The Gift of Scripture.

The Gift of Scripture WRITTEN BY Bishops of England and Scotland PUBLISHED BY Catholic Truth Society, London, 2005 ISBN: 1860823238, Softcover, pp. 60, 3.95 [pounds sterling]

"Never did man speak as this man speaks!"

John 7:46

On July 6, 2005, two Bishops' Conferences (England land Wales, and Scotland) published a joint treatise on Holy Writ entitled The Gift of Scripture. I offer the following critique of that document:

The document is the work of a Conference, and not one Conference, but two. So perhaps one should not be surprised if it says at one point, "Through all the words of Sacred Scripture, God speaks only one single Word, his one Utterance in whom he expresses himself completely (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 102)," and, in another, "A basic insight in understanding the gift of Scripture is that God's word is expressed in human language (Dei Verdure, 11)."

One writer, in other words, says that the unity of Sacred Scripture is so complete that it all boils down to one Word (namely, Jesus), a fully supportable claim, and another writer confirms this by stating, "The books contain ... the truths which God wished to be set down in the sacred writings for the sake of our salvation (Dei Verbum, 11)." But a third writer then spells out what he means by that. "For the sake of our salvation" means, "We should not expect total accuracy from the Bible in other, secular matters."

So we are left to speculate. About what? About what in the Scriptures is trustworthy, and what is not.

Father Raymond E. Brown--may he rest in peace--was asked one time, "Why did Judas betray Christ?" He answered, "John says it was because he was getting into the purse; the others do not say anything; so we are left to speculate!" Which makes me think that the English bishops are taking their cue from that branch of Scripture scholarship which holds that "the Scriptures are the words of God, but they are also the words of men," a saying of Father Brown.

The saying should read, "The Scriptures are the words of God, and they are also the words of men."

Even our document The Gift of Scripture, relates to the parallel between the Bible and the Incarnation. So tight is the connection between the Son of God and the Son of man that they are only one Person. So tight is the connection between the word of God in Scripture and the words of men in Scripture that they, too, evoke the inspired comment, "Never did man speak as this man speaks!"

By watching what Christ does we learn how to act humanly; by listening to his words we learn how to think humanly.

This alleged dichotomy between the word of God and "the words of men" is fraught with danger. Of all places the Ordo (the official Liturgical Calendar of the Canadian Council of Catholic Bishops, 2005-2006) says in regard to Holy Week: "We must be careful not to carry away or transmit anti-Jewish or anti-Semitic impressions ... Before reading these accounts (especially according to John). It would be well for us to recall ... that he is not saying that all Jews ... are responsible for his death."

What an indefensible dismissal of the evangelists as anti-Semites! What an egregious attack on St. John, the prince among evangelists, the beloved disciple, poet, mystic, theologian par excellence, the only apostle to stand beneath the cross!

No Sacred Scripture is worthy of denigration in any publication anywhere, let alone in a publication put out in the name of the Catholic Church itself. In other words, attacking the credibility of Scripture is clearly a contagious virus. In England it shows up in an official publication of the hierarchy. In Canada it shows up in the official publication of the Canadian Conference. Let us return to the magisterium of the Holy Catholic Church.

As St. Thomas More says, only echoing St. John the Evangelist, "The truth will do!"

Fr. Joseph Thompson is a member of the advisory panel for Catholic Insight.