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Reading the Bible

02-05-2023Weekly Reflection

For the Fathers* (of the Church), tradition** presents first the content of the Scriptures, which contain in one way or another all that is necessary to live as God wishes us to, and it interprets the meaning of the Scriptures. In fact, this meaning is not given clearly by Scripture itself and is found, in a certain way, outside it. To understand this fully, it would be necessary to develop the traditional conception of how the sacred texts should be read for a true perception and enjoyment of God’s Word. The divine Scriptures are regarded as a kind of sacrament: a grace-bearing sign that effectively realizes communion with God, and salvation, when it is used in the right conditions.

These conditions are obviously spiritual: humility, purity of heart, a true desire to seek God and a strong love of the Gospel; but this spiritual approach is not of a psychological or moral order that is purely individualistic: it requires that we place ourselves in God’s plan, in the framework of his Covenant,*** in the perspective of the communication he himself wishes to make to us, that is, in the fellowship of his People. The Scriptures do not surrender their meaning by the bare text; they surrender it to a mind that is living, and living in the conditions of the Covenant. This mind, or living subject, is the Church, God’s People, the Body of Christ and Temple of the Holy Spirit.

Thus, in a certain way, Scripture possesses its meaning outside itself. In the categories of the Scholastic analysis of the sacraments, it would be termed the fruit of Scripture, its res (the spiritual reality resulting from the sacrament). The reality contained in the sacred text would be described as its literary, historical or exegetical meaning, but its dogmatic meaning is found outside the text, considered materially, which supposes the intervention of a new activity, namely, the faith of the Church. The place where this is found is precisely tradition as it is understood by the early Fathers; it is there, in this setting and in these conditions, that the holy Scriptures reveal their meaning—a meaning that is not simply the one accessible to philologists and historians but that which must nourish God’s people in order that it may be God’s people in the fullest sense…. The doctrine that has just been presented is that of all the Fathers of the Catholic tradition, as much in the East as in the West. It is denied in the Protestant theory of the sufficiency of Scripture, expounded systematically in the Protestant orthodoxy of the beginning of the seventeenth century. According to this theory, Scripture possesses by itself and in itself, that is, without needing the addition of any other principle, the qualities of a real sacrament of salvation, or rather, of saving faith. It possesses authority, making it recognized and developing it unaided; it possesses efficacy, being the principal—and for some the sole—means of grace.; it contains all that is necessary for the Christian; it is clear, explaining itself without help and needing nothing besides itself to make known God’s thoughts. But a contemporary Dutch Protestant writer has said: “Was the motto of the Reformation not Scripture alone? On the contrary, the plurality of Churches belies this motto.”

The theory of the sufficiency of Scripture to reveal its meaning as that of the Word, by which God wishes his people to live his Covenant, encounters the difficulty of differences of interpretation. This situation is not a new one, but perhaps Protestants have hesitated to draw conclusions from it because it was imprudently exploited by Catholic controversialists. Today, Protestants themselves are rediscovering it in the setting and climate of ecumenism. Gathered round God’s Word contained in Scripture, they are aware of the profound unity it communicates to them—the unity, in fact, of Christianity—and owing to the fact that they are different and possess different doctrinal systems, at the same time they realize, for this very reason, that each has read holy Scripture following a certain tradition.

The unity itself that exists between them comes from the Bible, whose text they hold in common, but not from the Bible alone: it comes also from what the Reformers retained of the tradition of the ancient Church, judging it consonant with Scripture and basing it especially on the Apostles’ Creed, the first four Ecumenical Councils, and even partly on the Fathers, whom they are at present rediscovering in a way that is quite remarkable. They have also been rediscovering the Church for about a generation now, at least in her communal aspect, if not yet in that aspect revealing her as a public institution of divine right and an organically structured body. This discovery is leading an increasing number of Protestant theologians to realize that the Scriptures, a book given to God’s People, can be understood in its fullest and purest sense only if it is read in the Church, in the fellowship of the entire People of God.**** Father Yves Congar O.P.

