Bible Study - Bible Interpretation
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To start this chapter, let us remind ourselves with the following verses in the Sacred Scripture:
First of all you must understand this, that no prophecy of Scripture is a matter of one's own interpretation, because no prophecy ever came by the impulse of man, but men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God.
(2 Peter 1:20-21, Revised Standard Version, Second Catholic Edition)
Bible interpretation is the most difficult challenge for anyone studying the Bible. If I can interprete the Bible on my own, then so can you, and so can millions of other people. But what if we have millions of interpretations that contradict each other, what do we do? There is only one God. He cannot contradict Himself. Contradictions raised many questions in my mind, especially on the teaching authority:
- If I want to learn piano, would I rather learn by reading books on piano or would I rather have a teacher?
- Would I learn Italian cuisine with books or would I rather have a famous Italian chef teaching me?
- If I need a life threatening heart surgery, would I want someone who have been studying heart surgery on his own through books for the last 30 years; or would I prefer a surgeon who studied 15 years under the authority of the best professors and graduated from a very famous university?
I will not get into the detail here but I personally believe that Jesus gave us one teacher, His Church. Please read Matthew 16:18-19 again and meditate on it:
And I say to thee: That thou art Peter; and upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. And I will give to thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven. And whatsoever thou shalt bind upon earth, it shall be bound also in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose upon earth, it shall be loosed also in heaven.
(Douay-Rheims Bible)
I personally read the Bible but don't try to make up interpretations for myself. I go with what the Church teaches. If I were the one who decides which one is the correct interpretation of the Bible, wouldn't it be like claiming that I am the authority? Well, the authority was given to Peter. I want to learn from the one who has the keys of the kingdom of heaven.
I would like now to present some materials that I use to learn what Jesus teaches through His Church:
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1. The Catechism of the Catholic Church is the first book that I use to learn what Jesus teaches through the Bible and through His Church. This Catechism was promulgated by Pope John Paul the Great in 1997 and declared it "a sure norm for teaching the faith". I have spent many many hours studying the Bible together with this Catechism. The time was well spent because this Catechism is really a masterpiece given to us by the Holy Spirit. I have come to love the Church and love my faith, thanks to this book. For more detail, please click on the green icon above.
2. In case you find the Catechism difficult to read and to understand, Father John Corapi, SOLT, STD, has taken the Catechism, synthesized it and taught it through 48 hours of video/audio tapes. The 48 hours I spent to listen to Father Corapi were fun because Father has a great sense of humor, and joyful because his way of teaching was simple to understand helping me to see the beauty and the depth of the Catholic faith.
3. The commentaries in the Douay-Rheims Haydock are among the best Catholic commentaries. Not only the footnotes and commentaries can help us to understand the Bible, thanks to writings of the Early Church Fathers included in the footnotes, we can have insight to the understanding of the Early Christians, who were close to the Apostles.
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4. 5. 6. Above are the three volumes of "The Faith of the Early Fathers". These three books are a precious collection of the writings of the Early Church Fathers. Their writings are important testimonies of the life of the Church of the few hundred years after the ascension of Jesus-Christ into heaven. Many of the Early Church Fathers died as martyrs for what they believe, therefore, their writings and testimonies are very important. In my opinion, studying the Bible alone, and ignoring the life of the infant Church, is missing a huge part of hints and clues for correct understanding and interpretation of the Bible. If you are interested in this series, you should get all three volumes, because the most complete index is found in volume 3.
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7. I dedicated a whole chapter to the Navarre Bible, it is shown here as a reminder that the Navarre Bible series is a treasure in itself to learn about the correct interpretation of the Bible.
8. 9. I use "The Collegeville Bible Commentary" occasionally to gain better understanding on difficult biblical verses. Presented in two volumes, Old Testament and New Testament, this series contains only commentaries. You will need a separate Bible side by side to these commentaries to study. This is a little bit inconvenient if you are not sitting at your desk to spread out multiple books.
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10. The 33 Doctors of the Church book is an overview on the life and the writing of the 33 Doctors of the Church.
11. Catechisme de l'Eglise Catholique, the French version of the Catechism of the Catholic Church. I use the French version when I need to look up answers to questions that I receive from French-spoken friends.
12. COMPENDIUM - Catechism of the Catholic Church: This is the light-weight version of the Catechism of the Catholic Church. It is presented under the format of questions and answers. This is a pleasant and easy way to understand the teaching of the Church.
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