DESTROYING THE BIBLE
by John Young
In the past Catholics have been unjustly accused of being opposed to
the Bible. But the charge can justly be leveled against some of the
most prestigious Catholic biblical scholars in the world today. They
claim reverence for God's written word; in reality, they
industriously reduce it to fallible human words.
I want to illustrate the current state of affairs by reference to the
<New Jerome Biblical Commentary>, published in 1989. This 1,500-page
work so undermines the teaching of Scripture that a logical person
who accepted its conclusions would consider himself bound to reject
the Catholic Church as a reliable guide to the Bible.
However, a person who had glanced quickly at the work and then read
what I have just asserted would be likely to think my position quite
unbalanced. For he would have noticed the eminent names among the
authors: scholars internationally recognized in the world of
Scripture studies. He would have seen the impressive erudition, the
moderate language, the endeavor to penetrate beneath the surface
meaning of the texts. He would have noticed, right at the beginning,
the laudatory words about St. Jerome, Pius XII, and Paul VI. He would
have been impressed by the fact that there is not one but three nihil
obstats!
He might have a twinge of doubt, however, if he observed that the
three editors of the book are the three censors. They have certified
the orthodoxy of the book they themselves produced, and a large part
of which they wrote! The three men are Fathers R.E. Brown, Joseph A.
Fitzmyer, and Roland E. Murphy.
In this article I will concentrate on some of the material in the New
Testament sections, particularly concerning the infancy narratives.
As we consider this, we might keep in mind the statement of Vatican
II that the Church unhesitatingly affirms the historicity of the
Gospels.[1]
The <JBC> reduces the infancy narratives to imaginary stories based
on Old Testament incidents and prophecies, and having little
connection with what really happened. Let us first look at the
commentary on <St. Matthew>, written by Benedict T. Viviano, O.P.
The quotations are from page 636.
"The star that leads to Christ is probably a midrashic element
derived from <Num.> 2224." In other words, there probably wasn't any
star. Fr. Viviano continues: "If historical, it could be a supernova,
a comet . . . or a planetary conjunction." Note how the miraculous is
excluded: If there really was a star it is assumed to have been
natural.
On the gold, frankincense, and myrrh: "The list of gifts may be
inspired by <Isaiah> 60:6, 11, 13 . . . " That is, there may not have
been such gifts. Likewise, concerning the slaughter of the Innocents:
" . . the story may not be historical...."
The last assertion implicitly questions the Church's veneration of
the Holy Innocents and assumes the Church may be in error by having
liturgical celebrations in honor of babies who never existed.
The flight into Egypt is similarly questioned: "Matthew has used
Moses traditions as reshaped in Josephus...."
Turning to the commentary on Luke's Gospel, by Robert J. Karris,
O.F.M., we find the same skepticism. Regarding the Visitation: "It
strains credulity to imagine a 14-year-old Jewish virgin making a
four-day journey by herself. Rather Luke's intent in the Visitation
is literary and theological."[2] In plain English: Fr. Kerris thinks
Luke made it up. Notice how the point that "strains credulity" is a
mere assumption, for Luke does not say Mary traveled alone.
Fr. Kerris doesn't accept Bethlehem as Jesus' birthplace, and
suggests the census was another Lucan invention. "The census provides
Luke with a means of getting Mary and Joseph from Nazareth to
Bethlehem."[3]
Fr. Kerris comments on the finding in the Temple: "The story may have
its origin in the human tendency to find the man in the boy."[4] So
that may not have happened either!
Coming to Christ's public life, we find the same attacks on the
historicity of the Gospels. J.P. Meier, in his article "Jesus," says:
"We do not know whether JBap ever acknowledged Jesus as a special
figure."[5] This implies that we don't know whether we can believe
the evangelists when they tell us of occasions when John the Baptist
clearly acknowledged Jesus as a special figure, even pointing Him out
as "the Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world."[6]
Fr. Raymond Brown argues that Jesus only intended to renew Israel,
but not to found a Church.[7] "The older blueprint supposition by
which Jesus had the Church clearly in mind and had already planned
its structure, sacraments, etc., has little or no textual
support...."[8] What of our Lord's famous words to St. Peter,
declaring him the rock on which He would build His Church, and
promising that the gates of Hell would not prevail against it? This
doesn't impress Raymond Brown, who calmly assures his readers that
this and other passages to which appeal may be made ". . . have no
parallel in the other Gospels and probably represent
post-resurrectional understandings specifying Jesus' intentions."[9]
To translate: Jesus didn't say these things; they were invented
afterward and don't represent what He intended.
Another example of the presuppositions employed in the <JBC> occurs
when Fr. Kerris is discussing the date of <Luke's Gospel.> He states:
"<Luke> 21:5-38 presupposes that Jerusalem has been destroyed; thus a
date after A.D. 70 is required."[10] The text in Luke relates Jesus'
prediction of the destruction of Jerusalem, so Fr. Kerris reasons
that this event must already have happened before the Gospel was
written. Why? Clearly because he doesn't accept it as a true
prophecy. The implication is that Jesus couldn't have known it
beforehand.
