Ignorance of the Scriptures is ignorance of Christ.

St. Jerome
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Gk. ta biblia the books-refers the whole sacred volume Lt. biblia The Book -designates the eminence of the Bible The Bible is a collection of sacred writings which the Church solemnly recognized as the:

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Book of Remembrance Faith-Record An account of Life An Event of Community Contains a Religious Interpretation of History
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THE BIBLE IS THE WORD OF GOD. The word OF tells us three things about the BIBLE:
WORD ABOUT GOD SPOKEN WORD OF GOD WORD THAT BELONGS TO GOD
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"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).
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RELIGION
JUDAISM

WORD BY WHICH GOD HAS SPOKEN

THE TORAH

MESSENGER
MOSES

ISLAM

THE QURAN

MUHAMMAD

CHRISTIANITY

JESUS CHRIST

THE BIBLE

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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.

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COVENANT BETWEEN GOD AND ISRAEL MEDIATED BY MOSES Central Event:

THECOVENANT MADE BETWEEN GOD AND ISRAEL 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 CHRIST

Central Event:

THE RESURRECTION Language: Predominantly Greek

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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.
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God
the author of Sacred Scripture

To say that the Bible is the Word of God is to acknowledge its Divine Authorship.
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When God gave us his word, he inspired some men to put in into writing. The Bible written by persons who lived in a particular context, using the means available to them Because the Bible was as they went through the natural process written by men, then of data gathering, through the Bible God is able to speak to us in human selection, and language- something we can finally writing down scriptures.
understand and relate to.
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Lt. in spirare to breathe into

All scriptures, inspired of God, is profitable to teach, to reprove, to correct, to instruct justice.
2 Timothy 3:16

INSPIRATION IS NOT:

VERBAL / MECHANICAL DICTATION POSSESSION SUBSEQUENT APPROBATION SIMPLY NEGATIVE ASSISTANCE MERE IDEOLOGICAL INSPIRATION
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CATHOLIC UNDERSTANDING OF INSPIRATION
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.
By supernatural power of 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 St. Thomas Aquinas: The Holy spirit was the principal author of the Bible and the human person is the instrumental author.
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 Vatican II : Dei Verbum (1965) No. 11 Constitution on Divine Revelation echoes the previous teaching of the Church on inspiration and determines its scope and limitation

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

Through the Inspiration of the Holy Bible:

The Bible did not fall down from heaven. When God gave 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 the 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. USTIR - 2012- GVC

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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.
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EFFECTS OF THE INSPIRATION
Because the bible is inspired: It gives us the revelation of God. It is final and definitive. It contains all that we need to know for our salvation It is one integral whole. It cannot contradict itself It is sacramental, a visible sign of Gods presence, enabling us to encounter him concretely It moves us to live as God wants us to It contains only the truth It enables the Church to recognize its divine influence

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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

Errors in History Errors in Moral Understanding

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The Difficulties found in the Sacred Scripture came as a result of the limitations of the human authors
Their knowledge of science was primitive

Their understanding of history was affected by their biases Their chronology could not be exact because the Bible is not a journalists account

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

THE BIBLE CONTAINS ERROR BUT TEACHES NO ERROR. USTIR - 2012- GVC

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"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).
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WHEN IT COMES TO MATTERS OF FAITH AND SALVATION, THE BIBLE TEACHES US ONLY THE TRUTH
When we read the Bible we also realize that there 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 Gods love for us, first shown to the Chosen People, and then fulfilled in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
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Concern:

not so much about history itself, but "salvation history,"

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ACTUAL EVENTS

WRITTEN SCRIPTURES

ORAL TRADITION
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CANONIZATION

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STAGES OLD TESTAMENT - The Exodus Event - The Rise and Fall of the kingdom of Israel NEW TESTAMENT - The Jesus Event - Life of the Early Church

Stage 1 : Actual Event

- Jewish households retold the - The Apostles preached about the life Stage 2 : and teachings of Jesus, especially his Oral Tradition Exodus story every Passover

through a memorized formula

death and resurrection

Stage 3 : Written Scriptures

Reasons for writing: - To preserve the oral traditions - To constantly remind the people of the covenant - For the proclamation in the liturgy

Reasons for writing: - To preserve the memory of Jesus since the eyewitnesses of Jesus were already dying either of old age or persecution - To serve as a norm for teaching and preaching - For the proclamation in the liturgy

Stage 4: Canonization

46 Books of the Old Testament 27 books of the New Testament were were recognized as inspired recognized as inspired
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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.
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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.
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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.
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When a book fails to meet the standards, it is labelled 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
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66 BOOKS
39 Books in the Old Testament 27 Books in the New Testament

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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.
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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
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THOSE THAT RESEMBLE THE CANONICAL SCRIPTURES Gospel of Peter THOSE THAT NARRATE PIOUS STORIES ABOUT JESUS AND THE VIRGIN MARY Infancy Gospel of James THOSE THAT CONTAIN HERETICAL DOCTRINES Gospel of Philip Gospel of Mary Gospel of Judas

Pseudo Matthew
Generally in agreement with Church teaching

Infancy Gospel

The Nativity of Mary

Pseudo Gospel of Thomas

Pseudo Meliton
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Written to meet the demands of popular piety

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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
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SOME IDEAS ON HOW TO READ THE BIBLE:
1. Set aside TIME for Bible Reading 2. Try to read a Book At A Time 3. Try to understand the Writers Purposes ( the person, and background of the person) 4. Try to understand who the message was for (the audience) 5. Keep a notebook as you read ( journaling) 6. Look Up things you dont understand use Bible concordance, dictionary, atlas, and commentary to help you.
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THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN BIBLE STUDY AND BIBLE SHARING
BIBLE STUDY
Stress on knowledge (text) Needs a teacher Can have great number of participants Regular attendance needed Systematic presentation of the sessions Leaves with food for personal reflection or personal study

BIBLE SHARING
Stress of the experience (life) Needs a facilitator Limited participants per group Regular attendance is encouraged Each session can stand on its own Leaves with common group action to help each other

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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 www.cathtruth.com

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