If the Council of Trent prohibited the private interpretation of Scripture, and the Pope and Magisterium have only infallibly interpreted a few verses,

Sep 3, '13, 5:37 am

richport29 Banned   Join Date: September 3, 2013 Posts: 15

Re: Papal Interpretation of Scripture Hello, everyone, I have a question: If the Council of Trent prohibited the private interpretation of Scripture, and the Pope and Magisterium have only infallibly interpreted a few verses, are Roman Catholic lay persons partaking of private interpretation when they attempt to interpret the Scriptures when in dialogue?

#12   Sep 3, '13, 10:30 am

Gorgias Regular Member   Join Date: December 26, 2011 Posts: 2,522 Religion: Catholic

Re: Papal Interpretation of Scripture Quote: Originally Posted by meltzerboy Hypothetical situation (I think): If the Pope stated that a particularly complicated verse in Scripture had a certain meaning, would he be speaking infallibly? Even if he were not speaking "ex cathedra," would his statement influence or sway your own thinking to the extent that you felt obligated to agree with the Pope's interpretation, even though you previously had a very different interpretation? meltzerboy, I just wanted to make a point that I think that no one had yet addressed: in your scenario, for there to be any contention, then the pope would have to be saying that the verse of Scripture in question had one (and only one) possible interpretation. In other words, he would have to be saying that there is no other way to look at that verse. Short of such an assertion, a person could validly offer interpretations that differed (but did not contradict) the pope's, and there wouldn't be any problem with that...

#13   Sep 3, '13, 10:53 am

po18guy Forum Elder Prayer Warrior Radio Club Member   Join Date: April 18, 2007 Posts: 21,065 Religion: One. Holy. Catholic. Apostolic.

Re: Papal Interpretation of Scripture Quote: Originally Posted by richport29 Hello, everyone, I have a question: If the Council of Trent prohibited the private interpretation of Scripture, and the Pope and Magisterium have only infallibly interpreted a few verses, are Roman Catholic lay persons partaking of private interpretation when they attempt to interpret the Scriptures when in dialogue? I originally made a series of posts from the catechism, but for the sake of pertinence, I can refer you to catechism sections 109-119 which refer specifically to the interpretation os the scriptures. Basically, we as Catholics have some latitude, but our efforts must be informed by and guided by the magisterium of the Church. __________________ "He was the first one in the world to break all of the commandments at once" - Bishop Fulton Sheen regarding Moses throwing the stone tablets -

#14   Sep 3, '13, 1:45 pm

richport29 Banned   Join Date: September 3, 2013 Posts: 15

Re: Papal Interpretation of Scripture Quote: Originally Posted by po18guy "I originally made a series of posts from the catechism, but for the sake of pertinence, I can refer you to catechism sections 109-119 which refer specifically to the interpretation os the scriptures. Basically, we as Catholics have some latitude, but our efforts must be informed by and guided by the magisterium of the Church." Thank you, Po18guy, I will definitely read that portion of the catechism. However, what do Catholics do when there is no guidance by the Magisterium? So, if no authoritative interpretation has been given, what authority does the layman have to interpret? And how binding will his interpretation be? Last edited by richport29; Sep 3, '13 at 2:03 pm.

#15   Sep 3, '13, 2:03 pm

richport29 Banned   Join Date: September 3, 2013 Posts: 15

Re: Papal Interpretation of Scripture Quote: Originally Posted by po18guy "I originally made a series of posts from the catechism, but for the sake of pertinence, I can refer you to catechism sections 109-119 which refer specifically to the interpretation os the scriptures. Basically, we as Catholics have some latitude, but our efforts must be informed by and guided by the magisterium of the Church." PO18guy, Some initial questions: When the catechism states, ""It is the task of exegetes to work...", who are the exegetes? Now, if the "exegetes" of 119 include laymen, how would you reconcile that freedom given to laymen with the Council of Trent's commandment against private interpretation (please consider that in the 16th century, no Catholic laymen would have dreamt that they were allowed to interpret Scripture privately under any circumstances)? Also, how would you interact with 109-110 and 113? What would a Catholic laymen apply that to a text? How does a laymen know if he has correctly understood the sense of the historical author and the "Living Tradition of the whole Church"?