Question on private interpretation of scripture

[AutumnMarie]

Hello all,
I understand that there is a forum specifically focused on Sacred Scripture, but I was hoping to get some (name removed by moderator)ut from fellow traditionally-minded Catholics…perhaps those a bit better versed in apologetics than I. A friend of mine recently explained to me that she was a non-denominational Christian for the following reason:

“I am a non-denominational Christian, basically because I want things given to me at face value, and be able to determine what a scripture means to me right then. Depending on where you are in life and in your spiritual walk a scripture can mean something different to you and encourage you in a different way.”

I find several things contained here that make me uncomfortable. I would like to be charitable in my response to her. Do any of the readers here have a not-too harshly worded response to this concept of Scripture?

Thanks!

AutumnMarie

 

[Moscati]

I would agree that there are different ‘senses’ of Scripture, multiple layers of meaning to any given text, and that the same text might affect you differently depending on where you are in your life.

For example, if I were a business owner who was cheating my employees, the passage about the blood of those treated unjustly crying out to God would make me uncomfortable and spur me to confession. If I were the employee being cheated, I would be comforted.

But the difference in the reactions isn’t a change in the meaning of the the text. One ought not take it and simply decide it doesn’t have any meaning, or that it means something other than what it says. That seems likely to happen (especially if the text is telling us something we don’t want to hear!) if individuals become the arbiters of meaning instead of receiving it from a source with some authority.

In short, I don’t trust myself that much.

 

[giuseppeTO]

Hello all,
I understand that there is a forum specifically focused on Sacred Scripture, but I was hoping to get some (name removed by moderator)ut from fellow traditionally-minded Catholics…perhaps those a bit better versed in apologetics than I. A friend of mine recently explained to me that she was a non-denominational Christian for the following reason:

“I am a non-denominational Christian, basically because I want things given to me at face value, and be able to determine what a scripture means to me right then. Depending on where you are in life and in your spiritual walk a scripture can mean something different to you and encourage you in a different way.”

I find several things contained here that make me uncomfortable. I would like to be charitable in my response to her. Do any of the readers here have a not-too harshly worded response to this concept of Scripture?

Thanks!

AutumnMarie

The problem becomes that all morality derived from scriptures is relative, that is, relative to my personal feelings, beliefs, emotions in the moment. Without the teaching power of the Holy See, the bible becomes a type of weathervane that points north today, but maybe east later tonight. Truth becomes relative, morlaity becomes relative to me.

What is moral to you, is not necessarily to me. “judge not, lest ye be judged” to me means that nobody has the moral or civil authority over me.

“love thy neighbor as thyself” may mean to you are bound to help a friend who needs financial help procuring abortion because she feels overwhelmed by her situation.

Scripture becomes merely a collection of verses which individually mean something to Jane and something antithetical to that for John.

No foundation or benefit from apostolic tradition or the doctors of the church. In other words, moral chaos as opposed to Christianity.

Christ meant us to be taught by the apostles - not by reading scripture alone. His charge to the apostles was “go ye and teach all nations” … not “go ye and distribute books and then retire”.

 

[AutumnMarie]

Ah, Thank you so much. Beautifully stated!

 

[mike52ad]

Private interpretation of Scripture has caused severe problems for Christians. It has caused us to break up into one Church (the Catholic Church is the only one that is One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic) and over thirthy thousand denominations the vast majority of which split off from one another over differences in the interpretation of Scripture, sometimes based on the meaning or placement of a single word in a sentence. Private interpretation of Scripture sounds good, especially to American ears, because we tend to value freedom and do not like anyone tellis us anything, but it just does not work. Private interpretation can cause you to go off in a wrong direction because if a passage of scripture suggests something that is too hard for me, or something that requires a sacrifice or giving up of a favorite vice, I might just gloss over it. For example; Jesus in many places teaches us that we have to forgive to be forgiven. If I have someone that hurt me deeply, I am still supposed to forgive them but when I read that in the Scripture I can gloss over it and make up an exception to the rule that applies especially to me.

In our foregoing example in my life, someone very close to me hurt me very deeply and for a long time I refused to forgive. It then read about forgiveness in the New Testament in a Catholic Bible, and a footnote convinced me that I was on the road to ruin if I did not forgive. For me, I enjoy the freedom that comes from knowing through the teaching office of the Chruch what a passage means. This helps me to apply it to my life properly and in the way Jesus meant it to be applied.

 

[Rence]

“I am a non-denominational Christian, basically because I want things given to me at face value, and be able to determine what a scripture means to me right then. Depending on where you are in life and in your spiritual walk a scripture can mean something different to you and encourage you in a different way.”
AutumnMarie

AutumnMarie, you can explain to your friend that the Bible was written in an ancient language, and not only that it was translated a couple times before it got to English. The translations were made as literal as possible. That said, it’s not easy reading. We rely on the Church to understand their meanings so that we don’t make mistakes. Those who have translated and interpreted the Bible for us did so with knowledge and training in Biblical literature.

Words and phrases sometimes have different meanings over time. And if we don’t have an understanding of literature from the time period in which it was written, it can get confusing.

So say for example, there is a disaster that destroys civilization as we know it. But 2000 years later, the world is rebuilt and filled up again. Archeologists in this hypothetical future find a stack of newspapers and magazines from 1992. And one of the archeologists starts reading headlines: “Police go on strike in Chicago!”. They think, my goodness, here is an article about how the police were beating on the civilians in Chicago in 1992!. But after more study and more reading and more comparison of the stacks of texts they found, they realize, “oh, that’s not what that title meant. I meant this:”.

The Catholic Church commissions people well trained to go over scripture for intended meanings, and still does so today. That’s one of the reasons why the Church directs us on the proper Bible translations and other literature. That’s why, if you find the Douay-Rheims a bit tedious to read, you can find Church authorized words that were paraphrased less literally translated, but meaning was retained. There are approved newer translations that make Scriptures easier to read.

Also, since she is familiar with the bible, maybe it would help if you pointed out this verse to her from 2 Peter 1: 20 which reads:

20 Understanding this first, that no prophecy of scripture is made by private interpretation.

 

[thomas_jd]

Hello all,
I understand that there is a forum specifically focused on Sacred Scripture, but I was hoping to get some (name removed by moderator)ut from fellow traditionally-minded Catholics…perhaps those a bit better versed in apologetics than I. A friend of mine recently explained to me that she was a non-denominational Christian for the following reason:

“I am a non-denominational Christian, basically because I want things given to me at face value, and be able to determine what a scripture means to me right then. Depending on where you are in life and in your spiritual walk a scripture can mean something different to you and encourage you in a different way.”

I find several things contained here that make me uncomfortable. I would like to be charitable in my response to her. Do any of the readers here have a not-too harshly worded response to this concept of Scripture?

Thanks!

AutumnMarie

2 Peter 3:16
" As also in all his epistles: speaking in them of certain things hard to be understood:which the unlearned and unstable wrest, as they do also the other scriptures, to their utter destruction."