, including the Catholic ones, in effect have made the rule that, if you rely on the judgments of the Holy Father and bishops united with him to help you find out what the Bible means, then that is an ''unprofessional'' thing to do.

So, for example, many of the people in these clubs plainly teach that the Fall is just a story, a metaphor, and nothing more. Why would even the Catholics, even the priests and nuns, in these grown-up Bible-studying clubs, be doing highly dangerous things, such as moving toward ideas that the Holy Father and the bishops in communion with him clearly say will move them farther from Christ?

It's complicated, but basically, those Bible scholars just don't think that the sacraments are real in the way that the Church professes. Even the Church admits that the Holy Father and the bishops in communion with him are not necessarily any holier or smarter than anyone else. If the sacraments are not real in the way that the Church professes, then even the Church admits that there would be no particular reason to listen to her teachings.

So, not understanding that the sacraments are real, the Bible scholars in these clubs, even the Catholics, do not find any logical reason to listen to the Church's teachings about what the Bible means. They are not at all nervous about what they're doing.

To the contrary, they usually think that they are doing a better job of finding out what the Bible means than the Holy Father and bishops in communion with him.

After all, these scholars are ''professionals.'' They are so learned that they actually get paid, by fine universities, to study the Bible. Many of these scholars probably are smarter than an average bishop. So, why shouldn't they trust their own judgments instead of a bishop's? Why, indeed? You know the answer: because the sacraments are real. Christ is trying to help us stay close to him.

We can pray that eventually, these Bible scholars will stop being members of those clubs. <<

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The most accurate way to read the Old Testament is to read it

a.   as if the sacraments were not real and the New Testament were not true.
b.   knowing that the sacraments are real and the New Testament is true.
c.   not knowing whether the sacraments are real or the New Testament is true.

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According to many professional Bible scholars today, the LEAST accurate way to read the Old Testament is to read it

a.   as if the sacraments were not real and the New Testament were not true.
b.   knowing that the sacraments are real and the New Testament is true.
c.   not knowing whether the sacraments are real or the New Testament is true.

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Many people now study the Bible for a living. Some do not even believe in God. Many are not Catholic. You now also know that some Catholics who study the Bible for a living do not study the Bible as if only the Holy Father and bishops in communion with him can make definitive judgments about the true meaning of the Bible. These same Catholic scholars might even be highly offended and think that it would be would be ''infringing'' on their ''rights'' as scholars, if the Holy Father and bishops in communion with him ever tried to tell them that one of their ideas about the Bible will move men farther from Christ.

Let's take the very worst case. Let's say a person who does not believe in God at all and in fact absolutely hates all believers, and who hates Catholics in particular, studies the Bible for a living and publishes a new ''discovery'' about the Bible in a scholarly journal. What should your attitude be toward his ''discovery''?

a.   It has to be incorrect, because he hates Catholics and does not believe in God.
b.   It might be correct, even though he hates Catholics and does not believe in God.
c.   We should ignore what he says even if it may be correct, because of his unbelief.

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There's an old saying: ''Even a stopped clock is right twice a day.'' While we will definitely move farther from Christ if we move toward ideas that Christ, through the sacrament of Holy Orders, has told us will take us farther from him, there is no need to discredit or to dispute every single thing a biblical scholar says just because he does not share our faith, has weak faith, or has even rejected faith. God overcame death itself. He can certainly work through men of a different faith, limited faith, or even no faith at all. <<

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Apart from the sacraments of the Catholic Church, the meaning of the Bible can only partially be known, because the meaning of the Bible is

a.   a concept.
b.   an idea.
c.   Christ himself.

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The bishops and the Holy Father teach that Jesus Christ is the Word of God in

a.   absolutely every sense.
b.   a purely symbolic sense.
c.   an imperfect sense.

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The bishops and the Holy Father teach that Christ really is the Word of God, in every sense: ''Through all the words of Sacred Scripture, God speaks only one single Word.'' [CCC 102] Christ is that one Word. [CCC 65]

That is, Christ himself is the meaning of the Bible. The Word that God speaks into the world is his Son.

