Stunned by Scripture: How the Bible Made Me Catholic by John Bergsma

(Huntington, IN: Our Sunday Visitor, 2017), 144

Introduction: A Book I Never Would Have Written

  • "If the Eucharist really was the Body of Christ, I had to be where Christ's Body was...I saw I had to become Catholic to be with Jesus' Body." (14)

Chapter 1: "John, I Am Your Father!": The Bible and the Papacy

  • "There has to be a universal pastor if we are serious about the unity of the Church." (19)
  • "Binding and loosing" refers to the authoritative interpretation of divine law. (25)
  • Jesus' words to Peter in Matthew 16:18-19 confer on him the role of royals steward in jis kingdom, and they also grant Peter the authority to make decisions about how to interpret divine law, particularly the Scriptures." (27)
  • "The Church is the fulfillment of the kingdom of David." (28)
  • "The weakness of Protestantism is that it lacks any way to resolve different plausible interpretations of Scripture. If Jesus really intended the Church to remain together—which he did according to John 17—then he must have left us with the means to do it...Those who reject this testimony of the early Fathers have the responsibility to propose some other workable means of unity that Jesus left us." (32)
  • Logic of the papacy (28 ff.)
    1. Jesus desires the visible unity of his Church (Jn-17-21)
    2. Visible unity requires one senior pastor
    3. The job of the senior pastor is to maintain unity
    4. He can only maintain unity by stopping fights
    5. He can only stop fights if his word is final
    6. His word is final only if he can make an infallible judgment 
Papacy (34-35)
1. <a href="../notes/Mt-16.html">Mt-16</a>-19 establishes Peter as the royal steward of Jesus kingdom-Church and promises him the infallible backing of heaven for his decisions about the interpretation of divine law. A succession in office is implied by the fact that the royal steward of the Davidic kingdom as an office-holder with successors (<a href="../notes/Is-22.html">Is-22</a>-22).

2. <a href="../notes/Jn-21.html">Jn-21</a>-19 gives Peter an unparalleled and incomparable triple commissioning as the uniqu shepherd or pastor of all Christ's sheep.

3. <a href="../notes/Acts-01.html">Acts-01</a>-26 establishes the principle that the apostles occupied and "office" (episkopen) that could be filled by another after their death, thus establishing the principle of "succession".

4. <a href="../notes/Acts-05.html">Acts-05</a>-11 demonstrates that lying to and "testing" Peter is tantamount to lying to and testing the Holy Spirit.

5. <a href="../notes/Acts-15.html">Acts-15</a>-31 shows Peter exercising his role as chief shepherd by putting an end to debate that threatened to break apart the unity of the early Church by rendering an authoritative judgment about the issue under question.

Chapter 2: Mary, Mary, Quite Contrary: The Bible and the Blessed Mother

  • The woman of Rv-12 is Mary as icon of the people of God, Old Testament and New. (41)
Mary
1. <a href="../notes/1-Kgs-02.html">1 Kgs-02</a>-20 shows the Queen Mother's role having three primary aspects, including Intercession, Veneration, and Coronation. 

2. <a href="../notes/Lk-01.html">Lk-01</a>-33 (Annunciation) shows Mary being venerated by an angel, who will be "overshadowed" by the Holy Spirit (a word used very rarely, but in <a href="../notes/Ex-40.html">Ex-40</a> for the divine presence overshadowing the tabernacle)

3. <a href="../notes/Lk-01.html">Lk-01</a>-46 (Visitation) identifies Mary as the Queen Mother, the uniquely blessed woman in all human history.

Chapter 3: I Have a Confession to Make: The Sacrament of Reconciliation

Confession
1. <a href="../notes/Jas-05.html">Jas-05</a>-16: Catholicism has a practical way to live out the literal meaning of confession 

2. <a href="../notes/Mt-16.html">Mt-16</a> and <a href="../notes/Mt-18.html">Mt-18</a>: Binding and losing 

3. <a href="../notes/Jn-20.html">Jn-20</a>-23: The apostles are given the authority to forgive sins.

4. <a href="../notes/Lv-05.html">Lv-05</a>-6, 10: Old Testament confession of sins to the levitical priests

Chapter 4: "Mass" Conversion: The Eucharist, the Bible, and Me

  • Ignatius of Antioch: ~The Letters of St Ignatius]
  • "The plain sense of all the Eucharistic passages was simple identity between the Eucharistic bread and the Body of Jesus." (78)
  • "I find this argument from the early Christian community's understanding of John 6 (cf. Justin Martyr) to be the most compelling reason for accepting the Bread of Life discourse in John 6 as a statement concerning the Eucharist." (85)
  • "I have come to believe that the New Testament Scriptures themselves are completely clear on the point that the Eucharistic bread and wine simply are the flesh of Jesus. That is the plain sense of all the texts in the New Testament that discuss the Eucharist." (88)

Parallels between John 6 and the Institution Narratives:

Common Words

John 6:11–12 Matthew 26 Mark 14 Luke 22 Paul (1 Cor 11)
Take / lambano v. 26 v. 22 v. 19 v. 23
Bread / arton v. 26 v. 22 v. 19 v. 23
Give thanks / Eucharistein v. 27 v. 23 v. 19 v. 24
Give / didomi vv. 26, 27 vv. 22, 23 v. 19 —
Recline / anakeimenos v. 20 v. 18 v. 27 —
Break / break-ings / klao / klasmata v. 26 v. 22 v. 19 v. 24

Common Themes

John 6 Matthew 26 Mark 14 Luke 22 Paul (1 Cor 11)
Eating Jesus' flesh (Greek phago sarx)
(vv. 51–53, 56)		 v. 26 v. 22 v. 19 v. 24
Drinking Jesus' blood (Greek pino haima)
(vv. 53–54, 56)		 vv. 27–28 vv. 23–24 v. 20 v. 25
Desertion of the Disciples (vv. 60–66) vv. 31–35 vv. 26–31 vv. 31–34 cf. vv. 17–22
Betrayal by Judas (vv. 70–71) vv. 21–25 vv. 18–21 vv. 21–23 cf. vv. 27–32 
Eucharist 

<a href="../notes/Mt-26.html">Mt-26</a>, 28 and <a href="../notes/Mk-14.html">Mk-14</a>, 24: "Take, eat, this is my body...This is my blood of the covenant."

