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01/22/2005: "What do Catholics believe about Scripture???"

Obviously this is an overly broad. The question is broad mostly because “Catholics” are not a monolithic group that all think alike. So let me be a little more succinct and break the question down a little bit more. I think there are three audiences for this question or maybe three different ways to ask this question.

1. What does Catholic doctrine say they believe about Scripture?
2. What do lay people actually believe?
3. What do Priests and other lower level leaders believe about Scripture?

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In case you don’t know me at all I need to give a little bit of background so that you don't think that I am just some kind of Catholic hater spouting off.

I was raised in a serious church going Catholic family. Went to Catholic school in the first thru eight grades. Went to public school for high school but was still very active in church and Catholic retreats etc. I then went to the University of St Thomas, St. Paul MN with is also a Catholic University, and yes, I went there completely on my own volition.

My children now good to a small Catholic school because we like the values and the structure that Catholic schools can instill into our children. We want a school with our same value systems not a school we constantly have to battle from a values perspective, and Catholic schools often fit that bill.

I have moved into the Evangelical world within the past ten or eleven years partly for doctrinal issues between the Evangelical world and the Catholic world but also significantly because of real world practical issues. In my experience, a large percentage of the Catholics that I come into contact with cared nothing of deeper spiritual issues. Very few were doing any kind of Bible study or reading on faith issues. When I would tell people I was involved in a very rigorous Bible study, a glazed look would come over their eyes and they would have no idea what do say. I would get the impression that I was some kind of alien or something (that is not to imply that I am not indeed strange, just ask my wife or kids and they will attests to my oddity). So I have found myself in a more conservative Bible based church.

Through this entire journey I have realized there is no perfect Church. There are doctrinal issues with all churches and there are strengths to all churches that are within the realm of Orthodox Christian Doctrine.

With all that being said, let’s try to answer these questions one at a time.
To answer the first question, I will use the book Catechism of the Catholic Church The Liturgical Press, Collegeville MN.

Under Part One: The Profession of Faith, Section One: “I Believe” – “We Believe”, chapter Two: God Comes To meet Man, Article 3: Sacred Scripture, II. Inspirations and Truth of Sacred Scripture: Reproduced here

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II. INSPIRATION AND TRUTH OF SACRED SCRIPTURE

105 God is the author of Sacred Scripture. "The divinely revealed realities, which are contained and presented in the text of Sacred Scripture, have been written down under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit.”

"For Holy Mother Church, relying on the faith of the apostolic age, accepts as sacred and canonical the books of the Old and the New Testaments, whole and entire, with all their parts, on the grounds that, written under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, they have God as their author and have been handed on as such to the Church herself.”

106 God inspired the human authors of the sacred books. "To compose the sacred books, God chose certain men who, all the while he employed them in this task, made full use of their own faculties and powers so that, though he acted in them and by them, it was as true authors that they consigned to writing whatever he wanted written, and no more."

107 The inspired books teach the truth. "Since therefore all that the inspired authors or sacred writers affirm should be regarded as affirmed by the Holy Spirit, we must acknowledge that the books of Scripture firmly, faithfully, and without error teach that truth which God, for the sake of our salvation, wished to see confided to the Sacred Scriptures.

108 Still, the Christian faith is not a "religion of the book." Christianity is the religion of the "'Word" of God, " not a written and mute word, but incarnate and living.," If the Scriptures are not to remain a dead letter, Christ, the eternal Word of the living God, must, through the Holy Spirit, "open [our] minds to understand the Scriptures."

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This is remarkable! Does the average Catholic know this? If so, why do so few know anything about Scripture? Does the average Evangelical know this? If so, why do so many Evangelicals deride the Catholic Church for their disrespect for Scripture?

I use this doctrine all the time in conversations with people in both camps, and often there seems to be complete ignorance of what the doctrine really says and what the Catholic Church really teaches on this topic.

So, I believe the Catholic doctrine on the topic is actually remarkable close to most Evangelical doctrine on the topic.

I think the real problem lies with reality. How is this doctrine taught to the people and how seriously are people taking the doctrine? If Scripture is God revealing himself to us and we are followers of God, why would we not be devouring Scripture? Why is there such of fear or dread of reading Scripture among so many Catholics?

The second question: What do the lay people in the Catholic Church believe? Again, I admit that this discussion will have to be a huge generalization because this group is not monolithic in thought, but let’s try to move forward anyway… Let me be as candid as possible here. This discussion is not based on a scientific sample or 30 yrs of in-depth research. It is based on what I see as I talk to the many people I talk to.

I know that there is indeed a Catholic rebirth occurring in the Catholic Church. Many are starting to take faith much more seriously and some are starting to read more Scripture. I even know Catholic Schools that are inviting Evangelicals into their schools to teach their children Scripture.

That being said, most of the Catholics that I run across have a very low or liberal view of Scripture. They don’t believe it is true. They don’t believe it is reliable. They don’t believe it is historically or scientifically accurate.

But what is the cause of this very low view of Scripture in light of the discussion we had previously on the Catholic doctrine of “Inspiration and Truth of Sacred Scripture”?
a. I know in the secular world and yes maybe even in the Christian world I will be scoffed at for saying this but, I believe very fervently in the strong activity in the spiritual realm. What I mean is Satin and his minions are very active. Satin hates to have people know Scripture so; Satin will do everything in his power to degrade the view of Scripture in people’s minds.
b. The Church itself has been more focused on worldly things and not focusing on things of God. Sometimes in the life of a church we can get our eyes focused on doing good things and looking good so that we do not have enough time to learn what is good and true and to be transformed by that truth.
c. The church as been overcome with sin and that sin has not been purged. For years now we have been hearing about all of the Priest sex abuse scandals. The real scandal here is that the issues had not been dealt with quickly and effectively. This has showed practically that Church leadership has been more interested in protecting the abusing Priest than they have been with the protecting of their flock, especially the little children. These scandals have not just been occurring recently. This has been happening for decades, and this type of activity has it’s consequences.

The third question: What do the Priests believe? I think I have touched briefly on the third question as I was answering the second question. I am indeed excited by some Priests that I know and have read about that are on fire about God and deeply knowledgeable about Scripture and hold a very high view of Scripture, but this is not the norm.

I contend that most Priests still have a low view of Scripture. I hear all the time, “you can’t take it literally”.

But I think things are changing. I believe the sex scandals that are rocking the Catholic Church are in a way purifying the Church. They are forcing the removal of some very wicked and twisted Priests. In a way there is a bit of a mini “Reformation” going on.

Conclusion:
My hope is that many or all Priests will indeed take Scripture very seriously. And when I say Scripture I mean the whole canon of Scripture. If that were indeed the case I believe the Catholic Church would experience a very significant transformation. Maybe a transformation as dramatic as what occurred in the second chapter of the book of Acts.

Wayne Moran

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