Here's an article entitle Catholic Church no longer swears by truth of the Bible. Some interesting quotes contained in it are:
"The Catholic bishops of England, Wales and Scotland are warning their five million worshippers, as well as any others drawn to the study of scripture, that they should not expect "œtotal accuracy" from the Bible.
"œWe should not expect to find in Scripture full scientific accuracy or complete historical precision," they say in The Gift of Scripture."
...
"In the document, the bishops acknowledge their debt to biblical scholars. They say the Bible must be approached in the knowledge that it is "œGod´s word expressed in human language" and that proper acknowledgement should be given both to the word of God and its human dimensions.
They say the Church must offer the gospel in ways "œappropriate to changing times, intelligible and attractive to our contemporaries".
The Bible is true in passages relating to human salvation, they say, but continue: "œWe should not expect total accuracy from the Bible in other, secular matters." "
...
"i[]As examples of passages not to be taken literally, the bishops cite the early chapters of Genesis, comparing them with early creation legends from other cultures, especially from the ancient East. The bishops say it is clear that the primary purpose of these chapters was to provide religious teaching and that they could not be described as historical writing.
Similarly, they refute the apocalyptic prophecies of Revelation, the last book of the Christian Bible, in which the writer describes the work of the risen Jesus, the death of the Beast and the wedding feast of Christ the Lamb.
The bishops say: "œSuch symbolic language must be respected for what it is, and is not to be interpreted literally. We should not expect to discover in this book details about the end of the world, about how many will be saved and about when the end will come." [/i]"
"The Catholic bishops of England, Wales and Scotland are warning their five million worshippers, as well as any others drawn to the study of scripture, that they should not expect "œtotal accuracy" from the Bible.
"œWe should not expect to find in Scripture full scientific accuracy or complete historical precision," they say in The Gift of Scripture."
...
"In the document, the bishops acknowledge their debt to biblical scholars. They say the Bible must be approached in the knowledge that it is "œGod´s word expressed in human language" and that proper acknowledgement should be given both to the word of God and its human dimensions.
They say the Church must offer the gospel in ways "œappropriate to changing times, intelligible and attractive to our contemporaries".
The Bible is true in passages relating to human salvation, they say, but continue: "œWe should not expect total accuracy from the Bible in other, secular matters." "
...
"i[]As examples of passages not to be taken literally, the bishops cite the early chapters of Genesis, comparing them with early creation legends from other cultures, especially from the ancient East. The bishops say it is clear that the primary purpose of these chapters was to provide religious teaching and that they could not be described as historical writing.
Similarly, they refute the apocalyptic prophecies of Revelation, the last book of the Christian Bible, in which the writer describes the work of the risen Jesus, the death of the Beast and the wedding feast of Christ the Lamb.
The bishops say: "œSuch symbolic language must be respected for what it is, and is not to be interpreted literally. We should not expect to discover in this book details about the end of the world, about how many will be saved and about when the end will come." [/i]"
it never did.
