Faith, Hermeneutics, and the Literal Sense of Scripture

Abstract

T SCOPE of interest in this article is, in one sense, extremely narrow, namely, the problem of the literal sense of Scripture and the implications of various understandings of this technical term for the role of the Bible in contemporary Christian experience. The interest, in other words, is technical, but in no sense purely academic. In the few decades since the Second World War, while Protestants have been rediscovering the importance of tradition as the source, the content, and the context for interpretation of Scripture, Catholics have been rediscovering the centrality of the biblical expression of the Word of God for Christian faith and practice. Perhaps at no time since the Reformation have Catholic Christians been more interested in and open to that Word. This interest and openness was blessed by Vatican II, is being fostered by a vernacular liturgy, and is being constantly nourished by the abundant results of biblical studies. The depth and reality of the Catholic reinvolvement with the Scriptures is difficult to assess at this stage, but there are important indications that it is to be taken with great seriousness. On the one hand, Catholic spirituality is becoming increasingly biblical. Prayer services, the charismatic renewal, retreats, and study clubs are markedly biblical in content and focus. On the other hand, there is a growing sense that any seriously Christian public enterprise, whether it be active opposition to war, the struggle for the liberation of the oppressed, or the rethinking of such sensitive issues as sexual morality, the ordination of women, abortion, euthanasia, divorce, or capital punishment, must be based solidly upon biblical revelation. In short, Catholics have rediscovered the centrality of the Word of God for Christian experience and are seeking in the Scriptures nourishment for personal and communal spirituality as well as justification and direction for Christian involvement in the world. This raises the very serious question of how the Bible can be legitimately used by Christians who are not trained in biblical exegesis. On the one hand, biblical fundamentalism is increasingly the refuge of the spiritually hungry who find authoritarian dogmatics stale, contemporary systematics confusing, and biblical technicalism arid. On the other hand, a war of interpretations escalates as