PRAYER BEFORE STUDY

Lord, Creator of all things, true source of light and wisdom, origin
of all being, graciously let a ray of your light penetrate the
darkness of my understanding.
Take from me the double darkness in which I have been born, an
obscurity of sin and ignorance.
Give a keen understanding, a retentive memory, and the ability to
grasp things correctly and fundamentally.
Grant me the talent of being exact in my explanations and the
ability to express myself with thoroughness and charm.
Point out the beginning, direct the progress and help in the
completion.
I ask this through Christ our Lord. AMEN.
“Ignorance of the Scriptures is
ignorance of Christ.”
St. Jerome
"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 This refers to the actual experiences of
God’s people which they interpreted
EVENTS as God’s intervention in their history.

So that the people will forever

ORAL remember these important events, they
are handed on to succeeding generations
TRADITION through storytelling.

WRITTEN These stories were sorted, edited, and

SCRIPTURES 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 an account of life,

preserved in memory, turned
into text.
 The Bible is a Faith-Record

It was written by the believers, for the

believers, about the encounter with
and experience of God.
 The Bible contains a Religious
Interpretation of History.

It records events {historically} seen as

designed and influenced by God
{religiously}.
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:
 The first consideration one should have in
studying the Bible is to recognize that the
BIBLE is a library, which means that though it
appears like a single book, it is actually a
compilation of books, each of a different literary
form.

For instance, a book may contain an epic, a

satire, a legend, a parable, a myth…etc.

One must be able to identify and understand the

different types of writing in the Bible in order to
derive and comprehend its meaning.
“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 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 God’s Word into writing. On their end, they had to cooperate with inspiration.
 Gk. “kanon” – a stick; measuring rod
-the word implies “norms” or “standards”

CANONICITY IS THE CHURCH’S 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 THOSE THAT
RESEMBLE THE CONTAIN
CANONICAL THOSE THAT NARRATE HERETICAL
SCRIPTURES PIOUS STORIES ABOUT DOCTRINES
JESUS AND THE VIRGIN
Gospel of Peter MARY Gospel of Philip
Infancy Gospel of James Gospel of Mary
Pseudo Matthew Gospel of Judas
Generally
in agreement Infancy Gospel
with Church
teaching The Nativity of Mary
Written to meet
Pseudo Gospel of Thomas the demands
of popular
Pseudo Meliton 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 66 BOOKS

46 Books in the Old Testament 39 Books in the Old
(45 if Jeremiah and Testament
Lamentations are 27 Books in the New
counted as one) 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 COVENANT BETWEEN
GOD AND ISRAEL The Old Testament GOD AND HUMANITY
MEDIATED BY MOSES finds light in the MEDIATED BY JESUS
Central Event: New Testament. Central Event:
The New
Testament finds
foundation in the
Old Testament.
The Church
teaches that both
THE EXODUS divisions are THE RESURRECTION
Language: equally inspired. Language:
Predominantly Hebrew 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
God’s message to mankind, but
the Bible brings that message to
us.
THE BIBLE IS THE WORD OF GOD.
The word “OF” tells us three things
about the BIBLE:
1. It is WORD ABOUT GOD –
The Bible is our main
“textbook” for learning who
God is.
 2. The Bible is WORD FROM GOD
 What the Bible contains is God’s
self-communication mediated
through human words.
 The Bible is WORD BY GOD

 The principal author of the Bible is God,

with humans as co-authors.
•“I will continue, O
my God, to do all
my actions for the
love of You.”
Mary, Our Lady of the Star
• Response: Pray for us.

St. John Baptist, De La Salle

• Response: Pray for us

St. Benilde Romancon

• Response: Pray for us
“Live Jesus in
our Hearts
Forever!”