You do realize, doncha, that a given "pope" (& there've been some doozies in RC history) is one of those "self interpreters," doncha?
Shall I recount the histories of some of these popes in whom you've placed seemingly unquestionable trust as the final arbiter of Biblical truth?
You do realize, doncha, that a given "pope" (& there've been some doozies in RC history) is one of those "self interpreters," doncha?Shall I recount the histories of some of these popes in whom you've placed seemingly unquestionable trust as the final arbiter of Biblical truth?
This is a point of massive confusion for non-Catholics, and, frankly, some Catholics. The pope does not exist outside of the Church. And he is also not really "the final arbiter of Biblical truth" as you describe him. Rather, the Church is. We look to the entire history of the Church, and to all she has said, and prayed, and that which has been accepted by her as unquestionably reliable by constant witness and use in order to understand what we read in the Bible. If a pope comes out tomorrow and says that John 6 doesn't really reflect a teaching on the Eucharist no Catholic would accept it. It would be one man's opinion, and a bad one. Why? Because it flatly contradicts the 2,000 year teaching of the Church. Pope's are authoritative, but only so long as they remain within the confines of the Church's consistent understanding and teaching authority. They confirm us in our faith; they don't invent it.
People like to exaggerate things the Holy Father says for their own benefit, but actually there is nothing controversial about what the pope said as quoted in this article. In fact, what he said here is already done by every reasonable Protestant I have ever known. Every reasonable Christian knows that one has to consider any single statement from Scripture within the whole context in order to know whether it is meant to be taken as literally true on its own, or rather as contributing to a point being made through a greater segment of text. For instance, is it "literally true" when Christ said "This is my body" over bread? We say yes, given the context of the entire Scriptures and their witness to the Eucharistic faith of the Church. We also say yes given the historic witness of the Church throughout history. However, and very ironically, most of the people shouting that Catholics deny the Bible in believing that not every sentence of the Bible must be "literally true," would say this single sentence is actually not literally true. What the Holy Father is talking about here is actually what 99% of Christians do every time they read the Bible. Some want to make things controversial, but nothing said here actually is.