Catholic Teachings -  The Bible

Moreover, paper was not in common use as it is now. Books were mostly made on thin sheets of parchment or skin. A man who possessed a few books in those days was rich. On account of the value of a book there was a temptation to steal it. Most of the books were in the libraries of monasteries under careful guardianship. The Church, however, wishing to have the Bible at the service of all, put it in a public place, and chained it to a reading desk in order to keep it there for the people. Before doing that the Bible had frequently been carried off and the people deprived of its use. The solicitude of the Church for the Bible was construed into the false charge that she chained the Bible to keep it from the people, whereas in reality she chained it to keep it for the people. I have mentioned this matter in some detail, since it throws light on the unprincipled manner in which the Reformers acted toward the Church in many other things. Another false accusation made against the Church with regard to the Bible was that she was opposed to its publication in the language of the people. The Reformers asserted that they were the first to open the Bible to the general public. How false this charge is, may be seen from the fact that previous to the Reformation the Bible was printed in every language of Europe.

Before Luther's German version of the Bible appeared, there were one hundred ninety-eight versions of the Bible printed in the languages of the various peoples of England, Italy, France, Spain, Germany, etc. In face of these documentary proofs of the Church's desire to bring the Bible to the people, it is hard to understand how she was ever accused of preventing the people from reading the Scriptures. It is another instance of how she was misrepresented by her opponents. It must be remembered, in connection with this subject, that printing was invented only shortly before the Reformation. Consequently, books were few, and those who could read were few. Outside the clerical and governmental classes there were very few who could read. Indeed some of the greatest monarchs of the Middle Ages were unable to read or write. It was because of the fewness of books of any kind that the Church spoke to her children by the various arts of sculpture, painting, and architecture. Stained-glass windows in churches presented to the constant view of the people scriptural events, especially those associated with Our Lord. The Stations of the Cross told graphically the story of Christ's passion and death. Statues and images brought to the mind the blessed Mother of God, and the saints. The church itself, with its sky-piercing steeple, pointed a finger heavenward to remind man of his true home beyond. Critics of history say that no man can be rightly estimated except by those who know his epoch and circumstances. It is easy for those of one generation to misjudge those of another with which they are not acquainted. Hence good historians always study the period into which their investigations lead them. The Church has a right to equally just treatment. Until recently so-called historians have not accorded her this just treatment. Now, however, there is beginning to be shown a fairer attitude toward her, with the result that many of the accusations formerly made against her are being converted into praise for her wise and benevolent measures. The Catholic Church welcomes investigation. The more light thrown on her the more she stands out divine. Her greatest foes have always been ignorance and bigotry.

To return to the subject in hand, the Bible. The word Bible comes from the Greek Biblia, which means books. The Bible is a collection of books known altogether as the Scriptures. In Latin the word Biblia became the expression for this collection. Gradually Biblia referred to the Scriptures only, becoming a new word in the Latin language, and designating the Scriptures as The Book, by way of eminence. Sometimes we hear it referred to as the Good Book, God's Word, the Holy Scriptures, the Inspired Volume, etc., but generally, among English-speaking people, it is called the Bible. The Bible is made up of two separate collections of writings: the Old Testament, containing the Scriptures of the inspired writers previous to Christ, and the New Testament, containing the writings of the Apostles and Evangelists. Scripture literally means writing. In early days all books were in script, or handwriting, as we term it. The Jews regarded the Old Testament Scripture as sacred writing. They believed that they were entirely different from the writings of man, being in fact the work of those who were inspired by God. They regarded them as of divine authority. Christ confirmed them in this belief. He frequently appealed to the Scriptures in proof of His divine mission. He declared that the Scriptures must be fulfilled, etc. If they were not of divine authority there was no reason why they should necessarily be fulfilled. The New Testament, containing the writings of the Apostles and Evangelists, records Christ's life and teaching, and the truths revealed by Christ Himself or the Holy Ghost. It contains in part the deposit of faith, to which nothing has been added since the apostolic era.

