F. Fundamentalist
Interpretation
Fundamentalist
interpretation starts from the principle that the Bible, being the word
of God, inspired and free from error, should be read and interpreted literally
in all its details. But by "literal interpretation" it understands a naively
literalist interpretation, one, that is to say, which excludes every effort
at understanding the Bible that takes account of its historical origins
and development. It is opposed, therefore, to the use of the historical-critical
method, as indeed to the use of any other scientific method for the interpretation
of Scripture.
The fundamentalist
interpretation had its origin at the time of the Reformation, arising out
of a concern for fidelity to the literal meaning of Scripture. After the
century of the Enlightenment it emerged in Protestantism as a bulwark against
liberal exegesis.
The actual
term <fundamentalist> is connected directly with the American Biblical
Congress held at Niagara, N.Y., in 1895. At this meeting, conservative
Protestant exegetes defined "five points of fundamentalism": the verbal
inerrancy of Scripture, the divinity of Christ, his virginal birth, the
doctrine of vicarious expiation and the bodily resurrection at the time
of the second coming of Christ. As the fundamentalist way of reading the
Bible spread to other parts of the world, it gave rise to other ways of
interpretation, equally "literalist," in Europe, Asia, Africa and South
America. As the 20th century comes to an end, this kind of interpretation
is winning more and more adherents, in religious groups and sects, as also
among Catholics.
Fundamentalism
is right to insist on the divine inspiration of the Bible, the inerrancy
of the word of God and other biblical truths included in its five fundamental
points. But its way of presenting these truths is rooted in an ideology
which is not biblical, whatever the proponents of this approach might say.
For it demands an unshakable adherence to rigid doctrinal points of view
and imposes, as the only source of teaching for Christian life and salvation,
a reading of the Bible which rejects all questioning and any kind of critical
research.
The basic problem
with fundamentalist interpretation of this kind is that, refusing to take
into account the historical character of biblical revelation, it makes
itself incapable of accepting the full truth of the incarnation itself.
As regards relationships with God, fundamentalism seeks to escape any closeness
of the divine and the human. It refuses to admit that the inspired word
of God has been expressed in human language and that this word has been
expressed, under divine inspiration, by human authors possessed of limited
capacities and resources. For this reason, it tends to treat the biblical
text as if it had been dictated word for word by the Spirit. It fails to
recognize that the word of God has been formulated in language and expression
conditioned by various periods. It pays no attention to the literary forms
and to the human ways of thinking to be found in the biblical texts, many
of which are the result of a process extending over long periods of time
and bearing the mark of very diverse historical situations.
Fundamentalism
also places undue stress upon the inerrancy of certain details in the biblical
texts, especially in what concerns historical events or supposedly scientific
truth. It often historicizes material which from the start never claimed
to be historical. It considers historical everything that is reported or
recounted with verbs in the past tense, failing to take the necessary account
of the possibility of symbolic or figurative meaning.
Fundamentalism
often shows a tendency to ignore or to deny the problems presented by the
biblical text in its original Hebrew, Aramaic or Greek form. It is often
narrowly bound to one fixed translation, whether old or present-day. By
the same token it fails to take account of the "re-readings" (<re-lectures>)
of certain texts which are found within the Bible itself.
In what concerns
the Gospels, fundamentalism does not take into account the development
of the Gospel tradition, but naively confuses the final stage of this tradition
(what the evangelists have written) with the initial (the words and deeds
of the historical Jesus). At the same time fundamentalism neglects an important
fact: The way in which the first Christian communities themselves understood
the impact produced by Jesus of Nazareth and his message. But it is precisely
there that we find a witness to the apostolic origin of the Christian faith
and its direct expression. Fundamentalism thus misrepresents the call voiced
by the Gospel itself.
Fundamentalism
likewise tends to adopt very narrow points of view. It accepts the literal
reality of an ancient, out-of-date cosmology simply because it is found
expressed in the Bible; this blocks any dialogue with a broader way of
seeing the relationship between culture and faith. Its relying upon a non-critical
reading of certain texts of the Bible serves to reinforce political ideas
and social attitudes that are marked by prejudices—racism, for example—quite
contrary to the Christian Gospel.
Finally, in
its attachment to the principle "Scripture alone," fundamentalism separates
the interpretation of the Bible from the tradition, which, guided by the
Spirit, has authentically developed in union with Scripture in the heart
of the community of faith. It fails to realize that the New Testament took
form within the Christian church and that it is the Holy Scripture of this
church, the existence of which preceded the composition of the texts. Because
of this, fundamentalism is often anti-church, it considers of little importance
the creeds, the doctrines and liturgical practices which have become part
of church tradition, as well as the teaching function of the church itself.
It presents itself as a form of private interpretation which does not acknowledge
that the church is founded on the Bible and draws its life and inspiration
from Scripture.
The fundamentalist
approach is dangerous, for it is attractive to people who look to the Bible
for ready answers to the problems of life. It can deceive these people,
offering them interpretations that are pious but illusory, instead of telling
them that the Bible does not necessarily contain an immediate answer to
each and every problem. Without saying as much in so many words, fundamentalism
actually invites people to a kind of intellectual suicide. It injects into
life a false certitude, for it unwittingly confuses the divine substance
of the biblical message with what are in fact its human limitations.