The Bible: Many Interpretations
As Catholics we believe that the Bible is the Revealed Word
of God. We believe that God chose human authors to convey his revealed word,
first by word of mouth then in writing.
These human authors, inspired by the Holy Spirit, conveyed the
revelation of God in human terms, using stories, parables, images, and literary
styles that would best convey the revealed message. What the reader must do is identify the human
expressions which may or may not be true and the revealed word of God which is
always true.
To begin, we must realize that Jesus established the Church
first on Pentecost Sunday, before the revealed Word of God was complete. To this body of believers he promised and
sent the Holy Spirit who would reveal the truth of the Word of God.
Jesus said to the Apostles at the Last Supper: “But I tell
you the truth, it is better for you that I go.
For if I do not go, the Advocate will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you…. I have much more to tell you, but you cannot
bear it now. But when he comes, the
Spirit of truth, he will guide you to all truth. He will not speak on his own, but he will
speak what he hears, and will declare to you the things that are coming. He will glorify me, because he will take from
what is mine and declare it to you. Everything that the Father has is mine; for
this reason I told you that he will take from what is mine and declare it to
you.” (Jn 16:7, 12-15)
It is this Church which continued every first day of the week
to read the Word of God from the Law and the Prophets as well as proclaimed in
word the Gospel of Jesus and write letters, providing teachings. In time the verbal Gospel was written down.
Since there were many alleged writings claiming to be the Word
of God, the Church decided under the guidance of the Holy Spirit to discern and
determine what was the authentic Word of God and what were pious writings. Thus the Bible, as we know it today, came
into being from the compilation of the many scrolls, letters and books
circulating among the various Christian communities. This index of books was ratified by the Pope
and the Bishops of the Church, the authority established by Christ.
Now the next question deals with the interpretation of the
revealed Word of God. One of the
criticisms leveled against the Catholic Church by some is that the Church at
one time forbade people from reading the Bible.
The reality was that many people could not read and therefore only those
instructed were the ones who read and interpreted the Scriptures. Then when
this was no longer a problem, another issue became evident, namely, private
interpretation of the Word of God from texts that were not accurate and
themselves translated and interpreted with a bias.
Maybe the best way to approach this problem of
interpretation is to briefly talk about the three levels of interpretation: a)
the literal sense, b) the fuller sense, c) the typical sense.
The literal sense is the most basic. It is the intended meaning which the human
author directly wished to convey through his words. In the words of the Catechism of the
Catholic Church: “The literal sense is the meaning conveyed by the words of
Scripture and discovered by exegesis, following the rules of sound
interpretation: ‘All other senses of Sacred Scripture are based on the
literal.’”(CCC 116)
This is different from a fundamentalist or interpretation
which looks only at the word and not its context, independently from what the
author may have intended. What did the author mean when he wrote under
inspiration? For example, when Jesus
spoke about the Bread from Heaven in the sixth chapter of John, what did he
mean when he said he would give us his body to eat and his blood to drink? Was he talking symbolically or literally? When some of his disciples found this hard to
believe, did Jesus try to explain what he meant or was his statement clear as
is? At the Last Supper when Jesus said: “Take and eat. This is my Body…Take and
drink, this is my Blood”, did he explain what he meant? Or were they to take it literally? Is this in conformity with the rest of the
Scriptures?
The second level of interpretation is the fuller sense, namely, the
deeper meaning intended by God over and beyond what the human author may have
intended.
In the Old Testament, the prophets revealed that God would
send a Messiah to deliver the Chosen People from their bondage. This future
person, who would be a descendant of David, would restore the Kingdom to its
former glory. All these prophesies were
fulfilled in the person of Jesus Christ, the Son of God incarnate as the Son of
Man. The fuller sense of the prophesies
was what God, as author, intended, even though at the time the prophets and
those who heard and read them had a limited understanding.
It is the Church, reflecting on the Word of God, which
brings to light the fuller meaning of those prophesies, under the guidance of
the Holy Spirit.
Finally, there is the third form of interpretation, namely,
the typical sense. Paul refers to this in the fifth chapter of Romans, among
other places. “But death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those who did
not sin after the pattern of the trespass of Adam, who is the type of the one
who was to come.” (Rom 5:14) Adam is a type or foreshadowing of Jesus, the
second Adam. Going back to what Jesus
said about the gift of his Body and Blood to eat and drink. He began the dialogue between himself and
those who had experienced the miracle of the multiplication of the loaves and
the fish by challenging the people to the greater sign to come: “Do not work
for food that perishes but for the food that endures for eternal life, which
the Son of Man will give you. For on him
the Father, God, has set his seal”…(They responded).”Our ancestors ate manna in
the desert, as it is written: ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.’” Jesus said to them, “Amen, amen, I say to
you, it was not Moses who gave the bread from heaven; my Father gives you the
true bread from heaven. For the bread of
God is that which comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.” So they said to him, “Sir, give us this bread
always.” Jesus said to them, “I am the
bread of life; whoever comes to me will never hunger, and whoever believes in
me will never thirst.” (Jn 6: 27,31-35)
Jesus was saying that the Manna in the desert was a type of
the true food God will give, namely, the Body and Blood of Jesus, which Jesus
promised here and fulfilled at the Last Supper.
Likewise, the Passover meal was a type of the true Passover
sacrifice and meal Jesus offered and established at the Last Supper and on the
cross.
The problem with the interpretation of Scripture is who has
ultimate authority to give the ultimate and final understanding of the Word of
God? Without such an authority, there is
a risk that the Word of God could be misinterpreted, as has occurred over the
centuries. (How else can we explain the multiplication of various Christian
Churches professing Jesus, but disagreeing on other fundamental beliefs?)
Though a person may privately interpret the Scriptures, it
must be submitted to the authority of the Church, who alone has been guaranteed
by Christ to speak with authority. “He who hears you, hears me.”
“And so I say to you, you are Peter, and upon this rock I
will build my church, and the gates of the netherworld shall not prevail
against it. I will give you the keys to the kingdom of heaven. Whatever you
bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; and whatever you loose on earth shall
be loosed in heaven.”
(Mt 16:18-19)
If there is no higher authority than the individual, then
we will experience contradictory interpretations of the same passage according
to the individual’s personal bias, as in fact has occurred. Yet, each one
claims that the Spirit of God inspired the interpretation. But if the Spirit is the Spirit of Truth how
can the Spirit contradict himself? Paul
says: “For God is not a God of confusion but of peace.”(1 Cor 14:32)
God in his infinite wisdom foresaw this and provided for it
through the gift of the Holy Spirit to the Church.
