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Do
You Believe in Private Interpretation of the Bible? |
Consider:
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Do you reject the concept that the Catholic Church has the sole
authority to interpret the Bible? Click
here
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How can it be true that the Bible is subject to one's personal
interpretation since Scripture shows that an instructor is
necessary to properly understand the Bible (see Acts 8:30-31, Neh.
8:8)?
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How can it be true that the Bible is subject to one's personal
interpretation since Scripture says that prophecy of Scripture is not
a matter of personal interpretation (see 2 Pt. 1:20)?
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How can it be true that the Bible is subject to one's personal
interpretation since Scripture itself says that Scripture can be
difficult to understand and can be distorted to one's destruction
(see 2 Pt. 3:15-16)? How is it that Scripture can be said to be
difficult to understand if the Holy Spirit guided persons to a
proper interpretation?
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How can it be true that believers are guided to a perfect
understanding of Scripture by the Holy Spirit considering that St.
Paul indicated that the Corinthians had only come to understand
him "partially" (see 2 Cor. 1:13-14)?
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How can it be true that believers are guided to a perfect
understanding of Scripture by the Holy Spirit considering that St.
Paul tells his readers that they needed to have someone teach them
again (see Heb. 5:12)?
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Where exactly does Scripture guarantee that you -
personally - will be given an accurate understanding of the Bible?
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How can it be true that the Holy Spirit guides each person in the
proper understanding of Scripture, since it is clear that
those who believe in personal interpretation of the Bible so often
disagree on the meaning of Scripture? Are we to believe that the
Holy Spirit - the Spirit of truth and the remover of errors -
guides people in a contradictory fashion? If persons were truly
guided by the Holy Spirit, surely they would all interpret the
same way!
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How can it be true that the Bible is subject to one's personal
interpretation considering that human mind is so easily deceived?
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Why would the Holy Spirit use personal interpretation of Scripture
as the means of bringing people to truth when Bibles weren't
readily available for most of Christianity, until the printing
press was invented? Note: Click
here for more on this topic ('Bible alone').
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How can it be true that the Bible is subject to one's personal
interpretation considering that persons are so easily led to believe
that what they want a passage to believe is what it really means?
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How can it be true that the Bible is subject to one's personal
interpretation considering that persons are inclined to make any
given passage fit their preconceived ideas?
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How can it be true that the Bible is subject to one's personal
interpretation considering that each competing interpretation
would then have to be considered as equally valid?
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How can it be said that the Holy Spirit personally guides
Protestants in the interpretation of the Bible when one Protestant
comes to one conclusion and other Protestants come to
contradictory conclusions? Clearly all but one of them must be
wrong! One cannot accept contradictory conclusions as equally
valid! Do you ignore the basic points of logic and continue to
hold that all have been guided by the Holy Spirit - truth itself -
in reaching these contradictory conclusions? As Pope St. Pius X
has said, "In
short, to maintain and defend these theories they do not hesitate
to declare that the noblest homage that can be paid to the
Infinite is to make it the object of contradictory propositions!
But when they justify even contradiction, what is it that they
will refuse to justify?" (Pope St. Pius X, "Pascendi Dominici
Gregis", 1907 A.D.)
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If the Bible is rightly subject to personal interpretation under
the Holy Spirit, why have the fruits of this practice been the separation
of Protestants into 30,000+ denominations? Do not the
demonstrated fruits of this practice show that those who rely on
private interpretation of Scripture cannot come to a secure
knowledge of divine truths? Do not these 30,000+ sects in fact
prove the necessity of a authoritative interpreter if one really
cares about truth? If the Holy Spirit directs you to all truth,
why are there 30,000+ sects of Protestantism? Why does every
person interpret Scripture differently?
