CHAPTER 2: INTRODUCTION TO SACRED SCRIPTURE

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CHAPTER 2 INTRODUCTION TO SACRED SCRIPTURE

• Bible as an inspirational collection of writings,
  the written record of Gods Revelation
• What does it mean to be inspirational?
• Arouses confidence
• Challenges us to be the BEST we can be
• What does the Church teach us about the Bible?
• God is the author of the Bible
• The Holy Spirit inspired the writers
• The Bible (Sacred Scriptures) teach the truth
  

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• Bible is NOT a religious text
• Bible as a living book
• Readers have to open their minds to its Good
  News
• Human authors as instruments committed to writing
  those truths
• Drew on their own background, education, skill,
  talent, vocabulary
• Guided by the Holy Spirit
• End product inerrant (free from error) Word of
  God
• How To Read the Bible
• Be aware of how the history of their time and
  culture
• influenced the writers
• To identify the writers intention identify the
  literary form or genre (a particular style

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HOW TO LOCATE AND READ BIBLE REFERENCES

• Typical Bible Reference Jn 11-18
• Jn is an abbreviated title for the Gospel of
  John
• The first number is the chapter number the verse
  number follows the colon ()
• The hyphen (-) indicates several chapters or
  verses
• Gn 1-2 (Genesis, chapters 1 and 2)
• A semicolon () separates two distinct
  references a comma (,) separates two verses in
  the same chapter
• Is 91,3,8 (Isaiah, chapter 9, verses 1,3, and 8)
• The f means the following verse ff means
  several verses
• Prv 66f (Proverbs, chapter 6, verses 6 and 7)
• Prv 66ff (Proverbs, chapter 6, verses 6 and
  several verses after that)

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• Ways to Interpret Sacred Scripture in Accordance
  with the Holy Spirit Who Inspired It (Second
  Vatican Council 1962-1965)
• Look at the content and unity of the whole
• Jesus Christ as the Word of God (Center and heart
  of Sacred Scripture)
• Read in light of the death and resurrection of
  Jesus
• Read the New Testament in light of the Old
  Testament
• Read the Sacred Scripture within the tradition of
  the whole Church
• Deposit of Faith handing down of faith from the
  Apostles to us through the magisterium (help us
  to understand the meaning of Gods Word and how
  to apply it in our own lives)
• Be attentive to the analogy of faith
• Truths in the Sacred Scripture cannot contradict
  each other
• Message of the Sacred Scripture is timeless

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LITERARY GENRES

• A particular style of writing
• Exegesis process used by Biblical scholars to
  discover the meaning of the text
• Literal Sense the meaning conveyed by the words
  of the Scripture
• Examples of Literary Genres
• Allegory a comparison where elements of a story
  represent deeper meanings
• Biography a persons life story
• Creed a statement of religious beliefs
• Etiology a story that states the cause of
  something
• Fable a story with a moral animals act and
  speak like humans
• History a chronological record of events in the
  life of a nation or institution

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• Law rules of conduct or standards of behavior
• Prophecy inspired words of a prophet
• Genealogy story of a family tree
• Hyperbole a deliberately exaggerated saying to
  emphasize a topic
• Miracle Story story of a powerful sign
  performed by Jesus
• Riddle a question or statement that teases the
  mind requires thought
• Parable story told by Jesus with a surprise
  ending
• Pronouncement Story an important saying by Jesus

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UNDERSTANDING THE BIBLE

• There are 4 senses of Scripture
• Literal Sense the meaning of the words
• Spiritual Sense refers to the realities and
  events (deeper meaning)
• Allegorical Sense story line conveys more than
  one meaning at the same time looks at OT in
  light of its fulfillment in Jesus (NT) what you
  should believe
• Moral Sense how to live your life (with goodness
  and justice)
• Anagogical Sense looks at earthly events and
  sees them as a way to lead us to Heaven teaches
  you where you are going (increasing your hope)

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BIBLICAL TRANSLATIONS

• Old Testament
• Most of the Old Testament written in Hebrew
• Small sections written in Aramaic
• Seven books written in Greek
• New Testament
• Entire NT written in Greek (Koine) 1st
  century AD
• Latin Version St. Jerome completed the Vulgate
  (383-405) (Churchs official translation of the
  Bible from the original languages) known as a
  Church Father

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• Dead Sea Scrolls
• Discovered in caves near the Dead Sea (1947)
  belonged to a religious Jewish sect contained
  manuscripts that were written before the birth of
  Christ

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• Protestant Translations of the Bible
• King James Version (1611) borrowed material from
  the NT of the Douay-Rheims Bible
• Catholic Translations of the Bible
• Douay-Rheims Bible (1582-1609) a translation of
  the Latin Vulgate used until the 20th century
  NT translated from the Vulgate in 1582 OL
  translated from the Vulgate in 1609
• Translation of the Bible from original languages
• (Pope Pius XII) in 1943
• New American Bible (1970) used for readings at
  liturgies in the U.S.
• New Jerusalem Bible (1985) borrowed material
  from the French Bible

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MODERN APPROACHES FOR STUDYING SACRED SCRIPTURE

• Fundamentalists take a literalist approach
• Believing in the exact meaning of the words
• Catholic Church read Scripture prayerfully and
  interpret it critically
• Historical Criticism looks at the history
  behind the text uses archeology, dating
  techniques, historical research distinguishes
  the true from the false concerning facts of the
  past an attempt to verify the historicity of an
  event and the understanding of its meaning Bible
  must be read as a product of a secular historical
  science
• Source Criticism helps discover where the
  biblical authors got their material
• Form Criticism identifies the type or genre
  studying small units of a text to see how it took
  shape before it was written
• Redaction Criticism looks at how the biblical
  author arranged his work to give a particular
  theological insight shapes the material and
  focuses on the production of the final written
  form builds upon historical, source, and form
  criticism acts as an editor