<a href="../notes/Lk-22.html">Lk-22</a>-20: "This is my body which is given up for you...This cup is the new covenant in my blood."

<a href="../notes/1-Cor-11.html">1 Cor-11</a>, 27: "This is my body which is for you....Whoever, therefore, eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord."

<a href="../notes/Jn-06.html">Jn-06</a>

Chapter 5: Fathers Know Best: Priesthood in the Bible

  • 1 Pt-02 and Rom-12: Yes there is a priesthood of all believers, the "common priesthood". This is distinct from the "ministerial priesthood" (93, cf. CCC 1591)
  • Leaders of the New Testament Church were called episkopoi (overseers or supervisors) and presbuteroi (elders). (95)
  • Old Testament priests had responsibility for
    1. Offering sacrifice
      • "Body is separated from blood only when an animal or human dies. Therefore, the separate offering of Jesus' body and blood at the Last Supper implies his death." (97)
      • "The Old Testament included a "thanksgiving" (Hebrew todah) sacrifice (see Lv-07-15), mentioned frequently in the Psalms (e.g., Ps 50:14, 23, 56:12, 100:1, 107:22, 116:17). The ancient rabbis said that when the Messiah came, only the thanksgiving or todah sacrifice would still be performed, since there would no longer be need of atonement, but only of thanksgiving for the salvation brought by the Messiah. "Thanksgiving" in Greek is eucharistia. The Eucharist is the new thanksgiving or todah sacrifice, which Jesus commanded his priest-apostles to perform until he returned." (97)
    2. Mediating the forgiveness of sin
    3. Interpreting the law (binding and loosing)
    4. Serving in the Temple
Priesthood 

<a href="../notes/Ti-01.html">Ti-01</a>: The duty to appoint presbuteroi, which originally was the role of the apostles themselves (<a href="../notes/Acts-16.html">Acts-16</a>), is now delegated to a disciple or representative of the apostles (apostolic succession).

<a href="../notes/1-Jn-02.html">1 Jn-02</a>: This is the first recorded instance of Christian presbuteroi, priests, being called "fathers".

Chapter 6: The Bible Alone Leaves Me Lonely

  • "Bible Alone" really means "the Bible interpreted without the help of tradition or the Church" (113), the implication of which is that any an every doctrine could potentially be called into question, and nothing is finally settled (114).
  • All Christians are part of some "tradition", whether we recognize it or not. (115)
  • Bergsma's practical realizations about sola scriptura as a pastor: "I began to realize how impossible it was to maintain unity among Christians if all we had to go on was the Bible alone. Everyone, it seemed, had a different interpretation of the Bible" (117) and asking the question: "What right does our denomination have to exist?", or make a universal truth claim (119).
  • The NIV translates paradosis as "tradition" whenever it has a negative connotation, but as "teaching" when it has a positive, Christian connotation (125).
  • The Bible does not have a "table of contents": you can't attack the value of unwritten tradition without, finally, undermining Scripture itself. (127)
  • The New Testament presupposes that the Church already exists. (129)
Paradosis as "Tradition"

<a href="../notes/1-Cor-11.html">1 Cor-11</a>: "I commend you because you remember me in everything and maintain the traditions even as I have delivered them to you."

<a href="../notes/2-Thes-02.html">2 Thes-02</a>: "So then, brethren, stand firm and hold to the traditions which you were taught by us, either by word of mouth or by letter."

<a href="../notes/2-Thes-03.html">2 Thes-03</a>: "Now we command you, brethren, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you keep away from any brother who is living in idleness and not in accord with the tradition that you received from us."

Chapter 7: Losing Faith in "Faith Alone"

  • "If responsible Catholics and Protestants ended up basically at the same place—faith is primary, but works are necessary—I began to wonder what value there was in maintaining lip service to this slogan salvation by faith alone, especially since "faith alone" only appears in the New Testament when James is dismissing it (135, cf. Jas-02).
  • We are not justified by works, we are empowered by teh Holy Spirit to do the good works that arise from faith. (142)
  • "So, now that I'm a Catholic, do I think I'm perfect and can earn my way to heaven? Far from it! But I truly believe that I do possess the Holy Spirit, granted to me through faith and the sacraments of baptism (Acts-02) and confirmation (Acts-08). This Spirit is renewed and enlivened in me through the Eucharist (Jn-06) and confession (Jas-05-16; Jn-01). I know I still sin (1 Jn-01), but also know that I have truly made progress in following Christ, not by any good thing in myself, but only by his grace (Eph-02-10)." (143)
Faith and Works

<a href="../notes/Jas-02.html">Jas-02</a>: "faith alone" only appears in the New Testament when James is dismissing it.

<a href="../notes/Rom-03.html">Rom-03</a>: "For we hold that a man is justified by faith apart from works of law." - "works of the law" is the Judaism of St. Paul's day, i.e. the external ceremonies of the Old Covenant.

<a href="../notes/Rom-08.html">Rom-08</a>-17: Paul says that "the just requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us", and "if you live according to the flesh you will die" and "provided we suffer with him", etc.

Topic: The Bible, Conversion Story

Reference

Created: 2023-04-21-Fri
Updated: 2026-07-30-Thu