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Considering that Scripture speaks of being one fold (Jn. 10:16),
that Jesus prays for unity (Jn. 17:20-23), that Christians are
called to think in harmony with one another (Rom. 15:5) and avoid
those who create dissension, in opposition to the teaching they've
learned (Rom. 16:17), that there should be no divisions, that
Christians should be united in mind (1 Cor. 1:10), with unity, one
faith (Eph. 4:3-6), united, of same mind, thinking one thing
(Phil. 2:2), is it not clear that Protestant's claimed personal interpretation
has failed miserably? Protestants have no unity, but rather
division. Each thinks differently from the other. Further what
they think is true may change from day to day, or as each new
'inspiration' comes. Not only is the "way of truth
reviled" (cf. 2 Pt. 2:2), but
many seem to deny that there is any objective truth. The rules of
logic tell us there can only be one truth, that everything
contrary is erroneous. The rules of Protestantism teach that each
person's "truth" is just as good as another's. As
Cardinal Newman states, "Truth is one; therefore...the multitude of men are wrong, as
far as they differ; and as they differ, not about trivial points
but about great matters, it follows that the multitude of men,
whether by their own fault or not, are wrong even in the greater
matters of religion." (Cardinal Newman) And, as Pope
Leo XIII points out, "The heavenly
doctrine of Christ, although for the most part committed to
writing by divine inspiration, could not unite the minds of men if
left to the human intellect alone. It would, for this very reason,
be subject to various and contradictory interpretations. This is
so, not only because of the nature of the doctrine itself and of
the mysteries it involves, but also because of the divergencies of
the human mind and of the disturbing element of conflicting
passions. From a variety of interpretations a variety of beliefs
is necessarily begotten; hence come controversies, dissensions and
wranglings such as have arisen in the past, even in the first ages
of the Church. Irenaeus writes of heretics as follows: 'Admitting
the sacred Scriptures they distort the interpretations' (Lib.
iii., cap. 12, n. 12). And Augustine: 'Heresies have arisen, and
certain perverse views ensnaring souls and precipitating them into
the abyss only when the Scriptures, good in themselves, are not
properly understood' (In Evang. Joan., tract xviii., cap. 5, n.
I). Besides Holy Writ it was absolutely necessary to insure this
union of men's minds - to effect and preserve unity of ideas -
that there should be another principle. This the wisdom of God
requires: for He could not have willed that the faith should be
one if He did not provide means sufficient for the preservation of
this unity; and this Holy Writ clearly sets forth [namely, the
teaching authority of the Catholic Church]" (Pope Leo
XIII, "Satis Cognitum", 1896 A.D.)
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How is it that one can claim to be able to interpret
all of Scripture infallibly, under the inspiration of the Holy
Spirit, but then argue that the Pope is not infallible in the very
limited area which the Church teaches that infallibility covers? "If
you claim perfect personal interpretation for every passage of
Scripture, you claim far more than any pope!" [Note: Click
here for more on papal infallibility.]
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If it is true that the Holy Spirit infallibly guides individuals
to a proper understanding of Scripture, why does the Bible so
clearly warn of false teachers and heresies? For example, consider
that Scripture instructs that heretics are perverted, sinful, and
stand self-condemned and should not be associated with (Ti. 3:10-11), that destructive
heresies will be introduced, bringing destruction (2 Pt. 2:1-3),
and that to even greet those with strange doctrine makes one share
in their evil works (2 Jn. 1:10-11). If Scripture is truly subject
to one's own interpretation, how could anyone be a called a
heretic or false teacher?
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Where does Jesus say that the Bible is subject to personal
interpretation?
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Where do the Apostles say that the Bible is subject to personal
interpretation?
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Where does any of Scripture say that the Bible is subject to
personal interpretation?
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How, specifically, can you separate your human opinion from
your perceived inspiration of the Holy Spirit? How can you be certain
any given 'inspiration' is actually from the Holy Spirit? How can
you be sure that what you feel is an inspiration of the Holy
Spirit is not just your own heart or mind telling you what seems to be
true? What safeguards ensure that your interpretation is not a
harmful distortion or misunderstanding? How can you be certain
that you have not misapplied Scripture? What protection do you
have against heresy? How do you know if you wander away from
truth? How do you fight your
natural inclination to go with whatever seems pleasing? "It
is proper to a habit to incline a power to act, and this belongs
to a habit, in so far as it makes whatever is suitable to it, to
seem good, and whatever is unsuitable, to seem evil. For as the
taste judges of savors according to its disposition, even so does
the human mind judge of things to be done, according to its
habitual disposition. Hence the Philosopher says (Ethica
Nicomachea iii,5) that 'such as a man is, so does the end appear
to him.'" (St. Thomas Aquinas, Doctor of the Church)
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Should the Holy Spirit inspire you to join the Catholic Church,
would you reject this inspiration? "Do
you believe only what you like and refuse to believe what you
dislike?" (Pope St. Pius X)
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How is it that you discover truth? How is it that you even
recognize truth? If it is really truth, why can you not agree with
others who 'privately interpret' Scripture?
