The View of a Bishop--Be Cautious of Enlightened Teaching on the Bible That Quickly Discards and Undermines Faith

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Here’s an EWTN article about this topic: Destroying the Bible

And here’s something more about it:

Let us move on to Jesus’ second temptation…The devil proves to be a Bible expert who can quote the Psalm exactly. The whole conversation of the second temptation takes the form of a dispute between two Bible scholars. Remarking on this passage, Joachim Gnilka says that the devil presents himself here as a theologian. The Russian writer Vladimir Soloviev took up this motif in his short story “The Antichrist.” The Antichrist receives an honorary doctorate in theology from the University of Tübingen and is a great Scripture scholar. Soloviev’s portrayal of the Antichrist forcefully expresses his skepticism regarding a certain type of scholarly exegesis current at the time. This is not a rejection of scholarly biblical interpretation as such, but an eminently salutary and necessary warning against its possible aberrations. The fact is that scriptural exegesis can become a tool of the Antichrist. Soloviev is not the first person to tell us that; it is the deeper point of the temptation story itself. The alleged findings of scholarly exegesis have been used to put together the most dreadful books that destroy the figure of Jesus and dismantle the faith.

The common practice today is to measure the Bible against the so-called modern worldview, whose fundamental dogma is that God cannot act in history—that everything to do with God is to be relegated to the domain of subjectivity. And so the Bible no longer speaks of God, the living God; no, now we alone speak and decide what God can do and what we will and should do. And the Antichrist, with an air of scholarly excellence, tells us that any exegesis that reads the Bible from the perspective of faith in the living God, in order to listen to what God has to say, is fundamentalism; he wants to convince us that only his kind of exegesis, the supposedly purely scientific kind, in which God says nothing and has nothing to say, is able to keep abreast of the times.

– Joseph Ratzinger
Jesus of Nazareth, p.34-36, 2007
 
The problem described in the article is fairly well understood by many clergy and laity in my diocese. Our bishop, whenever he speaks around the diocese, emphasizes an orthodox Catholic teaching on Scripture (and other things). But the bad programs continue. Not only our local “Catholic” colleges, but in recent years our “Catholic” high schools continue to promote a liberal, mostly secular view of Scripture. We also have a private “Catholic Biblical Studies” institute, not exactly part of the diocese, but strongly advertised and promoted in the diocesan paper and other means, as if it were a solid Catholic program. It takes the same view of scripture described in the articles.

Why do bad programs continue to get promoted by my (and some other) dioceses for many years, long after there has been ample documentation that they are not at all faithful to Catholicism in general, or to Vatican II, which they constantly cite? It’s frustrating that we keep getting good evidence of why those programs are wrong, and so many bishops seem to be agreeing with us at least in principle, but the diocesan structure keeps promoting them? What’s missing here?
 
I think things are turning around in the sense that people are being informed, and a lot of good information is being spread that allows people to understand this problem (in my opinion). I think the biggest problem is that the so-called scholarly exegesis has been put out there posing as mainstream Catholic thought, when in fact it is not and never has been. At least there is a push to expose this and counter it with the traditional exegesis. I never have seen people scandalized by the traditional school of thought, but I have seen many scandalized by the former. At least now with big name Catholics stepping up and even Papal explanations, people are now getting informed to make a decision based on these opposing schools of thought being transparent.
 
COPLAND_3 said:
I think things are turning around in the sense that people are being informed, and a lot of good information is being spread that allows people to understand this problem (in my opinion). I think the biggest problem is that the so-called scholarly exegesis has been put out there posing as mainstream Catholic thought, when in fact it is not and never has been. At least there is a push to expose this and counter it with the traditional exegesis. I never have seen people scandalized by the traditional school of thought, but I have seen many scandalized by the former. At least now with big name Catholics stepping up and even Papal explanations, people are now getting informed to make a decision based on these opposing schools of thought being transparent.
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OK, the right ideas are getting out there; our bishop has identified the collapse of doctrine in catechetics in the 1970’s and 1980s as a problem. Our local seminary is reportedly better in terms of doctrinal content. But little of that has improved the religious education actually provided in “Catholic” colleges and high schools. The same people, with the same bias against doctrinal content, still control religious education. In our diocese, laypeople have formed a grammar school, and a high school, with doctrinal content, a classical curriculum, and daily Mass. We have permission from the bishop, but essentially opposition from the diocesan education department, because they want to consolidate schools, and they say we draw students from the “official” Catholic schools.

