Modernizing Scripture

 

One of the most misunderstood treasures of the Deposit of Revelation is the Holy Bible. The problem began, not with the alleged "ignorance" of Catholics concerning Sacred Scripture in ages past, or the equally spurious claim that the Church forbade Catholics to read it. Rather, it originated with the heretical Protestant so-called "Reformation" of the 16th century. Luther, Calvin, and the others taught the false and evil doctrine of sola scriptura (i.e., "the Scripture alone") as the only rule of faith. Protestant sects quickly multiplied without Magisterial authority to correctly interpret the Bible; every man gave the Bible his own private interpretation. 

Protestants had many false ideas about Sacred Scripture, and made their own versions of it, which were better suited to fit as proof texts for their numerous heretical doctrines. They jettisoned seven books of the Old Testament (2 Maccabees was considered particularly odious as it referenced Purgatory), and Luther came very close to omitting the Epistle of St. James as it declared faith without good works to be dead. Protestants became adept at citing Scripture and memorizing verses to bedazzle Catholics unknowledgeable in the Faith. More than one Catholic thereby lost their faith and joined a Protestant sect. 

Other non-Protestant sects emerged (e.g., Jehovah's Witnesses) with their own "bible" and interpretations to support their unfounded tenets. Then came the Great Apostasy at Vatican II. The heretics who created the V2 sect also warped the true sense of Scripture to support their Counterfeit Catholicism. I find that, even today, most Traditionalists don't understand many of the ideas associated with the Bible. In this post I will (a) give the Church's teaching on the Divine Origin and Inspiration of the Bible, Biblical Inerrancy, and (b) the condemned ideas of the Modernists adopted by the Vatican II sect.

The Meaning of the Divine Origin and Inspiration of Holy Scripture

(All principles in the first two sections are condensed from theologian Nicolau, Sacrae Theologiae Summa IB, [1955], pgs. 554-714 on Holy Scripture---Introibo). 

1. The Bible is unique because unlike any other books, it was composed not by the mere work of humans. The Holy Ghost had such an active role, it is correct to say that God is the Author of the Bible. The human writers acted under the guidance of the Holy Ghost, as instrumental causes. Therefore, the Bible is truly called The Word of God. 

2. This working together of God and Man in the composition of the Bible is known as Divine Inspiration. How God inspired the writers is explained by Pope Leo XIII in his encyclical Providentissimus Deus: For, by supernatural power, He so moved and impelled them to write-He was so present to them-that the things which He ordered, and those only, they, first, rightly understood, then willed faithfully to write down, and finally expressed in apt words and with infallible truth. (para. #20). There are, therefore, three main elements: (a) God influenced the writers' minds to rightly understand all, and only, those things God wanted written, (b) God influenced their wills to make them determined to write these things, and (c) He influenced them that they correctly and without error wrote all down. It is important to note that inspiration takes place at the time it is written. Approval by the Church that a book belongs to the Bible does not make it inspired, rather it recognizes it as such.  

3. Inspiration includes the whole Bible in every sentence. Again, Pope Leo teaches: But it is absolutely wrong and forbidden, either to narrow inspiration to certain parts only of Holy Scripture, or to admit that the sacred writer has erred. (Ibid). Inspiration is not to be conceived of as dictation, whereby the Holy Ghost told the sacred writers each word to write. Each author could express his individuality in the writing style. This is why there is different wording and styles applied throughout the Bible. Even accounts of the same event are recorded differently by Sts. Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. 

4. The Bible is only inspired according to the original writing (referred to as the "autographs"). Copiers can make mistakes, and translations can be inaccurate. Neither the mistakes or inaccuracies are inspired. The Magisterium will correct any such defects and make sure God's Word is not corrupted. 

5. The fact of the Bible's Divine Inspiration and Origin is infallibly decreed by the Church. The Ecumenical Councils of Florence and Trent call God the Author of the Old and New Testaments. The Vatican Council of 1870 infallibly decreed: CANON IV: If anyone shall not receive as sacred and canonical the Books of Holy Scripture, entire with all their parts, as the Holy Synod of Trent has enumerated them, or shall deny that they have been Divinely-inspired; let him be anathema.

Church Teaching on Biblical Inerrancy

1. Inerrancy means that the sacred books of the Bible are totally free from error in all their statements. This is a logical corollary to their being Divinely Inspired. Since God is the Author of the Bible, and God is all-truthful, there can be no errors in the Bible. To assert otherwise is to impute error to God; the very notion of which is false and blasphemous.  Pope Leo XIII sums it up very well:

For all the books which the Church receives as sacred and canonical, are written wholly and entirely, with all their parts, at the dictation of the Holy Ghost; and so far is it from being possible that any error can co-exist with inspiration, that inspiration not only is essentially incompatible with error, but excludes and rejects it as absolutely and necessarily as it is impossible that God Himself, the supreme Truth, can utter that which is not true. This is the ancient and unchanging faith of the Church, solemnly defined in the Councils of Florence and of Trent, and finally confirmed and more expressly formulated by the Council of the Vatican. (Ibid). 

