Posted on 08/04/2021 2:19:35 PM PDT by MurphsLaw
The promotion of Biblical interpretations serving secular, liberal political agendas of sex and race is only the latest manifestation of a centuries-old trend.
The Bible makes no explicit condemnations of transgenderism. It makes no claims as to the morality of abortion. It encourages racial reparations. Such claims can be found virtually everywhere in corporate media like the Washington Post, New York Times, or CNN, which seek to promote the various political objectives of the Democratic Party.
During his campaign for president, Episcopalian Pete Buttigieg argued that Jesus never mentioned abortion and that Bible verses censuring homosexuality were culturally conditioned, not eternal truths. The Washington Post, in turn, cites secular academics, who offer Biblical exegesis of a progressivist, feminist, and racial identitarian variety.
Of course, the Bible has always been a political document. The Old Testament was not only a religious and liturgical text but one that had much to say about the governance of the ancient kingdom of Israel. Jesus told his followers to respect and pay taxes to the Roman Empire. St. Paul described the temporal ruler as “God’s servant for your good.” (Romans 13:3-4)
For most of ecclesial history, the primary interpreters of Holy Scripture were not journalists, politicians, or secular academics, but the Catholic Church herself. Most early Church Fathers were priests or bishops. Ecumenical councils like Nicea, Chalcedon, or Lyon made determinations on theology, morality, and the meaning of the Bible.
But beginning in the fourteenth century, scholars like Marsilius of Padua and William of Ockham began questioning the hierarchy’s hold on biblical interpretation. Instead, they proposed, the Bible should be under the authority of scholarly experts supported by secular political authorities. Though it would take several centuries for their ideas to proliferate, this thinking came to fruition in the Reformation and Enlightenment, and inspire trends in scriptural exegesis to this day.
This story is the focus of Scott Hahn’s and Benjamin Wiker’s book, The Decline and Fall of Sacred Scripture: How the Bible Became a Secular Book. Less than three-hundred pages, the book summarizes the central arguments of the authors’ 2012 Politicizing the Bible: The Roots of Historical Criticism and the Secularization of Scripture 1300-1700, which is more than twice the size. This is a welcome development; it makes their important contributions accessible to a larger audience.
While the story begins with Marsilius and Ockham and their Erastian belief in the supremacy of the state over the Church, the reader will encounter many familiar faces. John Wycliffe, esteemed by Protestants as the “Morning Star” of the Reformation, argued that “the pope ought, as he formerly was, to be subject to Caesar.” The monarch would then employ “doctors and worshipers of the divine law” to interpret the Bible. Martin Luther also called for the German princes to wrest ecclesial power away from corrupt bishops and the Roman pontiff, and grant him unequaled interpretive authority. Indeed, Luther asked the prince of Saxony to expel fellow reformer Andreas Bodenstein von Karlstadt because of the latter’s radical teachings. Around the same time, Machiavelli viewed the biblical text as material for furthering secular political ends.
All of these men influenced the court of English King Henry VIII, who recognized that the Reformation offered an opportunity to consolidate his political power. Thus, he pursued the Act of Supremacy in 1534 to grant him “supreme” headship over the Church of England, followed by the dissolution of monasteries, closure of shrines, and seizure of Church wealth. His King’s Book then declared that individuals must be subject to the “particular church” of the region in which they live, and obey the “Christian kings and princes” to whom they are subject.
Other Englishmen would further endorse this thinking. In Leviathan, Thomas Hobbes asserts that there is only “one chief Pastor” who is “according to the law of Nature. . .the civil sovereign.” Hobbes also rejected many of the supernatural elements of Scripture, as well as Heaven and Hell. John Locke, dismayed by the violence and distemper caused by the English Civil War, endorsed a state-controlled church whose most important feature would be “toleration,” since religious sentiments were private matters “of the mind.” For Locke, Jesus was ultimately a political messiah whose teachings focused on the perpetuation of a “civil morality.”
There are many other actors in this torrid tale – Baruch Spinoza, J. Richard Simon, John Toland – but enough is clear from the above to appreciate the consequences of these religio-political trends. Proto-Reformers called for dethroning the Catholic hierarchy’s supremacy over biblical interpretation. The Reformers, relying on princes and kings, put that wish into practice. And political philosophers and state-sanctioned scholars normalized it. Wherever the Catholic Church ceased to exert ecclesial authority, the state took up the reins.
There has always been this tension between Church and state. St. Ambrose excommunicated the emperor Theodosius because of his execution of 7,000 citizens of Thessalonica. Pope Gregory VII excommunicated the Holy Roman Emperor Henry IV because of a dispute over investiture. And Thomas Becket’s resistance to English King Henry II’s attempts to control the Church resulted in his murder at Canterbury Cathedral.