The Old Testament was written, originally mostly in Hebrew. But when the Jews were dispersed, and gradually lost their language, the Hebrew Scriptures became a sealed book to many of them. The scholars among them translated the sacred writings into the language of the place where they resided. The result was that the Old Testament existed in various versions, principal of which were the Syriac, the Aramaic, and the Greek Septuagint. At the time of the Apostles Greek was the most universal language. The early Church thus used, mainly, the Greek Old Testament, instead of the Hebrew, which was little understood even by the Jews themselves. The New Testament, for the same reason, was originally written in Greek. It is this Greek text of the Bible, Old and New Testaments, that was in general use in the early ages of Christianity. Some people think that the Bible made the Church. In point of fact the Church gave us the Bible. The Church was firmly and permanently established before a line of the New Testament was written. The Old Testament existed, but not as the solemnly recognized Bible. The Bible, as we now have it, owes its origin to the divinely established Church of Jesus Christ, which assembled its contents, and by the guidance and authority guaranteed her by Jesus Christ proclaimed that it was the word of God. Now what does the Church mean by saying that the Bible is the inspired word of God? She does not mean that God spoke the words of Scripture or wrote them. She does not even mean that God directly dictated Scripture. What she means is that the writers wrote under the inspiration or guidance of God. Each writer, employing his own individual style, wrote, consciously or otherwise, what God wanted him to write. The Bible is thus the message of God to man. The primary author is the Holy Ghost, or, as it is commonly expressed, the human authors wrote under the influence of divine inspiration.

Cardinal Manning gives the following idea of inspiration: "Inspiration, in the special and technical sense, includes the three following operations of the Holy Ghost: (1) the impulse to put in writing the matter which God wills they should record; (2) the suggestion of the matter to be written, whether by revelation of truths not previously known, or only by the prompting of those things which were within the writers' knowledge; (3) the assistance which excludes the liability to error in writing all things, whatever may be suggested to them by the Spirit of God, to be written." The dictation, therefore, of each word, is by no means essential to a true notion of inspiration. Hence it is that the Evangelists, each in his own manner, recorded what they were inspired to record. The prophets of the Old Law did the same. God could have given a message direct to mankind if He had wished, and as He did in fact to Moses, but it pleased Him to use men as instruments of His communication, just as He uses men as the ministers of grace in the sacraments, instead of directly imparting grace as He could easily do.

Having considered the inspiration of the Bible, we may now take up the subject of its interpretation. No book interprets itself. The most carefully drawn legal paper is open to various constructions. Even the Constitution of the United States, a document most studiously prepared, has need of an official interpreter, the Supreme Court of the United States. That the Bible, though a divinely inspired book, does not interpret itself, is evident from the fact that it has had almost as many different interpretations as it has had readers. Nor can it be said that being a divinely inspired book, its prime Author, the Holy Ghost, will guide the reader to the right meaning. The Holy Ghost cannot guide readers to contradictory meanings, and we know that many passages of Scripture have been interpreted by various people in an absolutely contrary sense. The Bible, besides being a divinely inspired volume, is also a literary composition, with the style, figures of speech, and various characteristics of literature. Every work of literature has its literal and figurative passages, its allusions to conditions of its own time and place, and various other peculiarities which constitute its distinctive feature. Shakespeare and Dante have had hosts of interpreters, learned men, scholars of highest repute, yet reaching different and often contradictory conclusions. It was because of this inherent quality of literature that the framers of our Constitution designated the Supreme Court of the United States as the official interpreter of its meaning.

Christ, in instituting His Church, clothed her with infallibility. She was to speak in His Name and with His authority to the end of time. "He who hears you hears Me." "As the Father hath sent Me I also send you." "I am with you all days, to the consummation of the world." It was this Church of Christ's that solemnly proclaimed the Scriptures of the Old Testament as God's inspired word, and moreover specified just what books constituted Scripture. Scripture itself does not state what writings make Scripture. And so with the New Testament. It was the Church which decided which were inspired writings, and formed them into the New Testament. The Jews themselves were not united on what books constituted the Old Testament. And among the early Christians there was much controversy over the inspired writings. It was the Church, acting as God's official representative, that solemnly proclaimed just what writings constituted the Bible. It is all very well to say that Scripture is inspired, but we must also know what is and what is not Scripture. It was the Church that made this decision and thus made the Bible. Now just as Scripture does not state what constitutes Scripture, so it does not state what is the interpretation of Scripture. The Church which made the Bible, likewise interprets the Bible. The Reformers began by making each reader his own interpreter, with the result that there were as many meanings of Scripture as there were readers.

