Even the Devil Knows Scripture
“Search the scriptures, for you think in them to have life everlasting; and the same are they that give testimony of me” (John 5:39).
Written in the presence of our Lord on the Feast Day of St. Bernard.
The Rock is a group of “once saved always saved,” or “faith alone,” or “Easy Button” Christians. They believe in the Bible (the abridged version) and even have many Scripture verses memorized, but of course they don’t have the fullness of the Faith. Knowing Scripture is a great virtue (ask St. Thomas or St. Lawrence Brindisi, they had it memorized), but even the Devil can quote Scripture, and so there seems to be a disconnect. The Catechism of the Catholic Church says that, “Through all the words of Sacred Scripture, God speaks only one single Word, his one Utterance in whom he expresses himself completely.” It goes on to quote St. Augustine saying:
“You recall that one and the same Word of God extends throughout Scripture, that it is one and the same Utterance that resounds in the mouths of all the sacred writers, since he who was in the beginning God with God has no need of separate syllables; for he is not subject to time.”
Each word of Sacred Scripture is inspired by and has its meaning in the Word made flesh, who is Jesus Christ. So when Scripture is quoted apart from the Church, and what’s more, in contradiction to Christ (as Satan did when he tempted our Lord), it is no longer living. Just as “faith without works is dead” (James 2:17), so too is Scripture without the Living God. The Rock and other groups sometimes separate themselves from the Life of the Word by interpreting the book according to their time and separating the Word from the Church, which mystically is His Body, and through which His Body is made truly present for the world in the Blessed Sacrament.
The Catechism goes on to say that our spiritual nourishment “is taken from the one table of God’s Word and Christ’s Body.” So, there is a unity in all who abide in the Word and the Body, since it is through the Body that the Word has its voice, the voice that resounds in the mouths of all the saints and sacred writers, singing in one accord to the song of the Catholic Church.
Tags » church, scripture“And Philip running thither, heard him reading the prophet Isaiah. And he said: Thinkest thou that thou understandest what thou readest? Who said: And how can I, unless some man shew me? And he desired Philip that he would come up and sit with him” (Acts of the Apostles 8:30-31).
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The title is so true. As the saying goes, Satan would get an A in Sunday School (but he probably wouldn’t go to Mass!)
To be fair, though, there are so many faithful non-denominational Christians out there whom I hope to meet in heaven. One of my ["Easy Button" church-going] best friends in high school did a lot to strengthen my relationship with Christ just by letting me see the way his family prayed. They would come together every night with a faithfulness, humility, and sincerity that had a profound effect on my spiritual life. Similarly, one of my college friends who was Baptist did more to strengthen my love of sacred scripture than any one Catholic did during that time. So it seems that, even for those who are tragically cut off from the magisterium of the Church, the Holy Spirit will find ways of slipping through the cracks ;)
“For the sake of His sorrowful passion, have mercy on us and on the whole world.”
Yes, I hope to meet many people in heaven who were not Catholic on earth. And it is certainly true that many non-Catholics have drawn me closer to Christ too; I hope to meet a few ancient pagans and many non-religious friends whose virtues I admire, such as Socrates or my friend Bennett.
Nevertheless, the point of the article is that Scripture is to be interpreted in light of the living Tradition of the Church. And so when Scripture is quoted apart from, that is, differing from, the interpretation of the teaching authority (Magisterium) of the Catholic Church, than it is no longer giving it’s life in the fullest way. For instance, if I said “Carter is blue,” although you know what Carter, is, and blue mean, unless you ask me what I mean, you will not know whether I am physically blue, or if I am sad. And so we need the context, and the context for the Gospel is the Catholic Church.
The question is, how can Scripture be living apart from the life of the Church, which is the living Body of Christ? It is similar to the question, “how can this man give us his flesh to eat?” (John 6:53). The Jews, thinking Christ was speaking of his body as a lifeless corpse for them to consume, doubted his doctrine. But the Church knows that it is not his mere flesh or his mere blood which he has given us, but rather his body, blood, soul, and divinity, his entire life and person which he has given us present at once in the Blessed Sacrament in order that we may participate in his life. And so “except you eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, you shall not have life in you” (John 6:54). And this relates to the reading of Scripture.
But Josh, I think you make a good point though, many non-Catholic Christians participate in the life of the Word of God through a good sense of the one Faith we share, the fullness of which Catholics enjoy.