The Interpretation of Scripture Three Criteria for Interpreting

The Interpretation of Scripture

Three Criteria for Interpreting Scripture üLook closely at the content and unity of the whole Scripture üHow does the rest of Scripture help me understand what I’m reading? üHelps to avoid “cherry picking”

Three Criteria for Interpreting Scripture üRead the Scripture within “the living Tradition of the whole Church” üHow does the understanding of the Fathers of the Church, the Saints, and Magisterium of the Church help me understand what I’m reading?

Three Criteria for Interpreting Scripture üBe attentive to the analogy of faith. üDoes my understanding make sense in itself? Does it make sense in light of the doctrines and dogmas of the Church and God’s whole plan of salvation?

Two Senses of Scripture üLiteral sense üThe meaning of the words of Scripture discovered by study of the text üThis includes the meaning of metaphors or of figurative language üSpiritual sense üAllows us to understand that, thanks to the unity of God’s plan, the realities and events the text describes are themselves signs of our Faith üThe truth for salvation God wanted written down.

Three Parts of the Spiritual Sense ü Allegorical Sense üHelps us understand how some of the events of the Old Testament foreshadow Jesus Christ üTypology üThe study of how people, places, things, or ideas earlier in Salvation History foreshadow or point forward to a later person, place, thing, or idea in Salvation History. üType üex. The instructions for Passover in Exodus 12

Three Parts of the Spiritual Sense üMoral Sense üTeaches us how to act in a right way üAlso called the Tropological sense üex. Ten Commandments

Three Parts of the Spiritual Sense üAnagogical Sense üHelps us to relate what the events of Scripture have to do with our final destiny – Heaven. üEx. Judas Maccabeas’ prayers for the dead