There is actually something healthy about this tension: when the state and the Church both operate strong spheres of power and influence, they serve as checks upon one another. Kings and governments cannot pursue any policy without risking moral condemnation from ecclesial leadership that will undermine their popular support. And Church corruption and nepotism can be used by secular authorities eager to usurp power.
Hahn’s and Wiker’s history tracks the growing imbalance in favor of the state, a disparity whose roots can be traced back to the late Medieval period. The ubiquitous promotion of Biblical interpretations that serve secular, liberal political agendas related to sex and race is only the latest manifestation of this centuries-old trend. To reverse it requires a return to a more ancient understanding that the Bible is, before all else, the book of the Church, rather than the state or its acolytes in the media or the academy. Catholics need to support and celebrate churchmen who appreciate and seek to realize that essential mission.
Have you considered that it may not?
Don’t even get me started on the extra-biblical Mary of the RCC stuff. The inferred-between-the lines “proofs, miracles, excuses” could fill a book.
...
Hey...
“The Official Complete Inferred Words and Miracles That Prove We Know What We’re Talking About Guide to Possible Salvation and Big Beef Fridays”
With Forward by Peter’s Diary.
We may someday soon crack the case of extra-biblical Bibles
We might discuss the complexity of the purpose of the Bible, but I think it is fair to say you would agree that the Bible isn’t meant to be a political document.
If a man looketh upon a woman...
ALL manner of sin...
I didn't see ANYONE calling someone else FATHER.
If a person did this, then they'd probably not listen to what some aberration told them.
And REALLY not listen to what some man has taught them about what the error-prone bible REALLY means.
Don’t you understand, Elsie, God did not say what He meant nor did He mean what He said. It took the RCC many doctrines, traditions and opinions of early church fathers and their neighbors to untangle the mess, read between the lines for the “real truth”, and wrap their opinions in the burial cloths of their saints for answers.
We are lucky. We don’t have to search the Scriptures daily like the Bereans
We just have to search catholic comments and Saints of the Month trading cards (with recipes on the back) to get all the information we need for our possible salvation.
Been that way since Peter. Where have you been?!?
And WHY do you think they do? I am going to assume you're a Catholic and you don't like to see others disagree with things your church believes, but could you just sit on your hands and not defend your beliefs if a non-Catholic posted a "Caucus" thread that challenged them and they excluded Catholics from commenting? I don't think you'd like that, am I right? This thread DID challenge and blame Protestants for "How we Lost the Bible". I disagree with that and would resent not having an opportunity to say WHY.
Now, don't get me wrong, I am all for civil dialog and since we're all grown-ups we should be able to conduct our conversations in respectful ways that they DON'T turn into the "show" you dislike. I can't schoolmarm others here and can only govern myself. Why don't we be examples to others on how Free Republic handles disagreements without being disagreeable? Censoring isn't the answer. Isolating religious themed threads into an us-only/you-ain't-invited isn't the answer. There's something called "iron sharpening iron" where we can learn from each other. That's a good thing.
But, again, no one's forcing you to read threads, are they?
Because the threads turn into a shiiteshow, that’s why.
And WHY do you think they do? I am going to assume you’re a Catholic
***Wrong assumption. I’m protestant.
and you don’t like to see others disagree with things your church believes, but could you just sit on your hands and not defend your beliefs if a non-Catholic posted a “Caucus” thread that challenged them and they excluded Catholics from commenting?
***Since your assumption was invalid, your question is invalid.
I don’t think you’d like that, am I right?
***No. You are wrong.
This thread DID challenge and blame Protestants for “How we Lost the Bible”. I disagree with that and would resent not having an opportunity to say WHY.
***I’m not promoting a caucus tag, but an open tag under the religion mod’s excellent supervision.
Now, don’t get me wrong, I am all for civil dialog and since we’re all grown-ups we should be able to conduct our conversations in respectful ways that they DON’T turn into the “show” you dislike.
***Well, that’s what happens.
I can’t schoolmarm others here and can only govern myself. Why don’t we be examples to others on how Free Republic handles disagreements without being disagreeable?
***Because that approach does not work.
Censoring isn’t the answer.
***I am not advocating censorship, that is a straw argument. I am advocating proper supervision in an open thread by the mod.
Isolating religious themed threads into an us-only/you-ain’t-invited isn’t the answer.
***And that is not what I am proposing.
There’s something called “iron sharpening iron” where we can learn from each other. That’s a good thing.
***Until ... it turns into a shiiteshow.
But, again, no one’s forcing you to read threads, are they?
