St. Dominic Catholic Church

Quote of the Week

April 29, 2018

On the issue of violence in the Bible: "In the third century, Origen insisted on reading the whole Bible from the standpoint of the last book of the Bible.  He was talking about the Book of Revelation, with its imagery of the Lamb, standing as though slain, who opens the seven seals of the great scroll.  That scroll represented the meaning of history and the Scriptures themselves.  Who interprets it?  Who alone can open that scroll legitimately?  It's the Lamb, so the weakest littlest animal - and just to press the point, a lamb that's slain.  Of course, that's the crucified Jesus, he's the interpretive key.  Origen says that once you get that, then whenever you say the Bible must be sanctioning horrific violence, you've obviously got to be wrong."

Bishop Robert Barron, To Light a Fire on the Earth, John Allen, Jr., p. 173