Читать книгу Catholicism For Dummies - Rev. Kenneth Brighenti - Страница 36

Catholics regard the Bible as the inspired and revealed Word of God, but it’s also seen as a collection of sacred literature. Rather than just looking at the Bible as one big book, Catholicism treats the Bible as a collection of smaller books under one cover: the Word of God written by men yet inspired by God. Since the time of the Reformation, opinion on the interpretation of the sacred text has differed significantly. Some Christians hold for a literal interpretation of every word and phrase of Scripture; other Christians hold for a faithful interpretation, which is sometimes literal and sometimes not. (In other words, some text is meant to be interpreted figuratively.) Catholics belong to the second camp.

The Bible tells the history of salvation, but it’s much more than a history book. It contains the Psalms of David — songs that the king wrote in honor of God — yet the Bible is much more than a hymnal. It contains poetry, prose, history, theology, imagery, metaphor, analogy, irony, hyperbole, and so on. Because it’s not exclusively one form of literature, as you would have in a science textbook, one needs to know and appreciate the various literary forms in the Bible in order to interpret it as the author intended.

For example, when Jesus says in the Gospel (Mark 9:43), “And if your hand causes you to sin, cut it off,” the Catholic Church has interpreted that to be a figure of speech rather than something to be taken literally. At the same time, Catholicism interprets literally the passage of John 6:55 — “For my flesh is food indeed and my blood is drink indeed.” Because individuals can disagree on what should be interpreted literally and what shouldn’t, Catholicism resorts to one final authority to definitively interpret for all Catholics what the biblical text means for the Catholic faith. That ultimate authority is called the Magisterium (from the Latin word magister meaning “teacher”), which is the authority of the pope and the bishops around the world in union with him to instruct the faithful. (For more on the Magisterium, see Chapter 6.) Catholics believe that Christ founded the Church (“I will build my Church” [Matthew 16:18]), a necessary institution, to safeguard and protect revelation by authentically interpreting the biblical texts. The Church is not superior to Scripture, but she’s the steward and guardian as well as interpreter of the inspired and revealed Word of God. The Church assumes the role of authentic interpreter not on her own but by the authority given her by Christ: “He who hears you, hears me” (Luke 10:16). The Church makes an authentic interpretation and an authoritative decision regarding those issues that aren’t explicitly addressed in Sacred Scripture, but only because Christ has entrusted her to do so. To find out how the Church views tough modern-day issues that aren’t addressed in the Bible, flip to Chapter 14.