***Apparently no one is forcing you to read the threads accurately.
Murph, it appears you believe otherwise. Is that true?
I apologize for presuming your faith tradition, but it rarely happens that anyone BUT a Catholic contingent here whines about other’s disagreements with the threads they post. And THIS thread has been pretty tame. In fact, you’re the only one who has used a profanity (disguise notwithstanding). Do these discussions sometimes get heated? Yep, but that indicates people take things seriously when their faith is being challenged and we are commanded to “earnestly contend for the faith”, so there’s that.
As for having a hall monitor on FR threads to keep us all nice, I think the Moderators do a pretty good job considering the thousands of visits and posts that run through here. Complain to Jim if you think someone’s slacking - although, I hear it’s a volunteer position.
If it’s tighter supervision you’re demanding, I hear Google is hiring for content moderators as long as you’ve had your shots, that is.
Yeah huh. That’s what you think, I think differently, so you throw out a zinger on your way out. But that kind of stuff is just fine with you. My point is well made.
One Catholic questioning another on matters of faith?
Honey, you set the thing to RECORD while I pop some corn!!
I shudda read ahead...
Besides the Indulgences attached to the Rosary, Our Lady revealed to St. Dominic and Blessed Alan de la Roche additional benefits for those who devoutly pray the Rosary.
Our Lady's promise is shown in bold, darker blue text. Additional explanation on and doctrinal connections to each promise is shown following in the smaller normal text font and color.
Note that the Rosary is the prayer (non-Liturgical) with the most published Magisterial / Papal documents expounding on its excellence.
Vatican II's summary on Our Lady is contained in Lumen Gentium chapter VIII.
| 1. | Whosoever shall faithfully serve me by the recitation of the Rosary shall receive signal graces. Signal Graces are those special and unique Graces to help sanctify us in our state in life. See the remaining promises for an explanation for which these will consist. St. Louis de Montfort states emphatically that the best and fastest way to union with Our Lord is via Our Lady [True Devotion to Mary, chapter four]. |
| 2. | I promise my special protection and the greatest graces to all those who shall recite the Rosary. Our Lady is our Advocate and the channel of all God's Grace to us. Our Lady is simply highlighting that She will watch especially over us who pray the Rosary. (see Lumen Gentium chapter VIII - Our Lady #62) [a great more detail is available on this topic in True Devotion to Mary, chapter four, by St. Louis de Montfort] |
| 3. | The Rosary shall be a powerful armor against hell, it will destroy vice, decrease sin and defeat heresies. This promise, along with the next, is simply the reminder on how fervent prayer will help us all grow in holiness by avoiding sin, especially a prayer with the excellence of the Rosary. An increase in holiness necessarily requires a reduction in sin, vice, and doctrinal errors (heresies). If only the Modernists could be convinced to pray the Rosary! (see Lumen Gentium chapter V - The Call to Holiness #42) St. Louis de Montfort states "Since Mary alone crushed all heresies, as we are told by the Church under the guidance of the Holy Spirit (Office of the Blessed Virgin Mary)..." [True Devotion to Mary #167] |
| 4. | It will cause good works to flourish; it will obtain for souls the abundant mercy of God; it will withdraw the hearts of men from the love of the world and its vanities, and will lift them to the desire for Eternal Things. Oh, that souls would sanctify themselves by this means. This promise, along with the previous, is the positive part, that being to live in virtue. Becoming holy is not only avoiding sin, but also growing in virtue. (see Lumen Gentium chapter V - The Call to Holiness #42) |
| 5. | The soul which recommends itself to me by the recitation of the Rosary shall not perish. Since Our Lady is our Mother and Advocate, She always assists those who call on Her implicitly by praying the Rosary. The Church reminds us of this in the Memorare prayer, "... never was it known that anyone who fled to your protection, implored your help or sought your intercession, was left unaided ..." |
| 6. | Whosoever shall recite the Rosary devoutly, applying himself to the consideration of its Sacred Mysteries shall never be conquered by misfortune. God will not chastise him in His justice, he shall not perish by an unprovided death; if he be just he shall remain in the grace of God, and become worthy of Eternal Life. This promise highlights the magnitude of Graces that the Rosary brings to whomever prays it. One will draw down God's Mercy rather than His Justice and will have a final chance to repent (see promise #7). One will not be conquered by misfortune means that Our Lady will obtain for the person sufficient Graces to handle said misfortune (i.e. carry the Crosses allowed by God) without falling into despair. As Sacred Scripture tells us, "For my yoke is sweet and my burden light." (Matthew 11:30) |
