I.

Introduction:
For many people, even Christians, the Bible is a thick book belonging in a library, or even a Holy Bible means a word of
bestseller, but few consider it a book to be read. For the Christian alive to his faith, however, it is a God -God is the author of Sacred
book apart from all others. It is the book of books, the book directly linked to the revelation which is Scripture because
the object of faith. It is the book that directly linked to the revelation which is the object of faith. he inspired its human authors;
Revelation comes down to us in the teaching of the Church, and the Church has legitimately and he acts in them and by means of
trustingly received this book from God as the book which he inspired and which contains his word. them. He thus gives
According to the measure in which we devote ourselves to the Word of God, the living teaching of the assurance that their writings
Church shapes the content of this book and invites us to open it under her direction: “Take and read!”
teach without error his saving
Hence, our reading of the Holy Scriptures is no luxury. It is our response to the Church, to her
truth” Dei Verbum 11
invitation. “Come,” says the divine wisdom, “eat of my bread and drink of the wine I have mixed!”
(Prv. 9:5). Can we be deaf to such an appeal?
III. INSTRUCTION/DELIVERY:
What is the Bible?
Written by men through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. Because the Bible is written by men,  The Bible is a Book of Remembrance
then through the Bible God is able to speak to us in human language- something we can  The Bible is a Faith-Record
understand and relate to. All Scripture inspired by God, is profitable to teach, reprove, to correct  The Bible contains a Religious Interpretation of History
to instruct in Justice. ( 2 Timothy 3:16)
INSPIRATION- Lt. “in spirare” – to breathe into THE BIBLE IS THE WORD OF GOD.

INSPIRATION IS THE SPECIAL INFLUENCE OF THE HOLY SPIRIT ON THE HUMAN AUTHORS, The word “OF” tells us three things about the BIBLE:
SUCH THAT THEY WERE ABLE TO WRITE DOWN WHAT GOD WANTED THEM TO WRITE
1. It is WORD ABOUT GOD – We learn about God through the Bible
“By supernatural power God so moved and impelled the human authors to write - he so assisted 2. It is the SPOKEN WORD OF GOD – Sacred Scripture contains God’s revelation of Himself
them when writing - that the things he ordered and those only they first rightly understood, then 3. It is WORD THAT BELONGS TO GOD – God is the Bible’s author, custodian, interpreter, and
willed faithfully to write down, and finally expressed in apt words and with infallible truth.” teacher.
Providentissimus Deus, Pope Leo XIII When we read the Bible we also realize that there are different forms of expressing truth. The Biblical
INSPIRATION IS NOT: authors were not so concerned about history itself, but "salvation history," how the events of the past
 DICTATION – God did not dictate the words to the human could be understood in relation to their faith. Salvation history deals with God's love for us, first
authors. As stated earlier, the human authors had to go through shown to the Chosen People, and then fulfilled in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ
all the processes involved in coming up with a written work.
 POSSESSION – The human authors were not coerced by God to Sacred Scripture – is a collection of ancient writings about God(Yahweh), his involvement in
write. They did not lose their free will when they put God’s human history, and man’s response to God’s love. God is the author of Sacred Scripture because
Word into writing. On their end, they had to cooperate with he inspired its human authors; he acts in them and by means of them. He thus gives assurance
that their writings teach without error his saving truth”
CHRISTIANS AND JEWS AGREE THAT INSPIRATION MEANS:
1. The impulse to write came from God; “St. Jerome ( 347-419) father of the church, Doctor of the church, Interpreter and translator of
the Bible. According to him, “Ignorance of the Scriptures is ignorance of Christ.”
2. The Bible contains things God wills man to know about him;
St. Francis of Assisi (1182-1226)Founder of religious order, MYSTIC
3. The mind and the will of the human author were somehow influenced by God to “To read the Scripture means to turn to Christ for Advice
write what was written without taking away the author’s own will or ability to write The books of scripture must be acknowledged as teaching firmly, faithfully and without error that
or power to express things in his own way for the people for whom he was writing; truth which God wanted to put into the sacred writings for the sake of our salvation" (Constitution
on Divine Revelation, #11).
4. God guided his people in their choice of what writing was to be included in the final The Bible -is a Canon Books
version of the Bible. Greek: “KANON” – meaning measuring rod, rule, norm}: The authoritative collection of sacred
Scriptures in the OT & NT of the Bible
  Is the church’s official declaration that a book is inspired, and is therefore a worthy basis Ways of interpreting the Bible
of faith and morals. For a book to be declared Canonicals, it has to pass certain 1. Fundamentalism- they believe that the Bible” says what it means and means what it says.
standards. As it passes the standards, it becomes a standard itself. 2. Christian- They interpret the Bible contextually. It believes that the inspired meaning can
only be understood if we read the Bible in the context in which it was written.
 OLD TESTAMENT Scripture 3. Catholic Church believes that the Bible is truly the word of God written not solely by people
but through God’s guiding inspiration.
from Latin word
“testamentum”- meaning Tools of interpretation
“covenant, will” A. Literary Analysis or criticism
 The first part of the complete B. Historical Analysis
Bible and the Sacred scripture C. Redaction Analysis
D. Study of Biblical Languages
of the Jews.
A. Literary Criticism-The Bible consists of a variety of “Literary Forms”. These include
 Tells the Story of the people religious History, myth, poetry, gospels, epistles. In order to understand what we are reading
who entered in a covenant it is essential to have a sense of its literary form.
with their God.
B. Historical analysis-
What significance does the Old a term to describe the study of times, culture, surrounding nations and influences on the
Testament Have for Christians? biblical writers.