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If you rely on the Holy Spirit to direct you to all truth, ask the
Holy Spirit how you got the Bible. Ask the Holy Spirit to help you
read the ancient languages that the Bible was written in. Ask the
Holy Spirit to tell you what the unwritten traditions are (2 Thes.
2:15) - or does the Holy Spirit only guide you to interpret what
is already written by others?
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If you are being infallibly guided by the Holy Spirit in the
interpretation of Scripture, would you dare ask the Holy Spirit
why He seems to be guiding other people a different truth (is this
not blasphemy?!). Do you suppose you have a monopoly on the guidance
of the Holy Spirit? What if someone else thinks they are guided by
the Holy Spirit and they disagree with you - are they
automatically wrong and you automatically right? How do you know
you are not misinterpreting this guidance of the Holy Spirit that
you claim you have? How is it that you claim that the Holy Spirit
guides people when interpreting the Bible considering that
different persons interpret the same passages differently? Why
would the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of truth, guide you both
differently? Would not all interpret the same way if they were
being guided by the Holy Spirit?
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How, exactly, do you know - and how, exactly, can it be confirmed
- that what you regard as inspiration is of the Holy Spirit? Is it
a feeling? When was the first time you felt it? How were you
guided before that? Is the Holy Spirit "on call" for
you, whenever you wish to interpret Scripture? If you did not have
this feeling, how would you know what is true? Why do you claim
more guidance of the Holy Spirit than Catholics claim for the
Pope? How do you know that you stand in truth? How do you
avoid confusing opinion and feelings with truth? How do you avoid
favoring 'truths' that are naturally pleasant and rejecting truths
that are unpleasant. How do you really know what you believe
is true and not just something that seems to be true? How do you separate
your fallible intellect from the infallible assistance of the Holy
Spirit? How do you know you are not being deceived? Are you never
wrong? Have you ever changed your mind about anything? If so,
didn't you think you were right the first time? How do you know
you are right now? What do you think the consequences are if you
are not really standing in truth? How do you know that your
guidance is the Holy Spirit and not some other spirit? How do you
know it is the Holy Spirit and not your imagination? Seriously,
how? How do you REALLY know?
Simply because you
just feel it? Do you always trust your mere feelings on matters of
critical importance? And further, since when is a 'feeling' an
accurate determination of truth? Since when must one
"feel" something is true for it to actually be true?
Truth
is truth - whether you 'feel' it or not!
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If the Bible is subject to personal interpretation, how can
persons be certain that they have kept their emotions and
personal biases aside when interpreting a particular passage of
Scripture? How can they be certain they have uncovered the
truth, and not just what they want to be true? As Pope St. Pius X
has said, "common
sense tells us that emotion and everything that leads the heart
captive proves a hindrance instead of a help to the discovery of
truth." (Pope St. Pius X, "Pascendi Dominici
Gregis", 1907 A.D.)
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If the concept of personal interpretation of Scripture is what Christ
- truth itself - intended, why has the practice of private interpretation
of Scripture so relativized truth?
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Although it may be "pleasant to go with one's own inclinations",
it does not matter what one thinks - it matters what is true. It
does not matter what one person thinks is true, but what the
author of Scripture has intended to say. How can one rightly forgo
truth for one's subjective interpretation of Scripture?
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If the concept of personal interpretation of Scripture is correct,
give a single example from the Bible of where "heavenly
doctrine was left to the arbitrary judgment of private
individuals".
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If you substitute personal judgment for divine authority, do you
think God is pleased? Do you take it lightly that Christ says that
those who don't listen to the Church are to be avoided (Mt. 18:17)
and that those sent act for Christ and those who reject them
reject Christ (Lk. 10:16), and that Scripture says that those who resist
authority bring judgment on themselves (Rom. 13:2)? Do you really
think your personal feelings are superior to the God-given
authority of the Church?
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If the Bible is rightly subject to infallible personal interpretation
under the Holy Spirit, why does Holy Scripture call the Church
the pillar and foundation of truth (see 1 Tm. 3:15)?
