Ignorance of the Scriptures is ignorance of Christ.

St. Jerome
Prepared by: Richard G. Pazcoguin

"The Church has always venerated the divine Scriptures just as she venerates the body of the Lord, since from the table of both the word of God and of the body of Christ she unceasingly receives and offers to the faithful the bread of life..."
(Constitution on Divine Revelation, #21).

ACTUAL EVENTS ORAL TRADITION WRITTEN SCRIPTURES

This refers to the actual experiences of Gods people which they interpreted as Gods intervention in their history. So that the people will forever remember these important events, they are handed on to succeeding generations through storytelling. These stories were sorted, edited, and eventually put into to serve as norms against which other stories and traditions will be verified; and to more effectively preserve tradition.

The Bible is a Book of Remembrance The Bible is a Faith-Record The Bible contains a Religious Interpretation of History

When we read the Bible we also realize that there are different forms of expressing truth. The Biblical authors were not so concerned about history itself, but "salvation history," how the events of the past could be understood in relation to their faith. Salvation history deals with God's love for us, first shown to the Chosen People, and then fulfilled in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Gk. ta biblia the books Lt. biblia The Book

-refers the whole sacred volume -designates the eminence of the Bible

The Bible is a collection of sacred writings which the Church solemnly recognized as the:

God is the author of Sacred Scripture because he inspired its human authors; he acts in them and by means of them. He thus gives assurance that their writings teach without error his saving truth
Dei Verbum 11

To say that the Bible is the Word of God is to acknowledge its Divine Authorship.

THE BIBLE IS THE WORD OF GOD. The word OF tells us three things about the BIBLE: 1. It is WORD ABOUT GOD We learn about God through the Bible 2. It is the SPOKEN WORD OF GOD Sacred Scripture contains Gods revelation of Himself 3. It is WORD THAT BELONGS TO GOD God is the Bibles author, custodian, interpreter, and teacher.

The Bible did not fall from heaven. When God gave us his word, he inspired some men to put in into writing. The Bible was written by persons who lived in a particular context, using the means available to them as they went through the natural process of data gathering, selection, and finally writing down scriptures.
Because the Bible was written by men, then through the Bible God is able to speak to us in human language- something we can understand and relate to. "All scripture, inspired of God, is profitable to teach, to reprove, to correct to instruct in justice" 2 Timothy 3:16

Lt. in spirare to breathe into

By supernatural power God so moved and impelled the human authors to write - he so assisted them when writing - that the things he ordered and those only they first rightly understood, then willed faithfully to write down, and finally expressed in apt words and with infallible truth. Providentissimus Deus, Pope Leo XIII INSPIRATION IS THE SPECIAL INFLUENCE OF THE HOLY SPIRIT ON THE HUMAN AUTHORS, SUCH THAT THEY WERE ABLE TO WRITE DOWN WHAT GOD WANTED THEM TO WRITE.
INSPIRATION IS NOT: DICTATION God did not dictate the words to the human authors. As stated earlier, the human authors had to go through all the processes involved in coming up with a written work. POSSESSION The human authors were not coerced by God to write. They did not lose their free will when they put Gods Word into writing. On their end, they had to cooperate with inspiration.

CHRISTIANS AND JEWS AGREE THAT INSPIRATION MEANS THAT: 1. The impulse to write came from God 2. The Bible contains things God wills man to know about him 3. The mind and the will of the human author were somehow influenced by God to write what was written without taking away the authors own will or ability to write or power to express things in his own way for the people for whom he was writing 4. God guided his people in their choice of what writing was to be included in the final version of the Bible.

Inerrancy means freedom from error. The inerrancy of Scripture is a consequence of its inspiration. Because God is the principal author of the Bible, then it cannot but contain the truth.
BUT THE BIBLE CONTAINS ERROR Errors in Science : This is because the Bible was not written to be a science textbook. The authors had primitive knowledge of science. (e.g. the sun moves around the earth: Joshua 10:14) Errors in History : The Bible was a product of oral tradition. This tradition preserves the essential content, not the trivial details, so it is possible to find chronological errors, contradictory details, and inaccurate quotations once in a while. (e.g. The animals Noahs Ark: Genesis 6:19 and Genesis 7:2) Errors in Moral Understanding : The people of the Old Testament did not learn of Gods will instantly. It took time before they understood Gods precepts, hence there were instances when they label something good as bad and vice versa. (e.g. total extermination of enemies is Gods will: Joshua 11:13-14)

These errors do not in anyway affect the essential message of Sacred Scriptures.

THE BIBLE CONTAINS ERROR BUT TEACHES NO ERROR.

"The books of scripture must be acknowledged as teaching firmly, faithfully and without error that truth which God wanted to put into the sacred writings for the sake of our salvation" (Constitution on Divine
Revelation, #11).