They began by saying that the Bible and nothing but the Bible was the rule of faith. Now, many of them have come to the point where they discard the Bible altogether as a divinely inspired book. They who accused the Catholic Church of being the enemy of the Bible, now find that she is its sole defender in the only sense in which it can be defended as a divinely inspired volume. Outside the Catholic Church there are two extreme parties with regard to Bible interpretation. One party holds to literal interpretation, the other entirely rejects every supernatural feature. The Catholic Church, while upholding the divine inspiration of Scripture does not maintain its literal interpretation, exclusively. She holds that the various writers wrote what God wanted them to write, each one employing his own peculiarities of style and environment. In consequence they at times used words in their literal meaning, again in their figurative, and at other times in their obvious, or commonly accepted meaning. We say, for instance, that there is a full moon, or half moon, or quarter. The moon is always the same. It shows itself differently, that is all. We say the sun rises in the east and sets in the west. It does nothing of the sort. Yet it conveys a meaning, just as does the expression full moon or quarter moon. So with Scripture; some parts are to be literally interpreted, while others are to be taken figuratively or typically. The description of the heavenly Jerusalem (Tobias XIII. 21) (Apoc. xxi. 18) is obviously figurative. If there be question of the interpretation of any particular passage of Scripture, it is not left to conjecture, or to individual penetration, but to the living voice of the Church, constituted by Christ as the official interpreter of revelation.

Pope Leo XIII in his great encyclical, "Providentissimus Deus," declares that the biblical authors "did not seek to penetrate the secrets of nature, but rather described and dealt with things in more or less figurative language or in terms which were commonly used at the time, and which, in many instances, are in daily use at this day, even by the most eminent men of science. Ordinary speech primarily and properly describes what comes under the senses; and somewhat in the same way the sacred writers -- as the Angelic Doctor also reminds us -- went by what sensibly appeared,' or put down what God, speaking to men, signified, in the way they could understand and were accustomed to." St. Augustine, fifteen hundred years ago, wrote a long and learned treatise on the Six Days of Creation. He interpreted the Six Days to mean six epochs or cycles. He also interpreted creation to mean creation of the universe from certain primitive forms made in the beginning, by the Creator, and endowed by Him with the power of developing into present forms. Centuries ago, therefore, the Church recognized that literal interpretation of Scripture was not necessarily required. As previously stated it is for the Church to declare in what sense a specified passage of Scripture is to be taken, and to determine the precise meaning of the part in question. She very rarely does this; never, in fact, unless the text becomes a matter of dispute, and cannot be otherwise settled, and is, moreover, concerned with religion directly or indirectly. The Creed of Pope Pius IV, 1564, states the matter briefly: "I admit the Sacred Scriptures according to that sense which holy Mother Church has held and does hold, to whom it pertains to judge of the true sense and interpretation of the Holy Scriptures."

Although the Church is the divinely appointed custodian and interpreter of the Bible, we must not think that she acts arbitrarily in her interpretation of it. On the contrary, before she hands down a decision on a disputed text she gives it more time and attention than does our Supreme Court to a matter under judgment. There is no tribunal on earth more learned or judicious than that which examines and decides scriptural matters. But no matter how learned a commission may be its decision is not final, or of faith, unless it be ratified by the highest Church authority and promulgated as Catholic doctrine. It will be seen, therefore, that the Bible, although under the guardianship of the Church, is not in any way restricted by her solicitude and interpretation, but rather made more serviceable. The Constitution of the United States does not lose but rather gains by the action of the Supreme Court. Every Supreme Court decision tends to clarify the Constitution. And so with the Church's interpretation of the Bible, instead of interfering with its message she brings out even more clearly God's communication to man. When we realize that the inspiration of Scripture extends only to the original text, as written by the one who was inspired, we may understand better the need of an authoritative and infallible interpreter. To make this clear we must recall that the Old Testament was written originally mostly in Hebrew and the New mostly in Greek. Not a single line of these original Scriptures exists in the world today. What we have are copies of the original, or copies of copies. Even the oldest of these copies or versions do not go back to the Apostles, or to the time when the Bible was made. Only the original Hebrew and Greek texts were inspired. The translations or copies were declared to be faithful renditions of the original. It is only the versions so accepted as true translations by the Church that she regards as the Word of God. She has declared authentic the version known as the Latin Vulgate and has proclaimed it to be the official Bible of the Church.