Pope Pius XII says of Pope Leo's teaching in Divino Afflante Spiritu:

This teaching [on Inerrancy], which Our Predecessor Leo XIII set forth with such solemnity, We also proclaim with Our authority and We urge all to adhere to it religiously. No less earnestly do We inculcate obedience at the present day to the counsels and exhortations which he, in his day, so wisely enjoined. (para. #4).

2. Inerrancy extends to all matters written, not just concerning faith and morals. In Humani Generis, Pope Pius XII taught: 

For some go so far as to pervert the sense of the Vatican Council's definition that God is the Author of Holy Scripture, and they put forward again the opinion, already often condemned, which asserts that immunity from error extends only to those parts of the Bible that treat of God or of moral and religious matters. They even wrongly speak of a human sense of the Scriptures, beneath which a divine sense, which they say is the only infallible meaning, lies hidden. In interpreting Scripture, they will take no account of the analogy of faith and the Tradition of the Church. Thus they judge the doctrine of the Fathers and of the Teaching Church by the norm of Holy Scripture, interpreted by the purely human reason of exegetes, instead of explaining Holy Scripture according to the mind of the Church which Christ Our Lord has appointed guardian and interpreter of the whole deposit of divinely revealed truth.(para. #22). 

3. However, Inerrancy does not mean that everything written in the sacred books of the Bible is an actual historical event because there are many allegories, parables, etc., which have no need of an historical basis, because they belong to a different type of instruction. With these exceptions, (which must be established on the grounds of substantial evidence and a careful avoidance of sweeping generalizations), the historical truth of Sacred Scripture is a principle to be taken as a starting point for all work of interpretation of the sacred books; it is not a conclusion or end-product of research. 

Modernist Errors on Sacred Scripture

In his famous syllabus condemning the errors of the Modernists, Lamentabili Sane, the great Pope St. Pius X showed how the vile heretics were assailing God's Word. Everything he condemned is now either taught or tolerated by the Vatican II sect. As analysis of all the errors would require several posts, the most egregious will be here examined.

(a) The use of Non-Catholic exegetes (interpreters of Biblical texts). 

Condemned proposition #19. Heterodox exegetes have expressed the true sense of the Scriptures more faithfully than Catholic exegetes.

We see the proliferation of "ecumenical bibles." One such "bible" is The Message. It was written by a Presbyterian minister and Vatican II sect member. Although not approved for "official use" by the Vatican II sect, it has not been officially condemned either. Here is just a sample of how the verses are rendered:

 The Word became flesh and blood, and moved into the neighborhood (St. John 1:14).

This is how much God loved the world: He gave his Son, his one and only Son. And this is why: So that no one need be destroyed. By believing in him, anyone can have a whole and lasting life. God didn't go to all the trouble of sending his Son merely to point an accusing finger, telling the world how bad it was. He came to help, to put the world right again. (St. John 3:16-17).

Here are (what is left of) The Beatitudes in St. Matthew 5: 3-10:

You’re blessed when you’re at the end of your rope. With less of you there is more of God and his rule. 

You’re blessed when you feel you’ve lost what is most dear to you. Only then can you be embraced by the One most dear to you. 

You’re blessed when you’re content with just who you are—no more, no less. That’s the moment you find yourselves proud owners of everything that can’t be bought. 

You’re blessed when you’ve worked up a good appetite for God. He’s food and drink in the best meal you’ll ever eat. 

You’re blessed when you care. At the moment of being ‘care-full,’ you find yourselves cared for. 

You’re blessed when you get your inside world—your mind and heart—put right. Then you can see God in the outside world. 

You’re blessed when you can show people how to cooperate instead of compete or fight. That’s when you discover who you really are, and your place in God’s family. 

You’re blessed when your commitment to God provokes persecution. The persecution drives you even deeper into God’s kingdom. (See https://www.themessagecatholic.com/the-beatitudes.html). 

This ridiculous rendering of the verses by a Protestant isn't merely stupid, it comes with serious doctrinal problems. Consider St. Luke 1:28, where the angel Gabriel calls the Virgin Mary "full of grace." That phrase is very important theologically, because Mary was the only human being to be conceived in the fullness of grace. (Christ was both God and Man; Mary had only a human nature). The very verse was used as proof of the Immaculate Conception when Pope Pius IX infallibly defined it in 1854. "The Message" translation has it rendered, Good morning! You’re beautiful with God’s beauty, Beautiful inside and out! God be with you. Obviously, being "beautiful inside and out" is not the equivalent of "full of grace." Even approved V2 sect translations (New American Bible) used material from Protestant exegetes and rendered the passage: "Hail, O highly favored daughter!" Every canonized female saint can be considered a "highly favored daughter" of God, but only Mary was "full of grace."

(b) Errors on Inspiration. 

Condemned proposition #9: They display excessive simplicity or ignorance who believe that God is really the Author of the Sacred Scriptures. 

