AmericanCatholic.Org is a nice website...here is their view on the Bible .

[Princess Turandot]

as an example.

http://americancatholic.org/

They seem to have a connection with the Franciscans, which is fine by me since he is the patron saint of animals. I have a painting of him and St. Clare on my computer desktop which I believe is a Giotto.
(Those of you who lived in NY on 9-11 may also recall that a Franciscan priest was the first confirmed (by name) death on that day; he was a fire department chaplain.)

I've signed up for 2 different email things and that's all they send me. They seem to be a good site. Here is one example about reading the Bible:

Why are some parts of the Bible so confusing?

All meaningful human expression must be interpreted to be understood. This is true of a film, or novel, of a cartoon or a racing form, of a letter from a friend or a facial expression.

There is no such thing as reading a text "at face value,"; that is, without interpretation. To refuse to interpret is one way of interpreting, namely, literalism. It does not deliver the "real unvarnished meaning" but condemns the reader to a superficial (at best) or erroneous reading.

Given that interpretation is necessary for genuine encounter with the word of God through Sacred Scripture, how is such interpretation to be done? Three connections are foundational.

First, we must be convinced that God does indeed desire to communicate with us and that the Bible is a privileged form of that communication.

Second, however, we must realize that the Bible is not a crystal ball. It is a text, and like all great texts it grows in meaning as our life experience expands. But texts are themselves also products of the times, places, cultures and circumstances in which they were written.

Third, we readers are limited human beings. If we require preparation and effort to read the stock market report, we must expect interpretation of the biblical text to require effort: study, prayer, discussion.

From: http://americancatholic.org/UpdateYourFaith/answers.asp?QN0997

There is a link to a longer article on the topic on the page.

[newyawker99]

1. Thanks! I bookmarked the site.

:hi:

[sandnsea]

2. Best thing about Catholicism

Or one of the best. The encouragement to continuously expand your knowledge of God, question, reason, THINK. Drives the fundies right over the bend!

[DemBones DemBones]

3. Great answer about "refusing to interpret"

being one way of interpreting, namely, literalism. Thanks for posting that. I know I have the site bookmarked but haven't been there in a while -- so many sites, so little time.