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U p F r o n t
By Karl Keating
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This Rock
Volume 3, Number 11
 November 1992 
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Yesterday I learned that one of Msgr. Ronald Knox's old detective stories has been brought back into print. I ordered it at once, asking for second-day delivery. It should arrive just before we go on vacation. I plan to finish off the novel while over the Pacific on our family's regular trip to Japan, which will be long over (the trip, not Japan) by the time you read this.
Knox was skilled at a particular type of mystery story, the pure novel of detection (now largely out of fashion, I'm afraid). To discover the murderer before the story ends you need a fine nose for detection. You need the same skill if you wish to discuss the Bible.
When I talk about the perpetual virginity of Mary, I tell audiences that Scripture nowhere says "Mary always remained a virgin" or "Mary later had children by Joseph." To learn whether the "brethren of the Lord" were Mary's children or merely close relatives of Jesus, we must work as detectives, piecing together clues large and small. No one scriptural clue gives the answer, but, as in a novel of detection, many clues (in this case, all the clues) will point to the same conclusion.
The Bible is not a catechism, not a theological treatise. We misuse it when we pretend it is. Yes, the truth is there, but we must know how to get at it. Sometimes this means using the techniques of a gumshoe. Want to prove your case with the Bible? Then grab your magnifying glass, Watson!
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