scripture study p.6 // assured of Divine Inspiration

Sacred Scripture is divinely inspired. This means that all Christians believe that it is the Word of God, and thus is free from errors. But what is our assurance that it is, in fact, divinely inspired?


a sublime message... it moves

Most Christians would say that the Bible is inspired because it has a sublime message that attracts people to God--it moves them. But this is not sufficient to prove inspiration. For one, most non-Christians can't make much sense of Scripture when they read it. More importantly, if this is the case, then your favorite book that influenced your life--other than the Bible--can easily pass as divinely inspired.


the Holy Spirit tells me

The immediate question is "how do you know it is the Holy Spirit?" Remember that even the devil can deceive you as it does to well-meaning people who joined cults. The growing wealth of interpretations of the Bible supposedly also guided by the Holy Spirit but are completely in disagreement with one another makes you realize that this argument easily translates to "this is how I feel about it." Without any clear criteria, anyone can also claim inspiration about any book, misusing the "Holy Spirit" as their justification. The Holy Spirit is not confused to say different things opposed with each other.


God's men and their pen

Others will claim that the Bible is inspired because they were written by Apostles and prophets chosen by God. This would be good, but we must realize that not all books in the Old Testament were written by prophets, and not all books in the New Testament are from Apostles. There are even books whose authorship is uncertain for both Testaments.

This argument still fails if we pertain to God's men as His disciples. Why aren't other books of that time not included in the list? The epistle of Barnabas is one example. How about the works of St. Augustine? He was a bishop and one of the Early Fathers responsible for confirming the New Testament Canon, yet his works--as inspiring as they are--were not considered divinely inspired as we see Sacred Scripture.


Scripture says so

Most Christians will say that the Bible is inspired because the Bible itself says so. "All scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness" (2 Tim 3:16).

But the New Testament didn't even exist completely during the time this verse was written, and no writer claimed that what they were writing were inspired by God. More than that, any book can have a text in it that says "this is the divinely inspired word of God" and that won't automatically make it so.


Scripture is historically reliable

One thing we can all be certain of is that the Bible is historically reliable. Homer's Odyssey and Illiad, as well as works by Plato and Aristotle have manuscripts that never exceed one thousand. The Bible has over 6,000 manuscripts of the original Greek and Hebrew, and has over 40,000 of its early versions (Latin, Aramaic, etc.).

Modern geographical discoveries prove that the historical events mentioned in the Bible did occur. Even the chariots and bones of the Pharaoh's men who died in the Red Sea while pursuing Joseph are now discovered. In addition, manuscripts of that time that support the Bible's historical authenticity have also been discovered.

What all of these say is that we can be assured that apart from divine inspiration, the Bible is a document that contains historically sound information.


Jesus founded a Church

Looking at the Bible in purely historical terms, we see the figure of Jesus in it. This Jesus claims He was God. He can either be mental or a good man who devised a plan to trick men into believing He is God. But all of His words were true. His wit and intelligence does not fit a description of a crazy man. Above everything else, He rose from the dead, and no strategist can ever do that. The only logical rationale we can arrive at is that what Jesus claimed is true. He is God.

What did Jesus do when He was still on earth? He established a Church. The Bible and written works of that time attest to this. The overwhelming witness of the early Fathers leaves no doubt to this. This Church was given teaching authority and was promised protection from inerrancy in matters of doctrines and morals.


the Church tells us so

At this point, we have still considered the Bible as a purely reliable historical book that shows Jesus as divine, and as establishing a visible Church--the Catholic Church--that is protected from errors.

How do we know the Bible is the inspired Word of God? Because the Church tells us so. With the grace of God bestowed upon her, she teaches with full authority and infallibility that the Bible is divinely inspired. It is God's Word. There is no spiral argument since we started with a purely historical book that cannot be contested.

Thus, outside the Catholic Church, there is no real or definitive assurance that the Bible is inspired. Does this give us a reason to boast? No, it rather gives us more reasons to dive even deeper into Scripture as our non-Catholics do. Remember, to one more is given, more is expected.


