What is the Bible

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• What is the Bible?

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Ignorance of Christ is ignorance of
Scriptures.St. Jerome - 5th Century
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Bible Study

• Our duty is not only to guard this precious
  treasure, as if we were concerned only with
  antiquity, but to dedicate ourselves with an
  earnest
• will and without fear to that work which our era
  demands of us, pursuing thus the path which the
  Church has followed for twenty centuries.
• Pope John XXIII
• Opening Address
• the Second Vatican Council

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• Inspiration
• Truly human authors, using their own minds
• Cooperating with the Holy Spirit
• Inerrancy
• Truth, never error
• Magisterium
• Official teaching body of the Church
• Infallibility
• Holy Father(Bishop of Rome) Pope speaks on
  matters of faith and morals
• religion
• means binding
• Canon
• quaneh (Hb) measuring rod

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Language of the Bible

• The language of the Old Testament is mostly
  Hebrew. There is a little Aramaic in Ezra and
  Daniel. The 6 Deuterocanonical books were
  written in Greek.

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Methods of Reading Scripture

• Historical Criticism historical research
  information to enhance understanding of the
  Gospels
• Source Criticism takes the student back to the
  original sources
• Form Criticism literary forms used
• Redaction Criticism- what was the particular
  audience

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Old Testament Literary Forms

• The Old Testament uses a variety of literary
  techniques often found in literature.
• The works of the Old Testament are full of
  references to persons, places, events, and
  customs from Jewish tradition. For an audience
  familiar with these references, such allusions
  enriched the literary texture of the Old
  Testament and deepened its significance.
•  

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Science and the Bible

• There can be no real conflict between Bible and
  scientific knowledge because GOD is the author.
• Bible is biased from the Jewish point of view,
  inspired by God because the Jews are His chosen
  people.
• Vulgate- translation into Latin by Jerome 5th
  Century
• Septuagint- translation of Old Testament into
  Greek from Hebrew

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What are the four basic divisions of the books
of the Old Testament?

• Pentateuch
• First 5 books- GN, EX, LV, NM. DT
• also called TORAH (HB for LAW)
• Also called Books of Moses
• Written by 4 different authors
• E- Elohist 800 BC
• J- Deuteronomist 700 BC
• Y-Yahwist 900 BC
• P-Priestly 500 BC

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What are the four basic divisions of the books
of the Old Testament?

• Historical
• Religious history recording lives of all people
• Oldest true records which come fro Temple
  findings
• From the Conquest of Canaan to the restoration of
  Jerusalem
• Events are dated from the beginning of a Kings
  reign.

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What are the four basic divisions of the books
of the Old Testament?

• Wisdom
• A collection of poems, proverbs, wise sayings and
  rules for living a true and happy life
• Psalms- attributed to David

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What are the four basic divisions of the books
of the Old Testament?

• Prophets
• Minor Prophets not much written about them
• Major Prophets more written about them

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Deuterocanonical Books and the Apocrypha
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Deuterocanonical Books

• The Roman Catholic canon includes seven
  additional books.
• These books include Judith, Tobit, Baruch, 1 2
  Maccabees, Ecclesiasticus, and Wisdom.
• The prefix deuteros means second. The
  deuterocanonical books are the second canon.

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Deuterocanonical Books (cont.)

• The deuterocanonical books were initially
  rejected by some, including St Jerome.
• St Jerome originally wanted to translate the
  Latin Vulgate with only the Hebrew text.
• The deuterocanonical books were not officially
  added to the canon until the Council of Trent in
  1545-1563.