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Why is it you accept the New Testament - which was codified,
protected, and preserved by the Catholic Church - "from her
hands", as it were, but refuse her the right to interpret Her
own book? God didn't promise to give the Holy
Spirit to each individual independently of the
Church Christ founded. "For
none but a Catholic can receive the Gospels as they were
written"
(Benson)
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When determining the meaning of a particular Scripture passage,
how do you know it is the Holy Spirit and not your
imagination? (Actually know, not think or feel, but know)
How, specifically, do you
discern the work of the Holy Spirit? How would you discern the work of the devil?
And what happens if others more learned than you - persons who also claim to be
guided by the Holy Spirit - disagree with you, saying they know
the Holy Spirit guided them? How many 'holy spirits' do you claim
there are?
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How can it be true that the Bible is subject to one's personal
interpretation since it is clear that the proper understanding of
a single passage of Scripture may require much scholarship -
scholarship which is beyond reach of the average person? As Pope
Pius XII has said, "What
is the literal sense of a passage is not always as obvious in the
speeches and writings of the ancient authors of the East, as it is
in the works of our own time. For what they wished to express is
not to be determined by the rules of grammar and philology alone,
nor solely by the context; the interpreter must, as it were, go
back wholly in spirit to those remote centuries of the East and
with the aid of history, archaeology, ethnology, and other
sciences, accurately determine what modes of writing, so to speak,
the authors of that ancient period would be likely to use, and in
fact did use. For the ancient peoples of the East, in order to
express their ideas, did not always employ those forms or kinds of
speech which we use today; but rather those used by the men of
their times and countries. What those exactly were the commentator
cannot determine as it were in advance, but only after a careful
examination of the ancient literature of the East." (Pope Pius
XII, "Divino Afflante Spiritu")
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You, who (most likely) cannot perform complex mathematical calculations
and received, perhaps, grades ranging from 70-95% in basic
schoolwork, actually believe you can properly interpret the most
mysterious of divine things with 100% accuracy?
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If various individuals were to interpret a passage of Scripture in
a different and contradictory way, all cannot be correct. Further,
since each person has an "equal right" to their private interpretation,
how can one ever come to know what is really true? When there is
no authority, how can any such matter ever be settled?
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"If you give credence to each person's subjective
interpretations, do you deny that it is possible even for the
learned to err?"
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Is it not troublesome that private interpretation of Scripture
opens the door to mistaking opinion for truth?
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Is it not troublesome that private interpretation of Scripture
ignores the facts that persons may twist Scripture to suit their purposes
and that "everyone can prove what they want using the
Bible"?
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If you become the sole judge and teacher, you absolutely must be
submitting to a number of errors. Does that not bother you? Or, do
you really believe that you are infallible and others are
not, that you have never been wrong before? Or is it that you do
you really not care about truth? - even though Christ said that He came into the world, to testify to the
truth (see Jn. 18:37).
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If you claim to love Christ, does it not bother you that "you
are sometimes in the right, sometimes in the wrong; that your judgment
is mere lottery"?
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If private interpretation of Scripture was true, why didn't those
in Biblical times also enjoy such a privilege (see 2 Pt.
3:15-16)?
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If you accept private interpretation of Scripture, do you deny any
influence of Satan? Do you not know that the devil is the father
of lies (Jn. 8:44), that struggle is with evil spirits (Eph.
6:12), that devil is prowling around looking for someone to devour
(1 Pt. 5:8), that the whole world is under power of the evil one
(1 Jn. 5:19), and that the devil wages war against those who keep
the commandments and bear witness to Jesus (Rv. 12:17)? Do you
consider yourself immune? "How
fearful is the misery of our fallen race, when the darkness of
hell can overpower the loftiness intellects!" (Liturgical
Year) As
your own judge, how can you guard against the fact that the "devil,
however, since he is an apostate angel, is able, as he was in the
beginning, to lead astray and to deceive the mind of man for the
transgressing of God's commands. And little by little he can
darken the hearts of those who would try to serve Him" (St. Irenaeus, 2nd century A.D.)
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If you believe the Holy Spirit leads you to all truth, think back
to the first Christian Pentecost when it is known for certain that
Christ's disciples received the Holy Spirit. Did they not all
think the same thing? If you don't think the same
thing as your fellows, what makes you think you have the Holy
Spirit?
