A Catholic Introduction to Biblical Interpretation
By John Gresham

The World Beneath the Text (Social Context)
Social Scientific & Liberationist Interpretations

Description / Justification / Limitations / Tools / Application

Description of the method:

The social context of the Bible is referred to as the world beneath the text to suggest the sometimes subtle way in which the social situation of authors and readers shape both the original creation and later interpretation of biblical texts.

Social-scientific study of biblical texts focuses on the historical social situation of the original authors and their communities to gain insight into a sociological understanding of the biblical text. This approach sees language as reflecting social realities. Sociological, anthropological and sometimes psychological methods and theories are applied as tools to "look beneath the text" to understand how the social situation influences the author and shapes the text. The biblical text is read as revealing the social movements, institutions, conflicts, and social roles of the day with a message to readers today within their own social histories.

Liberationist biblical interpretation, while often including this study of the original social situation of the authors of biblical texts, places a greater emphasis on the social situation of the contemporary reader of the biblical text. Liberation theologians emphasize that the reader is already enmeshed within a social situation that will shape his or her interpretation of the text. Liberation theologians are especially concerned that those who occupy social positions of power, wealth and privilege will fail to understand the powerful message of social liberation within the biblical writings. Liberation theologians see God's liberation of Israel from slavery as the key to biblical interpretation. The liberation message of Israel's Exodus is carried forward by the prophetic preaching of justice and finds its fulfillment in Jesus' gospel of good news to the poor. To properly understand this biblical message, one must read the bible "with the poor" or from the vantage point of their social location, that is of those who are in need of the liberation promised by God. Thus, biblical interpretation must go hand in hand with analysis of the contemporary social situation with an ear attuned to the Bible's message of social liberation to those who are oppressed today.

Justification for the social interpretation of scripture
Catholicism affirms the social dimension of God's work in the world. As the Dogmatic Constitution on the Church (Lumen Gentium) clearly states:
God does not make men holy and save them merely as individuals, without bond or link to one another. (Lumen Gentium 9)
The Interpretation of the Bible in the Church notes the social context of biblical interpretation:
In order to communicate itself, the word of God has taken root in the life of human communities.
With its emphasis on the social dimension of Divine salvation and revelation, Catholic interpretation can only welcome consideration of the social environment in which revelation takes place.
Catholic social teaching also finds place for the contributions of liberationist biblical interpretation, even though certain aspects of liberation theology have been criticized in Church teaching. Catholic Church teaching affirms the "preferential option for the poor" which is at the heart of liberation theology. Even in a document outlining some of the errors of liberation theology, the importance and value of reading the bible from the perspective of the experience of the poor and their need for social liberation is affirmed as constituting,
A very positive contribution, inasmuch as it makes possible a highlighting of aspects of the Word of God the richness of which has not yet been fully grasped. (Sacred Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Instruction on Christian Freedom and Liberation, 70)
This sentiment is echoed in The Interpretation of the Bible in the Church:
Liberation theology includes elements of undoubted value: the deep awareness of the presence of the God who saves; the insistence on the communal dimension of faith; the pressing sense of need for a liberating praxis rooted in justice and love; a fresh reading of the Bible which seeks to make of the word of God the light and the nourishment of the people of God in the midst of its struggles and hopes.

 

Limitations of the social interpretation of scripture
Social analysis of the biblical world must always proceed with a sense of the tentative nature of this approach. We have limited knowledge of the social environments of the biblical writings and often apply methodologies and theories developed within other social environments.
Catholic teaching warns against the following excesses of liberation theology:

Tools

A good introduction to the use of the Bible in Liberation Theology may be found in Norman K. Gottwald, ed. The Bible and Liberation. Orbis, 1983.

 

Application
What does your passage reveal about the social situation in which it was written?
Does your passage have economic/political/social implications for today's society?

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