Next in this series...
Now that we have sufficient background, how do we read the Bible? What methods and principles are required to be able to interpret it?

scripture study p.5 // the Bible takes shape... the books gathered and defined

Where does the Bible come from? Christians consider it the Word of God, but many are unaware and even badly informed of where we got the Bible. For one, it didn't just drop from heaven ready-made, nor was it written all at once--there are about 1,500 years between when Genesis and Revelation were written. Moreover, it was not written originally in the English language. In fact, it wasn't even "widely printed" in any language until after 1,500 years from the birth of Jesus Christ. So how did we get the Bible that we have now--all 73 books... no more, no less?


the old testament takes shape

The Old Testament is divided into three -- law/Pentateuch, prophets and writings. The Pentateuch is traditionally attributed to Moses who placed a copy in the Ark about 3,300 years ago. Long afterwards, other books were added to this. As to when the Old Testament Canon was finalized, no one is certain.

Some say it was compiled around 430 BC, based from Josephus' declaration that nothing was added, decreased or changed from Scripture since 424 BC. Others say it only begun 100 BC.

So far, these books were written in Hebrew, but after the Jews dispersed to many lands and lost their Jewish tongue, the books were translated into the more common language of Greek. This is known as the Septuagint version--meaning 70, the number of translators who did the work. This was widely accepted and was the version Jesus and His followers used.

It is worth noting that two thirds of the Old Testament passages quoted in the New Testament came from the Septuagint version. This is important because the Septuagint version contains the deuterocanonical books (which are considered apocryphal or not accepted as Scripture by non-Catholics).


deuterocanonical books

Most non-Catholics don’t recognize these books as part of the Bible, arguing that they were not part of the list formulated during the Council of Javneh. The problem with this is that this council was formulated by modern Jews who were not interested in apostolic teaching and were motivated by concerns different from the apostolic community that Jesus started. In fact this council was held about 90 AD when Apostles were already actively building God’s Church as Jesus instructed them. In fact, most of them already died at this time. Prior to this, there was no formal effort among the Jews to define a formal canon.

Moreover, this canon is not consistent with the Septuagint version, which was, as previously mentioned, the version Jesus used. The Apostles have chosen to use this, and the Church was obliged to continue in this manner. In fact, since the Church was already existent at that time and Jerusalem already fell around 70 AD, the rabbis no longer had authority to settle the matter as Jesus already gave authority to settle this to His Church through the Apostles.

Other non-Catholics also argue that Jesus never quoted from the deuterocanonicals. The problem with this argument is that there are a lot of Old Testament books that Jesus never quoted from and yet are part of the Old Testament canon. Moreover, Jesus actually quoted and alluded from deuterocanonical books like Wisdom, and 1 and 2 Maccabees. It cannot be denied that Jesus and the Apostles treated these books in the same level as the other Old Testament books, and we have no reason to do otherwise.


the early church grows

Before Jesus ascended to heaven, He asked His Apostles to proclaim the Gospel, but never asked them to put them into writing. The Apostles thus did as Jesus did--they preached orally and trained trusted men to do so as well. This was their sure way of protecting God's Word from corruption. The Apostles, filled with the Holy Spirit, scattered around the world and evangelized people.

None of them had a concept of writing a collection of books to form the New Testament. In fact, only five of them put to writing what they preached. All works written arose from special needs that had to be addressed. The Apostles roamed the world and founded churches, who constantly asked for their guidance--being their spiritual father--when in confusion. Thus, St. Paul would write to his converts at Ephesus or Corinth when he is not there. They were never meant as letters for the whole Church as the New Testament. Moreover, they were read only to specific congregations, and not published as handouts for all Christians to read.

