Dark Passages of the Bible

5. Method C Exegesis, the Nature of God, and the Nature of Good and Evil

155 chapter 5 Method C Exegesis, the Nature of God, and the Nature of Good and Evil In the previous chapter, we followed Aquinas and his commentators as they argued that problematic portions of scripture can be understood only when the exegete takes into account the practical ends that govern the composition of biblical texts. The sacred author is an instrument whom God chooses to convey his truth to the world, but God often wanted works written for a reason other than merely teaching clear-cut dogmas. The purpose of a work may lie simply in prayer (e.g. the Psalms), while other times it may be to propose a debate (e.g. Job), govern (e.g. Leviticus), or exhort (as is often the case in Paul), just to name a few examples. However, the highest practical end of every word in the Bible is to lead the chosen people of both past and present to an encounter with the Word of God incarnate, Jesus Christ. The insight of Synave and Benoit will go a long way toward vindicating the inerrant nature of scripture in the face of apparent contradictions, as their insight clarifies the fact that even challenging texts which fail to perfectly convey the fullness of revelation have played a vital role in the salvation history of the past as well as in the lives of believers today. Still, it is not enough to propose a framework that claims troublesome statements have their place in the Bible; in these final chapters we have to instantiate the 156 Nature of god & Good & Evil proposal of previous chapters by applying it to challenging passages that relate to each of the themes introduced in chapter 1. To summarize, our goal in this work has been to follow Pope Benedict in his call to synthesize the strengths of faithful and practical patristic-medieval exegesis (Method A) with the tools and findings of historical-critical exegesis (Method B). We began in chapter 1 by using Method B to lay bare the respective problems in our three themes of inquiry (God’s nature, the nature of good and evil, and the afterlife). In chapter 2, we laid out Benedict’s proposal in detail , elucidating the strengths and weaknesses in both the ancient and modern schools of exegesis. In chapters 3 and 4, we proposed Aquinas ’s theology as the ideal framework for instantiating Benedict’s proposal. His theology of the history of revelation, based upon the hermeneutic of divine pedagogy, provides a sound defense of biblical inerrancy in light of its development throughout the course of salvation history. His theology of the act of revelation, meanwhile, is able to reconcile apparent contradictions as it elucidates the speculative and practical judgments of scripture’s authors. Most importantly, it makes it possible to see that the ultimate practical end of all the scriptures—even the most challenging texts—is to lead believers to a vital encounter with the Word of God made flesh, Jesus Christ. If we are to successfully apply Benedict’s proposal in these final chapters, our first task must be to recall some of the problematic passages within each of the respective themes introduced through the Method B observations of chapter 1. Next, we will briefly consider insufficient and sometimes simplistic responses to these problems as they are commonly offered by the Method A approach when working in isolation from Method B. Our effort toward a Method C solution to these problems will then proceed on the basis of Aquinas’s framework and the hermeneutic of divine pedagogy, examining the significance of problematic texts for both the past of salvation history and the lives of believers today. As regards the past, we will turn to Aquinas’s theology of the history of revelation to elucidate how the chosen people gradually developed in their understanding of God’s nature, the nature of good and evil, and the afterlife. We will likewise use Aquinas’s theology of the act of revela- Nature of god & Good & Evil 157 tion in order to search out the intentions of authors when they pen apparent contradictions to Christian doctrine, confident that these contradictions are precisely that: apparent. With respect to the significance of problematic texts for the present, we will go on to see that the pedagogy by which God gradually taught his chosen people as a whole throughout salvation history has an additional dimension : the divine author of...