“Ignorance of the Scriptures is

ignorance of Christ.”
St. Jerome

Prepared by:
Richard G. Pazcoguin
ACTUAL This refers to the actual experiences of
God’s people which they interpreted
EVENTS as God’s intervention in their history.

So that the people will forever

ORAL remember these important events, they
are handed on to succeeding generations
TRADITION through storytelling.

WRITTEN These stories were sorted, edited, and

SCRIPTURES eventually put into to serve as norms
against which other stories and
traditions will be verified; and to more
effectively preserve tradition.
Gk. “ta biblia” – “the books” -refers the whole sacred volume
Lt. “biblia” – “The Book” -designates the eminence of the Bible

The Bible is a collection of sacred writings

which the Church solemnly recognized as the:
“God is the author of Sacred Scripture
because 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”
Dei Verbum 11

To say that the Bible is the Word

of God is to acknowledge its
Divine Authorship.
 The Bible did not fall from heaven. When God
gave us his word, he inspired some men to put in
into writing. The Bible was written by persons
who lived in a particular context, using the
means available to them as they went through
the natural process of data gathering, selection,
and finally writing down scriptures.
Because the Bible was written by men, then through the Bible God is able to
speak to us in human language- something we can understand and relate to.
"All scripture, inspired of God, is profitable to teach, to reprove, to correct
to instruct in justice" 2 Timothy 3:16
 Lt. “in spirare” – to breathe into
“By supernatural power God so moved and impelled the
human authors to write - he so assisted them when writing -
that the things he ordered and those only they first rightly
understood, then willed faithfully to write down, and finally
expressed in apt words and with infallible truth.”

Providentissimus Deus, Pope Leo XIII

INSPIRATION IS THE SPECIAL INFLUENCE OF THE HOLY SPIRIT
ON THE HUMAN AUTHORS, SUCH THAT THEY WERE ABLE TO
WRITE DOWN WHAT GOD WANTED THEM TO WRITE.
INSPIRATION IS NOT:
•DICTATION – God did not dictate the words to the human authors. As stated earlier, the human
authors had to go through all the processes involved in coming up with a written work.
•POSSESSION – The human authors were not coerced by God to write. They did not lose their free
will when they put God’s Word into writing. On their end, they had to cooperate with inspiration.
COVENANT BETWEEN COVENANT BETWEEN
GOD AND ISRAEL The Old Testament GOD AND HUMANITY
MEDIATED BY MOSES finds light in the MEDIATED BY JESUS
Central Event: New Testament. Central Event:
The New
Testament finds
foundation in the
Old Testament.
The Church
teaches that both
THE EXODUS divisions are THE RESURRECTION
Language: equally inspired. Language:
Predominantly Hebrew Predominantly Greek
Inerrancy means freedom from error. The inerrancy of Scripture is
a consequence of its inspiration. Because God is the principal author
of the Bible, then it cannot but contain the truth.

BUT THE BIBLE CONTAINS ERROR…

Errors in Science : This is because the Bible was not written to be a science
textbook. The authors had primitive knowledge of science. (e.g. the sun moves
around the earth: Joshua 10:14)
Errors in History : The Bible was a product of oral tradition. This tradition
preserves the essential content, not the trivial details, so it is possible to find
chronological errors, contradictory details, and inaccurate quotations once in a
while. (e.g. The animals Noah’s Ark: Genesis 6:19 and Genesis 7:2)
Errors in Moral Understanding : The people of the Old Testament did not learn
of God’s will instantly. It took time before they understood God’s precepts, hence
there were instances when they label something good as bad and vice versa. (e.g.
total extermination of enemies is God’s will: Joshua 11:13-14)
These errors do not in anyway affect the essential message of Sacred Scriptures.
THE BIBLE CONTAINS ERROR BUT TEACHES NO ERROR.
 Gk. “kanon” – a stick; measuring rod
-the word implies “norms” or “standards”

CANONICITY IS THE CHURCH’S OFFICIAL

DECLARATION THAT A BOOK IS INSPIRED, AND IS
THEREFORE A WORTHY BASIS OF FAITH AND
MORALS.

FOR A BOOK TO BE DECLARED CANONICAL, IT HAS

TO PASS CERTAIN STANDARDS. AS IT PASS THE
STANDARDS, IT BECOMES A STANDARD ITSELF.

N.B. Canonicity does not make a book inspired, neither does it

add to inspiration. It is simply a formal recognition of the
inspiration which the book has always possessed.
FOR THE OLD TESTAMENT:
•The scripture must not contradict the
TORAH (five books of Moses). For the
Jews, Moses was undoubtedly a man of
God and his “books” measure everything.
•The scripture must be constantly used in
liturgy.
•In some cases, language became a factor.
Some Jews rejected non-Hebrew writings.
•Recognized Sacred Scriptures are stored
in the temple chests, available for public
reading. Putting a book in the temple chest
is tantamount to canonization.
FOR THE NEW TESTAMENT:
•Apostolic Origin - either the books
were written by the apostles themselves,
or they were used as sources.
•Coherence with the essential Gospel
Message- the content of the book must
be consistent with the message of Christ.
•Constant use in the liturgy- the books
were used by the Early Christian
Communities in their celebration of the
“breaking of the bread” and other
liturgical functions.
When a book fails to meet the standards, it is labeled as
APOCRYPHAL i.e. of doubtful authority

When a book has passed the standards, it becomes part of the CANON OF SCRIPTURES.
The CANON OF SCRIPTURES refers to the official list of inspired books.

ROMAN CATHOLIC BIBLE PROTESTANT BIBLE

73 (72) BOOKS 66 BOOKS

46 Books in the Old Testament 39 Books in the Old
(45 if Jeremiah and Testament
Lamentations are 27 Books in the New
counted as one) Testament
27 Books in the New Testament
The word “Deuterocanonical” literally means: “second
canon”. These refers to the second set of canonical books.

During the Council of Trent, before the Catholic Church finally

closed the Canon (which means from then on, no other books
will be added to the bible), the Church also declared as
canonical some Old Testament books which were recognized
ever since as inspired but were not formally declared as part of
the canon of scriptures.

Unfortunately, the Protestants have already deviated from the

Catholic Church when this happened so they do not have the
Deuterocanonicals in their Bible. If ever they include it, they
simply label the books as Apocryphals. One thing is for sure,
the Protestant Canon was still a product of the prudent judgment
of the Catholic Church before the split took place.
The Bible did not always have its chapter and verses. Hence, when one
would look for particular passages, one has scan through the entire book.

The division of the bible into chapters

was done in the thirteenth century by
Most Rev. Stephen Langton, Archbishop
of Canterbury

Some time later, in the sixteenth century, the bible

was divided into verses by Robert Estienne, a
French printer.
CATECHISM OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH
nos.101-141

Francis E. Gigot
SACRED SCRIPTURES, THE BIBLE
www.pax-et-veritas.org

Ian Knox C.S.Sp.

THEOLOGY FOR TEACHERS
Ottawa: Novalis Press, 1994

INSPIRATION AND INERRANCY

www.cathtruth.com