Gk. kanon a stick; measuring rod -the word implies norms or standards
CANONICITY IS THE CHURCHS OFFICIAL DECLARATION THAT A BOOK IS INSPIRED, AND IS THEREFORE A WORTHY BASIS OF FAITH AND MORALS. FOR A BOOK TO BE DECLARED CANONICAL, IT HAS TO PASS CERTAIN STANDARDS. AS IT PASSES THE STANDARDS, IT BECOMES A STANDARD ITSELF. N.B. Canonicity does not make a book inspired, neither does it add to inspiration. It is simply a formal recognition of the inspiration which the book has always possessed.

FOR THE OLD TESTAMENT: The scripture must not contradict the TORAH (five books of Moses). For the Jews, Moses was undoubtedly a man of God and his books measure everything. The scripture must be constantly used in liturgy. In some cases, language became a factor. Some Jews rejected non-Hebrew writings. Recognized Sacred Scriptures are stored in the temple chests, available for public reading. Putting a book in the temple chest is tantamount to canonization.

FOR THE NEW TESTAMENT: Apostolic Origin - either the books were written by the apostles themselves, or they were used as sources. Coherence with the essential Gospel Message- the content of the book must be consistent with the message of Christ. Constant use in the liturgy- the books were used by the Early Christian Communities in their celebration of the breaking of the bread and other liturgical functions.

DID NOT PASS THE CRITERIA FOR CANONICITY MAY HAVE BEEN USED SPORADICALLY BY SCATTERED GROUPS DID NOT HAVE APOSTOLIC GUARANTEE CONTENTS ARE EITHER HERETICAL OR IRRELEVANT

THOSE THAT RESEMBLE THE CANONICAL SCRIPTURES Gospel of Peter

THOSE THAT NARRATE PIOUS STORIES ABOUT JESUS AND THE VIRGIN MARY Infancy Gospel of James Pseudo Matthew Infancy Gospel The Nativity of Mary Pseudo Gospel of Thomas Pseudo Meliton

THOSE THAT CONTAIN HERETICAL DOCTRINES Gospel of Philip Gospel of Mary Gospel of Judas

Generally in agreement with Church teaching

Written to meet the demands of popular piety

APOCRYPHAL = SECRET

WRITTEN FOR SPECIAL GROUPS WRITTEN BY RECIPIENTS OF SECRET REVELATIONS NOT KNOWN TO ALL

SINCE THESE BOOKS ARE OF DOUBTFUL AUTHORITY, THEY ARE NOT CONSIDERED BY THE CHURCH AS RELIABLE BASES OF FAITH AND MORALS

When a book fails to meet the standards, it is labeled as APOCRYPHAL i.e. of doubtful authority
When a book has passed the standards, it becomes part of the CANON OF SCRIPTURES. The CANON OF SCRIPTURES refers to the official list of inspired books. ROMAN CATHOLIC BIBLE PROTESTANT BIBLE

73 (72) BOOKS
46 Books in the Old Testament (45 if Jeremiah and Lamentations are counted as one) 27 Books in the New Testament

66 BOOKS
39 Books in the Old Testament 27 Books in the New Testament

The word Deuterocanonical literally means: second canon. These refers to the second set of canonical books. During the Council of Trent, before the Catholic Church finally closed the Canon (which means from then on, no other books will be added to the bible), the Church also declared as canonical some Old Testament books which were recognized ever since as inspired but were not formally declared as part of the canon of scriptures. Unfortunately, the Protestants have already deviated from the Catholic Church when this happened so they do not have the Deuterocanonicals in their Bible. If ever they include it, they simply label the books as Apocryphals. One thing is for sure, the Protestant Canon was still a product of the prudent judgment of the Catholic Church before the split took place.

COVENANT BETWEEN GOD AND ISRAEL MEDIATED BY MOSES Central Event:

THE EXODUS Language: Predominantly Hebrew

The Old Testament finds light in the New Testament. The New Testament finds foundation in the Old Testament. The Church teaches that both divisions are equally inspired.

COVENANT BETWEEN GOD AND HUMANITY MEDIATED BY JESUS Central Event:

THE RESURRECTION Language: Predominantly Greek

The Bible did not always have its chapter and verses. Hence, when one would look for particular passages, one has scan through the entire book. The division of the bible into chapters was done in 1226 by His Grace, Most Rev. Stephen Langton, Archbishop of Canterbury

Some time later, in the year 1551, the bible was divided into verses by Robert Estienne, a French printer.

Above all, God has spoken to us in Jesus. The Bible is His Word in a secondary sense. Jesus Himself is Gods message to mankind, but the Bible brings that message to us.

RELIGION JUDAISM

WORD BY WHICH GOD HAS SPOKEN THE TORAH

MESSENGER MOSES

ISLAM

THE QURAN

MUHAMMAD

CHRISTIANITY

JESUS CHRIST

THE BIBLE

CATECHISM OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH nos.101-141 Francis E. Gigot SACRED SCRIPTURES, THE BIBLE www.pax-et-veritas.org Ian Knox C.S.Sp. THEOLOGY FOR TEACHERS Ottawa: Novalis Press, 1994 Margaret Baxter JESUS CHRIST: HIS LIFE AND HIS CHURCH Quezon City: New Day Publishers 1989 INSPIRATION AND INERRANCY