What I was asking joe, since people in Jesus’ day had only the Old Testament, did He ever tell anyone to go to the Rabbi- that only the Rabbi has the authority to interpret Scripture? No, you’re correct, Jesus never said any such thing. Yet the roman catholic church says it alone has the authority to interpret Scripture. If you believe this, then why read the Bible? Was this why the Holy Scriptures were translated in Latin by order of the RCC and many couldn’t read it for themselves?
Might help, yankee, if we clarify exactly the Church’s and the people’s relationship with Scripture.
The Holy Spirit is the primary interpreter of Scripture…even the Church professes this. But, the Church does not prohibit us from interpreting Scripture, all the while maintaining that the Church Herself retains sole authority to interpret Scripture.
Confusing? Well, it can be…unless you understand what is going on here. It’s a wonderful balance in divine inspiration and protection, earthly authority to define dogma, and privilege for the faithful to discern personal guidance and understanding.
The Holy Spirit is the author, inspirer, and protector of Scripture, and is also it’s interpreter. This you would likely agree with. But how does He do this
practically? Through what instruments does He work? This is where we divide unfortunately, because non-Catholics have yet to acknowledge that the Church was established to guide us to Christ, teach us His teachings, be instruments of His grace. They have yet to see that not only were the apostles the first leaders of this Church, but that the leadership was to be perpetual until He comes again in glory for His flock. The Church is the earthly shepherd in Christ’s earthly absence.
Through the Church, the NT came to us. What non-Catholics also don’t acknowledge is that Christ revealed all that is needed for faith and morals to the apostles, and all of this revelation was preserved in both Tradition and Scripture, a union of oral and written teachings. The human inspiration had to be preserved alongside the written inspiration, because God understands the difference between dogmatic truth and personal enlightenment. He understands that there is His revelation on one hand, and how that revelation is made efficacious in an individual’s unique state in life on the other. The former is where the Church is given sole responsibility to preserve, protect and promulgate the teachings of Christ, through the power of the Spirit. The apostles and their ordained successors are entrusted with this deposit of faith, and as that deposit is found within the text of Sacred Scripture, it is for the Church to maintain authority in it’s interpretation.
The latter is where we, the lay believers, are given freedom and encouragement to interpret Scripture, within the framework of the former, that is the Church-interpreted, dogmatic deposit of faith, allowing the Spirit to guide us in our understanding of the teachings of Christ as they apply to our personal lives. Most non-Catholics can’t see the necessary divide between these two interpretive realms. In short, we are not given authority to interpret Scripture and define rules of faith and morals in Christianity - that is for the Church alone. We are given authority to interpret Scripture within that body of faith as revealed to, and interpreted by, the Church.
You may already know all this, and reject it outright. But I thought I’d clarify nonetheless, because it seems you may not be aware of this intricate balance of Spirit-led interpretation.
Yeah, that’s it in a nutshell my friend.
Paul meant it when he said:
biblicalpreaching.net