I read all of Aaron “The Rat” Nelson’s posts on Facebook, and I venture to say that if he becomes one with The Borg—let the reader understand—that a bunch of our priests are going to tell him to chill out.
I suppose indeed it is the mark of a saint to blame yourself first and primarily, but it’s also the hallmark of saints to tell the truth. The good that God has wrought cannot be muted in the blather of false humility and self-deprecation.
I remain thankful that he has a burning antipathy for Calvinism, ironically enough. He’d denigrate himself even more if he spent the last 25 years in those waters. Bryan Cross and I both were Reformed at one point. Since Bryan is about 3 times smarter than I am, I assume he understood it better than I did to that degree.
I’m just a Bible guy; I don’t think logically enough to be naturally good at systematic or dogmatic theology. The supernatural gifts of the Holy Spirit I think make me able to put mental citation “tags” on things. I said when I was a teenager that books are like ice cream flavors; every different one is a different flavor. But certain popular novels I have read, I can probably recite. God the Holy Spirit has used my powers of retention to make me a good teacher.
A teacher is how I think of myself. “Theologian” sounds pompous in my ears. The Bible is God’s love letter to humanity, and though faith clarifies it and gives it meaning, I actually try to teach it the same way I would teach another book, with one modification: I believe and know that the divine author is trying to commune with everyone. He’s not going to be like a novelist and say, “I don’t know, what does it mean to you?”
Someone might say, “You’re a Catholic; aren’t you just outsourcing your Bible interpretation to the Magisterium? CCC, 100. No. I think considering the most relevant papal encyclicals on Sacred Scripture, we can make a few points:
1. The Church wants the Christian people to read the Scriptures;
2. When biblical scholarship juxtaposes the human authors and the human context against faith, then it becomes a problem;
3. There is no error or fault in communication in the Bible. God cannot err, and He cannot fail;
4. With respect to the Reformation, there are a range of interpretations which piety and obedience incline one towards either remaining in the Church, or seeking full communion with her. True interpretations only keep one separated, if return is not considered.
Comments