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If people were to be guided by the Holy Spirit in understanding Scripture,
why does the Bible specifically warn that men will come forward perverting the
truth to draw the disciples away after them (see Acts 20:30)?
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If people were to be personally guided by the Holy Spirit in
understanding Scripture, why did Christ send the apostles to teach
and not simply to deliver Bibles (see Mt. 28:19-20)?
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Considering that the Bible is complex, how could Christ not leave
an official, visible authority to interpret it? How long could a
country stand on a constitution alone without courts to interpret
it? How long could a business operate without a living authority?
Surely God knew better than to leave the written 'manual' of Christianity
without an authority to interpret it. Do not forget that another
person's interpretation of Scripture can have a direct impact on
you. Not only does Scripture need to be protected for its own
sake, but you need protection since another's interpretation of Scripture
may lead to actions and behaviors which can prove harmful to you.
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If you have no authority above yourself, how do you prevent
against the eminent Biblical scholar St. Jerome's concern that "through some faulty
interpretation we make Christ's Gospel into man's Gospel"?
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If you have no authority above yourself in interpreting Scripture,
how do you guard against pride? How can you not interpret
Scripture in accordance with your own inclinations if you don't have a supreme authority?
Do you claim that you are not easily misled? Are you really
not affected by your wants and desires? How can you separate truth
from what you simply might want to believe? How can you be SURE
that you have the truth? Or is it possible that truth really
doesn't matter that much to you?
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Since when is public revelation subject to private judgment? "A man can no more possess a private religion than he
can possess a private sun and moon." (Chesterton)
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If you claim that the Bible is easy to understand, why is it that
Protestants
still can't all agree on what it means, even in important matters?
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Why is it you reject the Pope's well-founded right to
authentically interpret Scripture, but believe that you have this
right? How do you refute the Catholics' charge that you have made
yourself into a 'mini pope'? "Each
[Protestant becomes] his own pope with his personal
interpretation of the Scriptures as the final court of appeal in
matters of doctrine." (cf. Davies)
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Does it not bother you that to really be an expert on the
Bible, you would have to be an expert on
ancient languages, ancient practices, history, archeology, etc.?
You would have to look at who writings were directed at, what the circumstances
were, what local customs were, and at all the subtleties involved.
Are you also unaware that words used in Scripture may mean
different things - and that they may have meant altogether
different things in their original languages? That Scripture may
be obscure, subtle, hard to grasp? Our would you pretend that Scripture
is easy to understand, that you have a complete grasp of it, and
that you have no bias whatsoever? And, finally, even if you did
have such knowledge and learning, say that another person - with
similar knowledge and learning - disagreed with you. If you both claim
to be guided by the Holy Spirit, how could you know who was right
or wrong?
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Has it ever occurred to you that Scripture was written at a time
when the authors did not have to be as careful about wording, that
they didn't have to go through painstaking effort to phrase their
writing in such a way that it could not be taken any other way? At
that time, they were speaking to a specific group of believers -
as yet there were no 'protestants' attacking their
teaching, necessitating a certain manner of expression that could
not be so easily twisted. Have you ever taken this into
consideration when interpreting Scripture?
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Have you ever considered that some things in the Bible may be
beyond the ability of human reason to fathom? As stated by Pope
Leo III, "[I]t
must be observed that in addition to the usual reasons which make
ancient writings more or less difficult to understand, there are
some which are peculiar to the Bible. For the language of the
Bible is employed to express, under the inspiration of the Holy
Ghost, many things which are beyond the power and scope of the
reason of man - that is to say, divine mysteries and all that is
related to them." (Pope Leo XIII, "Providentissimus
Deus", 1893 A.D.)
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Do you really, honestly believe you have a full and complete grasp
of Biblical truths? That there is no question about the Bible you cannot
answer correctly? That you understand everything which it contains
- even those things which appear contradictory? If the Holy Spirit
truly guided you as you claim, why can you not easily answer these
three questions in the affirmative? Do you place limits on the inspiration
of the Holy Spirit? Do you imagine that the Holy Spirit, who is
God, cannot guide you fully in the book written under His
inspiration?