It’s frustrating because the bishop will say (in private) you’re doing a good job, while his diocesan newspaper won’t even take paid advertising for our events, let alone the free publicity they give the “official” Catholic schools. Luckily the local Catholic radio station promotes us. Within the “official” Catholic schools, there are good individual Catholic teachers, but the schools aren’t intentionally trying to recruit teachers who agree with the Church teachings. Parents keep sending their children to those schools, especially if the parents went there, because decades ago those schools were - past tense - solidly Catholic. The diocese has chosen to follow Common Core for its schools, while the independent Catholic schools follow the classical curriculum. Our school is labelled “independent” even though we are much more obedient to the Magisterium, and to the bishop, than the official Catholic schools.

So yes, I agree with your post that the message about catechetics is getting out there, I just am saying that the message has not gotten out to the parents, or the diocesan management. We have many pastors and other leaders who are personally solid in doctrine, but nobody wants to say out loud that the honored Catholic high school down the road is 90% secularized. Until that happens, there is no improvement.
 
commenter said:
OK, the right ideas are getting out there; our bishop has identified the collapse of doctrine in catechetics in the 1970’s and 1980s as a problem. Our local seminary is reportedly better in terms of doctrinal content. But little of that has improved the religious education actually provided in “Catholic” colleges and high schools. The same people, with the same bias against doctrinal content, still control religious education. In our diocese, laypeople have formed a grammar school, and a high school, with doctrinal content, a classical curriculum, and daily Mass. We have permission from the bishop, but essentially opposition from the diocesan education department, because they want to consolidate schools, and they say we draw students from the “official” Catholic schools.

It’s frustrating because the bishop will say (in private) you’re doing a good job, while his diocesan newspaper won’t even take paid advertising for our events, let alone the free publicity they give the “official” Catholic schools. Luckily the local Catholic radio station promotes us. Within the “official” Catholic schools, there are good individual Catholic teachers, but the schools aren’t intentionally trying to recruit teachers who agree with the Church teachings. Parents keep sending their children to those schools, especially if the parents went there, because decades ago those schools were solidly Catholic. The diocese has chosen to follow Common Core for its schools, while the independent Catholic schools follow the classical curriculum. Our school is labelled “independent” even though we are much more obedient to the Magisterium, and to the bishop, than the official Catholic schools.

So yes, I agree with your post that the message about catechetics is getting out there, I just am saying that the message has not gotten out to the parents, or the diocesan management. Until that happens, there is no improvement.
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I hate to say this the way I am about to say it because it will offend some good people with a different philosophical view than me, but liberalism has basically taken over most of education, and laws and structure is in place to make that happen, and it has been happening now for decades… People get hired and placed in those higher positions in education based upon their philosophy and not so much their qualifications. Or people get hired and placed in there who have little religious commitment and think that the curriculum they are providing is good since it is has the seal of approval, though they have no clue what is sound Catholic stuff and what is not.
 
COPLAND_3 said:
I hate to say this the way I am about to say it because it will offend some good people with a different philosophical view than me, but liberalism has basically taken over most of education, and laws and structure is in place to make that happen, and it has been happening now for decades… People get hired and placed in those higher positions in education based upon their philosophy and not so much their qualifications. Or people get hired and placed in there who have little religious commitment and think that the curriculum they are providing is good since it is has the seal of approval, though they have no clue what is sound Catholic stuff and what is not.
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I am hoping people will use this thread to offer** positive, charitable**, suggestions on what has worked in their local diocese to make things a little better. Again, I am a supporter of Vatican II, a supporter of all the bishops, not interested in attacks on religious orders, just looking for practical, constructive ways to improve things. What has worked in your city? What has been tried, and not worked?
 
The article cited in the OP talks about the Bishop Helmsing Institute. Has anyone looked at that site?

mybhi.org

It seems like an excellent resource for Scripture Study and they offer a teacher’s certification program which can easily be adapted for a diocese, parish or school using their onlone courses. See mybhi.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/Teacher-Catechetical-Formation.pdf

My positive, charitable suggestion is that we all pick up or Bibles and start taking these courses.

-Tim-
 
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