Ch. 30 - How to Read the Bible
We wrap up the Understanding the Scriptures Bible course by learning how to read and interpret Scripture faithfully. We do this by examining paragraphs 109 through 119 of the Catechism of the Catholic Church. First, we must determine the literal sense of the passage at hand by taking into account (1) the conditions of their time and culture, (2) the literary genres in use at that time, and (3) the modes of feeling, speaking, and narrating then current. Inseparable from and built upon the literal sense of Scripture, there are three additional spiritual senses that we may draw from the sacred page: (1) the allegorical, (2) the moral, and (3) the anagogical.
Due to the fact that Sacred Scripture is not a purely natural creation of man and is inspired by the Holy Spirit, there are three criteria that the Church provide us with to interpret the Bible. First, we must be attentive to the content and unity of the whole Scripture. This is necessary because of God's plan borne out in Salvation History. This unifying plan unites the different passages and books of Scripture. Second, we must read the Scripture within the living Tradition of the whole Church... because Scripture was written in the heart of God's covenant family, the Church, which lives and moves through time, ever retaining the Apostolic Tradition in her memory. Finally, we must be attentive to the analogy of faith, which is the coherence of the truths of divine revelation. God does not reveal mutually contradictory truths. This final criterion is taken from a piece of advice relayed by St. Paul in his Epistle to the Romans 12:6.
Comments
This is one of the best websites about Scripture Study ever! I have just started and I am already learning a lot. Thank you so much for sharing.
Just a quick comment, when I listen to Chapter 2 - The Old Testament and then listened to Chapter 3 - The Creation of the World, it seems to be pointing to one and the same media file.
God bless always.
Tel, I'm so glad to hear that you're enjoying the podcast. I just fixed the link to the audio file for Ch. 2 - The Old Testament - good catch!
Carson,
My name is Fidel A. Castro. I am a 32 year-old attorney from Silver Spring, Maryland, just outside of Washington, DC. My family is big into the Charismatic movement. I am one of the founding members of a new Charismatic group called: Cor Nostrum - Catholic Charismatic Professional Young Adults. Thank you for this podcast series. I just finished all number 30. I loved it! You helped me to understand so many things. I am inspired to continue studying the bible in preparation for the ministry that our Lord has entrusted me. Thank you soo much. May God bless you and your family so you can continue your work.
I am just turning catholic and am recanting in RCIA. I find your podcast very interesting since I am trying to learn more about the Bible. Unfortunately. I must have purchased the wrong book. I purchased the semester edition copyright 2004 and it doesn't follow with with the podcast. Do you have podcast for the book I purchased?
Thanks for your kind work. May God bless you. I am interrested to study. I hope I will be able to understand it well. thanks for your generousity to give me a chance to stud freely,
Thanks for the good work brother. Sorry to bother you. I downloaded to my Android phone but can't play ghe files. ...the play does not support the type of file. I don't know if you can help. I am able to download and play other mp3s. I suspect they didn't save well, but I don't know how to rename the file so they can play. Thanks again
Just wanted to say many thanks for this, wonderful job! Just finished the entire thing :)
Early morning it is beautiful to listen word