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THE BULLETIN OF THE CATHOLIC LAYMEN’S ASSOCIATION OF GEORGIA
JANUARY 19, 1957.
Atlanta Services
For Frank Wilson
ATLANTA, Ga.—Funeral serv
ices for Frank Wilson were held
January 9th at the Cathedral of
Christ the King, Rev. James Har
rison officiating.
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Each issue of this Bosk Page
is confided to the patronage of
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with the hope that every read
er and every contributor may
be specially favored by her
and her Divine Son,
THE BIBLE
A PATH THROUGH GENESIS,
by Bruce Vawter, C.M., (Sheed &
Ward $4.00), reviewed by Flan
nery O’Connor. In the epilogue to
this book, Father Vawter writes
’‘The end of the Bible must be
our beginning. This is why there
must be no shrinking from a tru
ly scientific study of the Bible.”
The present volume is Father
Vawter’s summarization of the
scientific study by the Church’s
scholars on the book of Genesis,
and should help fill the Catholic’s
great need for a knowledge of
how ta interpret the Bible in the
light of present day discovei’ies.
Father Vawter’s interest is to ex
plain such distinctions as that be
tween revelation and inspiration;
to show the Biblical author’s pa
rallel use of sources and his un
concern with chronological ac
curacy. There is no straining here
to make Genesis fit scientific
facts. The effort is rather to ex
plain how the facts the writer
had at his disposal were used for
an inspired religious purpose.
Father Vawter points out that
any interpretation that contra
dicts a known fact of science is
no true interpretation and that
we must understand the use of
folk history and of the various
literary forms employed by the
Biblical authors before we are
able to begin to comprehend what
the inspired writer intended to
teach. In his introduction Father
Vawter notes the marked reluc
tance of Catholics to read the
Bible inspite of encouragement
and promptings by modern popes
and bishops. This excellent and
thoroughly readable study is
probably 1 the best kind of correc
tive for that tendency.
THE KEY CONCEPTS OF THE
OLD TESTAMENT, by Albert
Gelin, (Sheed & Ward $2.00), re
viewed by Virginia Mathews. This
concise book clarifies,* for the lay
man the meaningfulness of the
Old Testament. By using the
prophets as instruments of His di
vine revelation, God awakens in
the Jewish people the need for
faith, enlightenment and salva
tion. As they grow toward a be
lief in one God, the coming of a
Messias is foretold. They gradual
ly realize that retribution for
wrongdoing is not a temporal
communal penalty but an indi
vidual debt to be settled in an
other world. The significance of
the Old Testament becomes ap
parent; there is butj one God and
each of us must merit his eternal
salvation.
THE TWO-EDGED SWORD,
by John L. McKenzie, S.J., (Bruce
$4.50), reviewed by Flannery
O’Connor. This is a spiritual in
terpretation of the Old Testa
ment from the standpoint of the
most recent biblical scholarship.
To understand the uniqueness of
God’s revelation to the Hebrews,
it is necessary to have some
knowledge of the ancient cults
that surrounded them. This is
also perhaps the best way to
avoid fundamentalist interpreta
tions and literal readings which
confuse fiction with fact and fig
ure with reality. Our age is more
aware of the human element in
the composition of the Bible than
past ages have been. As the
author points out, “. . . our own
generation must read the Bible in
its own way. Our difficulties in
understanding the Bible must
arise from our times, our educa
tion, our culture, and we must
meet these difficulties ourselves.”
Because the Old Testament
raises doubts in the minds of
many, many do not read it; few
Catholics, in fact, receive any
training in how it should be read.
'The author declares that the
biblical scholar cannot, nor should
be expected, to resolve every line-
by-line difficulty, for the Bible
should be read first in the secu
rity of the faith which the Church
has given. Granted this, the
biblical scholar is in a better posi
tion than the spiritual writer to
aid the faithful in returning to
frequent Bible reading, and the
great value of this particular
book, besides scholarship and
style, is that it will produce in the
reader a desire to go at once to
the Old Testament and make him
self acquainted with it first hand.
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