THE SACRED

SCRIPTURE
TOPIC 2
FILIPINO CHRISTIAN LIVING 2
 OBJECTIVES
• Describe the role of Scripture in
God’s revelation.
• Explain the functions of Sacred
Scripture in DR.
• Develop conviction in faith
through Sacred Scripture.
 Scriptural Foundation
“All scripture is inspired by God and is
useful for teaching the truth, rebuking error,
correcting faults, and giving instruction for
right living, so that the person who serves
God may be fully qualified and equipped to
do every kind of good deed.”

- 2 Timothy 3:16-17
“Sacred”
 “Sacred”
• Interpreted as something
“connected with God or dedicated
to a religious purpose and so
deserving veneration.”
• Secular point of view: it means “too
valuable to interfere with”
 “Sacred”
• Sacred rites: Holy Mass
• The site of Eleusis is sacred to
Demeter
 “Sacred”
• Cows in Hindu are sacred
“Scripture”
 “Scripture”
• Sacred writings of Christianity
contained in the Bible
• Bible – (Gk) Books
• First passed on through oral
tradition before it was put in
written form
• Originally written in Hebrew and then
translated to Greek around the 2nd and 3rd
centuries BC
• Composed in Greek during the 2nd half of the
first century AD
 “Sacred Scripture”
• The inspired record of how
God dealt with His people and
how they responded to,
remembered and interpreted
that experience.
 Biblical Inspiration
• It means that the sacred and
canonical books of the OT and NT,
whole and entire, were written
under the inspiration of the Holy
Spirit, so that, we can call God as
the ‘Author’ and the Bible as the
‘Word of God’.
Dei Verbum
Dogmatic Constitution on Divine Revelation

• In composing the sacred books, God

chose men and while employed by Him
• (2) they made use of their
powers and abilities, so that with Him
acting in them and through them,
• (3) they, as true authors, consigned to
writing everything and only those
things which He wanted. (4)
 God is the Author
“The divinely revealed realities, which
are contained and presented in the text
of SS, have been written down under
the inspiration of the Holy Spirit.”
“Though God is the Author, He still
needs a human as the CHANNEL of His
message. This is known as inspired
authors by God.” -CCC
 WHO WROTE THE
BIBLE AND WHY
• MOSTLY HEBREWS
• MOSES, PROPHETS, ORDINARY MEN
• OFTEN UNKNOWN AUTHOR
• TO TEACH, RECORD, PATRIOTISM,
PROPHESIZE COMING
MESSIAH
 How to Interpret the
Sacred Scripture?
“The task of giving an authentic
interpretation of the Word of God
has been entrusted to the living
teaching office of the Church
alone.”
- CFC
Four Factors in
interpreting
Scripture
1. Human Author
Common sense tells
us to find out what
the inspired human
author had in mind
when interpreting a
text.
Human Author
Think of the social,
economic, and religious
conditions of the authors
in their particular
historical situations.
 the reader will discern
what God really intends
for His people in their
time and place.
 2. The Text

We have to look at its literary form

(e.g. historical, narratives, prophetic
oracles, poems or parables) which the
author is using.
 2. The Text

The readers must consider the type of

books or interpretation without
separating it from the OT & NT writings
as a whole. “dynamic unity”
 2. The Text
Example:
 Adam and Melchizedek are types of
Christ
The flood foreshadows Baptism
Manna in the desert is the type of the
Eucharist.
 3. Readers/Hearers

 We are constantly asking Scripture new

questions and problems, drawn from
our own experience.
 We want to know what the Scripture
means to me/us.
 3. Readers/Hearers

 The Bible brings its own culture of

meanings and framework of attitudes
that help form, reform and transform
us, the readers, into the image of Christ.
 3. Readers/Hearers

The authentic interpretation must be in

continuity and harmony of the tradition
that “has grown out of the text’s impact
on Christian communities through the
ages.”
4. The Common Horizon
4. The Common Horizon
Interpretation which “first unites all the books
of the Bible into a basic unity, and links
together the context of the of the Scriptural
text and its tradition with our present reading
context.
 How to Interpret the
Sacred Scripture?
“The divinely revealed realities, which
are contained and presented in the text
of SS, have been written down under
the inspiration of the Holy Spirit.”
“Though God is the Author, He still
needs a human as the CHANNEL of His
message. This is known as inspired
authors by God.” -CCC