A.

The Word “ BIBLE”  Codex Vaticanus – called

1. Etymology as such because it belongs to
Greek plural word “biblia” the Vatican Library – one of
(singular “biblion”) the oldest manuscript of the
which means “scrolls” Bible in Greek, written during
the fourth century.

 The Dead Sea Scrolls –

discovered at Qumran
between 1947-1979 – these
are so far the only known
surviving copies of the
Hebrew Bible (Old
Testament) written before
100AD
2. THE BIBLE AS
UNDERSTOOD BY
THE BELIEVERS:

1. a Faith-Book

2. an Account of life

3. An event of
community
 B. BIBLE AS THE WORD OF
GOD
1. The Richness of the Word
a. Word about God
b. Word from God
c. Word by God
2. Revelation in the Bible
3. The Bible and Jesus

RELIGION The Word of God Agent of the Word

Judaism The Torah Moses
Islam The Qur’an Mohammed
Christianity JESUS CHRIST The Bible
C. THE BOOKS OF THE BIBLE
1. THE TWO TESTAMENTS
 (testament – means covenant)
 solemn agreement between God
and Israel
OT – doesn’t mean obsolete
and no longer binding.
OT is a lesson on faithfulness
expressed thru laws, stories,
prophesies, and
wisdom literature.
NT – tells us of Jesus and
how his paschal mystery
established the new
covenant relationship
between God and
humanity.
The new was hidden in
the old while the OLD
unveiled the NEW.
 OLD COVENANT NEW COVENANT

Parties involved God & Israel God & humanity

Content “I will be your God “For God so loved the

& you will be my world, he gave us his
People.” only Son that whoever
believes in him will not
perish but will have eternal life.”

Mediator Moses Jesus Christ

Sign that seals blood of an animal Blood of Jesus Christ
the covenant

Sign that reminds the Ark of the covenant Cross & the breaking of
people of the covenant the bread

Covenant community Israel The Church

Written account The Hebrew Scriptures The Christian Scriptures

Central Event Exodus The Resurrection of Jesus

2. ARRANGEMENT OF THE BOOKS
 ARRANGEMENT OF THE BOOKS
CLASSIFICATION OT NT
The Most Sacred of books The Torah or The Gospels
Pentateuch
Historical Narratives Deuteronomist The Acts of the
History Apostles
Wisdom Literature Job, Psalms, Provebs Pauline Letters
Ecclesiastes
Song of Songs, Wisdom
Sirach
Prophetic Material Major Prophets Revelation
Minor Prophets
 3. CHAPTERS & VERSES
The Bible did not
originally have chapters
& verses. In 1226,
Archbishop Stephen
Langton of Canterbury
divided the books into
chapters.
In 1551, the French
printer, Robert Estienne
(Stephanus) divided the
Jn. 3: 16- chapters into verses.
17
D. INSPIRATION OF THE BIBLE
Wrong notions:
1. Divine Inspiration is not verbal or
mechanical
2. It is not subsequent approbation
3. It is not simply negative
assistance
4. It is not merely ideological
inspiration
Catholic understanding:
• Aquinas – inspiration was
explained using the principle of
causality. The Holy Spirit is the
principal author and the human
person is the instrumental author.
• Pope Leo XII – inspiration as a
super natural influence and
assistance. Inspiration is a gift, a
grace freely given by God. This gift
is the enlightenment of the human
mind.
• Vatican II – (Dei Verbum)
INERRANCY OF
THE BIBLE
1. Inerrancy as an effect of
inspiration

2. Some Difficulties in
Scriptures
a. Inconsistency
b. Difference from Science
c. Difference in chronology
d. Moral deficiencies

3. Reconciling Difficulties &

Inerrancy
THE FORMATION OF SACRED SRIPTURE

STAGE 1: The Actual

Events

STAGE 2: Oral Tradition

STAGE 3: The Writing of

Scripture

STAGE 4: Canonization
 CANONICITY

Criteria for Canonicity OT NT

Prophetic origin Apostolic origin
The book was written by The book originates from
a prophet the apostolic era
Divine Revelation ended
with the death of the last apostle
Either the book was written
by an Apostle or the Apostle was used a source
OT NT
Coherence with the Torah Coherence with the essential
Gospel Message
The Scripture must not contradict Although the books may have
the Torah dissimilarities in form, style and
details, they should present faith-
fully the Gospel of Jesus proclaimed
by the Apostles.

Constant use in the Liturgy Constant Use in the Liturgy

Proclaimed during public worship -do-

Language
The Jews in Palestine regarded as inspired
only those writings that were originally written
in Hebrew. The Jews in the Dispora regarded
as inspired both those written in Hebrew & Greek.
INTERPRETATION OF THE BIBLE

• The Bible is both the Word of God and a human word.

In order to understand what God is saying to us, we must
get to the proper meaning of word (CCC 140)

• we call this process “interpretation”.

• In order to get at the meaning intended by the author,

we must delve into the history of the writing, the
language used, the style, the norms, culture, etc.
THE SENSES OF SCRIPTURE

•The Literal Sense is always our starting point. It is the

meaning that the author intended in writing those words.
(CCC116)

•Spiritual Sense – How does my reading of the text affect my

life? Deeper, more than literal. When we read it for
enlightenment or for prayer.

•Fuller Sense – meaning intended by God, which may not

clearly expresses by the human author but later on unfolded
as the church reflected on God’s Word.