“In times past, God spoke in partial and various ways to our ancestors through the prophets; in these last days, he spoke to us through a son, through whom he made heir of all things and through whom he created the universe.” (Hebrews 1:1-2)
This Crisis guide will focus on some of the foundational issues in seeking a deeper knowledge of the word of God. It will examine the nature of revelation, the importance of the canon, inerrancy, inspiration, and interpretation, and the nature of the Old and New Testament writings.
God’s self-communication to humanity is a gradual unfolding, beginning with the preparatory covenants in the Old Testament and definitively realized in the New Covenant. This saving gospel of Jesus Christ is manifest throughout the ages by the apostolic preaching including both oral proclamation and sacred writing. The living transmission of this preaching, accomplished by the Holy Spirit, is known as sacred tradition. Scripture and tradition stand as two distinct modes of transmitting the apostolic faith, but they flow from the same divine source.
The revelation entrusted to the Church, the deposit of faith, therefore consists not solely in Scripture but also in tradition. The authentic interpretation of the apostolic preaching is the task of the Magisterium, the bishops who stand in apostolic succession. However, the bishops do not stand above the Word of God but are its servants.
Each of the following reflections presents the major elements of the Church’s teaching on the Scriptures as developed in the Catechism. They are meant to help families and other small groups of individuals begin to reflect prayerfully on the significance of the Scriptures in the new millennium. Try to set aside an hour each week to go through the Catechism and the corresponding scriptural references, discussing them with your families or in small groups from your parish. For each section do the following:
1. Read the selections from the Catechism, seeking to understand the main points of consideration. Then read the synopsis highlighting certain aspects of the doctrine. Discuss what is most important about this doctrine and why.
2. Look up the Scripture references. Consider how they help illustrate the doctrinal teaching. Notice how Catholic doctrine is a further development of the biblical witness.
3. Beginning with the discussion questions, consider how the doctrinal teaching relates to your own life and what you need to do to appropriate this teaching in a more personal way.
4. Using the Scriptures for further reflection, spend the remainder of your week reflecting on this aspect of the Church’s doctrine, not just as an isolated teaching but as it relates to the whole of the Catholic faith.
Week One
Revelation and Scripture Read CCC# 50-73
God in His great love has chosen to reveal Himself to us so that through His Son, we might enter into communion with Him. Through created realities, God gives evidence of His existence and has planted within the human heart a natural desire for God. As St. Augustine noted, “Our hearts are restless for you, O God, and will not rest until they rest in you.” No human being can be ultimately satisfied apart from communion with God. Because of sin, however, human minds were darkened and, thus, no longer see God in the clear light of day. To remedy this situation, God promised a Savior, the light of the world, who would overcome the darkness and again allow us to see and know God, our loving Father. But to bring us back into the light, it was necessary that He slowly begin to reveal Himself again. Through various words and deeds, carried out in the course of history, God gradually made Himself known to man. Each of the covenants found in the Old Testament prepared for a deeper revelation until, at last, the full manifestation of God’s revelation takes place when He enters into the world as Emmanuel, God with us. In Jesus Christ, we find the embodiment of God in the world.
SCRIPTURE
Ephesians 1:9-10, “He has made known to us the mystery of his will in accord with his favor that he set forth in him as a plan for the fullness of times, to sum up all things in Christ, in heaven and on earth.”
Luke 10:21, “I give you praise, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, for although you have hidden these things from the wise and the learned you have revealed them to the childlike.”
DISCUSSION
1. How do created realities help us to understand God?
2. How does God reveal Himself in the words and deeds of salvation history?
FURTHER REFLECTION
John 14:6-10; Romans 16:25-27; Deuteronomy 29:28
Week Two
The apostolic Tradition Read CCC# 74-83
In keeping with the Father’s plan of salvation, Jesus drew disciples to Himself and instructed them by His teaching. Preeminent among these disciples were the apostles, who were given the task of faithfully preserving and handing on His teaching to the Church. According to the gospels, Jesus chose twelve apostles who were to bear witness to the resurrection. The Acts of the Apostles recounts how, after Judas fell away, another was chosen to fill his office (Acts 1:15-26). The qualification for this officeholder was that he be able to be an authentic witness to the teachings, ministry, and resurrection of Christ. This notion of an apostolic office led to the teaching of an apostolic succession. To continue this authoritative witness, the apostles chose and ordained successors and charged them to faithfully hand on the deposit of faith. This was clearly stated as early as the second century by Irenaeus in Adversus Haereses (Book 3, Chapter 3): “It is within the power of all, therefore, in every Church, who may wish to see the truth, to contemplate clearly the tradition of the apostles manifested throughout the whole world; and we are in a position to reckon up those who were by the apostles instituted bishops in the Churches, and [to demonstrate] the succession of these men to our own times; those who neither taught nor knew of anything like what these [heretics] rave about.”
SCRIPTURE
Acts 1:21-22, “It is entirely fitting, therefore, that one of those who was of our company while the Lord Jesus moved among us, from the baptism of John, until the day he was taken up from us, should be named as witness with us to his resurrection.”