When believers hear or read the Bible, they receive more than an idea or a concept. They actually receive a Person, Christ himself: ''He is present in his word since it is he himself who speaks when the holy Scriptures are read in the Church.'' [CCC 1088]

Just before receiving the Most Holy Eucharist, we pray to Jesus, ''Lord, I am not worthy to receive you, but only say the word and I shall be healed.'' We profess that we are unable to receive what we most long for and need, Jesus himself, without his direct help. Christ himself must prepare us to receive him in the Eucharist.

Similarly, CCC 108 professes that, by the power of the Holy Spirit, Christ himself prepares us to receive him in the Sacred Scriptures:

''... the Christian faith is not a 'religion of the book.' Christianity is the religion of the 'Word' of God, 'not a written and mute word, but the Word which is incarnate and living.' If the Scriptures are not to remain a dead letter, Christ, the eternal Word of the living God, must, through the Holy Spirit, 'open [our] minds to understand the Scriptures.''' <<

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Human words can only be ''about'' something. For instance, a book on the solar system

a.   can literally be the solar system, and not just human words ''about'' the solar system.
b.   can not literally be the solar system, but only human words ''about'' the solar system.
c.   can partly be the solar system, and partly can be human words ''about'' the solar system.

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The Bible was written by human authors who were inspired by the Holy Spirit. Through those human authors, God himself speaks ''one single Word'' - his only-begotten Son, Christ. [CCC 102] Thus, when a believer reads the Bible, he receives

a.   God's ''one single Word,'' Christ himself.
b.   words ''about'' God, but not God himself.
c.   words that remind us of God himself.

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The Bible is

a.   just like any other book, because it is merely our words ''about'' something.
b.   not like any other book, because it is really our words ''about'' God.
c.   not like any other book, because it is not merely our words ''about'' God.

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When a believer reads the Bible, he receives

a.   God's ''one single Word.''
b.   only concepts and ''ideas.''
c.   words ''about'' God.

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The Christ you receive in fullness when you receive the Eucharist

a.   is a reminder of Jesus Christ who died on the Cross.
b.   is the same Jesus Christ who died on the Cross.
c.   is not the same Jesus Christ who died on the Cross.

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The Christ you receive in fullness when you receive the Eucharist

a.   is a reminder of the Christ you receive from hearing or reading the Bible.
b.   is the same Christ you receive from hearing or reading the Bible.
c.   is not the same Christ you receive from hearing or reading the Bible.

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The meaning of the Bible is

a.   a concept.
b.   an idea.
c.   Christ himself.

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The Bible is like no other book. It is not merely human words ''about'' something - not even human words ''about'' God. There are many books, from many religious traditions (including Catholic books), that are human words ''about'' God. Many of these have some value. Some of them, written by great Catholic saints, have great value, and can genuinely help us move closer to Christ. These spiritual and theological books have been publicly praised by popes and bishops, and read for hundreds of years both by other great saints and by ordinary sinners. The bishops even quote from many of these writings of the saints in the Catechism itself.

But nothing else ever written is, or can ever be, the Bible.

Among all religious or spiritual books ever written or ever to be written, only the Bible literally is God's Word - Christ himself.

This is why at Mass the Church does not read a single word from the writings of even the most holy and learned saints - but only the Bible.

At Mass, we receive the whole Christ, the bread of life, ''taken from the one table of God's Word and Christ's Body.'' [CCC 103] One table, one Word, one Body - one crucified and risen Lord. <<

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Who gets to have an opinion about the meaning of a particular passage in the Bible?

a.   Anybody.
b.   Only people who study the Bible for a living.
c.   Only the Pope and bishops in union with him.

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Sometimes a certain passage in the Bible may be particularly moving to you when you read or hear it. That is the opposite of a bad idea. In fact, that's great! Just try to make sure that the meaning you find there does not contradict a meaning already known to the Church. The meaning you found in that passage could add something personal to you, etc., but it must not contradict the meanings which the Church knows are revealed in the passage, or you will be moving farther from Christ, however ''sincere'' your feeling about the passage is.

For example, if you read Gen 3, and its special meaning for you depended on it being just a metaphor, a story, and nothing more, then, obviously, you would be on the wrong track. <<

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