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Does it not trouble you that no original manuscript of the Bible is available
- that you are already relying one someone else's
interpretation / translation of Scripture? How do you know that it
is not already mistranslated before you even begin your 'personal
interpretation? How can you be sure of the translation when there
is no way to verify it? Furthermore, are you unaware of
the great difficulties in correctly translating Holy Scripture? As
St. Jerome notes, "It is difficult in following lines laid down by
others not sometimes to diverge from them, and it is hard to
preserve in a translation the charm of expressions which in
another language are most felicitous. Each particular word conveys
a meaning of its own, and possibly I have no equivalent by which
to render it, and if I make a circuit to reach my goal, I have to
go many miles to cover a short distance. To these difficulties
must be added the windings of hyperbata, differences in the use of
cases, divergences of metaphor; and last of all the peculiar and
if I may so call it, inbred character of the language. If I render
word for word, the result will sound uncouth, and if compelled by
necessity I alter anything in the order or wording, I shall seem
to have departed from the function of a translator." (St. Jerome,
the Church's eminent bible translator, 4th century A.D.)
*
If you believe Holy Spirit directs you in interpreting Scripture
passages, ask yourself if this inspiration you believe you are
receiving focuses only on what is in front of you or if it also
directs you to passages you've never considered before. Surely you
must know that to properly understand Scripture, you cannot
isolate certain passages from the whole. "Hence
those who take this or that text out of the Bible to prove
something are isolating it from the historical atmosphere in which
it arose and from the word of mouth that passed Christ's truth. If
there are three persons in a room, there are also six legs and six
arms - but they never create a problem because they are related to
the physical organism. But if we found one arm outside the door,
it would be a tremendous problem, because it is isolated from the
organic whole. So it is with certain Christian truths that are
isolated from the whole - for example, the doctrine of penance if
it is isolated from Original Sin. It is only in the light of the
circle of truth that the segments of the circle have a
meaning." (Archbishop Fulton Sheen)
*
If your enthusiastic car mechanic truly believes he is receiving
inspiration from the Holy Spirit regarding whether or not your car
needs some work, would you trust his judgment because he is so
personally convinced the Holy Spirit is guiding him? Why is it you
wouldn't trust this mechanic with your car, but you entrust your
entire salvation on your own personal claim to receive personal
inspiration from the Holy Spirit regarding Holy Scripture?
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If you were to attempt to accurately interpret the U.S.
Constitution according to the original founder's intentions, would
you fail to examine other writings of theirs? Would you fail to
examine other writings from that time period? If not, why would
you attempt to interpret the Bible without considering what those
learned persons of Apostolic times said about Holy Scripture? Do
you presume to be a better judge of Scripture than those who knew
the Apostles or were very close in time to the Apostolic age?
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If thousands of Protestants who were given a mathematical problem
to solve came up with thousands of different answers after praying
for the Holy Spirit's guidance, would you consider them to be equally valid
answers? Why is it you can see that a mathematical problem must be
answered a certain way, yet allow a plurality of interpretations
of a Scripture passage to all be equally acceptable, even if they
are contrary to one another, simply by claiming that each was
guided by the Holy Spirit? How can there be only one right answer
to a mathematical question, but allow that a multiplicity of contradictory
'answers' concerning Holy Scripture (authored by the very Spirit
of Truth!)?
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If you entered into a business arrangement under a written
contract, would it be acceptable for each party to interpret the
contract as they saw fit or would you rather expect that it should
be interpreted in a certain manner? If there was a dispute, could
you imagine a judge allowing each party to interpret it as they
saw fit? Would you not expect there to be, ultimately, a supreme arbiter
with the final say? Do you seriously expect that God left the
Bible to the personal interpretation of each person without
leaving a supreme arbiter?
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When is it that Protestants supposedly have this guarantee of the
Holy Spirit? Is it automatic?
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If the Holy Spirit personally guides Protestants to a proper
interpretation of the Scripture, why is it that so many
Protestants reject certain points of Scripture (click
here for some examples - 'Is Your Faith Biblical?')
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If you deny that the truths of faith were deposited with the
Catholic Church to be communicated to all men, but instead claim
that the Holy Spirit guides each person personally and individually
to truth, "from the ground up", do you realize you are implying that
truth was not handed down for all generations by Christ,
but must be discovered as if it did not exist by each person in
each generation? Do you realize that you claim that Christ -
rather than leaving a defined body of doctrine - has essentially
left each person to start "from scratch" to be invisibly
led by the Holy Spirit (rather than taught by men - contrary to what
Scripture says - see Mt. 28:19-20) to His truths on their own? As
Pope Leo XIII has said, "St.
