2. Reality & Role of the Church: Joshua & Personal Interpretation
INFERNAL INTERNET
My dear Hobnob,
Yes, yes, you are very astute in saying that Girzone's Joshua sometimes sounds like a Fundamentalist Protestant. But, again, what is one man's gravy may be another's poison. The Bible may be the enemy's book, but we have often made as much or even more use of it. Without the teaching authority of the Catholic Church, the Scriptures can end up interpreted any which way— and hopefully, our way. Girzone's book does indeed disregard the need for a teaching Church to properly interpret the Scriptures. He writes: "The Scriptures are quite clear to anyone who is willing to read with an open mind, and history speaks for itself . . ." (P. 137). Note that he lumps history itself into the same category of "personal" interpretation. This is very funny. Professional historians themselves fight over the meaning of things displaced in time by only a few years, let alone centuries. This will undermine the second font of Catholic truth, tradition. Ah, this is so sweet! Returning to the matter of the Bible, there are some reputable Scripture scholars (among whom we have more than a few allies) who admit that it is often difficult to cross the chasm of time, language, and culture to properly understand the Scriptures. The Protestant ecclesiastical fracturing is a delicious historical testament to the failed notion of personal, i.e. independent, interpretation. Separated from the Church, the inspiration of the H.S. is less dependable and available. Do not allow him to appreciate the fact that there must be a final interpreting authority (safeguarded by the enemy). As an aside, in Girzone's book, The Shepherd, he actually insists that Scriptural passages making moral demands, as in the Pauline epistles, represent only personal opinion and is not divine revelation at all. Oh, I love the revisionist agenda! If you can't make the Bible say what you want it to say, you empty it of any and all binding force. Ha ha! Keep nudging him in our direction.
Your ever affectionate uncle,
Slubgob
My dear Hobnob,
Yes, yes, you are very astute in saying that Girzone's Joshua sometimes sounds like a Fundamentalist Protestant. But, again, what is one man's gravy may be another's poison. The Bible may be the enemy's book, but we have often made as much or even more use of it. Without the teaching authority of the Catholic Church, the Scriptures can end up interpreted any which way— and hopefully, our way. Girzone's book does indeed disregard the need for a teaching Church to properly interpret the Scriptures. He writes: "The Scriptures are quite clear to anyone who is willing to read with an open mind, and history speaks for itself . . ." (P. 137). Note that he lumps history itself into the same category of "personal" interpretation. This is very funny. Professional historians themselves fight over the meaning of things displaced in time by only a few years, let alone centuries. This will undermine the second font of Catholic truth, tradition. Ah, this is so sweet! Returning to the matter of the Bible, there are some reputable Scripture scholars (among whom we have more than a few allies) who admit that it is often difficult to cross the chasm of time, language, and culture to properly understand the Scriptures. The Protestant ecclesiastical fracturing is a delicious historical testament to the failed notion of personal, i.e. independent, interpretation. Separated from the Church, the inspiration of the H.S. is less dependable and available. Do not allow him to appreciate the fact that there must be a final interpreting authority (safeguarded by the enemy). As an aside, in Girzone's book, The Shepherd, he actually insists that Scriptural passages making moral demands, as in the Pauline epistles, represent only personal opinion and is not divine revelation at all. Oh, I love the revisionist agenda! If you can't make the Bible say what you want it to say, you empty it of any and all binding force. Ha ha! Keep nudging him in our direction.
Your ever affectionate uncle,
Slubgob
posted by Father Joe Jenkins at
7:54 AM
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