Pat Arensberg: Must Scripture be taken literally?

“Since on the seventh day God was finished with the work he had been doing, he rested on the seventh day from all the work he had undertaken.”  -Genesis 2:2

People often ask, “Do I have to believe everything that is in the Bible?”  Well, sometimes before we can answer a question we have to clarify some things.  During the trial of Galileo a prominent Cardinal and theologian offered his opinion about the possibility that the earth moved and that the sun stood still.  Specifically, he was discussing how to interpret Scriptural passages that seem to contradict this.  St. Robert Bellarmine wrote, "then one would have to proceed with great care in explaining the Scriptures that appear contrary; and say rather that we do not understand them, than that what is demonstrated is false."

This remains a very good Catholic answer today.  Bellarmine is saying that Scripture must be accepted and valued, but that it is possible that we humans can in fact misunderstand the message that the Holy Spirit intended to communicate.  We discussed this a bit yesterday.  History is replete with examples of people not letting the Holy Spirit continue to work in the life of the Church.  Look, the Holy Spirit is the ultimate Author and therefore we must continue to rely on the Church which is vivified by that same Holy Spirit for authentic interpretation.  

Remember that we read Scripture on two levels, the literal and the spiritual.  We don’t have to take every detail as literal truth, but the words that God chooses to communicate with his people are significant.  Also, recall that some books are meant to be taken as literal or historical documents while other books are not.  The Gospels for example are documents that really do communicate what Jesus said and did while he walked on earth.

About Pat Arensberg Patrick Arensberg is the Director of Religious Education for the Archdiocese of Mobile. Previously, he taught for 17 years at McGill-Toolen Catholic High School, where he served as Chairman of the Theology Department. He attended the Gregorian University in Rome and holds an M.A. in Theology from Notre Dame Seminary in New Orleans. He is married to Connie and they live in Mobile with their 5 children.