 In the old Testament God C. Redaction Analysis-

reveals himself as the creator A redactor is an Editor or in the case the biblical author. This technique tries to focus on the
intent of the author.
and preserver of the world and
as leader and instructor of D. Study of Biblical Languages. The old testament was written in Hebrew. The New
humankind. testament was written in Greek.
JESUS IS THE WORD OF GOD
OLD TESTAMENT BOOKS or HEBREW SCRIPTURE (46 books) (copy nb) Above all, God has spoken to us in Jesus. The Bible is His Word in a secondary sense. Jesus
Himself is God’s message to mankind, but the Bible brings that message to us.
HOW WAS THE BIBLE FORMED?
A. How does God reveal himself in the Old Testament?
1.ACTUAL EVENT - This refers to the actual experiences of God’s
people which they interpreted as God’s intervention in their history. God shows himself in the Old Testament as God, who created the world out of love and
remains faithful to men even when they have fallen away from him into sin.
God makes it possible to experience him in history: With Noah he establishes a covenant to save all
2. ORAL TRADITION - So that the people will forever remember these important events, they living things. He calls Abraham so as to make him “the father of a multitude of nations” (Gen 17:5b).
are handed on to succeeding and to bless “all the families of the earth” in him (Gen 12:3b).
generations through storytelling. The people Israel, sprung from Abraham, becomes his special possession. To Moses he introduces
himself by name. His mysterious name ‫ →יהוה‬YHWH, usually transcribed Yahweh, means “I AM
3.WRITTEN SCRIPTURE - These stories were sorted, edited, and eventually put into to serve as WHO I AM” (Ex 3:14).He frees Israel from slavery in Egypt, establishes a covenant with them on
norms against which other stories Sinai, and through Moses gives them the Law. Again and again, God sends prophets to his people to
and traditions will be verified; and call them to conversion and to the renewal of the covenant. The prophets proclaim that God will
to more effectively preserve establish a new and everlasting covenant, which will bring about a radical renewal and definitive
tradition. redemption. This covenant will be open to all human beings.

B. What does God show us about himself when he sends his Son to us?
 God shows us in Jesus Christ the full depth of his merciful love. F. Is Sacred Scripture true?
Through Jesus Christ the invisible God becomes visible. He becomes a man like us. This shows us
how far God’s love goes: He bears our whole burden. He walks every path with us. He is there in our “The books of Scripture firmly, faithfully, and without error teach [the] truth. . . . Written
abandonment, our sufferings, our fear of death. He is there when we can go no farther, so as to open up under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, they have God as their author” (Second Vatican Council, DV
for us the door leading into life. 11).
The Bible did not fall from heaven in its final form, nor did God dictate it to human scribes who
C. With Jesus Christ, has everything been said, or does revelation continue even after him? copied it down mechanically. Rather “God chose certain men who . . . 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
In Jesus Christ, God himself came to earth. He is God’s last Word. By listening to him, all consigned to writing whatever he wanted written, and no more” (Second Vatican Council, DV 11).
men of all times can know who God is and what is necessary for their salvation.
One factor in recognizing particular texts as Sacred Scripture was their general acceptance in the
With the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the revelation of God is perfect and complete. To make it
Church. In the Christian communities there had to be a consensus: “Yes, through this text God
comprehensible to us, the Holy Spirit leads us ever deeper into the truth. God’s light breaks so
himself speaks to us—this is inspired by the Holy Spirit!” Which of the many original Christian
forcefully into the lives of many individuals that they “see the heavens opened” (Acts 7:56). That is
how the great places of pilgrimage such as Guadalupe in Mexico or Lourdes in France came about. writings are really inspired by the Holy Spirit has been defined since the fourth century in the so-
The “private revelations” of visionaries cannot improve on the Gospel of Jesus Christ. No one is called canon of Sacred Scriptures.
obliged to believe in them. But they can help us understand the Gospel better. Their authenticity is
tested by the Church. G. How can Sacred Scripture be “truth” if not everything in it is right?

