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RobbyS
Guest
Catholics do understand that the Eucharist lies at the heart of Christian worship. Even Calvin understood that, even though he treated the mass an an abomination.
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RobbyS
Guest
The modern method of deconstructing the text, and treating it as a blend of fact and fiction, forgets, IMHO, that in the end, we often don;t know what the author had in mind when he wrote, what his sources were, etc.
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Loveolivia
Guest
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Jn2027
Guest
Personally, I do not read the Bible outside of Mass or Divine Office or some other official activity of the Church. Sacred Scripture is just that, it is sacred, it is not to be read or treated or used like an ordinary book. I have found that trying to know the Bible outside of the Church simply cannot be done and should not be done (look how many Protestant sects there are! --that is proof that they are treating the Bible incorrectly, they do not agree about what they read.). Christians are not people of the book, we are People of the Spirit, we are baptized into Christ and His Spirit is in us. Follow in the foot steps of the illiterate saints and you will be very happy, you will know God and love God and your vexations over the Bible will cease.
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Contarini
Guest
No, it doesn’t forget anything of the sort. Quite the reverse. It’s when folks say “I just accept it as true as written” than they are forgetting how little we know.
Conventional academic scholarship covers a wide spectrum of opinion, and it is indeed highly speculative. Much of it is, of course, wrong. That’s true of any scholarship in any field. But for the reason you have mentioned, we can’t say with certainty just which bits of it are wrong. So we should take it seriously, precisely because it’s an endeavor that respects the limits of our knowledge rather than assuming that the texts as we have them are somehow transparent and that traditions about authorship are to be received uncritically.
Edwin
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ricmat
Guest
I’ve heard that the reason for this incident is that:
- God was showing Adam that he is “above” the animals, a steward of creation. Adam “owns” the animals. By naming them, he is taking the prerogative much like a slave owner shows his superiority over the slave by giving the slave a name (and never mind what name the slave thought he had already).
- God was showing Adam that creation is not complete until woman appears, then things are not just “good” but “very good.” We emulate God’s love within the Trinity here on earth through the love of man, woman, and child.
IMHO.
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RobbyS
Guest
Albert Magnus was said to approach Aristotle with such great sympathy for the Philosopher that he treated the text rather lightly. He would draw conclusions based on how HE thought Aristotle would see the matter, even though Aristotle had never even considered the matter, so far as we know. St. Thomas was far more careful, and so would follow him only so far in many matters. Luther, it seems to me, took the approach of St. Albert with regard to the Scriptures.
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RobbyS
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I agree. And speaking of Adam, I am always reminded that when St.Paul speaks of Christ as the second Adam, it tells us we need to think about Christ as we read the Text of Genesis. But no matter how deeply we read, we get only glimpses of the Truth.
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fred_conty
Guest
First, the pope in an encylical, said that if you want to take the whole bible literally, you are free to do so. Don’t ask me what pope in what encylical because you will show up my ignorance. I just know that I read it and I believe it was the late Pope Paul (and my fingers are crossed). Maybe some real intelligent person could help me out on this one.
Secondly, when dealing with stories and figures in the Bible, each incident should be looked at and examined in the light of the churchs teachings, on an individual basis.
It isn’t a “one answer” fits all.
Thirdly, many times if you have a good Bible that has good commentaries and footnotes, this could be an invaluable source of information regarding the one or more interpretations that a passage may have to offer. It might be good to have several good Bibles for this reason.
Lastly, there are some great books, even in the public library, that may furnish light on the customs, thinking, maps, cultures, religions, of those days when the bible was written.
It all takes time, and understanding builds on previous understanding.
A lot of thought, a prayer to the Holy Spirit will work wonders.
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Uzziah1
Guest
Bruce Vawter, one of the chief Old Testament Committee translators of the 1970 version of the NAB for the US Bishops, told me himself about 4 decades ago that that was the meaning. If you look at Genesis 2:23, you’ll see that the OTC has Adam saying “This one AT LAST is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh…” Vawter told me that “AT LAST” was an "elegantizing’ of the Hebrew term pa’am which meant something like “DISTURBED” meaning “[Adam was] disturbed [by God’s Own initial failed efforts].”
Vawter was helping me with a college paper.
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Uzziah1
Guest
It’s not TEACHING the God errs. The Bible anthropomorphizes God to personalize Him.
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Jerry-Jet
Guest
God is REAL.
His Word is REAL.
The Bible is REAL.
It all points to the Word which is Jesus!
I’ll tell you this–the people who don’t believe the bible are also the people who don’t believe in Jesus!
The Catholic Church believes in the bible.
The Catholic Church believes in Jesus.
People in Hell don’t believe in either.
His Word is REAL.
The Bible is REAL.
It all points to the Word which is Jesus!
I’ll tell you this–the people who don’t believe the bible are also the people who don’t believe in Jesus!
The Catholic Church believes in the bible.
The Catholic Church believes in Jesus.
People in Hell don’t believe in either.
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Uzziah1
Guest
Hi, Jerry. Your dedication is praiseworthy. The Bible, however, is complex.
Take your Catholic Bible.and go to 2 Samuel 21:19. It says, “…Elhannan, son of Jair from Bethlehem, killed Goliath …”
Do you believe that?
Go to the Book of Judith, Chapter 1, Verse 1. It mentions “Nebuchadnezzar, King of the Assyrians in the great city of Ninevah.” Nebuchadnezzar was King of the Babylonians, and indeed, of the Assyrians as a captive people.
