SOURCES

OF FAITH

CHAPTER 7
LESSON 20

SCRIPTURES
AND
TRADITION
 SACRED SCRIPTURES
Collected in the Bible, are
the inspired record of how
God dealt with His people,
and how they responded to,
remembered, and
interpreted that
experience.
 The Scripture is the
expression of the
people’s experience of
God, and as a response
to their needs.
Collectively, the
Scriptures from ‘The Book
of the People of God-the
book of the Church.
The Bible was written
by persons from the
people of God, for the
people of God, about
the God-experience of
the people of God”
(CFC 81).
The Holy Scriptures are
inseparable from the
people of God whose
life and history
(tradition) formed the
context of their writing
and development
(cf. CFC 82)
Sacred Tradition and Sacred Scripture
are bound closely related, moving toward
the same goal and making up a single
sacred deposit of the Word of God.
Tradition is the process by which divine
revelation, coming from Jesus Christ
through the apostles,is communicated
and unfolded in the community of the
Church. Thus the living Tradition of the
Church, Which includes the inspired word
of God in Sacred Scriptures, in the
Channel through which God’s self-
revelation comes to us (cf. CFC 83)
 LESSON 21
BIBLICAL INSPIRATION

“The divinely revealed realities,

which are contained and presented
in the text of Sacred Scriptures,
have written down under the
inspiration of the Holy Spirit” (cf.
CFC 85).God is the author of the
Sacred Scriptures by virtue of
inspiration.
 “inspired” which
BIBLE are to be said to be
refers to what is called “biblical
inspiration” means that the sacred and
canonical books of the Old and New
Testaments, whole and entire, were
written under the inspiration of the Holy
Spirit, so that we can call God their
“author” and the Bible “the word of
God”. God chose certain human authors,
who as true authors made full use of
their human powers and faculties,
Yet were so guided by
the Holy Spirit who so
enlightened their
minds and moved their
wills that they put
down in writing what
God wanted written
(cf. CFC 85)
Canonical books-
Official list of books
included in the Bible
Human Faculty -
Different abilities and
capacities of a person
Lesson 22
The Canon of
Scriptures
 Canon
The word Canon in Greek means
“measuring rod” or “ruler” the
expression “canon of the Bible (cf.
CCC 120). We distinguish them
from the non-inspired books, thus
the canonicity of a book indicates
that it was inspired.
 Because of
disagreements, the
Church found it
necessary to make a
definitive list, a “canon”
of the bo oks which have
been truly inspired by
God and thus have God
for their author.
The Canon of Scripture is divided into
two:

1. The Old Testament – the books

written before Jesus’ life.

2. The New Testament- the books

written after Jesus’life.
 Through guidance by the Holy Spirit,
the Church determined the inspired
and normative books in terms of their
apostolic origin, coherence with the
essential Gospel message, and
constant use in the Church’ liturgy.
After a long development, the Church
finally accepted 46 books of the Old
Testament and the 27 books of the
New Testament that we find in our
Catholic Bible as inspired, sacred, and
canonical (cf. CFC 88).
The Church canon was developed
according to the following four criteria:

1. Apostolic Authority- the

most authoritative writings
available to the church were
those works which came from His
apostles.
 The Church canon was
developed according to the
following four criteria:

2. Orthodoxy-
had recourse to the criterion of
orthodoxy. By orthodoxy’ they meant
the apostolic faith- the faith set forth
in the undoubted apostolic writings
and maintained in the Churches which
had been founded by the apostles.
 The Church canon was developed
according to the following four criteria:

3. Antiquity- if a writing was

the work of an apostle or of
someone closely associated
with a apostle, it must
belong to the apostolic age.
The Church canon was
developed according to the
following four criteria:

4. Catholicity- a work which

was acknowledged by the
greater part of the Catholic
Church would probably
receive universal recognition
sooner or later
Lesson 23

Inerrant
Saving Truth
 Since the Scripture were
written, compiled, and edited
under the inspiration of the
Holy Spirit, they firmly,
faithfully, and without error,
teach the truth about God, for
the sake of our salvation. The
Bible is normative since it
imparts saving truth that can
be relied upon to bring us into
deeper communion with God
(cf. CFC 89).
 The veracity and
inerrancy of the Bible
are direct
consequences of its
inspiration and divine
origin. God is the
principal author of the
Bible. He is the
Supreme Truth. He
always speaks the truth
and never deceives
anyone nor deceived
Himself.
Veracity the Bible teaches the truth
firmly and faithfully (with certainty)

Inerrancy – the Bible teaches the

truth without error
Thus, “Christian Faith is not
a religion of the Book.
Christianity is the religion
of the Word of God, not a
written word unable to
speak, but the incarnate
and living Word. The
Scripture do not remain a
dead letter (cf. CFC 90)
 “For all the books which the
Church receives as sacred and
canonical, are written wholly and
entirely, with all their parts, at
the dictation of the Holy Spirit;
and so far is it from being possible
that any error can coexist with
inspiration, that inspiration not
only is essentially incompatible
with error,
but excludes and rejects it
as absolutely and
necessarily as it is
impossible that God
Himself, the supreme
Truth, can utter that
which is not true…”
(Procidentissimus Deus 20)
The Sacred Scriptures
may have content,
grammatical, and
scientific errors, but
by its essence or
nature as inspired
books, it implies
inerrancy.
Let us discuss!
What is the difference between truth and
fact? Can something be true but not factual
and vice versa? Explain.
A fact is something that’s indisputable(undeniable),
based on empirical research and quantifiable
measures. Facts go beyond theories. They’re proven
through calculation and experience, or they’re
something that definitively occurred in the past.

Truth is entirely different; it may include fact, but it

can also include belief. (Acceptable)
Lesson 24

Interpreting
Scriptures
 In order to understand the
message of God to us, we
must get at the proper
meaning of the human word.
We call this process
“interpretation”
What is the goal of interpretation?

The goal of interpretation

is for the reader to
understand the original
intention of the author.
This is true whether you
are studying the Bible or
reading a news article.
 The author is trying to convey
meaning, and we want to
properly understand that
meaning. “To interpret the
Scriptures correctly, the
reader must be attentive to
what the human authors truly
wanted to affirm, and to what
the God wanted to reveal to us
by their words” (CCC 109)
 But who has the power to
interpret the Scriptures? “For the
Filipino Catholic, the answer is
clear. The task of giving an
authentic interpretation of the
Word of God has been entrusted
to the living teaching office of the
Church alone” (cf. CFC 91).
To get into the proper meaning of the text in the
Bible, we need to consider the following factors:

Four Factors:
1. The Human Author
It involves some basic ideas of the social,
economic, and religious conditions of the
authors in their particular historical
situations (cf. DV 12; CCC 110)
 2. The text itself.

It considers the literary

form (e.g. historical
narratives, prophetic
oracles, poems or
parables) which the author
used (cf. DV.12)
3. The readers/ hearers.
It focuses on how the Bible
brings its own culture of
meanings and framework of
attitudes that help form
reform, and transform, the
readers, into the image of
Christs (CFC 95)
4. The Common horizon

It refers to how connected and

associated with one another the
Sacred Tradition, Sacred Scripture,
and the teaching office
(Magisterium) of the Church (CFC
97)
Let us discuss!

If the task of giving an authentic

interpretation of the Bible has been
entrusted to the Church, how can
the Bible be useful then to ordinary
people who may fall short to
interpret it authentically?
Let us describe

Oracle – Divine advice or prophecy.

Parable – A simple story used to

illustrate a moral or spiritual lesson.

Magisterium- the Teaching authority of

the Church.