The writing of the New Testament took place around 50-100 AD. No book in the New Testament states when they were written but scholars were able to make approximates of their origin. The most probable first written work was the Gospel of St. Matthew in its early Aramaic, and the last being the works of St. John. See chart below for a complete and more detailed list regarding these approximates:

Date of Composition	Canonical Writing	Author	Written in
51-52	1 and 2 Thess	Paul	Corinth
50-55	[Early Aramaic Gospel]	Matthew	Palestine (?)
50-60	Jas	James	Jerusalem (?)
54	Gal	Paul	Ephesus (?)
57 (spring)	1 Cor	Paul	Ephesus
57-58 (autumn)	2 Cor	Paul	Macedonia
57-58 (winter)	Rom	Paul	Corinth
60 (?) (64-70)	Mk	Mark	Rome (?)
62 (?) (54-57)	Phil	Paul	Rome (Ephesus)
62	Col, Philem, Eph	Paul	Rome
62 (?) (67-70)	Lk	Luke	Rome (Achaia)
63 (75)	Acts	Luke
64	1 Pt	Peter	Rome
64 (80)	2 Pt	Peter (?)	Rome (?)
65	1 Tim and Tit	Paul	Macedonia
65 (?) (80)	Heb	Paul (?)	Rome (?) Athens (?)
66	2 Tim	Paul	Rome
68-70	Mt	Matthew	Syria (?)
70 (?)	Jude	Jude Thaddeus	(?)
85-95	Rev	John	Patmos
95-100	1, 2, and 3 Jn	John	Ephesus (?)
98-100	Jn	John	Ephesus (?)

Note: A date given in brackets is a second hypothesis, less probable than the first but certainty possible. Question marks in parentheses indicate that the date is unclear in Christian tradition or has been questioned by scholars on good grounds.


the new testament is compiled

In 397 AD, through St. Augustine's influence, the Council of Carthage settled the Canon of the New Testament as we have it now. This council approved the decision of a previous council in 393 AD, the Council of Hippo. Their decision was then sent to Rome to be approved and confirmed by the Roman Pontiff, for no council is authoritative or binding unless approved by the Pope. There were people who mention the individual books of the Bible earlier than that, but it was the Council of Carthage that authoritatively declared and compiled the Bible as we have it now.

There were basically three classes of books prior to 397 AD. They were either canonical, disputed or false. Canonical books, or those accepted by all Christians as written by apostolic men, include four Gospels, 13 epistles by St. Paul and the Acts of the Apostles. These were accepted by both east and west churches, and read during the Mass.

Disputed books are those that some Christians accept but are rejected by some in other area. Among these are the epistle of St. James, epistle of St. Jude, 2nd epistle of St. Peter, 2nd and 3rd epistles of St. John, epistle to the Hebrews and the book of Revelation. Other books of this class some of us may not be familiar with because they didn't make the final list include the epistle of Barnabas, Doctrine of the Twelve Apostles, and Gospel according to the Hebrews.

Lastly, there is the third class which are not accepted as Apostolic because of contents that go against what the Apostles were teaching at that time. This include the Gospel of St. James, Acts of Pilate, Acts of Thecla, Gospel of Judas, and the Gospel of St. Thomas.

This caused confusion to the Christians for they couldn't identify which books are binding to their lives. Again, it was the Council of Carthage approved by the Pope that settled this. This was further affirmed by the Council of Florence in in 1442 under Pope Eugenius, and by the Council of Trent in 1546. It is by the authority given to them by Jesus that they have decided. Rome has spoken. The matter is settled.

As Christians grew in number, more translations arose to address those who neither speak Hebrew nor Greek. Some of them were correct, some of them were dubious. Around 400 AD, Pope St. Damascus asked St. Jerome to write an authoritative Latin version since a lot of corrupt translations were coming out. The outcome is the Latin Vulgate, which was mostly translated from the original Hebrew, and was the official version used by the Church. To date, the Church continues to safeguard Scripture from versions/translations that are not in line with the Tradition that Jesus left to His Church. Again, it is by the authority given to them by Jesus that they do so. Rome has spoken. The matter is settled.


Next in this series...
How do we know for sure that the Bible is God's Inspired Word?

scripture study p.4 // the Bible is God's Divine Word

Revelation may be defined as the communication of some truth by God to a rational creature through means which are beyond the ordinary course of nature. Our holy mother, the Church, holds and teaches that God can be known with certainty from the created world by the natural light of human reason (DF 2). In other words, God reveals Himself to us through creation and the natural law impressed in our hearts. This is called natural revelation.

But God also reveals Himself to us in a more intimate way, more than the knowledge that He exists--starting with Abraham, when He started to reveal His plan to make us part of His family. The culmination of this revelation has come when, in the fullness of time, the Word became flesh, and the Holy Spirit descended upon us. This is called the supernatural or divine revelation.


