The Eight Lenses for Reading Scripture

There are many ways of reading the Bible.  Some read through the whole Bible in a year, kind of like reading a novel. Some read it by letting scripture interpret itself.  Some just read one verse, “Thou shalt not judge,” as if that’s the only verse of the bible (judging is NOT telling someone they are doing wrong; judging a person is telling someone that they are going to hell, and only Jesus Himself can make that call. “Admonishing the sinner” is actually one of the spiritual works of mercy).  I don’t like any of these ways, because they leave so much out of what God is trying to tell us in His Word.

The Catholic Church has set up guidelines for how we are to read the bible, and as long as we stay in those guidelines, then we are free to apply the meaning of a particular verse or chapter to our own life. I call these guidelines “lenses.”

The First Lens – The Entire Bible

The Bible is composed of 73 books (protestants have an abridged version of the bible, with only 66 books – the “reformers” threw out 7 books they didn’t like after they had been part of the bible for over 1100 years. The Gutenberg Bible, the first book ever printed, in the century before Luther, has all 73 books), and the Church says that we cannot pull a verse out of one book of the bible and claim that it means something UNLESS it is in accord with the entire rest of the bible. For instance, Luke 14:26 says:

If any one comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple.

Here the bible is telling us that we must hate our father and mother, as well as the rest of our family, which is in direct opposition to the Commandment to “Honor thy father and thy mother.”  Therefore, to rip this verse out of the bible and say that I’m a good Christian because I hate my mother and father would be in error. Here Jesus is using hyperbole, and the meaning is not that we have to hate our father and mother, but rather, that we MUST love Jesus more than even our own family.  The devil tried to use this tactic of ripping scripture verses out of their context with Jesus in the desert 3 times, and each time Jesus corrected him with other scripture. So don’t be fooled by well-meaning protestants who use this tactic to try to get you to lose your faith. We use the WHOLE bible, not just particular verses.

The Second Lens – Sacred Tradition

Sacred Tradition just means looking back at the original intent of the books in the bible.  The early church fathers, the men who were taught by the apostles and handed these teachings down both orally and in writing, were ALL in one accord as to what the original intent of scripture meant.  We have a LOT of their writings. Most were martyred in the coliseum and never recanted to save their own lives.  The alternative to listening to these pupils of St. John and the other apostles is to interpret scripture with a 21st-century American mind and disregard the Jewish traditions and culture of those days.  For the record, sacred tradition was passed on orally by the early church fathers for almost 400 years after Jesus died, before the canon of the bible was firmly established at the Council of Rome in 382 AD, infallibly by Pope Damasus I.

A prime example of this is at the Last Supper, where Jesus says “do this in remembrance of me.” Protestants who disregard sacred tradition interpret this as nothing more than a remembrance of Jesus and what He did for us.  But the sacred tradition of the early church fathers says that the Eucharist is much more than that – it is actually a MEMORIAL SACRIFICE of the body and blood of Jesus and not just a “symbol.” Here is what St. Cyril of Jerusalem said about the Eucharist in the 4^th century, before the canon of the bible was established:

The bread and the wine of the Eucharist before the holy invocation of the adorable Trinity were simple bread and wine, but the invocation having been made, the bread becomes the body of Christ and the wine the blood of Christ. “Do not, therefore, regard the bread and wine as simply that; for they are, according to the Master’s declaration, the body and blood of Christ (350 A.D.).

Without sacred tradition to guide us, and using only a rational, logical, 21st-century brain, transubstantiation, the changing of the bread and wine into the body, blood, soul, and divinity of Jesus, would never, ever enter into someone’s way of thinking. But it is the daily miracle of the Catholic Church, and the Eucharist is how we abide in Christ, and he abides in us (John 6:56). The Eucharist is God’s antidote (eternal life) to the devil’s forbidden fruit (death).

The Third Lens – The Analogy of Faith

The analogy of faith just means that we have to take into account all of the teachings of the faith when interpreting scripture. For instance, we can’t read the bible and come up with an idea that contradicts what the Church has always taught. This is a problem today with certain Cardinals, who are trying to do away with the Church’s teaching on homosexual sodomy, and who are now saying that sodomy is  OK.  You and I can’t read the bible and then say that we have found a 4^th person of God, and the Trinity is now a Foursome.

I’ve had discussions with Protestants who say that we no longer have to Keep Holy the Lord’s Day (a Commandment), since Christians no longer keep the Sabbath (Saturday), and instead worship on Sunday! Still, others say that since Jesus said that “the poor you will always have with you” really means that we no longer have to help the poor! And then there are those health and wealth preachers on TV who read the book of Job (OT) and who think that if we really believe in God, then He will bless us abundantly IN THIS LIFE with riches like Job was. That way of thinking was turned on its head by Jesus, in the NT story of the rich young man who refused to give up his wealth in this life to gain riches IN THE NEXT LIFE.

