Is the Bible Sufficiently Clear?

[PJM]

Imagine I hand you the books “Chronicles of Narnia”. Unless you have been educated about allegory and fantasy, you would go looking for lampposts inside of closets!

To understand the book, you need to have some guidance.

Same for the Bible. It was written to be read in the context of the Church

EXCELLENT! Very clear and well done.

God Bless YOU and Easter Blessings,
PJM {the OP}

 

[ConstantLearner]

Same for the Bible. It was written to be read in the context of the Church.

How do you explain the fact that so many great Catholic theologians disagree? The members of the Magisterium are not all in agreement about many things, so I would say the Bible requires much study to be clear, if one can ever reach clarity.

 

[TheLittleLady]

Perhaps you could provide an example of some part of Scripture where the Magisterium disagrees with itself?

 

[ConstantLearner]

The Nativity stories.

 

[Reuben_J]

TheLittleLady:

Same for the Bible. It was written to be read in the context of the Church.

How do you explain the fact that so many great Catholic theologians disagree? The members of the Magisterium are not all in agreement about many things, so I would say the Bible requires much study to be clear, if one can ever reach clarity.

This question is often asked and I used to hear the answer like this: theologians and the Church are not the same. The Church can use theologians but not necessary take everything they say.

Probably it is different in Protestantism, I am not sure.

Maybe put it this way - theologians are scholars but not necessary be led by the Holy Spirit, the fulness of truth, the One who guides the Church.

Thus we can have many theologians (scholars) but we also need the apostles to determine the Church’s teachings and doctrines.

 

[ConstantLearner]

Thank you for the answer. I was actually speaking of bishop theologians, who are, of course, members of the Magisterium. I feel sure you know not all members of the Magisterium are in agreement on all issues.

I suppose this has something to do with it:

5. The Magisterium teaches infallibly only under certain conditions; whenever those conditions are lacking, the teaching is non-infallible. All non-infallible teachings allow for the limited possibility of error, but never to such an extent as to lead the faithful away from salvation.

The Magisterium has its limits, but the Catholic Church does need a teaching arm:

http://www.catholicplanet.com/TSM/limits-magisterium.htm

 

[TheLittleLady]

Kindly point me to some reading where the Magisterium disagrees with itself regarding the Nativity of Christ.

 

[CelticWarlord]

Since apostolic tradition predates the assembly of the final version of the bible, I would say the scriptures are not entirely necessary, but are a blessing for those of us who like to read them. Consider that it was not until the 4th century that the bible as we know it came into being. Another thousand years would pass before it could be mass produced with printed type, and another few centuries more before widespread public education made it possible for the average person to even read it. Whether the bible is entirely clear or not becomes somewhat of a moot point. My base answer is that it is not, or there would not be so many thousands of splinter groups who remain divided over what a single passage may mean.

 

[ConstantLearner]

My base answer is that it is not, or there would not be so many thousands of splinter groups who remain divided over what a single passage may mean.

I don’t see how anyone could argue with that and be convincing.

 

[JimG]

Only if you first know how to read; and even then not so much.

 

[Dovekin]

Is the Bible Sufficiently Clear?

Can everyone READ and UNDERSTAND God’s Teachings in His Bible?

Your question is not very clear. Sufficient for what?

It is clear enough if you want lots of people arguing about whether it means this or that.

It is not clear enough unless we can say “Are not all these people who are speaking Galileans? Then how does each of us hear them in his own native language?”

I am inclined toward saying it is clear enough if we can seek the depths of it without fighting one another. The standard would be “sufficiently clear to bring peace.”

Everyone CAN read and understand God’s teachings, but not everyone will learn from others about what God has taught them.

 

[NJada]

Maybe this is a stupid idea, but maybe someone needs to write a book demonstrating how the Bible is so very not-straightforward to interpret, in order to impress upon Protestants what a bad idea it is to think you can just go and interpret it. But that maybe that wouldn’t go anywhere…

I just remember when I was first coming back to the Catholic Faith, a number of JWs and Protestants had this attitude, which I thought was right at the time, that “Yeah, the Bible is so simple! People overcomplicate things and get all these weird ideas. You gotta just read the word.” Well, I love Holy Scripture, but boy is that not true, at least for a good portion of it! There are large portions of the Bible I have never ever heard anyone talk about, some that hardly any Church Fathers even commented on.

“God wished difficulties to be scattered through the Sacred Books inspired by Him, in order that we might be urged to read and scrutinize them more intently, and, experiencing in a salutary manner our own limitations, we might be exercised in due submission of mind. No wonder if of one or other question no solution wholly satisfactory will ever be found, since sometimes we have to do with matters obscure in themselves and too remote from our times and our experience; and since exegesis also, like all other most important sciences, has its secrets, which, impenetrable to our minds, by no efforts whatsoever can be unraveled.”
Ven. Pope Pius XII (Divino Afflante Spiritu)

I think sola scriptura people think we’re “sophists” with all our fancy philosophy. But I say the most successful sophism accomplishes the most by insisting that only simple is good, by instilling a general suspicion toward philosophy or anything scientific that isn’t “science”.

 

[margaret42]

Not “clear enough”. Even “self-interpretation” is necessary for understanding. And that’s a common theme with the Catholic church-the need for interpretation.

 

[gcshapero]

It depends what we mean by “clear.”

I do think some of it is very clear. In fact, Christ had his moments where he spoke crystal clear – consider the moments when he said “Truly, truly I say…” this was His saying “Listen, I’m being very serious and mean exactly what I said.” This isn’t to mean he didn’t mean what he said at other points, but he did had other times where he spoke in hyperbole (for instance, he ddin’t literal mean for us to hate our parents in order to love God).

But in general, even for those clear passages, it is unclear to others. Not only that, scripture has been twisted and manipulated many times; from Martin Luther to Satan himself.

This is why there needs to be a Church to interpret it for us and give explanation.

One wise characters in the Bible was the eunuch who was trying to read scripture and he said “how can I read this if no one will interpret it for me?” Very wise of him to say.