Once we affirm that Sacred Scripture is indeed inspired by God and without error, we can further examine this powerful weapon and discover three keys that help us unlock the Word of God.
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These three keys will open up a whole new world of biblical study for us and is necessary training for anyone who desires to wield the Sword of the Spirit. Here they are:
- Discover the Author’s Intention: God chose to use human authors as instruments in His divine plan. Each of these author’s had a particular intention with their writing. For example, one can not read the Psalms as a history book, for it is primarily poetry and speaks from the depths of the author’s soul. Similarly, it is erroneous to view the book of Genesis as a scientific explanation of the origins of the universe. Does it explain how and why God created the universe? Yes. Does it go in-depth into the exact scientific process of the creation of the universe? No. The intention of the author of Genesis (traditionally viewed as Moses) was not to give a description of the creation of the world that was scientific, but was more a “theological” explanation of its origin and our place in it. That is why when we read Sacred Scripture, we must keep in mind the author’s intention to discover the meaning behind each passage. In order to do that, we must turn to the Church’s Magisterium.
- Read within the Tradition of the Church: God has ordained that since Saint Peter, the Church has been given the authority to interpret Scripture. When we read Scripture it should always be in light of what the Church has taught for centuries. The Church has done this authoritatively through the Magisterium, which is the Pope and Bishops united with him. The Magisterium is the ultimate interpreter of Scripture and helps us sort out difficult passages. That is one of the primary benefits of being a part of the Catholic Church. In Protestant Bible studies, anyone’s interpretation can be valid, which accounts for the thousands and thousands of denominations. God, in His wisdom, knew that we needed an authoritative voice and so gave us his Spirit through the hierarchy of the Church. The next time we read Scripture, if we find ourselves outside of Church Tradition then we need to acquaint ourselves with what the Church teaches and the reasons behind it. That is why it is so important to have a quality commentary on Scripture. I will examine that topic next week.
- Understand the Four Senses of Scripture: The Catechism teaches us:
According to an ancient tradition, one can distinguish between two senses of Scripture: the literal and the spiritual, the latter being subdivided into the allegorical, moral and anagogical senses. The profound concordance of the four senses guarantees all its richness to the living reading of Scripture in the 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.” [Simply put, the literal sense of Scripture is based on what the author intended. For example, when St. Mark recorded the event of Jesus’ crucifixion, he intended to write down an historical event for a specific audience in mind.]
The spiritual sense. Thanks to the unity of God’s plan, not only the text of Scripture but also the realities and events about which it speaks can be signs.
1. The allegorical sense. We can acquire a more profound understanding of events by recognizing their significance in Christ; thus the crossing of the Red Sea is a sign or type of Christ’s victory and also of Christian Baptism.
2. The moral sense. The events reported in Scripture ought to lead us to act justly. As St. Paul says, they were written “for our instruction”.
3. The anagogical sense (Greek: anagoge, “leading”). We can view realities and events in terms of their eternal significance, leading us toward our true homeland: thus the Church on earth is a sign of the heavenly Jerusalem. (CCC 115-117)
As we can see, wielding the Sword of the Spirit is not always easy and we need guidance to use it effectively. We must not rely solely on our own insights while reading Scripture, but must ultimately take them to the Church to see if they correspond with what God intended to convey.
Where can we go to do that? Next week I will take a look at various biblical commentaries and recommend which ones to use that will help you understand the most difficult passages in Scripture.