Luther's version of the Bible had over three thousand faulty translations. The King James version of the English Bible had even more mistakes than Luther's German version. It is for this and similar reasons that the Catholic Church wants only those English, German, or French versions of the Bible to be used by her children, which she approves of as being faithful translations of the original, or of the Latin Vulgate which is her official version. When it is said that the Church is opposed to the reading of the Bible in certain schools and assemblages, it is not to the Bible she is opposed, but to a version of the Bible which she knows is not a faithful translation, and which, consequently, tends to inculcate erroneous doctrine. Far from being opposed to Bible reading the Church is the greatest encourager of it. She even grants an indulgence to those who spend fifteen minutes a day reading the Gospels. But while so encouraging Bible reading the Church does not forget that she is the custodian of the Bible. In an Encyclical in the year 1893 Pope Leo XIII wrote: "The solicitude of the apostolic office naturally urges and even compels us, not only to desire that this great source of Catholic revelation should be made safely and abundantly accessible to the flock of Jesus Christ, but also not to suffer any attempt to defile or corrupt it." Previously Pope Pius VII wrote to pastors "to encourage their people to read the Holy Scriptures; for nothing can be more useful, more consoling and more animating, because they serve to confirm the faith, to support the hope, and to influence the charity of the true Christian."

It will be seen, therefore, that the Bible's friend and protector is the Catholic Church. But it is the true Bible that she guards and which she exhorts her children to read. She obliges her priests to read portions of the Bible every day. Indeed in the course of a year every priest reads almost the entire Bible. He spends about an hour a day reading the Breviary, which is mostly composed of Scripture. But for priest as well as people the Bible must be the Bible. It must not be mutilated, altered, or have any omissions. If you take up a Protestant Bible you will find that it lacks seven books of the Old Testament and not a few Epistles of the New. This shows the necessity of guardianship. The Bible did not drop from the sky. It was not originally a single book. Even when its parts were assembled and made into the Bible it was not a permanent book, but subject to decay as others. It could only continue by being copied and translated. It could not do this of itself, nor of itself guarantee its true copying or version. The Church, God's guaranteed representative on earth, saw to it that inspired writings and inspired writings only constituted the Bible, and that copies and versions were truly made therefrom. The Jews themselves had two sets of Scriptures, one in Hebrew, which was that of the Jerusalem Jews, and one in Greek, which was that of the Alexandrian Jews. They differed as to their contents. It was the Church which pronounced which was the right one. She proclaimed the Greek Septuagint version the true and complete Old Testament. It was the same with the New Testament. There were many writings which claimed to be inspired in the early ages of Christianity. It was the Church that decided which were apostolic and incorporated them into what is now known as the New Testament. In this way the Church made the Bible. She existed prior to the Bible and in no way depends on it for her establishment. But once having set her seal on the Bible, as God's word, she now appeals to it, and abides by it in matters of faith.

The Bible, therefore, is God's communication to mankind through the inspired prophets of the Old Law, and through the Apostles and Evangelists of the New. God might have written His communication in the sky or on imperishable granite, but He has seen fit to speak to us by men like ourselves. We should not be surprised that He manifested His will to us by men, when we reflect that He manifested His love for us by man, giving His Only-Begotten Son to us, Jesus Christ, born of the Virgin Mary, who in all things except sin was like unto us. Having given His communication to us by the Bible He did not leave it to itself to perish or become distorted by the action of time and human caprice but committed it to the keeping of His divinely guided Church. In her hands it has been kept intact from the beginning, and has been accessible to all. The Church is above the Bible. The Church received her divine charter from Jesus Christ, the Son of God. She taught the truths of Scripture before the Bible was made, and will continue to teach them if the Bible should perish. Christ guaranteed perpetuity to His Church, not to a book. Christ constituted as His teacher, not a book, but His Church. The Church is Christ in the world. "He who hears you hears Me."