Acts 2:42, “They devoted themselves to the teaching of the apostles and to the communal life, to the breaking of bread and to the prayers.”
DISCUSSION
1. In what ways do the successors of the apostles bear witness to the living faith of the Church?
2. What is the difference between the apostolic tradition of the Church, which is unchanging, and the ecclesial traditions, which can be changed or done away with?
FURTHER REFLECTION
1 Corinthians 11:23-26; 1 Timothy 1:18-19; 2 Timothy 4:1-5
Week Three
The Magisterium and Interpretation Read CCC# 84-100
The term “Magisterium” refers to the teaching authority of the Church. In Scripture, we find that the disciples often failed to understand and even, at times, misunderstood Jesus’ teaching. When this occurred, He took time to clarify His meaning (Matthew 13:10, 36; 19:10). In 2 Peter, we find him warning that some of what the apostle Paul wrote was hard to understand, and the ignorant and unstable might easily distort it (2 Peter 3:15-16). From this it follows that the exact meaning of Scripture is not always clear and obvious. To faithfully preserve His teaching, Jesus promised to send the Holy Spirit to guide the apostles in the truth (John 16:13). Through the Spirit-filled apostles and their successors, Jesus acts to preserve the integrity and clarity of His teaching. The Second Vatican Council teaches, “The task of giving an authentic interpretation of the Word of God, whether in its written form or in the form of tradition, has been entrusted to the teaching office of the Church alone.” The faithful have the right to receive the authentic teaching of Christ, in all of its purity and integrity. It is the duty and the trust of the Magisterium to faithfully hand on that teaching.
SCRIPTURE
Matthew 28:20, “Teach them to observe everything I have commanded you. And know that I am with you always, until the end of the world.”
Luke 10:16, “He who hears you hears me, and he who rejects you rejects me.”
DISCUSSION
1. Why didn’t Jesus entrust His teaching to personal interpretation of His words?
2. How do the bishops faithfully hand on what they have received?
FURTHER REFLECTION
1 Timothy 3:15; 2 Timothy 1:13-14; 2 John 9
Week Four
Inspiration and Inerrancy Read CCC# 101-108
In Scripture, God speaks to human beings in a language that they can understand. God is the principal author of Scripture, since through the Holy Spirit, He inspired the human authors, or instrumental authors, to write down all that He wanted written and only what He wanted written. The human authors are nevertheless true authors, in the sense that God worked in and through their faculties, imaginations, and research, allowing them to select and give shape to the tradition they received. Luke, who was not an eyewitness to Jesus’ ministry, hints at this in the beginning of his gospel, noting that he had to investigate everything carefully and write it down in an orderly sequence for his readers (Luke 1:1-4). Those books that the Church recognizes as inspired form the canon of Scripture, that is, a listing of books considered normative for the Church. These Scriptures, in all their parts, communicate firmly, faithfully, and without error the saving truth God wished to have confided to Sacred Scripture. This is called the inerrancy of Scripture. In and through the Scriptures, Christ the living Word continues to speak to His Church.
SCRIPTURE
2 Timothy 3:16-17, “All scripture is inspired by God and is useful for teaching, for refutation, for correction, and for training in righteousness, so that one who belongs to God may be competent, equipped for every good work.”
2 Peter 1:21, “No prophecy ever came through human will; but rather human beings moved by the Holy Spirit spoke under the influence of God.”
DISCUSSION
1. How do you understand Scripture both as a human work and a divine work?
2. Why is it important that Scripture be without error?
FURTHER REFLECTION
Hebrews 1:1-2; Revelation 1:1-2; Ezekiel 33:1-4
Week Five
The Interpretation of Scripture Read CCC# 109-119
To understand the truth God wants to communicate through Scripture, it must be properly interpreted. To faith¬fully interpret Scripture, attention must be paid to what the sacred authors wanted to tell us and what God wanted to reveal by their words. The human authors wrote in the language of their time, using the forms and style of writing then common. The interpreter must seek to understand the time and culture in which the author was writing, as well as the literary forms or genres then in use. To understand the truth of Scripture, it must be interpreted on its own terms, whether the text takes the form of history, parable, allegory, or poetry. The Catechism notes three primary principles of interpretation. First is the content and unity of all of Scripture. Scripture must be understood in light of the whole, rather than merely certain isolated passages. Second, Scripture should be interpreted in a manner consistent within the living tradition of the whole Church, rather than in one period of time. Third, Scripture should be understood as relating to the other truths of faith and understood in relation to them. Good commentaries, such as the Navarre Bible, are available to assist the reader in this task.
SCRIPTURE
2 Peter 1:20-21, “Know this first of all, that there is no prophecy of scripture that is a matter of personal interpretation, for no prophecy ever came through human will; but rather human beings moved by the Holy Spirit spoke under the influence of God.”
2 Peter 3:15-16, And consider the patience of our Lord as salvation, as our beloved brother Paul, according to the wisdom given to him, also wrote to you, speaking of these things as he does in all his letters. In them there are some things hard to understand that the ignorant and unstable distort to their own destruction, just as they do the other scriptures.”