Augustine...justly complains: 'If there is no branch of teaching,
however humble and easy to learn, which does not require a master,
what can be a greater sign of rashness and pride than to refuse to
study the Books of the divine mysteries by the help of those who
have interpreted them?' The other Fathers have said the same, and
have confirmed it by their example, for they 'endeavored to
acquire the understanding of the Holy Scriptures not by their own
lights and ideas, but from the writings and authority of the
ancients, who in their turn, as we know, received the rule of
interpretation in direct line from the Apostles.'" (Pope Leo
XIII, "Providentissimus Deus", 1893) And further,
can one not see how much time this would take for each person to
learn "from scratch"? "In
this matter, those also turn aside from the right path, who think
that the deposit of truth such laborious trouble, and with such
lengthy study and discussion, that a man's life would hardly
suffice to find and take possession of it; as if the most merciful
God had spoken through the prophets and His Only-begotten Son
merely in order that a few, and those stricken in years, should
learn what He had revealed through them, and not that He might
inculcate a doctrine of faith and morals, by which man should be
guided through the whole course of his moral life." (Pope
Pius XI, "Mortalium Animos", 1928)
*
If the Holy Spirit guided all persons in the proper interpretation
of Scripture, why do even Protestant exegetes attempt to learn
ancient languages? Surely the Holy Spirit could guide them no
matter what language was used. Or do you mean to imply that the
Holy Spirit only guides those who know how to read Scripture in
the ancient languages?
*
Considering that the most brilliant persons of previous
generations have been unable to understand the whole of Scripture
- even after spending entire lifetimes on it -
does it not seem arrogant to think you can do so? As Pope Leo XIII
has said, "Wherefore, as no one
should be so presumptuous as to think that he understands the
whole of the Scripture, in which St. Augustine himself confessed
that there was more that he did not know, than that he knew, so,
if he should come upon anything that seems incapable of solution,
he must take to heart the cautious rule of the same holy Doctor:
'It is better even to be oppressed by unknown but useful signs,
than to interpret them uselessly and thus to throw off the yoke
only to be caught in the trap of error.'" (Pope Leo XIII,
"Providentissimus Deus", 1893)
*
Lastly, it may be fair to ask, "do
you prefer a religion you can design for yourself to truth?"
Closing
Quotations...
"Woe to those who are wise in their own
sight, and prudent in their own esteem!" (Isa. 5:21)
"Sometimes a way seems right to a man,
but the end of it leads to death!" (Prov. 14:12)
"Tell
us straight out that you do not believe in the Gospel of Christ;
for you believe what you want in the Gospel and disbelieve what
you want. You believe in yourself rather than in the Gospel." (St.
Augustine, Doctor of the Church, c. 400 A.D.)
"The
individual Protestant makes his own reason the ultimate arbiter of
what the Christian faith does and does not entail. The individual
Protestant decides for himself what God's will is. The next step
is to make himself God." (Davies)
"But
everyone can see to how many fallacies an avenue would be opened
up and how many errors would become mixed with the truth, if it
were left solely to the light of reason of each to find it out, or
if it were to be discovered by the private interpretation of the
truth which is revealed." (Pope Pius XI, "Casti
Connubii", 1930 A.D.)
"And
such clients, or rather devotees, of human reason, who set it up
as their unerring teacher and promise themselves every success
under its guidance, have surely forgotten what a deep and severe
wound was inflicted on human nature through the sin of our first
parent; for darkness has clouded the mind and the will has been
made prone to evil." (Pope Pius IX, "Singulari
Quadam", 1854 A.D.)
