LESSON 6: The Transmission of Divine Revelation

• The Bible


  A Faith-Book
• The Bible


  An account of life and preserved in memory, turned into text
• The Bible


  Records events seen as designed and influenced by God
• The Bible


  An event of community
• Contents of the Bible

  • Narratives
  • Genealogies (tracing history of people)
  • Laws
  • Prophetic Oracles
  • Poetry
  • Epistles
  • Drama
  • Apocalypse
  • Sayings
• Nihil Obstat


  An attestation a book contains nothing damaging to Faith or morals, given by a Censor Librarum
• Imprimi Potest


  Given by the major religious superior if the author is a member of a religious congregation, meaning "it may be printed"
• Imprimatur


  Given by the author's diocesan bishop or the bishop of the place in which the book is published, meaning "let it be printed"
• Byblos

  Greek for papyrus
• Biblion

  Greek for scroll
• Emperor Constantine legalized Christianity and ordered production of various translations from non-Hebrew and non-Greek speaking communities
• Pope St. Damasus authorized only one definitive translation of the scriptures
• Jerome translated the scriptures into Latin, the Vulgate, commissioned by Pope St. Damasus
• Archbishop Stephen Langton of Canterbury divided the books of the Bible into chapters
• French printer, Robert Estienne (stephanus) divided the chapters of the Bible into verses
• Bibliotheca Divina

  Separated holy books? Subdivided.
• The Richness of the word "of"

  • The Bible is the Word ABOUT God
  • The Bible is the Word FROM God
  • The Bible is the Word BY God
• Divine Inspiration


  The special influence of the HOLY SPIRIT upon the human authors so that they may write what God wanted them to write
• Divine Inspiration is not ecstatic - the authors were not possessed or in a trance when writing the Scriptures
• Divine Inspiration is not subsequent approbation
• Divine Inspiration is not simply negative assistance
• Divine Inspiration means the Bible is 100% the WORD OF GOD AND MAN
• Biblical Inerrancy

  The Bible contains error but teaches no error. It teaches only the SAVING TRUTH.
• Formation of the Sacred Scriptures

  • Events and Experiences
  • Oral Tradition
  • Written Tradition
  • Edited Tradition
  • Canon of Scriptures
• Oral Tradition


  Those people who believed in God were passed through oral stories, told and retold in important gatherings
• Written Tradition


  Writing became more common, but oral tradition still continued side by side with the written tradition
• Canon

  A "measuring stick" used to choose what does and does not fit, referred to the measuring stick by which a sacred writing was judged to be divinely inspired and accepted or not accepted as a book of the Scriptures
• Canonization

  The Church's official recognition that a book is inspired
• Criteria for Old Testament Canon

  • Prophetic origin
  • Coherence with the Torah
  • Constant use in the liturgy
  • Language (Hebrew)
• Criteria for New Testament Canon

  • Apostolic Origin
  • Coherence with the essential gospel
  • Constantly used in Worship
• Apocryphal Writings


  "Apocrypha" - veiled or secret, did NOT pass the Criteria for Canonicity, the Church did not sense their inspiration, did not have Apostolic Guarantee, contents are either Heretical or irrelevant
• Old Testament


  A lesson on faithfulness, expressed variously through laws stories, prophecies, and wisdom literature. "I will be your God and you will be my people."
• New Testament

  Tells us of Jesus and how through His passion, death and resurrection, he established the definite covenant relationship between God and humanity. "For God so loved the world...."
• Exegesis


  Drawing meaning from the scriptures
• Guide for interpretation


  • Interpretation must be coherent with tradition of the Church
  • Consider the historical character of Biblical Revelation
  • It must be interpreted to the needs of its readers today
  • It must be interpreted in relation to Christ, to the whole scripture and the Church
• Literal Sense

  The meaning the human author of the text directly intended to convey to his audience
• Allegorical Sense


  Consists of patterns and parallelism, allows a more profound understanding of events by recognizing their significance in Christ
• Anagogical Sense

  Concerned with the interpretation of the relationship of the Sacred Scriptures to the eternal glory that awaits us-the goal of our journey in life towards the Kingdom of God