Divine Revelation through Sacred Tradition

This supernatural revelation, through actions and words, was entrusted initially to the care of the people of Israel and then that of the Church of Jesus Christ (NV). This was conserved and handed on to all of God's people through oral tradition, with the Apostles leaving bishops as their successors together with their teaching authority.

As part of God's plan, He inspired men to put into writing these revelation, not merely as memoirs of teachings but as a manifestation of Himself. Thus, the Bible is the true Word of God (DV 14).


primary and secondary authorship

God is the primary author of this Sacred Writing, but He did so through secondary human authors. This does not mean that God dicated each word to His disciple, since that would not mean that the human is also an author. Most words in the Bible, especially in the New Testament epistles, are spoken in the first person. This would not fit the dictation theory. So how are the books in the Bible authored?

To this, Fr. William Most says, "we again appeal to His transcendence when we say He is the Chief Author, and the human author is a real author too, with his own style, but yet God causes the human to write all that He wills, and to do so without any error whatsoever."


Next in this series...
Why do we have 73 books in the Bible? What are the deuterocanonicals and why do some Bibles not have it?

scripture study p.3 // choosing the right version

Why there are many Bible translations on bookstore shelves is something most people ask, and which version we choose from them is an important question Catholics need to be informed. Unfortunately, these are questions often left unanswered and unpursued.

For starters, there are basically two philosophies or attitudes translators observe when translating the Bible: literal or complete equivalence, and dynamic equivalence.


literal translations

Literal translations are good for serious Bible study since they try to give as literal a translation of the original text as possible, even preserving much of the original word order. Unfortunately, this makes the translation much harder to read because of the variations between Greek/Hebrew and English styles.


dynamic translations

Dynamic translations are more readable since they don't place much importance on the original grammar and word order of the original--what is important is preserving the meaning of the text. Unfortunately, this brings a disadvantage for a person seriously studying Scripture.


disadvantages

Sometimes, the meaning of a text is understood more fully through subtle cues or hints in the text. These cues are preserved in the literal translation, but are mostly lost in dynamic translations. This gives the reader a greater risk of reading the translators' doctrinal view into the text. Consider the following example provided by the people at catholic.com:

...dynamic Protestant translations, such as the NIV, tend to translate the Greek word ergon and its derivatives as "work" when it reinforces Protestant doctrine but as something else (such as "deeds" or "doing") when it would serve Catholic doctrine.

The NIV renders Romans 4:2 "If, in fact, Abraham was justified by works (ergon), he had something to boast about—but not before God." This passage is used to support the Protestant doctrine of salvation by faith alone. But the NIV translates the erg- derivatives in Romans 2:6-7 differently: "God ‘will give to each person according to what he has done ( erga).’ To those who by persistence in doing (ergou) good seek glory, honor and immortality, he will give eternal life."

If the erg- derivatives were translated consistently as "work" then it would be clear that the passage says God will judge "every person according to his works" and will give eternal life to those who seek immortality "by persistence in working good"—statements that support the Catholic view of salvation.

Of course, extreme literalism can also give problems. Again, consider the sample translations of Genesis 1:20 provided by the people at catholic.com:

"And saying is God, ‘Roaming is the water with the roaming, living soul, and the flyer is flying over the earth on the face of the atmosphere of the heavens’" (Concordant Version, an extremely literal version).

"And God said, ‘Let the water teem with living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the expanse of the sky’" (NIV).

middle ground

There are many alternatives that are neither directly literal nor dynamic. Again, catholic.com provides us good observations regarding these translations based on which end of the spectrum they tend to lean to:

Toward the literal end of the spectrum are translations such as the King James Version (KJV), the New King James Version (NKJV), the New American Standard (NAS), and the Douay-Rheims Version. Next come slightly less literal translations, such as the Revised Standard Version (RSV), and the Confraternity Version. Then there are mostly dynamic translations such as the New International Version (NIV) and the New American Bible (NAB).