* Note: The Church Fathers, Early Church Fathers, Christian Fathers, or Fathers of the Church were ancient and influential Christian theologians and writers who established the intellectual and doctrinal foundations of Christianity . The historical period in which they worked became known as the Patristic Era and spans approximately from the late 1st to mid-8th centuries, flourishing in particular during the 4th and 5th centuries, when Christianity was in the process of establishing itself as the state church of the Roman Empire . In the Catholic Church there are four Fathers each also called the “Great Church Fathers. In the Catholic Church, they are collectively called the Eight Doctors of the Church . In the Western Church, they are Saints Ambrose, Jerome, Augustine, and Pope Gregory the Great. In the Easter Church they are Saints Athanasius, Gregory of Nazianzus, Basil of Caesarea, and John Chrysostom.

** Note: Sacred Tradition comes from Christ. It is the full, living gift of Christ to the Apostles faithfully handed down through each generation through their successors the Pope and bishops in communion with him. It is through Tradition that the Holy Spirit makes the Risen Lord present among us, offering us the very same saving Word and Sacraments that he gave to the Apostles! So then, brethren, stand firm and hold to the traditions which you were taught by us, either by word of mouth or by letter. (2 Thess 2:15) For I received from the Lord what I also handed on to you 1 Cor 11:22

*** Note: Covenant is a kinship-bond between two parties, with conditions or obligations, established by an oath or its equivalent. The Bible is divided in the Scriptures based on two covenants, the Old and the New. It introduces a familial bond between the parties. The Bible is structured according to a sequence of divine covenants established between God and man, through the mediation of different individuals: Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses, David, and ultimately Jesus Christ. The covenant through Jesus is an eternal covenant. If the New Covenant surpasses the Mosaic covenant, it restores and transforms the Davidic covenant. Jesus Christ is the Son of David who rules eternally from the heavenly Zion (Heb 12: 22– 24) and manifests his rule over Israel and all the nations (Matt 28: 1820) The New Covenant involves the fulfillment of the other covenants of salvation history, as well. Thus, Jesus is a new Adam (Rom 5: 12– 19) who makes us into a new creation (2 Cor 5: 17; Gal 6: 15). He fulfills all the promises of the Abrahamic covenant (Luke 1: 68– 75, esp. 72–72– 73), including great nationhood (the Church; 1 Pet 2: 9), kingship (Rev 19: 16), the fatherhood of many nations (Rom 4: 16– 18), and the “blessing to all nations” experienced in the outpouring of the Spirit on all people (Acts 3: 25– 26; Gal 3: 6– 9, 4– 18). Even the Mosaic covenant, which to a certain extent is abrogated (Gal 3: 19– 25), is fulfilled in its essence by the New Covenant, which grants believers the power of the Holy Spirit to fulfill the very heart of the Mosaic Law, the commands of love for God and neighbor (Rom 8: 3– 4, 13: 810; Matt 5: 17, 22: 37– 40).

**** Note on the meaning of” People of God”: What became a typical post-conciliar journalist’s habit of calling the laity “the People of God” is without foundation in the conciliar texts. In chapter 2 of Lumen gentium, the phrase “People of God” denotes the Church totality of which the laity constitute one part—albeit, of course, numerically speaking the predominant part when compared either with the ordained or with monastics (those living the consecrated life). Fr. Aidan Nichols O.P. Conciliar Octet: A Concise Commentary on the Eight Key Texts of the Second Vatican Council (p. 35). Ignatius Press. (END)

A quote to memorize from St. Pacian, Bishop of Barcelona in the 4th century, who was considered a Father of the Church. In his writings, he discussed ecclesiastical discipline, baptism , papal primacy, and teachings on penance against the Novatian heresy, which was then flourishing in Spain. He is also remembered from a phrase from one of his letters:

Christianus mihi nomen est, catholicus vero cognomen (My name is Christian, my surname is Catholic).

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