Four hundred thousand people subscribe to Dr. Tim Gray’s Daily Reflections. This is only the most popular of the Augustine Institute’s efforts to promote Catholic study of Scripture.
The Church has always recognized Scripture and Tradition as the two ways in which divine revelation is transmitted. Through Scripture and Tradition, the Church hands on what God has revealed about himself and his plan, communicating to us the truths of the Catholic faith.
In the modern era especially, there has been an increased emphasis on Scripture’s importance in our daily lives. The Second Vatican Council’s Dogmatic Constitution on Divine Revelation, Dei Verbum, for example, encourages the laity to read, study, and pray with the Scriptures regularly.
Scripture: The Foundation of Theology
Dr. Michael Barber, Professor of Scripture at the Augustine Institute, explains that the study of the Bible is essential to Catholic theology. “Theology,” he stated, “must not be reduced to a set of private theological opinions. It must be done in conversation with the Lord who speaks to us.”
“I love Augustine, Aquinas, and Thérèse of Lisieux, but we will never read these theologians at Mass instead of the authors of Scripture,” Barber pointed out. “The scriptural writers are inspired in a way unlike these theologians, as great as they are.
“Through Scripture we hear God speaking to us. And that is what theology must be about first and foremost — listening to the Lord. The more our theology reflects this commitment, the more our prayer life can be deepened, because the more we learn how to hear God’s voice in Scripture.”
Response to modern-day challenges
The Augustine Institute answered the Church’s call for a renewal in Scriptural studies, recognizing Scripture as the quintessential response to the confusion in our modern society.
Dr. James Prothro, Associate Professor and Director of the M.A. in Biblical Studies, reflects that “Wherever faith grows cool or stagnant, or when faithful people are seeking to hear God’s voice in the face of new questions, it is to God’s word in Scripture and in the Church’s tradition to which we must turn to be filled again with God’s consoling and prophetic truth. That’s been true in so many periods of revival in history and should be true today.”
He also points out that the Bible is not just a historical book, “People act as though a book by people two millennia ago or more can’t be helpful for today’s questions. But if you think about Daniel or the Maccabees or the first Christians, there are a lot of models to show us how to be faithful when politics are a mess. If you hear Paul talking to the Corinthians, you can see a kind but firm apostle dealing with problems of disunity, scrupulosity, philosophical doubts about the resurrection, and rampant sexual immorality. Sound familiar?”
“Total Confidence in the Power of God’s Word”
The Augustine Institute – which is preparing to open its new campus outside of St. Louis this Fall – recognizes Sacred Scripture as “the glue that holds together the entire organization,” according to Academic Dean, John Sehorn.
“The goal is to give as many people as possible access to the lifegiving biblical Word as received and authentically interpreted by the Church,” Sehorn emphasizes. “Sacred Scripture is, absolutely and without qualification, at the core of all of our degree offerings …. It is the Sun in our solar system; everything else revolves around it.”
Many courses in Scripture are offered regularly, with almost all students taking “Salvation History,” an overview of the whole Bible, and “Jesus and the Gospels.” M.A. Theology students also take “Pauline Literature,” and many opt for elective courses on more focused biblical topics. Adding a Scripture concentration to an MA in Theology is just one of many possibilities to delve deeper into Scripture.
In 2023, the Graduate School launched a new M.A. in Biblical Studies which offers specialized study focusing on biblical languages, the tools of contemporary scholarship, and the interpretive principles and aims handed down by the Church’s tradition of reading Scripture. This in-residence program forms students to serve the Church in academia, seminaries, and other ecclesial settings.
Sehorn explains that this new program is distinct from the other degree offerings:
“It is specifically designed to prepare students for doctoral study, though we don’t expect every graduate to pursue a doctorate. To that end (among other things), it requires 48 hours of coursework rather than 36; it requires intensive study of both Greek and Hebrew; it is on-campus only; and it prepares students to be able thoughtfully and faithfully to enter into a wide range of scholarly discourses. In short, it is demanding in the extreme. Why? Because it is so important for us to contribute meaningfully to the renewal of Catholic biblical study that Vatican II and the last several popes have called for and that has been ongoing now for decades.”
The Augustine Institute seeks not only to form enrolled students, but also anyone with an interest in becoming better versed in Scripture. To this end, the faithful can take advantage of the “Open Classroom” offerings (lectures and workshops offered by the Graduate School, but not for credit), K-12 “Word of Life” curriculum, Bible studies available on the online media library FORMED, and the ongoing Catholic Standard Version Bible translation project.
Professors Sehorn, Prothro, and Barber all had different answers about which books of the Bible they most enjoyed teaching. But Dr. Prothro’s response sheds light on the power of all Sacred Scripture: “It’s usually whatever it is that I’m teaching at the moment.”
The heart of what they do at the Augustine Institute, Sehorn adds, is to encourage “total confidence in the power of God’s Word in Scripture.”
To learn more about the Augustine Institute’s degree programs and Scripture courses, visit www.augustine.edu.
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