Turning now to comments on the crucifixion, we get the same dismissal
of historicity. I'll mention three examples in the article "Jesus"
by J.B. Meier, all on page 1,328.
"The placing of Jesus' mother and the beloved disciple at the cross
may be Johannine symbolism." The second example: ". . . the edifying
repentance of the 'good thief' is probably Lucan redaction." The
third example: "The account of setting a guard at the sealed tomb
must be judged a later creation of Jewish-Christian debates." To put
it bluntly, these apparently historical incidents, generally accepted
as such for close to 2,000 years, are probably fiction.
Many more examples of the <JBC's> deficiencies could be given,
including its treatment of miracles and of the Resurrection of
Christ. But enough has been said to illustrate the approach taken by
this commentary.
Proponents of the kind of thinking exemplified in the <JBC> as in so
many other modern studies of Scripture (their number is legion)
attempt to justify themselves by claiming they are simply
concentrating on what history shows, without denying that faith can
shed further light on the topics. J.P. Meier, in the article already
quoted, says the sole focus of his article is ". . . the Jesus of
history ... that <Jesus who is knowable or recoverable by the means
of modern historical-critical research.">[11] Similarly, Viviano says:
"Both the Bethlehem birth and the virginal conception are potentially
so highly influenced by the author's reading of OT prophecy that the
historian hesitates where the believer need not."[12]
But Scripture cannot be understood unless it is seen as having God as
its principal Author, and unless it is read in the light of Tradition
and the pronouncements of the <Magisterium.>[13] To focus instead on
what history alone can show is to produce an impoverished result.
This could be admissible as an academic exercise which would then be
viewed in the light of Tradition and the <Magisterium;> but the <JBC>
doesn't do that.
One has only to glance at the quotations I have given to realize that
the authors are denying or doubting that various events really
happened; they are not claiming these things happened, but that
history alone can't establish this.
The inerrancy of Scripture is constantly rejected by implication.
When the question is looked at explicitly in the article
"Inspiration" by Raymond Collins, he asserts that Cardinal Koenig,
during Vatican II, "pointed out errors in the biblical books."
Collins, in accepting this view, contradicts Catholic teaching. He
says: "The term 'inerrancy' has never appeared in a conciliar text
(although found in papal encyclicals. . . )."[14]
Whether or not the term has been used in conciliar texts is beside
the point; the doctrine of inerrancy has been constantly taught in
the Church. Further, the papal encyclicals which use the term make it
perfectly plain that the doctrine of inerrancy must be held.
Pope Leo XIII, after stating the unchanging teaching of the Church
that God is the principal Author of the Bible, continues: "It follows
that those who maintain that an error is possible in any genuine
passage of the sacred writings either pervert the Catholic notion of
inspiration or make God the Author of such error."[15] Nor is divine
inspiration restricted to matters of faith and morals. Leo rejects
such a restriction, and later Popes have repeated his teaching.
Benedict XV repeats it in his encyclical <Spiritus Paraclitus>.[16]
So does Pius XII in <Divini Afflante Spiritu> and <Humani
Generis>.[17] In the latter encyclical he says that some ". . . put
forward again the opinion, already often condemned, which asserts
that immunity from error extends only to those parts of the Bible
that treat of God or of moral and religious matters."
The <Jerome Biblical Commentary> is radically flawed because it
approaches Scripture in a way alien to the true Christian approach.
Its spirit is secular rather than Christian. Jesus Christ, the way,
the truth, and the life, is seen as a teacher who didn't even know
the Christian Church would come into existence. With that assessment
of Christ, it is not surprising when the commentators ignore the
authority of the evangelists, the fathers, the doctors, and the
Popes.
Yet this book is widely regarded as a sound work produced by some of
the best Catholic scholars. Carlo Cardinal Martini of Milan, in his
foreword to this edition, praises it as "born of the patient and
devoted dedication of the best of English-speaking Catholic
exegetes." I hope he didn't read it before writing that!
ENDNOTES
1 Dogmatic Constitution on Divine Revelation, n. 19.
2. Page 681.
3. Page 683.
4. Page 684.
5. Page 1,320.
6. <John 1:29.
7. Page 1,340.
8. Page 1,339.
9. Page 1,340.
10. Page 675.
11. Page 1,317; original italics.
12. Page 636.
13. See VaticanII's Dogmatic Constitution on Divine Revelation, n. 12.
14. Page 1,033.
15. <Providentissimus Deus,> in <Rome and the Study of Scripture,>p. 25.
16. <Rome and the STudy of Scripture,> pp. 51-54.
17. <Ibid.,> pp. 81f. and 113.
This article was taken from the April 20, 1995 issue of "The
Wanderer," 201 Ohio Street, St. Paul, MN 55107, 612-224-5733.
Subscription Price: $35.00 per year; six months $20.00.
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