Raw reference: nos. 109-114, 137
CCC 109
In Sacred Scripture, God
In Sacred Scripture, God speaks to man in a human way. To interpret Scripture correctly, the reader must be attentive to what the human authors truly wanted to affirm, and to what God wanted to reveal to us by their words. [Cf. DV 12 # 1.]
CCC 110
In order to discover the
In order to discover the sacred authors' intention, the reader must take into account the conditions of their time and culture, the literary genres in use at that time, and the modes of feeling, speaking and narrating then current. "For the fact is that truth is differently presented and expressed in the various types of historical writing, in prophetical and poetical texts, and in other forms of literary expression." [DV 12 # 2.]
CCC 111
But since Sacred Scripture is
But since Sacred Scripture is inspired, there is another and no less important principle of correct interpretation, without which Scripture would remain a dead letter. "Sacred Scripture must be read and interpreted in the light of the same Spirit by whom it was written." [DV 12 # 3.]
CCC 112
Be especially attentive "to
Be especially attentive "to the content and unity of the whole Scripture". Different as the books which compose it may be, Scripture is a unity by reason of the unity of God's plan, of which Christ Jesus is the center and heart, open since his Passover. [Cf. Lk 24:25-27, 44-46]
CCC 113
2. Read the Scripture within
2. Read the Scripture within "the living Tradition of the whole Church". According to a saying of the Fathers, Sacred Scripture is written principally in the Church's heart rather than in documents and records, for the Church carries in her Tradition the living memorial of God's Word, and it is the Holy Spirit who gives her the spiritual interpretation of the Scripture (". . . according to the spiritual meaning which the Spirit grants to the Church" [Origen, Hom. in Lev. 5, 5: PG 12, 454D.]).
CCC 114
3. Be attentive to the
3. Be attentive to the analogy of faith. [Cf. Rom 12:6.] By "analogy of faith" we mean the coherence of the truths of faith among themselves and within the whole plan of Revelation.
CCC 137
Interpretation of the
Interpretation of the inspired Scripture must be attentive above all to what God wants to reveal through the sacred authors for our salvation. What comes from the Spirit is not fully "understood except by the Spirit's action' (cf. Origen, Hom. in Ex. 4, 5: PG 12, 320).