Commentary on Catechism of the Catholic Church The Holy Spirit, Interpreter of Scripture

In order to interpret Scripture, we must be attentive to 2 things, what the intentions of the writers are and what God intends to reveal through the human words. To discover the human intention, we must take into account the historical context. To discover the divine intention, we must interpret it in the light of the Holy Spirit who inspired the human writers to write down Scripture. Vatican II indicates 3 criteria to interpret Scripture. First, we must be attentive to the content and unity of the whole Scripture. Second, we must read Scripture in light of the living Tradition or Word of God in the whole Church. Finally, we must pay attention to the coherence of the truths of faith among themselves and within the whole plan of Revelation.

There are 4 senses of Scripture, based on 2 senses of Scripture, the literal and the spiritual sense of Scripture. The literal sense of Scripture is what the words actually say based on sound exegesis and interpretation. All other senses of Scripture are based on the literal sense. The spiritual sense describes Scripture as a report of signs of higher spiritual realities. The first spiritual sense is the allegorical sense, which sees the significance of past events in Christ. The second spiritual sense is the moral sense, which describes how we must act. Finally the anagogical sense describes events in their eternal significance, towards our eternal destiny. It is the task of the exegetes to work according to these rules toward a better understanding of Scripture to aid the Church. Yet in the end, it is the Church who holds final judgement toward the interpretation of Scripture, for it is she who possess that authority from God.

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