And finally, toward the very dynamic end of the spectrum are translations such as the New Jerusalem Bible (NJB), the New English Bible (NEB), the Revised English Bible (REB), the Contemporary English Version (CEV), and the "Good News Bible," whose translation is called Today’s English Version (TEV).

inclusive versions

Nowadays, we also have versions that changed the genders used in the Bible. These versions usually replace "he" or "brothers" with "them" or "brothers and sisters'.

It also draws more on using "God" or "Jesus" when the original text uses "he". One example of this is the New Revised Standard Version, which retains the philosophy of the RSV but changes the genders to be more inclusive.

making the pick

It is your purpose that will help you make the decision. If your goal is a simple reading of the Bible, then dynamic translations would do, though you should be careful about the translators' views hidden in the text.

Of course, a serious Scripture study would lean more on the literal translation. Most theologians recommend the RSV Catholic Edition, which has been reissued by Ignatius Press.

Finally, catholic.com tells us that "In the end, there may not be a need to select only one translation of the Bible to use. There is no reason why a Catholic cannot collect several versions of the Bible, aware of the strengths and weaknesses of each. It is often possible to get a better sense of what is being said in a passage by comparing several different translations." The best Bible is "the one you’ll read."

***For a more detailed rendering of the topic, please visit http://www.catholic.com/library/Bible_Translations_Guide.asp where this page or article is heavily based upon.


Next in this series...
What do we mean when we say God is the author of Scripture? Why do we say it is God's Divine Word?

scripture study p.2 // basic concepts

God is the author of Sacred Scripture (CCC 105), being written under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit (DV 11). It is not merely a collection of books to study, but a collection of God’s letters that tells us who we are, and ultimately, who He is. It is not merely a book of stories, but a book of God’s love for us. It is not a book about God, but God speaking to us about Himself.

a personal and communal book

The Bible is a love letter from God, but who is the recipient? The Bible speaks to you in a very personal way--with each letter directed to you--for God is a personal God. Yet at the same time it also speaks to His people, His Church. It is also mankind's love story, of how God gathered His people and brought them to his embrace.

past, present and future

The New Testament is hidden in the Old and the Old is fulfilled in the New. Thus, we cannot separate the Old and the New Testament when studying the Bible and applying it to our lives. It is in the whole Bible that God's plan of salvation is laid out. Ignoring any would lead to lack of full understanding.

Moreover, the message contained in Scripture speaks about events in the past, but also directs us towards the future and teaches us how to live in the present to arrive at our journey's destination. It is thus not bound by time--its message is permanent and timeless. It is simply for all eternity, for God is an eternal God.

a book of books

God is the primary author, but he used men--such as Moses, David, Matthew, Paul or John--as instruments. Thus, the Bible is a collection of 73 books written by various human hands inspired by God.

The Old Testament has 46 books. Five for the Pentateuch, 14 for other narrative books, seven for books of wisdom, and 20 for prophetic books. The New Testament has 27 books. It has four Gospels, a history book, 14 Pauline letters, 8 catholic letters and a book on the apocalypse.

Each book is a part of a whole formed through God's guidance--the Old Testament is believed to have been compiled as early as 100 years before the birth of Jesus Christ, and the New Testament was compiled by the Church that Jesus established--the Catholic Church.

a worthy companion

St. Jerome once said, ignorance of Scripture is ignorance of God. But making the decision to study Scripture posts a lot of questions even an eager student has no idea of answering. As the angel of God asked Philip in Acts 8:30, “Do you understand what you are reading?” Phillip replied, “How can I, unless someone guides me?”

This is understandable since “no prophecy of scripture is a matter of one’s own interpretation (2 Pt 1:20).” We need a guide we can trust--whom God trusts.

Fortunately, as Catholics, we have the Church to guide us inerrantly in our quest to be informed and transformed by God’s Word. We hold on to God’s promise that the Gates of Hell will not prevail against it (Mt 16:18). This is what the Catholic Church means when he speaks of Tradition. It does not speak of man-made traditions, but Traditions also inspired by the Holy Spirit handed down through the authority of the Church to help us grow in our understanding of God. They go side by side (DV 7 and 9) and cannot exist without the other.

from one thing to another

Studying Scripture is not an academic exercise, but an encounter with its Author that could leave us full of awe and praise--of faith, hope and love. Keeping this in mind will help you study God’s Word more effectively.

