Vatican faults literalism

A literal reading of the Bible threatens to undermine Roman Catholics’ understanding of Scripture, the Vatican said recently.

An 86-page document released in June emphasized the need to increase biblical knowledge. It stressed interpretation must be in light of church teaching.

Fundamentalism “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 document said.