Scriptures

John 1: 1-5
“In the beginning was the
Word, and the Word was
with God, and the Word was
God. He was with God in the
beginning.
Through him all things were
made; without him nothing
was made that has been
made.
In him was life, and that life
was the light of men. The
light shines in the darkness,
but the darkness has not
understood it.”
Hebrew 1:2
In these last days, he spoke to
us through a son, whom he
made heir of all things and
through whom he created the
universe.
CCC 101
• In order to reveal himself to men, in the
condescension of his goodness God speaks to
them in human words: "Indeed the words of
God, expressed in the words of men, are in
every way like human language, just as the
Word of the eternal Father, when he took on
himself the flesh of human weakness, became
like men
God used human
words just as he
took on human
flesh
 Jesus Christ
The fullness of Divine Revelation, commanded
and entrusted the Apostles to herald to all
people and all nations what they had heard and
seen regarding the salvation of God.

Image in public domain

CCC 102
God expresses himself
completely in one Word

“ CHRIST ”
 The Terms Scripture and Bible
Scriptures – comes from the Latin word scriptura
which means “writings”
● the term scriptures emphasizes the great diversity of
authors, literary genera, and times in history

Bible – comes from the Greek word biblion which

simply means “book”
● The term bible highlights the unity of the Sacred
scriptures and emphasizes that God is the ultimate
author
Who is the author of the
Sacred Scripture ?
 CCC 105
God is the author of Sacred Scripture.
"The divinely revealed realities, which
are contained and presented in the text
of Sacred Scripture, have been written
down under the inspiration of the Holy
Spirit."
Who wrote the Bible?
 Who wrote the Bible?
The Bible was written by
different human authors,
mostly Hebrews, many of
them unknown.

These sacred writers wrote

under the inspiration and
guidance of the Holy Spirit
at different times and
places over a period of
about a thousand years
from 900 B.C to 150 A.D.
 Who wrote the Bible?
These human authors wrote from
numerous geographical locations and
cultures from Babylon, Palestine,
Egypt, Rome , Corinth among others.
They also wrote in different
languages: Hebrew, Aramaic, Greek.

It was the Holy Spirit who moved

these human authors to
communicate, to gather, to research,
to edit , to pass on, to write down
their collective experiences, stories,
and oral traditions of faith.
 Who wrote the Bible?
God did not dictate the
Bible, the Holy Spirit
encouraged these
human authors to
freely cooperate, using
their skills, language,
culture, talents, literary
abilities, knowledge,
oral traditions, and
happenings to convey
the people’s
experience of God’s
self-communication.
 1 Peter 1:20-21
20 Know this first of all, that there is no
prophecy of scripture that is a matter of
personal interpretation,
21 For no prophecy ever came through human
will; but rather human beings moved by the
holy Spirit spoke under the influence of God.
 INSPIRATION

is the process by which

God’s message comes to
us in written form.
; 3 10:35
 ANALOGY
The Living Word The Written Word
( Savior ) ( Scripture )
Divine Nature Divine Nature
Human Nature Human Nature
Without Sin Without Error
CCC 106
God inspired the human authors of the sacred
books. "To compose the sacred books, God
chose certain men who, all the while he
employed them in this task, made full use of
their own faculties and powers so that,
though he acted in them and by them, it was
as true authors that they consigned to writing
whatever he wanted written, and no more."
 Senses of Scripture
● Literal Sense
● The literal meaning and intention of the author, original
language, historical context, literary form/genera
● All other senses are based upon the literal sense
● Spiritual senses
● Allegorical – understanding how the events in salvation
history foreshadow Christ and the Church
● Moral – teach us on how to act justly
● Anagogical (heavenly)– leads us toward the glory of
heaven
● Summary
● “The Letter speaks of deeds; Allegory to faith; The
Moral how to act; Anagogy our destiny”
 Four senses of the Scripture
• The most important part of reading the Bible
is making sure you understand the literal
sense of the text. This can mean knowing the
vocabulary, understanding the literary form of
the text, investigating the original language
used, or unpacking the symbolism of a parable
When Jesus says “I am the vine, you are the
branches” (John 15:5),
When God appears to Abram as “a smoking
brazier and a flaming torch” (Genesis 15:17,
NAB),
brazieris a small, portable metal pot for holding
smoking coals,

and not a bra (brassiere)!

