Teaching Scripture
The study of scripture in a classroom context takes the reader into the world of Jewish and Christian believers. The Catholic approach to interpreting scripture is summed up in the Catechism of the Catholic Church:
In Sacred Scripture, God speaks to the person in a human way. To interpret Scripture correctly, the reader must be attentive to what the human authors truly wanted to affirm and to what God wanted to reveal to us by their words (n.109)
In order to discover the sacred author’s intention, the reader must take into account the conditions of their time and culture, the literary genres in use at that time, and the modes of feeling, speaking and narrating then current.
“For the fact is that truth is differently presented and expressed in the various types of historical writing, in prophetical and poetical texts, and in other forms of literary expression (Dei Verbum, 12)
Catholics do not read scripture from a fundamentalist understanding. Such an approach begins with the view that the Bible, being the inspired Word of God, is error free, historically accurate and therefore should be read and interpreted literally in all its details. This is not the approach taken in the Catholic Church or in the religion classroom. Rather, the Catholic Church’s understanding of scripture accepts the Bible as the inspired Word of God and as the work of human authors who were conditioned by their time, place, culture and worldview.
The Religion Curriculum supports this view of teaching scripture through the inclusion of core and supplementary texts for each year level. Texts are explored and interpreted through the framework of the three worlds of the text.
Core texts are the prescribed Scriptural texts that are taught in depth at each year level. By exploring the three worlds of the text, students will engage in:
A study of the world of the text (What is actually in the text? What type of writing is this text? Is there a particular structure of the text? Who are the characters in the text and what happens? …)
A study of the world behind the text (What can we learn about the context of this text - the historical world of the human author(s); the cultural world of the time; the geographic considerations of the text; the community for whom the text was written…)
An exploration of the world in front of the text (What meaning does the text have for our lives today? What might God want to say to us through this text today? What might God want to say to me through this text today? What does the Church say to us about the meaning of this text?)
Supplementary texts are Scripture texts that have been identified as relevant for particular concepts and appropriate for students at different year levels. Supplementary texts do not need to be taught in the same depth as the core texts.
Elliot, M, Stower, L.et al. (2013) Religious Education Curriculum, Archdiocese of Brisbane. Brisbane, Australia. Catholic Education Archdiocese of Brisbane. (p26, 232)
The study of scripture in a classroom context takes the reader into the world of Jewish and Christian believers. The Catholic approach to interpreting scripture is summed up in the Catechism of the Catholic Church:
In Sacred Scripture, God speaks to the person in a human way. To interpret Scripture correctly, the reader must be attentive to what the human authors truly wanted to affirm and to what God wanted to reveal to us by their words (n.109)
In order to discover the sacred author’s intention, the reader must take into account the conditions of their time and culture, the literary genres in use at that time, and the modes of feeling, speaking and narrating then current.
“For the fact is that truth is differently presented and expressed in the various types of historical writing, in prophetical and poetical texts, and in other forms of literary expression (Dei Verbum, 12)
Catholics do not read scripture from a fundamentalist understanding. Such an approach begins with the view that the Bible, being the inspired Word of God, is error free, historically accurate and therefore should be read and interpreted literally in all its details. This is not the approach taken in the Catholic Church or in the religion classroom. Rather, the Catholic Church’s understanding of scripture accepts the Bible as the inspired Word of God and as the work of human authors who were conditioned by their time, place, culture and worldview.
The Religion Curriculum supports this view of teaching scripture through the inclusion of core and supplementary texts for each year level. Texts are explored and interpreted through the framework of the three worlds of the text.
Core texts are the prescribed Scriptural texts that are taught in depth at each year level. By exploring the three worlds of the text, students will engage in:
A study of the world of the text (What is actually in the text? What type of writing is this text? Is there a particular structure of the text? Who are the characters in the text and what happens? …)
A study of the world behind the text (What can we learn about the context of this text - the historical world of the human author(s); the cultural world of the time; the geographic considerations of the text; the community for whom the text was written…)
An exploration of the world in front of the text (What meaning does the text have for our lives today? What might God want to say to us through this text today? What might God want to say to me through this text today? What does the Church say to us about the meaning of this text?)
Supplementary texts are Scripture texts that have been identified as relevant for particular concepts and appropriate for students at different year levels. Supplementary texts do not need to be taught in the same depth as the core texts.
Elliot, M, Stower, L.et al. (2013) Religious Education Curriculum, Archdiocese of Brisbane. Brisbane, Australia. Catholic Education Archdiocese of Brisbane. (p26, 232)