The Bible | cruxchfaithformation

Apologetics Minute: The Bible

“What is the ‘anagogical sense’ interpretation of reading the Bible?”

The word “anagogical” means “leading” and to interpret the Bible using the “anagogical sense” is to look at what that Bible passage us is leading us to, its “eternal significance” (Catechism paragraph 117, part 3). One can use this sense to better understand more about where God is leading all people to, which is heaven. This sense is both instructive and inspiring as it gives us a way to look forward, or lead us, to our ultimate destiny, which is perfect communion with God forever.

“What is the ‘moral sense’ interpretation of reading the Bible?”

Interpreting the Bible using the “moral sense” is to understand how the Bible is teaching us to live (Catechism paragraph 117, part 2). This can be through direct instruction, like the book of Proverbs or Jesus giving the Beatitudes in Matthew 5, or through actions, like those of King Solomon in 1 Kings 3:16-28. This doesn’t mean that everything a person does in the Bible is good, but that we can learn by their example. The Bible itself says it is “useful for…training in righteousness” (2 Timothy 3:16).

“How does the Catholic Church interpret the Bible?”

Because the Bible is actually a collection of many different books, the way one interprets any individual passage or book depends on a number of different factors. The Catholic Church uses what the Catechism calls the four “Senses of Scripture” (found in paragraphs 115-117). These four senses are the (1) literal, the meaning “conveyed by the words” of the Bible, the (2) allegorical, how the words relate to Jesus, the (3) moral, how we are to act, and the (4) anagogical, how the words relate to heaven.

“What is the ‘literal sense’ interpretation of reading the Bible?”

The “literal sense” of interpreting the Bible is the first and most important because it is the foundation for the other three senses (allegorical, moral and anagogical). The Catechism of the Catholic Church describes the literal sense as “the meaning conveyed by the words of Scripture.” This is found by considering the genre of the book in the Bible (poetry, history, prophecy, etc.) as well as the culture in which the author was writing. Even though the message of the Bible applies to all peoples of all times, the ones who wrote the words were influenced by the culture in which they lived.

“What is the ‘allegorical sense’ interpretation of reading the Bible?”

The Catechism of the Catholic Church says that to interpret the Bible using the “allegorical sense” is to recognize how the events in the Bible are meant to be understood “in the light of Christ crucified and risen”. The first Christians saw the events in the Old Testament as ways to prepare for the coming of Christ later. This “unity of the Old and New Testaments,” is essential for a full understanding of the whole Bible. A common saying to illustrate this point goes, “the New Testament lies hidden in the Old and the Old Testament is unveiled in the New” (paragraphs 117, part 1, & 129).

“How can Christians know the Bible is the Word of God?”

Even if the Bible called itself “the Word of God” there would be no reason to trust what it says without an outside source to validate it. This source is the Catholic Church who, through Her Tradition, determined that everything in the Bible is “useful…for all righteousness” and “thoroughly equipped” in regards to our salvation (2 Tim. 3:16-17). The Bible affirms this when it calls the Church the “pillar and foundation of truth” (1 Tim. 3:15). The Church had existed years before the Bible was written (last book approx. 90 AD) and assembled, then later ratified (397 AD).

"Who determined which books should be in the New Testament?”

Though the writings of the New Testament (NT) were written in the first seventy years after Jesus’ Ascension, the NT as Christians know it today was not standardized until 397 AD at the Third Church Council of Carthage. Here, a collection of bishops, headed by the Pope, concluded that the writings we know as the NT were authentic and adhered to the Christian faith, based on the Tradition they had received from the Apostles. Without the Church these writings have been lost there would be no way of knowing which ones were inspired by God and belonged in the Bible at all.

“Does, or did, the Catholic Church discourage people from reading the Bible?”

The Catholic Church has actually made great efforts to promote the reading of the Bible by everyone. The Church commissioned St. Jerome in the 4^th century to translate the Bible into Latin. If you could read back then, you read Latin; this edition was called the Vulgate. The Church sent Sts. Cyril and Methodius in the 9^th century to develop an alphabet for the Slavic people so they could read the Bible. It was also the Church who published the first known common language editions of the Bible as early as the 1400s. The Vulgate was also the first Bible used on the printing press in 1452. The Church, however, does discourage people from interpreting the Bible without its guidance. This is to protect the Bible and us. If everyone has equal license to interpret God’s written Word, it loses its meaning.

“Why doesn’t the Catholic Church believe in the sole authority of the Bible (Sola Scriptura)?”

The Catholic Church doesn’t believe in the sole authority of the Bible because the Bible needs something outside itself to have authority only the Church can give. The Bible supports this idea when it says the Church is the “pillar and foundation of truth” (1 Timothy 3:15). The Bible never claims to have sole authority, so to believe in its sole authority is against the Bible. The Bible explicitly speaks against its sole authority numerous times (see John 21:25; 2 Thess. 2:15) and implies this belief when it relies on tradition to shape the Scriptures (see Luke 1:1-4; 1 Corinthians 11:2). Finally, it took the Church to decide what is included in the Bible shows that the Bible relied on authority of the Church for its own assembly (the Bible was assembled in 397 AD).