| 7. | Whoever shall have a true devotion for the Rosary shall not die without the Sacraments of the Church. This promise highlights the benefits of obtaining the most possible Graces at the hour of death via the Sacraments of Confession, Eucharist, and Extreme Unction (Anointing of the Sick). Being properly disposed while receiving these Sacraments near death ensures one's salvation (although perhaps with a detour through Purgatory) since a final repentance is possible. |
| 8. | Those who are faithful to recite the Rosary shall have during their life and at their death the Light of God and the plenitude of His Graces; at the moment of death they shall participate in the Merits of the Saints in Paradise. Our Lady highlights the great quantity of Graces obtain through praying the Rosary, which assist us during life and at the moment of death. The merits of the Saints are the gift of God's rewards to those persons who responded to His Grace that they obtained during life, and so Our Lady indicates that She will provide a share of that to us at death. With this promise and #7 above, Our Lady is providing the means for the person to have a very holy death. |
| 9. | I shall deliver from purgatory those who have been devoted to the Rosary. Should one require Purgatorial cleansing after death, Our Lady will make a special effort to obtain our release from Purgatory through Her intercession as Advocate. |
| 10. | The faithful children of the Rosary shall merit a high degree of Glory in Heaven. This promise is a logical consequence of promises #3 and #4 since anyone who truly lives a holier life on earth will obtain a higher place in Heaven. The closer one is to God while living on earth, the close that person is to Him also in Heaven. The Catechism of the Catholic Church states "Spiritual progress tends toward ever more union with Christ." (Catechism of the Catholic Church paragraph 2014) |
| 11. | You shall obtain all you ask of me by recitation of the Rosary. This promise emphasizes Our Lady's role as our Advocate and Mediatrix of all Graces. Of course, all requests are subject to God's Most Perfect Will. God will always grant our request if it is beneficial for our soul, and Our Lady will only intercede for us when our request is good for our salvation. (see Lumen Gentium chapter VIII - Our Lady #62) |
| 12. | All those who propagate the Holy Rosary shall be aided by me in their necessities. If one promotes the praying of the Rosary, Our Lady emphasizes Her Maternal care for us by obtaining many Graces (i.e. spiritual necessities) and also material necessities (neither excess nor luxury), all subject to the Will of God of course. |
| 13. | I have obtained from my Divine Son that all the advocates of the Rosary shall have for intercessors the entire Celestial Court during their life and at the hour of death. Since Our Lady is our Advocate, She brings us additional assistance during our life and at our death from all the saints in Heaven (the Communion of Saints). See paragraphs 954 through 959 in the Catechism of the Catholic Church. |
| 14. | All who recite the Rosary are my Sons, and brothers of my Only Son Jesus Christ. Since the Rosary is a most excellent prayer focused on Jesus and His Life and activities in salvation history, it brings us closer to Our Lord and Our Lady. Doctrinally, Our Lady is our Mother and Jesus is our Eldest Brother, besides being our God. (see Lumen Gentium chapter VIII - Our Lady #62) |
| 15. | Devotion to my Rosary is a great sign of predestination. Predestination in this context means that, by the sign which is present to a person from the action of devoutly praying the Rosary, God has pre-ordained your salvation. Absolute certainty of salvation can only be truly known if God reveals it to a person because, although we are given sufficient Grace during life, our salvation depends upon our response to said Grace. (See Summa Theologica, Question 23 for a detailed theological explanation). Said another way, if God has guaranteed a person's salvation but has not revealed it to Him, God would want that person to pray the Rosary because of all the benefits and Graces obtained. Therefore the person gets a hint by devotion to the Rosary. This is not to say that praying the Rosary guarantees salvation - by no means. In looking at promises #3 and #4 above, praying the Rosary helps one to live a holy life, which is itself a great sign that a soul is on the road to salvation. (See also paragraphs 381, 488, 600, 2782 in the Catechism of the Catholic Church.) In fact, St. Louis de Montfort says even more strongly that "an infallible and unmistakable sign by which we can distinguish a heretic, a man of false doctrine, an enemy of God, from one of God's true friends is that the hardened sinner and heretic show nothing but contempt and indifference to Our Lady..." [True Devotion to Mary, #30] |
Reminder: these promises mean that, by faithfully and devoutly praying the Rosary,
Our Lady will obtain for us the necessary Graces to obtain said promises.
It is still up to each individual soul to respond to those Graces in order to obtain salvation.
This is a weak translation. The Greek word for “commit” (poieo) here is in the active, indicative tense which means a continuous ongoing action. The better translation would be “does not continuously sin” or “does not make a practice of sinning”.
In looking at promises #3 and #4 above, praying the Rosary helps one to live a holy life, which is itself a great sign that a soul is on the road to salvation.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gdlyi5mckg0
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