DISCUSSION
1. What various literary forms can you find in Scripture?
2. How does the culture and language of today differ from when the Bible was written?
FURTHER REFLECTION
Luke 24:44-45; Acts 8:26-40; Mark 8:14-21
Week Six
The Canon of Scripture Read CCC# 120-12
The term “canon of Scripture” refers to the listing of books considered normative for the Church. It is the authoritative listing of those books that are the inspired and revealed word of God. The Bible did not fall from heaven in completed form but was the result of the Church gathering together, from the larger body of early Christian literature, those books that she considered as inspired. This process of discernment took place over several hundred years. By the year 200, the major¬ity of books that correspond to the present canon were accepted, though many local churches also included some that were later rejected. A letter of St. Athanasius, written in 367, is the first reference to a New Testament canon that cor-responds with all later use. The regional councils of Hippo (393) and Carthage (397) as well as the canon of Pope Innocent (405) also agreed with Athanasius’s listing of 27 books in the New Testament. In the 16th century the Council of Trent closed the canon, meaning nothing could be added or taken away from the list the council formalized. The impetus for determining which books ought to be included in the Bible and which should not seems to have been given special emphasis when the heretic Marcion, excommunicated in 144, denied the validity of the Old Testament Scriptures and accepted only certain of Paul’s letters and a truncated version of Luke’s gospel. In the first centuries of the Church, various local communities had different lists recognizing certain books as part of their Scriptures, but as the result of various theological disputes, it became necessary to agree on which books were to be considered inspired. Ultimately, this was determined by the Holy Spirit speaking through the bishops.
SCRIPTURE
2 Thessalonians 2:15, “Therefore, brothers, stand firm and hold fast to the traditions that you were taught, either by an oral statement or by a letter of ours.”
Revelation 1:10-11, “I was caught up in spirit on the Lord’s day and heard behind me a voice as loud as a trumpet, which said, ‘Write on a scroll what you see and send it to the seven churches: to Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea.'”
DISCUSSION
1. Why is it important to understand that Jesus established a Church, rather than just leaving a book?
2. Why is it important to understand the stages of development in the formation of the gospels (see CCC 126)?
FURTHER REFLECTION
John 14: 15-31; John 17:20-26; 2 Peter 1:3-11
Week Seven
The Unity of the Old and New Testaments Read CCC# 128-130
In the early Church, the Scriptures were what we call today the Old Testament. The Old Testament guided the life of Jesus and His disciples, and in them, they discovered God speaking to them. In the law and the prophets, they saw ongoing fulfillment of God’s plan. When they sought to understand and interpret the life of Jesus, they searched the Scriptures. The New Testament should not be seen as replacing the Old Testament but fulfilling it. For Christians, the Old Testament is understood in light of the New Testament, but also, the New Testament must be read in light of the Old Testament. When Matthew sought to explain the significance of Jesus to his readers, he portrayed Him as the new Moses, the fulfillment of the Old Testament. When Christians sought to understand the meaning of sacraments such as baptism, they reflected on the great Old Testament mysteries of creation, the flood, and crossing the Jordan into the Promised Land.
SCRIPTURE
John 2:19-21, “Jesus said to them: ‘Destroy this temple and in three days I will raise it up.’ The Jews said: ‘This temple has been under construction for forty-six years, and you will raise it up in three days?’ But he was speaking about the temple of his body.”
1 Peter 2:4-5, “Come to him a living stone, rejected by human beings but chosen and precious in the sight of God, and, like living stones, let yourselves be built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ?’
DISCUSSION
1. What events in the Old Testament help you to understand the mission of Jesus?
2. How does the life of Christ help to explain aspects of the Old Testament?
FURTHER REFLECTION
1 Peter 3:20-23; Psalm 110; Galatians 4:21-31
Week Eight
Scripture in the Life of the Church Read CCC# 131-141
St. Jerome said, “Ignorance of the Scriptures is ignorance of Christ.” Daily, the Church recognizes the need to be nourished and fed by the sacred word to firmly ground our knowledge of Christ and His salvation. No liturgy is complete without the proclamation of the word of God. Jesus Christ, the living Word of God, is mediated through the written word of God. Therefore, it is every Christian’s obligation to come to a greater understanding of the word of God, so as to be empowered to live more faithfully one’s vocation as a Christian. In John’s gospel, Jesus said, “If you remain in my word, you will truly be my disciples, and you will know the truth and the truth will set you free.” (John 8:31-32)
SCRIPTURE
Colossians 3:16, “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, as in all wisdom you teach and admonish one another singing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God.”
1 Peter 1:23, “You have been born anew, not from perishable but from imperishable seed, through the living and abiding word of God.”
DISCUSSION
1. What are the various ways in which the Church proclaims the word of God?
2. What practical things can you do to come to a better understanding of the Scriptures?
FURTHER REFLECTION
James 1:18; Acts 6:1-7; Isaiah 55:10-11
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