As a whole, our salvation history can be divided into four major periods that can be discovered through the 12 historical periods of Scripture. These are:
1. Time of Ignorance/Patience // Acts 17:29-30
2. Time of Promise // Acts 7:17
3. Time of Law // Ex 3:14-17
4. Fullness of Time/Last Times // Gal 4:4

We move from the time when we are uncertain how we are going to return to God to a time when God chose a race from which all will be gathered--from a time when God was patient with our wrongdoings to a time when Abraham became our father. Then we move to a time when we are guided by Law, and eventually to the fullness of time when we return fully to God's embrace.

There are basically fourteen historical books that we can utilize to go through the 12 periods of Bible history chronologically--that is, from one event to another. These books help us get a clearer perspective of the other books, seeing them as a part of the big picture.

The periods and their corresponding books/texts are as follows:
1. History of the Early World // Genesis 1-11
2. Patriarchs // Genesis 12-50
3. Israel in Egypt // Exodus
4. Conquest of Canaan // Numbers, Joshua
5. Judges // Judges
6. United Kingdom // 1 & 2 Samuel
7. Divided Kingdom Exile // 1 Kings
8. Exile // 2 Kings
9. Return // Ezra & Nehemiah
10. Maccabean Revolt // 1 Maccabees
11. Jesus the Messiah // Luke
12. Church // Acts

God's family grows

Within these periods, God made six covenants with men that ulitmately show how God's family grew to include all of us as adopted sons and daughters. Understanding these covenants is the key to understanding Scripture--our love story with God. These covenants and their corresponding scope are as follows:
1. Adam // Marriage
2. Noah // Household
3. Abraham // Tribe
4. Moses // Nation
5. David // Kingdom
6. Jesus // Catholic or Universal Church

Now, shake the dust off your Bible and let's start an amazing adventure!


Next in this series...
How do we choose the right version with so many lying around there? How do we know which one fits our needs?

scripture study p.1 // overview

Catholics are often thought of as Biblical illiterates, people who put their Bibles on the shelf for dust to accumulate or people who don't even have the Bible. Put simply, Catholics are thought of as people who don't read the Bible. But is that an accurate picture of a Catholic's relationship with Scripture?

The Catholic Church is the custodian of Scripture and has always called His people to breathe it. Vatican II earnestly and especially urges all the Christian faithful to learn, by frequent reading of the divine Scriptures, the surpassing knowledge of Jesus (Phil 3:8). Therefore they should go to the sacred text itself, whether in the liturgy or in spiritual reading. Let them remember to accompany this with prayer so that God and man may walk together (Dei Verbum 25).

Catholics are fed with Scripture everyday in the Mass with its daily readings. A Catholic who attends Mass everyday for three years could surely tell oneself that he or she has read the whole Bible. But more than that, the Mass itself is based fully in Scripture. Its richness in words and actions are all Scriptural.

Moreover, Catholics reflect on the mysteries of the Gospel whenever they pray the rosary. You can say it's the Bible of the masses. Also, the Church's rich collection of art points towards the events in Scripture--Scripture in pictures, if you may.

Catholics are bombarded by the Catholic Church with Scripture to call them to understand it -- to lead them to a deeper study of it. But yes, there is some truth in what people perceive the Catholics to be -- most of them neglect to heed the Church's call for them to study it.

But that is changing recently. Most Catholics are forming groups to study the Bible. More and more Catholics are reading it everyday and reading commentaries about it. Yet the question for most of them remain. How do we study the Bible?

The Catholic Church indeed has the richest and fullest understanding of Scripture. She is after all the one who formed the Bible and safeguarded it. But more than that, she is the Church that God gave authority to preach it without error.

This section of CWT attempts to help the Catholic take a step forward towards a deeper understanding of Scripture as taught by the Church. It is meant as a stepping stone towards a deeper understanding of God's Word. You are encouraged to read further the sources used and many other sources for a fuller treatment of what this study discusses. It is by doing so that our growth with the Catholic Church will continue.

Next in this series...
What is the Bible and where did it come from? What do we need to keep in mind when reading it?