Need Help With Passages Meaning

[Gorgias]

TMC:

The Church does not mandate the meaning of every passage of Scripture.

Sure, but that doesn’t give us carte blanche to interpret by our own whim and on our own initiative.

There are quite literally thousands of threads just on this forum alone debating and discussing the meaning of Scripture, just between Catholics

And, inasmuch as folks are attempting to find what the Church understands the passages to mean, we’re all good!

TMC:

We can’t even agree what our Scripture means.

Well… speak for yourself, @TMC. The Catholic Church has a pretty good understanding of the Teachings of Christ, even if you’re having a hard time agreeing!

 

[TMC]

Well… speak for yourself, @TMC. The Catholic Church has a pretty good understanding of the Teachings of Christ, even if you’re having a hard time agreeing!

Seriously, this is simply not the case. The Church has defined certain issues, such as those set out in the Creed or the Catechism. The Church does not mandate a universal understanding of every passage of Scripture. Catholics are free to believe that Genesis 1 is literal or figurative, as just one example. Catholics have different understandings of the meaning of much of Scripture. The Church has given the imprimatur to different Bible commentaries, for example, and so on.

 

[Gorgias]

Seriously, this is simply not the case.

Your argument is with the Church and the Catechism, not with me.

The Church does not mandate a universal understanding of every passage of Scripture.

But she does mandate that our understandings fit within the context of Church teaching. For example…

Catholics are free to believe that Genesis 1 is literal or figurative, as just one example.

… both understandings fit within the Church’s dogmatic teachings about what the creation epic teaches us. So, both are OK. However, that doesn’t mean that we can interpret it however we wish.

The Church has given the imprimatur to different Bible commentaries, for example, and so on.

You know what an imprimatur actually means, right? It only means that the bishop is of the opinion that there’s no doctrinal error in the work, and therefore, it may be printed.

It doesn’t mean that the Church is saying “yep! this is all accurate!”.

 

[po18guy]

Which Branch of Islam? Since Muhammad died, there is no such thing as “Islam” but denominations of it.

 

[TMC]

Your argument is with the Church and the Catechism, not with me.

This is silly. I have not said anything against the Church or the Catechism. I have challenged your position that the Church has mandated the meaning of every passage of Scripture.

But she does mandate that our understandings fit within the context of Church teaching. For example…

… both understandings fit within the Church’s dogmatic teachings about what the creation epic teaches us. So, both are OK. However, that doesn’t mean that we can interpret it however we wish.

OK, so here you are literally agreeing with me. The Church allows many different understandings of one of the key passages in Scripture.

You know what an imprimatur actually means , right? It only means that the bishop is of the opinion that there’s no doctrinal error in the work, and therefore, it may be printed.

It doesn’t mean that the Church is saying “yep! this is all accurate!”.

Yes, but it does mean (as you say) that there is no doctrinal error. So you appear to agree that there are many interpretations of Scripture that are without doctrinal error from a Catholic viewpoint. So we agree, right?

So to get back to the topic, given that Catholics do not have one view of our own Scripture, why would we be in a position to tell other religions what their Scripture means?

 

[Gorgias]

I have challenged your position that the Church has mandated the meaning of every passage of Scripture.

Umm… no? I’ve refuted your position that we’re allowed to come up with our own (personal) interpretations of Scripture.

But yeah, I agree: this is silly. Have a nice day!

 

[jofa]

I think it’s more than just what the Koran says; it’s by their actions. Every devout Muslim believes infidels should convert or die. That’s sort of Islam 101z And by the actions of A LOT of them, we can reasonably discern that is exactly what they believe. Plus, their modern theologians teach that when there is a contradiction in the Koran than the most recent teaching trumps the older one. And, unfortunately, the “kill infidels” is more recent.

Also, unlike Christianity in which lying is always a sin, Islam teaches that only lying to other Muslims is a sin. Therefore Islam is the one religion that you can’t trust their defense of their holy book.

 

[TMC]

I think it’s more than just what the Koran says; it’s by their actions. Every devout Muslim believes infidels should convert or die. That’s sort of Islam 101z And by the actions of A LOT of them, we can reasonably discern that is exactly what they believe. Plus, their modern theologians teach that when there is a contradiction in the Koran than the most recent teaching trumps the older one. And, unfortunately, the “kill infidels” is more recent.

Also, unlike Christianity in which lying is always a sin, Islam teaches that only lying to other Muslims is a sin. Therefore Islam is the one religion that you can’t trust their defense of their holy book.

Literally nothing in this extraordinarily uncivil and uncharitable post is true.

Do you know any devout Muslims? Do you reject the Catholic Church’s teaching on Muslims?