But, he never ruled “in the great city of Ninevah.”
Ninevah was annihilated about 7 years before his rule commenced. It remained a ruins-covered backwater for centuries.
So, do you believe Judith 1:1?
The Bible was not inspired to be a perfectly accurate history book.
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Bernadette173
Guest
Yes you are correct, the bible is indeed complex. this is why Christ left the Apostles and the Catholic Church as the authority on interpretation of the Bible and her verses.And to govern in His name…The Bible also instructs us that we are to follow Sacred Tradition alongside Sacread Scripture (2 Thess 2:15, 3:6)… This means going to the living authority [the CC with questions] one may hold with the text within the Bible. It is not to be left to private interpretation, but to be shared in as much with the parishoners and priest to help guide one in the proper meaning of the words therein. this is the duty that falls upon the CC as a whole. So that no one be left with misinterpreted words and verses.and also Oral Tradition is also needed to be followed. going to and participating in the Mass is also something that is supposed to go hand and hand with the reading of Scripture during the week.
The Founding Fathers of the US Constitution left the Supreme Court as the official Authority on interpretation of the Constitution of the United States of America. So that by doing so there would be no divisions, and endless guessing as to what the laws meant, and chaos and trouble ensuing as each person would interpret for themselves what the laws meant. In the same respect, Christ left the Church as a living authority on the Scripture, and verse of the Bible, and what was to be passed on to His followers. uncorrupted from error until the end of time. And the 'Office of Peter’ would last until Christ’s return. The office of Peter is the Papacy that all of our Popes belong to, and speak infaillably from the Vatican and the chair of St. Peter. Christ bestowed infaillability upon Peter and all of his successors And it is in this infaillable state that the Bible, and it’s Scripture obtains its authority…
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itullian
Guest
is the church confused because it won’t take a stand on Adam and Eve? why won’t they take a stand on if they’re real or myth?
that we can accept either doesn’t make sense to me. don’t they know?
maybe not,i guess.
that we can accept either doesn’t make sense to me. don’t they know?
maybe not,i guess.
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MLP67
Guest
Good question Itull
God tells us his word is “truth”. So if something is of “truth”, you wouldn’t imagine there to be stories or lies involved. I see things as being pretty black and white in the bible, like when we are told… let your “Yes” mean yes and your “no” mean no. Straight up, straight to the point messages. No fairy tales. So i believe the Bible stories to be true.
Hope you are having a good day
Michelle
God tells us his word is “truth”. So if something is of “truth”, you wouldn’t imagine there to be stories or lies involved. I see things as being pretty black and white in the bible, like when we are told… let your “Yes” mean yes and your “no” mean no. Straight up, straight to the point messages. No fairy tales. So i believe the Bible stories to be true.
Hope you are having a good day
Michelle
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itullian
Guest
Dixie Chicks rule…Good question Itull
God tells us his word is “truth”. So if something is of “truth”, you wouldn’t imagine there to be stories or lies involved. I see things as being pretty black and white in the bible, like when we are told… let your “Yes” mean yes and your “no” mean no. Straight up, straight to the point messages. No fairy tales. So i believe the Bible stories to be true.
Hope you are having a good day
Michelle
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MLP67
Guest
Amen
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Uzziah1
Guest
We are apparently not allowed to discuss this issue in this website, because to affirm that Adam and Eve rweally happened is to implicitly deny evolution.
The adminstrators, in their wisdom, feel that the anger on this subject is too great.
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clem456
Guest
No. The Genesis revelation of Adam and Eve does not deny evolution. The Church does not believe in Godless evolution.
The Church does not interpret the Bible in a literalistic sense. It is taken in a literal sense however. Bible literature is the inerrant word of God, written by authors who were inspired by the Holy Spirit. The truth in the bible transcends historical proof, although it is also history. I don’t know what you are referring to with the website, but the site is about courteous and knowlegable discussion.
vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/__PP.HTM
The senses of Scripture
115 According to an ancient tradition, one can distinguish between two senses of Scripture: the literal and the spiritual, the latter being subdivided into the allegorical, moral and anagogical senses. the profound concordance of the four senses guarantees all its richness to the living reading of Scripture in the Church.
116 The literal sense is the meaning conveyed by the words of Scripture and discovered by exegesis, following the rules of sound interpretation: "All other senses of Sacred Scripture are based on the literal."83
117 The spiritual sense. Thanks to the unity of God’s plan, not only the text of Scripture but also the realities and events about which it speaks can be signs.
- the allegorical sense. We can acquire a more profound understanding of events by recognizing their significance in Christ; thus the crossing of the Red Sea is a sign or type of Christ’s victory and also of Christian Baptism.84
- the moral sense. the events reported in Scripture ought to lead us to act justly. As St. Paul says, they were written “for our instruction”.85
- the anagogical sense (Greek: anagoge, “leading”). We can view realities and events in terms of their eternal significance, leading us toward our true homeland: thus the Church on earth is a sign of the heavenly Jerusalem.86
The Letter speaks of deeds; Allegory to faith;
The Moral how to act; Anagogy our destiny.87
119 "It is the task of exegetes to work, according to these rules, towards a better understanding and explanation of the meaning of Sacred Scripture in order that their research may help the Church to form a firmer judgement. For, of course, all that has been said about the manner of interpreting Scripture is ultimately subject to the judgement of the Church which exercises the divinely conferred commission and ministry of watching over and interpreting the Word of God."88
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