 Three spiritual senses
1. The allegorical sense, by which we
understand the events recorded in the Bible
by recognizing how they point to Christ.
The story of the Israelites and their
exodus from Egypt can be interpreted
allegorically as the salvation of a sinner
from sin, with the crossing of the Red
Sea symbolizing baptism
• .
 Three spiritual senses
2. Moral sense which teaches us
how Christ desires his disciples to
act.
39“But I say to you, do not resist
an evil person; but whoever slaps
you on your right cheek, turn the
other to him also
 The Parable of the Persistent Widow
Luke 18:1-5
1 [a]Then he told them a parable about the necessity for
them to pray always without becoming weary. He
said, 2 “There was a judge in a certain town who
neither feared God nor respected any human
being. 3 And a widow in that town used to come to him
and say, ‘Render a just decision for me against my
adversary.’ 4 For a long time the judge was unwilling,
but eventually he thought, ‘While it is true that I
neither fear God nor respect any human
being, 5 [b]because this widow keeps bothering me I
shall deliver a just decision for her lest she finally come
and strike me.’”
 Three spiritual senses
3. Anagogical sense
which reveals the eternal
significance of events and
realities recorded in the Bible;
that is, it relates the events to
death, the final judgment, hell,
and heaven
This sense is very apparent in the
parables of Jesus that involve the
judgment at the end of time, like
the separation of the sheep and
the goats (Matthew 25:31-46).
Each of the four senses of Scripture can be
linked to the four ways Jesus teaches us to
love God:
God with all your heart, and with all
your soul, and with all your mind,
and with all your strength.” (Mark
12:30)
The literal sense is linked to loving God with all
your mind. By understanding what you read in
the Bible, you can come to a knowledge of
who God is, for you cannot really love
someone that you do not know.
The allegorical sense is linked to loving
God with all your soul. By discovering
where Christ is “hidden” in the
Scriptures, we come to know how all of
salvation history, a “mystery hidden for
ages in God” (Ephesians 3:9), has been
planned by God for our salvation in
Christ. And so our souls, which are
hidden, learn to love the God who has
worked in secret for our good for so long.
The moral sense is linked to loving God with all
your strength. By recognizing how God
teaches us to act and to live true Christian
lives, we profess our love for God in every
deed we do and in every choice we make, and
especially in how we treat our neighbors.
• Finally, the anagogical sense is linked to loving
God with all your heart. By spending time with
God in the intimacy of prayer “from the
heart”, we receive a foretaste of our eternal
union with Him in heaven. Prayer is
communion with God, speaking to and
listening to the One for whom we were made.
 What is the importance of the Old Testament for Christians?
Christians venerate the Old Testament as the true word of God

All of the books of the Old Testament are divinely inspired and retain
a permanent value.

They bear witness to the divine pedagogy of God’s saving love.

They are written, above all, to prepare for the coming of Christ, the
Savior of the Universe.
 What is the unity that exists between the Old and the New
Testaments?
Scripture is one insofar as the Word of God is one.
God’s plan of salvation is one, and the divine inspiration of both
Testaments is one.

The Old Testament The New Testament fulfills

prepares for the New the Old.

The two shed light on each other.

Both the Old and the
New Testament are
inspired revelation
from God.
To paraphrase St Augustine,
‘In the Old the New is
concealed, in the New the
Old is revealed.’
Reading the Old Testament is like going into a
dark room full of furniture. We get a sense of
what is inside the room by feeling the sofas,
chairs and pictures. But, as we read the New
Testament, it is as if a light is switched on and
we see the room clearly. Jesus places the Old
Testament in new light.
What role does Sacred Scripture play in the life of the Church
Sacred Scripture gives support and vigor to the life of the Church.

For the children of the Church, it is a confirmation of faith, food for

the soul and the fount of spiritual life.

Sacred Scripture is the soul of theology and of pastoral preaching.

The Psalmist says that it is “a lamp to my feet and a light to my

path” (Psalm 119:105)

The Church, therefore exhorts all to read Sacred Scripture

frequently because “ignorance of the Scripture is ignorance of
Christ (Saint Jerome).
In studying the
Sacred Scripture