"For,
once ascribe to human reason the only authority to decide what is
true and what is good, and the real distinction between good and
evil is destroyed; honor and dishonor differ not in their nature,
but in the opinion and judgment of each one; pleasure is the
measure of what is lawful; and, given a code of morality which can
have little or no power to restrain or quiet the unruly
propensities of man, a way is naturally opened to universal
corruption." (Pope Leo XIII, " Libertas
Praestantissimum")
"In
the case of those who profess to take reason as their sole guide,
there would hardly be found, if, indeed, there ever could be
found, unity of doctrine. Indeed, the art of knowing things as
they really are is exceedingly difficult; moreover, the mind of
man is by nature feeble and drawn this way and that by a variety
of opinions, and not seldom led astray by impressions coming from
without; and, furthermore, the influence of the passions
oftentimes takes away, or certainly at least diminishes, the
capacity for grasping the truth." (Pope Leo XIII,
"Sapientiae Christianae", 1890 A.D.)
"If
we read even in the divine Scriptures about hidden thing and
things most removed from our eyes, it will be possible, saving
always the faith which fills us, to formulate various opinions
about these matters. Let us, then, not be too hasty in accepting
any such opinions which, were the truth to be sought more
carefully, might afterwards be found unsound, and lest we might be
found in error by our attempting to establish what is but our own
view and not that of the divine Scriptures, as if we would wish
our view to be that of the Scriptures, whereas we ought to wish
that the view taken by the Scriptures should become our own." (St.
Augustine, Doctor of the Church, c. 407 A.D.)
"I prefer to say nothing of men who, like myself, have
passed from profane [that is, secular] literature to Biblical study, but who, if they
happen once to have caught men's ears by their ornate sermons,
straightway begin to fancy that whatsoever they say is God's law.
Apparently they do not think it worthwhile to discover what the
Prophets and Apostles really meant; they are content to string
together texts made to fit the meaning they want. One would almost
fancy that instead of being a degraded species of oratory, it must
be a fine thing to pervert the meaning of the text and compel the
reluctant Scripture to yield the meaning one wants!" (St.
Jerome, Doctor of the Church)
"Wherefore,
let the faithful also be on their guard against the overrated
independence of private judgment and that false autonomy of human
reason. For it is quite foreign to everyone bearing the name of a
Christian to trust his own mental powers with such pride as to
agree only with those things which he can examine from their inner
nature, and to imagine that the Church, sent by God to teach and
guide all nations, is not conversant with present affairs and
circumstances... Quite to the contrary, a characteristic of all
true followers of Christ, lettered or unlettered, is to suffer
themselves to be guided and led in all things that touch upon
faith or morals by the Holy Church of God through its Supreme
Pastor the Roman Pontiff, who is himself guided by Jesus Christ
Our Lord." (Pope Pius XI, "Casti Connubii", 1930
A.D.)
"[W]e
may address the following words of St. Augustine to all who have
not deliberately closed their minds to the truth: 'When we see the
great help of God, such manifest progress and such abundant fruit,
shall we hesitate to take refuge in the bosom of that Church,
which, as is evident to all, possesses the supreme authority of
the Apostolic See through the Episcopal succession? In vain do
heretics rage round it; they are condemned partly by the judgment
of the people themselves, partly by the weight of councils, partly
by the splendid evidence of miracles. To refuse to the Church the
primacy is most impious and above measure arrogant. And if all
learning, no matter how easy and common it may be, in order to be
fully understood requires a teacher and master, what can be
greater evidence of pride and rashness than to be unwilling to
learn about the books of the divine mysteries from the proper
interpreter, and to wish to condemn them unknown?' (De Unitate
Credendi, cap. xvii., n. 35)." (Pope Leo XIII, "Satis
Cognitum", 1896 A.D.)
"Therefore,
in that famous letter of his to the faithful of the Church at
Meta, Our predecessor, Innocent III, quite wisely prescribes as
follows: 'In truth the secret mysteries of faith are not to be
exposed to all everywhere, since they cannot be understood by all
everywhere, but only by those who can grasp them with the
intellect of faith. Therefore, to the more simple the Apostle
says: 'I gave you milk to drink as unto little ones in Christ...
[1 Cor. 3:2].' For solid food is for the elders, as he said: 'We
speak wisdom ...among the perfect' [1 Cor 2:6]; 'for I judged not
myself to know anything among you, but Jesus Christ and Him
Crucified' [1 Cor. 2:2]. For so great is the depth of Divine
Scripture that not only the simple and the unlettered, but even
the learned and prudent are not fully able to explore the
understanding of it. Therefore, Scripture says that many
'searching have failed in their search'." (Pope
Pius VII, 1816 A.D.)
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