2. As You Sow, So Shall You Reap: The Importance of Sound Interpretation
"[S]o shall my word be that goes forth from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and prosper in the thin" for which I sent it" (Is. 55:11).
The prayerful and careful reading of the Scriptures will always prove itself to be a profitable use of time. This does not mean, however, that reading the Bible is easy or simple. The sacred Scriptures are like a large lake, sufficient for anyone to come and drink fully, but deep enough for anyone to drown. This is the way God has designed the Bible, to encourage us to dig deep and to dig humbly. While the Church encourages us to read the Bible, it calls us to read carefully. Special attention should be paid to the text so that we might discern the intention of the sacred writer. This includes noting the literary form, or genre, of the text: Is it poetry, a parable, or a narration? The nature of the text will affect the meaning of the passage:
"[I]t is the duty of the exegete, to lay hold, so to speak, with the greatest care and reverence of the very least expressions which, under the inspiration of the Divine Spirit, have flowed from the pen of the sacred writer, so as to arrive at a deeper and fuller knowledge of his meaning" (, no. 15).
Proper care and willingness to always examine our understanding in light of the teachings of the Church will help us to avoid the opposing errors of fundamentalism and skepticism.
The Bible works something like a chamois, a leather cloth used to dry a car when washing it. A chamois needs to be moist in order to absorb moisture. This is the paradox for the biblical student: We need to know the Bible in order to get to know the Bible better. This means that in our first reading we may miss many elements and aspects which a later reading will show us. But God has designed the Scriptures so that the faithful reader will be able to get something every time he studies it.
One helpful hint may be to begin on more familiar ground. The ideal starting place for devotional reading may be the Gospel of St. John in the New Testament. The Gospels are more familiar to us. We hear them at Mass every week, even daily if we attend. The characters of the New Testament are also more familiar to us, such as Mary and the apostles. A commitment to read a portion each day will lead us quickly through the New Testament, and then we may be ready to go back to the beginning.
The Old Testament is admittedly more difficult. The names, places, and events can be foreign to the modern reader. I recommend a tape series by Dr. Scott Hahn entitled "Salvation History." In these tapes Dr. Hahn provides a framework within which we can begin to make sense of the Old Testament salvation history. This framework offers a "filing cabinet" in which we can begin to store the information as we read it, almost like a computer disk which needs to be formatted before information can be stored on it.
Most of all, we must avoid the temptation to become frustrated. There will be things we will not fully understand. When we encounter these difficulties, we should realize we are in good company: "Whosoever comes to [Scripture reading] in piety, faith, and humility, and with determination to make progress in it, will assuredly find therein and will eat the 'Bread that comes down from heaven' (Jn. 6:33 ); he will, in his own person, experience the truth of David's words: 'The hidden and uncertain things of Thy Wisdom Thou hast made manifest to me!"' (Ps. 51:6) (, no. 43).
Pope Benedict XV also acknowledges: "[St.] Jerome was compelled, when he discovered apparent discrepancies in the sacred books, to use every endeavor to unravel the difficulty. If he felt that he had not satisfactorily settled the problem, he would return to it again and again, not always, indeed, with the happiest results" (ibid., no. 15, emphasis added).
As with any craft, there are many tools which can be used to maximize the profitability of our reading. First and foremost among these tools is the regular and consistent reading of the sacred page itself. St. Jerome taught, "Read assiduously and learn as much as you can. Let sleep find you holding your Bible, and when your head nods let it be resting on the sacred page" (ibid., no. 42).
Only after we have read and reread the sacred page ourselves can we effectively make use of other tools. There are modern commentaries on all of the New Testament put out through the Navarre Study Series by Scepter Press. Dr. Hahn has a number of commentaries on audiotape on various books of the Bible. There are several official documents put out by the Magisterium on the topic of sacred Scripture (Pope Leo XIII, Pope Pius X, Pope Benedict XV, Pope Pius XII, Vatican II, and the Pontifical Biblical Commission before Pope Paul removed its magisterial status). There are also a number of other study guides available for more serious investigation, such as concordances, Bible dictionaries, biblical encyclopedias, etc. But these tools, while helpful, can never replace the daily, personal reading of sacred Scripture. The Word of God is that pearl of great price which deserves all of our attention.
Taken from www.ewtn.com/library/SCRIPTUR/SSMODCAT.TXT
No comments:
Post a Comment