RC Beliefs about Bible
Claire E. O'Connor claireoc@softdisk.com
Fri, 07 Nov 1997 17:10:38 -0600 (00878965838, 34639FEE.1C94@softdisk.com)
Ian & Pam Dorion wrote:
>
> Claire E. O'Connor wrote:
>
> (snip)
>
> > Claire O'Connor's opinion(s)
> >
> > I don't think publishers are terribly worried about offending
> > Christians. Just look at the multitude of skeptical books by the Jesus
> > Seminar, who are very good at marketing themselves. What about Bishop
> > Spong (I don't know why he's still a bishop)!?
> >
> > Frankly, I am disgusted with the chain bookstores. All I ever seem to
> > find are books by extreme skeptics (such as Spong and the Jesus Seminar
> > guys) and silly books about angels (which have NOTHING to do with those
> > tough angels in the Bible), or religious books by celebrities. I am
> > venting here! I need some books to explain the Bible by someone other
> > than Spong or the Jesus Seminar - I already have their books! I can
> > never find Luke Timothy Johnson (who is more moderate) in the bookstore,
> > but then he is less effective at marketing himself. Actually, I am more
> > upset for the average person who may not know that there are serious
> > scholars who don't agree with the assumptions/methods used by the Jesus
> > Seminar, because the other books are so hard to find.
> >
> > Helen Willis asked me about the pagan origins of the Mary cult. I have
> > not heard much about this except from people on the CARM board or the
> > Countering Contradictions board who were quoting anti-Catholic
> > propaganda articles. Don't get me wrong - I do take this question
> > seriously, and I am not offended by Helen's asking it. I just know very
> > little about it. I will try to do some research about it. I think this
> > issue is mostly outside the scope of this board, so I might email Helen
> > privately if she wishes.
> >
> > I would be interested in people's opinion of the infancy narratives in
> > the Bible (which provide some information about Mary). For example, do
> > people on this board think that a "slaughter of the innocents" by Herod
> > took place around the time of Jesus' birth? I saw a discussion on this
> > board about the star at the time of Jesus' birth, but I didn't read all
> > the posts. If I repeat questions that have been asked before, please
> > forgive me. I would be interested in any comments that anyone has about
> > the infancy narratives (of course, I am interested in other things,
> > too!)
> >
> > By the way, what is the God worksheet, and how long is it? I haven't
> > seen it - I've only been receiving this board for a few days.
> >
> > -CEO
>
> IAN
>
> Claire,just what do RCs believe about the Bible? Do they believe it is
> inerrant or do they believe it is inspired and has to be interpreted? I
> have a brother (a RC) who says he (RCs) do not believe it is inerrant
> but in our arguments (via snail mail) he talks like an inerrantist. He
> doesn't write very often either but that may be because he is losing the
> argument.
>
> Regards,
> Ian
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Claire's message:
Hi Ian:
The Roman Catholic Church has been encouraging biblical scholarship for
a while. My theology instructors (who are employed by the Catholic
Diocese of Shreveport) definitely do not teach biblical inerrancy, and
they say that not all of the books are equally "inspired". We have been
taught the J,E,D,P theory and other notions which would be considered
heretical by fundamentalists. My instructors seem to believe in a sort
of limited non-supernatural divine inspiration of the authors of the
Bible. The Bible has to be interpreted according to the original intent
of the authors, so we try to learn about the literary devices used and
the historical setting in which a particular book was written. But the
classes I have taken are only short courses, so we don't have time to go
into great depth.
A few Roman Catholics (down here in the Bible Belt) seem to resemble
fundamentalists in their beliefs about the Bible; others are more like
my theology instructors. I would say that a large majority of Roman
Catholics are NOT young-earth creationists. The RCC has announced that
evolutionary theory should be accepted, as long as there is no denial of
the human soul.
I can try to write a better message about this at another time. I don't
know if I am really answering your question. I'd like to think about it
some more. :)
Best wishes,
Claire O'Connor