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That the parable of the Good Samaritan is, allegorically, about Our Saviour does not mean that it is not to be taken literally as well. There are four senses to Scripture, as the Catholic tradition teaches. /1
That the parable of the Good Samaritan is, allegorically, about Our Saviour does not mean that it is not to be taken literally as well. There are four senses to Scripture, as the Catholic tradition teaches. /1
Literal: A prideful young man tried to put the Lord Jesus to the test. The Supreme Teacher taught him a lesson in charity, humility and good works by means of a parable. This is historical. /2
Moral: Like the man taught by Christ, we must do likewise: place the law of charity to our neighbour above human traditions and customs. The laws and traditions were made for man, not vice versa (see also Mk 7, Jn 9)
Allegorical: the wounded man is us; the robbers are the world, flesh and Devil; the wounds are mortal sins; the priest and Levite represent the old covenant which cannot justify us; the Good Samaritan is Christ, who alone can heal and save us from our sins. /4
Anagogical: we will be judged on love of God and neighbour (Mt. 25); we can be saved only through Christ and not by the law or our own works (Rom. 3) /5
Any one or more of these senses may be given priority by a Catholic priest, based on the needs of the situation. They are not mutually exclusive. /6
In Fratelli tutti - an encyclical addressing love of neighbour - it is only natural for Pope Francis to emphasize the moral sense of this parable. To do so is not to derogate the other three senses. /7
An analogous situation can be seen in the liturgy for the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception, in which Gen. 3: 15 is used as an allegory for the defeat of Satan by Christ, born of Mary. This does not exclude the other, more literal meaning of Gen. 3. /8
Protestant exegesis, lacking this tradition, often falls into error - and via Modernism (the child of liberal Protestantism) has often infected Catholic exegesis. /9
We see this in Protestant exegesis of Mt. 13: 31-35 as a faulty allegory for the growth of a "false church", ignoring the literal and other senses of the actual words of Jesus. /10
Another example is Judges 11, where one Protestant exegete goes so far as to psychoanalyze Jephthah's daughter, accusing her of being pagan and flaunting her power over her father. /11
True Patristic exegesis on this passage has seen the story as prophetic or allegorical of consecrated virginity or virgin martyrdom, without attempting to falsify the bare facts. /12
It is not for us to ascribe motives, infer subtexts, or force unhistorical political or ideological templates on the text - to do so is to sin grieviously, for the word of God is divinely inspired and inerrant. /13
We see this in the modernist tendencies in many (so-called) Catholic Bible translations and commentaries, which often deny the historicity of texts or dismiss them as "historical fiction" (the book of the Prophet Jonah is a favourite "target" of such exegetes). /14
Similarly, it is faulty to favour one interpretation or sense over another simply to "score points" over an adversary. The word of God must convict us of our own sins and failings first, and not be used simply to attack others. /15
"Ignorance of the Scriptures is ignorance of Christ", said St Jerome, and the same could be said of ignorant and misguided readings of Scripture, whether "conservative" or "liberal". /16
We must reject modernism in all its forms; but the likes of the Conservapedia Bible Project (interpreting the Bible to reflect free market policies 
) are just as wrong as the liberal translators or interpreters who want to ignore teachings on, say, homosexuality. /17
) are just as wrong as the liberal translators or interpreters who want to ignore teachings on, say, homosexuality. /17
"For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and spirit, of joints and marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart." (Heb. 4: 12) /18
Keeping these words in mind, let us all try to treat the word of God with due reverence and in an authentically Catholic way, regardless of how justified our motives may seem for doing otherwise. The road to Hell is paved with "good intentions". /20
"O Wisdom, coming forth from the mouth of the Most High,
reaching from one end to the other,
mightily and sweetly ordering all things:
Come and teach us the way of prudence." /FIN
reaching from one end to the other,
mightily and sweetly ordering all things:
Come and teach us the way of prudence." /FIN
