De-coding the Mystery of the Bible
-Fr Wilson
Sacred Scripture can be a very confusing subject. It is important to select a reliable guide for your studies, but there are a couple of practical points to always remember.
First, the Bible is not a book. It is a library of books, written by scores of authors over centuries in different genres — history, biography, wisdom literature, poetry, etc. I think a lot of people decide that they are going to begin at the beginning with Genesis and read straight through to the end, Revelation. It’s no wonder they often do not get far — it’s like going to the library, starting with the first book on the top left of the first shelf and working your way book by book through the stacks.
Choose the first book you want to read carefully. I think most people will want to begin with one of the four Gospels. Each of the Gospels approaches the life of Christ from a different perspective. Ideally, as you are reading the Gospel you have the benefit of a good, solid, reliable Catholic commentary.
We finally have an excellent Catholic study Bible: the Ignatius Catholic Study Bible, published by Ignatius Press. The text is the Revised Standard Version, Catholic edition, 2nd Edition — a readable, reliable translation from the original Hebrew and Greek. Scott Hahn and Curtis Mitch are the general editor and co-editor; both are solid, orthodox Catholics and excellent scholars. There are copious introductory notes and textual notes, as well as essays on various background subjects — a wealth of information that would last a lifetime.
It is very helpful that this exists in individual, paperback volumes for each book of Scripture, so one can order just the Scriptural book one wishes, have both text and notes, and focus on learning as much as possible about the chosen book. As the reader gets comfortable with the chosen volume, he is learning Scripture and Scriptural method and the next book chosen will be easier. A visit to ignatius.com, the website of Ignatius Press, will show the various editions — there are study bibles of the Old and New Testaments, of just the New Testament, and of the individual books.
Another place to begin might be reading a “life of Christ.” As a boy I stumbled upon the Life of Christ by Father Isidore O’Brien, O.F.M., and have always been grateful for that start on Scripture. It gave me an overview of the life of our Lord that has never left me. A book I can highly recommend is To Know Christ Jesus by the brilliant Frank Sheed. It is a delightfully readable book which offers much background information. I have been a priest for forty years now, and have preached on Scripture virtually every day, but I marvel at the connections between the Gospels made by Sheed which I otherwise would never have noticed. Starting with Sheed and then going on to tackle the actual Gospel text would be a good plan for many (and the Sheed book is available at ignatius.com, and no, Ignatius Press does not compensate me for all the business I send them!).
And of course in time you can branch out into other books of Scripture. Reading the Historical Books, for example, with the stories of King Saul, King David, King Solomon and the rest, is fascinating with good commentary.
There is one extremely important point regarding Scripture studies which I urge you to bear in mind. It was summed up perfectly (in my opinion) by a scholar, A.H.N. Green-Armytage in his (1952) book John Who Saw: “There is a world — I do not say a world in which all scholars live, but one at any rate into which all of them sometimes stray, and which some of them seem permanently to inhabit — which is not the world in which I live… In my world, almost every book, except some of those produced by government departments, is written by one Author. In that world almost every book is produced by a committee and some of them by a whole series of committees. In my world, if I read that Mr. Churchill, in 1935, said that Europe was heading for a disastrous war, I applaud his foresight. In that world no prophecy, however vaguely worded, is ever made except after the event. In my world we say, ‘The First World War took place in 1914-1918.’ In that world they say, ‘The World-War Narrative took shape in the third decade of the Twentieth Century.’
In other words, yes, you will hear strange (to your ears) theories about the Bible. Be not afraid. some of these, with some study, you will understand better and realize that they are probably true. Most will in time dissolve in the mist and float away into the theological circular file of history. You might recall the Jesus Seminar of a few years ago. A group of progressive scholars would get together and pool their thoughts on the historicity of Scripture, voting with colored marbles as to whether “the historical Jesus” certainly said something recounted in the Gospels (red marble) or definitely did not say it (black marble) or something in between (other colors). Timed for the Holy Week observances, these scholarly eruptions garnered so much attention that at least once they landed on the cover of Time magazine. One of the most prominent of these scholars, a former priest, was interviewed on television, offering his biblical skepticism to the world. The interviewer closed with, “Well, this has been interesting, but despite it all I’m sure you’ll be with the rest of us in church on Easter Sunday.” And the poor man replied dully, “No.”
I think it’s been twenty years since I last heard of the Jesus Seminar. My best advice to you: read Scripture frequently, daily if you can, but always supported by reliable Catholic commentary. Our weekly bulletin always contains the citations for the daily Scripture readings at Mass., if you should wish to follow along with those. Scripture should always be read “in the Church” — meaning, faithful to the Church’s interpretation of what is, after all her book. It is surely the best way to come to know Christ Jesus.