D. Why do we hand on the faith? The Bible is not meant to convey precise historical information or scientific findings to us.
Moreover, the authors were children of their time. They shared the cultural ideas of the world around
We hand on the faith because Jesus commands us: “Go therefore and make disciples of all them and often were also dominated by its error. Nevertheless, everything that man must know about
nations” (Mt 28:19).No genuine Christian leaves the transmission of the faith exclusively to specialists God and the way of his salvation is found with infallible certainty in Sacred Scripture. [106-107,109]
(teachers, pastors, missionaries). We are Christ for others. This means that every genuine Christian
would like God to come to other people, too. He says to himself, “The Lord needs me! I have been
baptized and confirmed and am responsible for helping the people around me to learn about God and
‘to come to the knowledge of the truth’ (1 Tim 2:4).” Mother Teresa used a good comparison: “Often
you can see power lines running alongside the street. Unless current is flowing through them, there is  Catholic Epistles intended for Christian community at large without indicating
no light. The power line is you and I! The current is God! We have the power to allow the current to any specific community
flow through us and thus to generate the light of the world: JESUS—or to refuse to be used and, thus, 1. James
allow the darkness to spread.” 2. 1 & 2 Peter
3. 1,2 & 3 John
E. How can we tell what belongs to the true faith? 4. Jude

We find the true faith in Sacred Scripture and in the living Tradition of the Church. D. Apocalypse: a type of writing was highly symbolic and was usually written in time of
The New Testament developed out of the faith of the Church. Scripture and Tradition belong Crisis also known as “ Apocalypse”
together. Handing on the faith does not occur primarily through documents. In the early Church it
was said that Sacred Scripture was “written on the heart of the Church rather than on parchment”. 1. Revelation
The disciples and the apostles experienced their new life above all through a living fellowship with
Jesus. The early Church invited people into this fellowship, which continued in a different way after Part of the Celebration of the mass which includes selection from the Scripture:
the Resurrection. The first Christians held fast “to the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, to the
breaking of the bread and to the prayers” (Acts 2:42). They were united with one another and yet 1. An old testament passage
had room for others. This is part of our faith to this day: Christians invite other individuals to come to 2. A psalm
know a fellowship with God that has been preserved unaltered since the times of the apostles in the 3. An Epistles from the New Testament
4. A passage from one of the gospels
Catholic Church.
e apostles in the Catholic Church.
 OLD TESTAMENT BOOKS or HEBREW SCRIPTURE (46 books) D. Wisdom Literature
a. Job e. Song of Songs
4 major Categories of the Old Testament
b. Psalms f. Sirach
A. The Pentateuch/Torah/Law Book c. Proverbs g. Wisdom of
B. Historical d. Ecclesiastes Solomon
C. Prophetic book
D. Wisdom Literature Without the Old Testament we cannot understand JESUS.

PENTATEUCH/TORAH/ LAW BOOKS New Testament- was written in Greek ( 27 Books)

1. Genesis
 Also called Christian Scriptures
2. Exodus
 Is a collection of writings in the early church which reflect the church belief in
3. Leviticus
Jesus.
4. Numbers
5. Deuteronomy 4 Categories of the New Testament

B. Historical Books A. Four Gospel

1. Judges 7. Joshua 13. Judith B. Religious History
2. 1 & 2 Samuel 8. Tobit C. Twenty one Epistles
3. 1&2 Kings 9. Baruch D. Apocalyptic Literature
4. 1 & 2 Chronicles 10. Ezra
5. 1&2 Maccabees 11. Nehemiah A. Gospels- Find the teaching and preaching of the early church about Jesus put in written
6. Ruth 12. Esther form Gospels:
1. Matthew
C. Prophetic book 2. Mark
3. Luke
Are often divided among the greater and lesser prophets- the great mouthpiece of the Lord 4. John
who called the people back to fidelity to God and the covenant

Major prophets: B. Religious History

1. Isaiah 3. Jeremiah
1. Acts of the Apostles - the books in the New testament which can be labeled as “
2. Ezekiel 4. Daniel
Religious History” Written by Evangelist Luke- tells the story of the early church.
Minor prophets:
C. Epistles - the most numerous books in the New testament letters written to various
communities in the early church.
1. Hosea 8. Habbakuk  Pauline Epistles- claim to have Paul as their Author. Paul- a great missionary and
2. Joel 9. Zephania theologian of the early church.
3. Amos 10. Haggai
4. Obadiah 11.Zechariah 1. Pauline 9. h. 1&2 Timothy
5. Jonah 12. Malachi 2. Romans 10. Titus
6. Micah 13. LAMENTATIONS 3. 1&2 Corinthians 11. Philemon
7. Nahum 4. Galatians 12. Hebrews
5. Ephesians
. 6. Philippians
7. Colossians
8. 1&2 Thessalonians