How to read and interpret the Bible

So how do we interpret the Bible?
 First, the teaching of the Church: The Second Vatican Council indicates three criteria (Cf. Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC) 112-114).

Be especially attentive to the content and unity of the whole Scripture (this means that the interpretation of one part must be in accord with the rest of the Bible whose centre and goal is Jesus Christ).

Read the Scripture within the living Tradition of the whole Church (the Church carries in her Tradition the living memorial of God’s Word and the Holy Spirit gives her the spiritual interpretation of the Scripture).

Be attentive to the analogy of faith ( i.e. the coherence of the truths of faith among themselves within the whole plan of Revelation) In Scripture God speaks in a human way.

To interpret Scripture correctly the reader must be attentive to what the human authors truly wanted to affirm and to what God wanted to reveal to us by their words. To discover the authors’ intention, the reader must take into account the conditions of their time and culture, the literary genres (narrative, poetry, prophetic, history and so on), and the modes of speaking and narrating at that time. (Cf. CCC 109,110).

Interpreting Scripture “is ultimately subject to the judgment of the Church which exercises the divinely conferred commission and ministry of watching over and interpreting the Word of God” (Cf. CCC 119). 

More about interpretation in general
Interpretation is usually the task of Biblical scholars familiar with the history, context and language of Scripture as well as the Tradition of the Church. The Pontifical Biblical Commission made up of leading Biblical scholars who are appointed by the Pope is consulted on new issues of Biblical interpretation.

However, the final judgment is exercised by the Pope and other bishops of the Catholic Church. Published works approved usually carry an official declaration by the bishop (called “imprimatur” in Latin) that the publication is free of doctrinal error.

Good Resources You can tap into: Here is an excellent online introduction to a library of Scripture study resources by a well known scholar, Dr. Scott Hahn: http://www.salvationhistory.com/library/scripture/index.cfm Here is an actual Bible study case (6 courses of Bible including some 30 lessons). http://www.salvationhistory.com/online/coursesofstudy.cfm?PID=1974

More on how to read the Bible? 
As I have indicated, it is important that you do not stop at the text you read, but get also a good idea of the background of the text: when it was written, why it was written, to whom it was written, and the context in which it was written. One way to help you choose which references to use is the “imprimatur” indicated above at the beginning of the book. Another good rule is that the book conforms in its content to the Creed which we recite in Mass every Sunday. For example, an interpretation that denies the divinity of Christ is not a Catholic interpretation. Much of today’s free interpretation by Fundamentalists is based on a literalist (not literal) reading and interpretation of the Biblical text. For example, Revelation of John is often used out of context to give prophecies for the end of the world. The Catholic Church does not agree with a simple literalist approach, but takes into consideration insights afforded by modern Biblical scholarship and supported by the Fathers and great exegetes or interpreters (such as St. Jerome, St. Augustine, and Origen.) Another literalist interpretation is the idea that God created the world in literally six days. Since the Sun is created in the fourth day, the “day” in Genesis cannot refer to our solar 24-hour day based on the Sun! In spite of scientific evidence that the age of the universe is 14 billion years, some Fundamentalists still insist that the Biblical days are 6 solar days.

The example of Genesis 1
Now to really understand the story of creation it is important that we understand its background and context. It is not a myth. On the contrary it is a response of God’s prophets to the Babylonian myth of creation. And it reveals a powerful truth. It uses narratives familiar to the writers at that time but is quite unique to Israel: The Jews after being captured by the Babylonians had lost hope in their God whom they had worshiped in Jerusalem and now feel abandoned (does this remind us of the feelings of the disciples after Christ’s death and prior to his Resurrection?). Surrounded now by Babylonian culture, the creation myth of Babylon crept in. The myth is a struggle of the gods (of Babylon) out of which the world is made. Here is the beauty of Genesis: it reassures the Jewish people that their God Yahweh is the only God. He is the one who creates the universe out of nothing. He is the one who makes humans in his image, not out of the blood of a dead god as in the creation myth of Babylon. In the Hebrew Bible there is at once the supreme power and goodness of God who creates a good world and the dignity of man! (Does this remind us of the feelings of the disciples after Christ’s death and prior to his Resurrection…Feeling of betrayal? – but wait…Christ’s Resurrection (life out of death – a new creation) is God’s response to the disappointed disciples! Christ is risen and by his Resurrection he brings creation to the fullness of life!) Now you may understand a bit of the background of Genesis 1. Read the text again in a new light.