The Fourth Lens – Biblical Typology

 Biblical Typology is a great and entertaining way to read scripture. Typology is when a person or an event in the Old Testament prefigures a person or event in the New Testament. For instance, Moses is a type of Jesus, as he fasted for 40 days, he went up on a mountain to give us God’s laws, his face shone like the sun, and he led his people to the Promised Land from slavery in Egypt. Jesus also fasted for 40 days; he too went up a mountain and gave us the Sermon on the Mount; He also shone like the sun at the Transfiguration;  and He leads us to heaven from the slavery of sin. There are many other “types” as well. The Ark of the Covenant contained the Word of God in stone, manna from heaven, and the wooden rod of Aaron (the symbol of the high priesthood, which re-sprouted). Mary, the NT ark of the covenant, had Jesus inside of her for 9 months, who is the Word of God (made flesh), the NT bread of life from Heaven, and the eternal High Priest who also came back to life (re-sprouted). For more, click here.

The Fifth Lens – Hebrew, Greek, and Latin Text

Sometimes, different translators of the Bible translate the original text into different English words, depending on their personal theology. For instance, in some protestant bibles, the Greek word “paradosi,” which means “tradition,” is translated as “teaching,” because these translators believe that all tradition is evil, even though Paul says:

So then, brethren, stand firm and hold to the “paridiso” (tradition) which you were taught by us, either by word of mouth or by letter. ”

Still, other protestant bibles use the term “fruit of the vine” instead of “wine,” because they believe that all alcohol is evil, even though Jesus changed the water into WINE!  And the phrase “vain repetition” (“nolite multum loqui” in Latin) that protestants use against Catholics who say the rosary is really “don’t talk too much,” and has NOTHING to do with repeating certain phrases. So always revert back to the original language if there is a question on a certain translation.

The Sixth Lens – The Literal and Moral Senses

The literal sense of Scripture is what the text literally says. The three moral senses of scripture are the “moral sense” (how the verse applies to me), the allegorical sense (how the verse applies to Jesus), and the anagogical sense (how the verse applies to the new heavens and earth to come). For instance, when Jesus in John 2:19 said,

Destroy this temple, and in 3 days I will rebuild it,

the Jews thought he was talking about the big building they worship in. But instead, Jesus was talking in the allegorical sense, and how the word “temple” applied to Himself. The moral sense of the word temple is when Paul says in 1 Corinthians 6:19 that our bodies are temples to the Holy Spirit, and therefore our bodies are not our own, but rather God’s temple for worshiping Him. The anagogical sense would be when St. John talks about there being no need for a temple in the world to come (Revelation 21:22) because Jesus Himself is that temple.

The Seventh Lens – Personalization

This is another fun way to study the bible. Merely put yourself into the picture. Just imagine that you are Mary, and your husband comes in one night and says that he had a dream that you both have to go to Mexico (pick your foreign country) ASAP because the king wants to kill your infant son. There are no paved roads for this long journey through the desert, and you’ll have to sleep in caves and under trees for about a month. You’ll have to leave your house and belongings behind. And your transportation will be via riding a donkey!

Or picture yourself at the scourging of Jesus, knowing that your sins are the reason that He is being scourged without mercy. Or imagine yourself being Barabbas, and being set free from bondage by Jesus’ suffering.  There are MANY ways you can put yourself in the place of the person that the particular verse is talking about, and it opens the door to feeling what Jesus and Mary actually went through, ALL FOR YOU!

The Eighth Lens – Covenants

A covenant is a sacred exchange of persons and their families, under God. For example, a marriage is a covenant, where two previously unrelated persons become related through a vow before God. It is unlike a “contract,” where goods and services are exchanged for money. There are 6 basic covenants in the Bible between God and man:

• The Marriage covenant between Adam, Eve, and God.
• The Family covenant made with Noah’s family to never destroy the world again by a flood.
• The Tribal covenant made with Abram to give him many descendants.
• The National covenant fulfilled by Moses to make his people the chosen people in the Promised Land.
• The Kingdom covenant fulfilled with David to make God’s people a royal Kingdom.
• And finally, the New Covenant, fulfilled by Jesus, for a worldwide, universal (Catholic) Royal Kingdom, both on earth and in Heaven.

For more on Covenants, click here.

Now, the bible will come alive for you!