Condemned proposition #64. Scientific progress demands that the concepts of Christian doctrine concerning God, creation, revelation, the Person of the Incarnate Word, and Redemption be re-adjusted.

If God is not really the Author of the Bible, "error" can be ascribed to it. Hence, the exegete must "demythologize" the Bible and "re-adjust it" by making the Bible conform to scientism. Consider Fr. Raymond Brown (d.1998). Ordained in 1953 at age 25, Brown had racked up an impressive number of scholarly credentials pre-Vatican II. He was a theologian, having obtained his Doctorate in Sacred Theology from The Catholic University of America in 1955. He was a closet Modernist and came out in full force in the late 1960s. In 1971, he started teaching at Union Theological Seminary (a Protestant institution) in Manhattan without censure from the Vatican II sect. 

That same year, Brown called for "a scholarly reassessment" of the historical accuracy of Jesus' conception and virginal birth. The heretic dared to deny the Virgin Birth and claimed that a number of New Testament revelations, especially those related to Saints Matthew's, and Luke's infancy narratives, were mythological, just nice stories to underscore a certain truth. Nevertheless, "Cardinal" Roger Mahony of Los Angeles [called "Red Roger" by Fr. DePauw and others for his support of Marxist "Liberation theology"] described Brown as "the most distinguished and renowned Catholic (sic) biblical scholar to emerge in this country ever" and his death, Mahoney said, was "a great loss to the Church (sic)."

(c) Errors on Historicity. 

Condemned error #16. The narrations of [St.]John are not properly history, but a mystical contemplation of the Gospel. The discourses contained in his Gospel are theological meditations, lacking historical truth concerning the mystery of salvation.

The Church teaches that everything in Sacred Scripture which appears as an historical narrative should be understood in its literal meaning, unless there are sufficient and proven reasons for thinking otherwise, in which case the matter must be submitted to the Church. Such is the case in the first chapters of the Book of Genesis. Are they literal? here's what the Pontifical Biblical Commission decreed with the solemn approval of Pope St. Pius X:

In response to several questions relating to the Book of Genesis, on June 30, 1909, here's what the Commission decreed:

Question 7: Whether, since in writing the first chapter of Genesis it was not the mind of the sacred author to teach in a scientific manner the detailed constitution of visible things and the complete order of creation, but rather to give his people a popular notion, according as the common speech of the times went, accommodated to the understanding and capacity of men, the propriety of scientific language is to be investigated exactly and always in the interpretation of these? -- Reply: In the negative.(Emphasis mine).

Question 8:Whether in that designation and distinction of six days, with which the account of the first chapter of Genesis deals, the word (dies) can be assumed either in its proper sense as a natural day, or in the improper sense of a certain space of time; and whether with regard to such a question there can be free disagreement among exegetes? -- Reply: In the affirmative. (Emphasis mine). 

This is how Catholics solve such disputes. However, Modernist exegetes immediately reject the literal reading and go in search of whatever novelty in hermeneutics will make it sound "less supernatural."

Case in point:

Condemned proposition #36. The Resurrection of the Savior is not properly a fact of the historical order. It is a fact of merely the supernatural order (neither demonstrated nor demonstrable) which the Christian conscience gradually derived from other facts.

In 1967, the German Vatican II sect bishops, put out a pastoral letter on September 22 in which they stated, The words in the Gospel which affirm that Jesus has risen from the dead are, they [Modernist exegetes] tell us, the result of pious reflection of the primitive community in their attempts to explain the Pascal experience, a "happening" that cannot be explained in precise historical terms. It expresses their conviction that the cause of Jesus had not ended with the cross, but that it continued. This somewhat vague experience had first been understood as the missionary task entrusted to the apostles. Later, it was termed as a vision of the Risen One; and finally, it stabilized into the formula Jesus is risen from the dead. (All emphasis in the original). 

The physical resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead is a real historical fact. It cannot be understood as the result of an inner experience, conditioned by time and expressible in other terms. In this one sentence the apostate German bishops destroy all of Christianity, for as St. Paul wrote, "And if Christ be not risen again, then is our preaching vain, and your faith is also vain." (1 Corinthians 15:14). In this same letter, the German bishops taught that the teaching authority of the Church can, and has,  fallen into errors. (See The Development of Moral Theology: Five Strands, by heretic Charles Curran [2013], pg. 273). If you think the German bishops were in any way censured, or had their pastoral letter condemned by Montini ("Pope" Paul VI), guess again. 

Conclusion

The study of the Bible must always be done with the guidance of the Magisterium. A good Catholic commentary, like that of theologian Haydock, will go a long way in helping a Traditionalist Catholic understand the true meaning of Sacred Scripture. Always look into what the Church teaches when some Protestant or member of the Vatican II sect bandies about Bible verses to support their contentions. Understanding the Bible as the Church does goes a long way to defeating the Modernists and other heretics who pervert the Word of God unto their own destruction.