By Joelle Anderson
In a recent blog post, we explored how worshipers interpret the Bible. Do worshipers’ views about the Bible match their pastoral leaders’ views about these Scriptures?
Catholic worshipers and priests: Interpretation is based on the Church’s teachings. As noted, in Catholicism the Vatican has the authority to interpret the Scriptures. Catholic priests are even more apt than worshipers to subscribe to the official stance, with 86% of Catholic priests saying that the Bible is to be interpreted through its historical context and the Church’s teachings. A small proportion chooses to interpret the Bible through its historical and cultural context.
Mainline Protestant worshipers and pastors: Varied interpretation. Fewer mainline Protestant pastors are Biblical literalists, compared to mainline Protestant worshipers; also, fewer mainline pastors interpret Scriptures using historical context and the Church’s teachings. More mainline pastors interpret the Bible through its historical and cultural context.
Conservative Protestant worshipers and pastors: Literal interpretation. Interestingly, virtually the same proportion of conservative Protestant worshipers and pastors (a majority of each group) take the Bible literally, word for word. However, more conservative Protestant pastors interpret the Bible through its historical and cultural context, while more conservative Protestant worshipers interpret the Bible through its historical context and the Church’s teachings.
Protestant worshipers and pastors: Different understandings of “the Church”? Worshipers often follow their leader’s method of interpreting the Bible. Catholic worshipers and priests most often interpret the Bible in light of historical context and Church teachings; conservative Protestant worshipers and pastors most often interpret the Bible literally. However, more mainline and conservative Protestant worshipers than their pastors interpret Scriptures based on Church teachings.
When Protestant worshipers say they interpret the Bible in light of “the Church’s teachings,” they may mean that they rely on their pastor’s teaching (many see their own congregation as “the Church”). Because Protestant pastors often have higher levels of theological training than most worshipers, they understand that the term “the Church” usually refers to Catholic teachings, and are less likely to say they interpret the Bible based on “the Church’s teachings.”
Bible interpretation is a complex endeavor for worshipers and pastors alike. It is also an issue of high importance, as Bible interpretation influences worshipers’ views about God, humanity, and the world. Identifying a personal method of Bible interpretation pays dividends by providing people with a framework with which to read the Bible, learn from it, and apply it to the daily life of faith.
Is Saint Augustine's exegesis of the 2nd and 3rd chapters of Genesis correct? Do a search: First Scandal.
Posted by: Robert Hagedorn | 09/04/2011 at 07:14 PM