A Pleasant Surprise

Catholic Church No Longer Swears by Truth of the Bible

The hierarchy of the Roman Catholic Church has published a teaching document instructing the faithful that some parts of the Bible are not actually true....

Some Christians want a literal interpretation of the story of creation, as told in Genesis, taught alongside Darwin’s theory of evolution in schools, believing “intelligent design” to be an equally plausible theory of how the world began. But the first 11 chapters of Genesis, in which two different and at times conflicting stories of creation are told, are among those that this country’s Catholic bishops insist cannot be “historical.” At most, they say, they may contain “historical traces.”...

The Bible is true in passages relating to human salvation, they say, but continue: “We should not expect total accuracy from the Bible in other, secular matters.” They go on to condemn fundamentalism for its “intransigent intolerance” and to warn of “significant dangers” involved in a fundamentalist approach....

As examples of passages not to be taken literally, the bishops cite the early chapters of Genesis, comparing them with early creation legends from other cultures, especially from the ancient East. The bishops say it is clear that the primary purpose of these chapters was to provide religious teaching and that they could not be described as historical writing. Similarly, they refute the apocalyptic prophecies of Revelation, the last book of the Christian Bible, in which the writer describes the work of the risen Jesus, the death of the Beast and the wedding feast of Christ the Lamb. The bishops say: “Such symbolic language must be respected for what it is, and is not to be interpreted literally. We should not expect to discover in this book details about the end of the world, about how many will be saved and about when the end will come.”...

This is the most sensible thing I've heard in ages—particularly on this topic. (Via James)

Comments

[scott]

Actually I don't think this is a new thing for the Catholic church. They have had this understanding for a long time. In fact, so has everyone else. The way I understand it, biblical literalism is a relatively new phenomenon, and one that is not widely adopted among Christian denominations.

[Karen]

I didn't realize that, but I am still very glad that they are putting out a document that specifically states it.

[scott]

Maybe the crazy fundamentalists will catch on, too. We can hope.

[James]

Nice to see it asserted, though.

It's the nutties who seem to be making all the headlines, and it is disheartening ot see them making headway in certain school systems.