… Much of my indecision comes from not being able to accept the Bible as any sort of truth, empirically.
How are we supposed to use Scripture as a reference when we cannot be sure in its truth?
I ask looking for some justification, because though I grow closer in accepting God in some shape, I come no nearer to accepting the Christian interpretation of God. Despite the first 18 years of my life being under the tutelage of the Catholic Church, I’ve never really accepted the Bible to be nearly as meaningful as an Encyclopedia.
Hello and God Bless you Pvt Jet,
I will post the following first, and in a subsequent post, more on the history of the Bible.
Bible is without error. - in matters on Faith and Morals, in that truth necessary that God wanted us to know for the sake of our salvation.
The Bible must be read with understanding the various styles of writing (poetry, legends, allegory, prophecy, and such) and with knowledge of the customs of the people during those eras that the various books of the Bible were written.
Not understanding these customs and beliefs of the ancient writers of the Bible can make it appear that there are contradictions in the Bible. For example, ancient Hebrews during the time of Abraham still held the belief that there were many “gods”, but believed that the God of Abraham was the true God. The belief that there was only one God developed over time and this is reflected in the books in the Bible. Additionally, in the infancy of knowledge, they held that God was also a cause of disaster – if you were obedient to the Lord, you prospered; if you committed sin, you were “punished” by God and disaster would befall you. The belief that evil was attributed to Satan (or the devil) developed over time as they came to understand that evil was not attributed to God: God was good, benevolent and all loving, nevertheless, He is a just God.
The reader must learn as much as possible what the author intended behind these writings.
Look at context. Do not take one verse without looking at the whole picture. For instance: “Wives, submit to your husbands as to the Lord.” - Ephesians 5:22: In this passage many people leave out the part where it indicates that husbands are to serve their wives and even die for them just as Christ served and died for his beloved Bride, the Church.
Understand meaning of original language: In the Hebrew and Aramaic language there is no word for first cousins. They would use either “the son of the sister of my father” or just “brother” to depict the close blood ties of this relationship. Today in some cultures this still holds true.
example, the Greek words, adelphos “brother”, and adelphe “sister”.
Ex., Gen 14:14, Lot is called Abraham’s “brother” however, Lot is the son of Haran, Abraham’s brother, making Lot, what we call in today’s terminology, his nephew. Gen 11:26-28
The same holds true for the word “hate”: The Semitic language had no word for “hate” as we understand the English word, and actually means to “love less” in the Semitic language. Therefore it is important to understand the original meaning of the written words since to be mistaken can lead to misinterpretations, and consequently to false doctrines.
Understanding literary forms: They are part of our daily experience, which can be true to life but not necessarily historical. Example: Genesis has two stories of creation, both written during different periods in time, with different authors. The older version is 2 Genesis. Understanding that Genesis was not intended to be a scientific factual history of creation, but was based on “legend”, and 1 Genesis was written in the poetical style to state a truth of creation: That all things came to be through God, the Creator, who created all things “good”, and gave an explanation for the cause of sin and death in the world. True science is never in conflict with Christian teaching.
By reading Scriptures properly and reverently, one can get to learn about and know about God. Proper interpretation of Scripture is left to the magesterium of the Church who have been properly instructed. That doesn’t mean people can’t know proper interpretation on their own - they just have to be sure they have not improperly interpreted them, for there are many passages difficult to fully understand without proper explanation. This is even mentioned by St. Peter the Apostle and first Pope, (see 2 Peter 1:20, 2 Peter 3:16).
Just as people need learned instructors to teach them properly how to “do” math, and further progress onto learning and understanding more difficult equations, so too do people need proper religious instructors who know what they are teaching to others. One doesn’t just automatically know how to do physics and calculus, without being instructed; so too one doesn’t just automatically know about God and His will without being properly instructed. Those who sincerely seek God and wish to understand His word will be led by the Holy Spirit to find out who God is and be led to reliable experts in the Church who have studied sacred Scripture, its languages, cultures, archaeology and traditions. The use of private interpretation is not forbidden, nonetheless, we must always test those revelations against the teachings of the Church so as not to go off tract.
Regardless, we must always remember that the Bible is the beloved word of God that shows His tremendous love for mankind and shows us, through Jesus, the way to eternal salvation, thus eternal life with God in heaven, where our true home with God awaits us.
Blessings,
CEM
Replace Encyclopedia with knowledge giving book of your choice.