A Catholic Introduction to Biblical Interpretation
By John Gresham
The World Beyond the Text (Community of Interpretation)
Canonical Context & Canonical Criticism
Description / Justification / Limitations / Tools / Application
Description of the method:
A canonical approach to scripture is a method of biblical interpretation which emphasizes the significance of the fact that these historical writings have been gathered together by a community of faith into a canon of sacred literature. For those who take this approach to scripture, the concept of "canon" has three significant consequences for biblical interpretation.
- First, the historical critic's interest in the pre-history of the biblical text and its pre-existing sources is replaced by a focus on the final canonical form of the book as a completed whole. Indiviual passages are interpreted within the context of the entire book.
- Second, by placing the biblical book into a canon, that writing is placed into a new context. Each biblical writing is now part of a collection of books. The canon provides a context for interpretation -- biblical books are interpreted within the context of the entire bible.
- Third, "canon" refers to a collection of "sacred" scripture. The canon is a collection of "sacred" writings which have authoritative status for a religious community. They are recognized as inspired by God, as a divine message with a continuing relevance to the community of faith that transcends the limits of their original historical situations. Canonical interpretation interprets biblical writings as sacred writings and attempts to interpret their meaning for the contemporary community of believers.
Justification for the canonical interpretation of scripture
After affirming the need for serious attention to the historical context and the literary form of scripture, the Dogmatic Constitution on Divine Revelation calls for equal attention to the canonical context of scripture:
But since holy scripture must be read and interpreted in the same spirit in which it was written, no less serious attention must be given to the content and unity of the whole scripture… (Dei Verbum 12)
The need for canonical interpretation follows from the Catholic understanding of scripture as a collection of inspired writings recognized by the church as an authoritative rule of faith. This means that merely historical analysis is incomplete. Theological interpretation is required, interpreting the scriptures as a divine message to the people of God throughout history. Moreover, individual biblical writings must be interpreted as parts of a whole. All of scripture is inspired. Within the diversity of scripture there is a unity of truth resulting from the inspiration of the One Divine Spirit under whose impulse and direction the biblical canon was written, collected and recognized by the Church. For the Catholic interpreter this unity is found in Christ who fulfils the Old Testament and provides the central focus of the New Testament.
For Catholic scholars, canonical exegesis will proceed hand in hand with ecclesial exegesis. "Canon" implies a religious community which has the ability and the authority to acknowledge those books which belong to the canon and to exclude those which do not belong. "Canonical Interpretation" acknowledges the "canonizing community", the Church, as the context in which scripture is interpreted.
Catholic respect for the "history" of revelation raises some cautions in regard to the canonical approach to biblical interpretation. The Christian canon leads one to read the Hebrew scriptures as the "Old Testament" which finds its fulfillment in the New Testament's witness to Christ. In The Interpretation of the Bible in the Church, the Pontifical Biblical Commission affirms this christological reading of the Old Testament but warns that such interpretation should not mean a complete disregard for the earlier meaning of those biblical texts:
One must respect each stage of the history of salvation. To empty out of the Old Testament its own proper meaning would be to deprive the New of its roots in history.
Respect for the literary and theological diversity of scripture raises a further caution regarding the canonical approach to scripture. Canonical interpretation must take care to respect the diversity of literary forms and theological perspectives to be found in scripture. Reading scripture in light of the message of the whole canon does not mean creating a false harmonization or unity which fails to respect the literary and theological diversity within the biblical canon.
Canonical interpretation must also consider the diversity of canons. Jewish and Christian canons not only have different books, the books shared in common are organized differently, giving a different canonical structure to similar collections of writings. While closer in structure, Catholic and Protestants differ over the content of the Old Testament. Some contemporary biblical scholars advocate an expanded more fluid concept of canon which embraces previously excluded ancient Hebrew and Christian writings. Each canonical interpretation will represent an interpretation within one specific ecclesiological context. Those who read scripture in its canonical context, must do so with an awareness of the particular ecclesiastical context in which they find the canon defined and interpreted.
The canonical interpretation of scripture was is nearly a lost art in modern biblical exegesis. Protestant biblical scholar, Brevard S. Childs, in the 1970's, began calling biblical scholars to reconsider the canonical context of scripture. His works, Introduction to the Old Testament as Scripture and The NewTestament as Canon: An Introduction still serve as good introductions to canonical interpretation.
Bible encyclopedias can be used as an aid in canonical interpretation since they often include topical articles tracing biblical themes through the entire biblical canon.
Concordances can be used to identify passages where a specific word occurs throughout the Bible. (Online bibles provide another way to locate those passages).
For examples of canonical interpretation, one may also turn to the Church Fathers and other sources of ecclesial exegesis.
Answer the following questions in regard to your scriptural passage: What theological teaching/message/insight does your passage offer? How does the theological message of your passage contribute to the theological message of the biblical book of which it is a part? How does that message contribute to the biblical teaching as a whole? What does the teaching/message of the bible as a whole contribute to a theological understanding of your passage?
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