Introduction to the Holy Bible

St. Mary’s RCIA

Understanding Revelation and Scriptures

-Both Scriptures and Tradition communicate the word of God and have their origin in what the Apostles received from Jesus’s teachings and example and from the Holy Spirit. They are distinct modes of communication, but closely related. They can never be in conflict, and each one helps us to understand the other.

Understanding Revelation and Scriptures

-There is a difference between Tradition and traditions. When the church uses the word

tradition with a lowercase t, it is referring to customs, expressions, and practices that are not essential to the Catholic faith. For example, praying around an Advent wreath and not eating meat on Fridays are traditions.

Understanding Revelation and Scriptures-God’s revelation culminates in the person and mission of Jesus Christ. Jesus taught and lived the Good News that God is with us to free us from sin and death. Even more, Jesus himself was revealed as God’s Son, both fully God and fully man. As the Christ, he is the messiah, or savior, God promised.

Understanding Revelation and Scriptures

-The Scriptures are sacred writings that announce God’s love and message of salvation. They were written through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, who guided human authors to write the truth God wished to reveal for the sake of salvation. Even though it might be hard to see at first, the entire Bible relates to the person, mission, and message of Jesus.

Understanding Revelation and Scriptures

-To ensure that Scriptures and tradition would be preserved; Jesus’s Apostles left bishops as their successors. Thus authoritative interpretation of both the Scriptures and Tradition is the task of the Pope, and the bishops acting in communion with him.

Understanding Revelation and Scriptures

-The Pope and bishops in their teaching role are also called the Magisterium. With the help of the Holy Spirit, they faithfully teach, interpret, and preserve God’s word for every new generation. Jesus’s Apostles left bishops as their successors to ensure that this process of transmission would continue without interruption.

Understanding Revelation and Scriptures

-Although the Magtisterium’s teaching roll is the authoritative interpretation of the Scripture and Tradition, it doesn’t mean that the rest of us are excused from working to understand and pass on what God has revealed.

The Acts of the Apostles and the epistles of the New Testament show us how from the beginning, the Apostles spread the message of God’s love by preaching about Jesus Christ and encouraging people to believe in him as Lord and Savior.

Through their work the Church grew rapidly, bringing people to Christ to become the worldwide body the Church is today.

Not all Christians agree about how reliable information about Jesus Christ is handed on.

Revelation is transmitted though both Scriptures and Tradition, an the value the Church places on these methods is one of the things that makes us uniquely Catholic.

Understanding Revelation and Scriptures

-The Catechism reminds us that all the faithful “share in understanding and handing-on revealed truth. They have received the anointing of the Holy Spirit, who instructs them and guides them into all truth (CCC 91)

1000-50 BC: The Old Testament (hereafter "OT") books are written.

Old Testament Timeline

AD 30-100: Christians use the LXX as their scriptures. This upsets the Jews.

AD 100: So Jewish rabbis meet at the Council of Jamniah and decide to include in their canon only 39 books, since only these can be found in Hebrew.

The Second Temple

AD 70: Romans besiege Jerusalem and destroy the Temple

Old Testament Timeline

AD 400: Jerome translates the Bible from Hebrew and Greek into Latin (called the "Vulgate"). He knows that the Jews have only 39 books, and he wants to limit the OT to these; the 7 he would leave out (Tobit, Judith, 1 Maccabees, 2 Maccabees, Wisdom of Solomon, Sirach [or "Ecclesiasticus"], and Baruch--he calls "apocrypha," that is, "hidden books." But Pope Damasus wants all 46 traditionally-used books included in the OT, so the Vulgate has 46.

Old Testament Timeline

AD 1536: Luther translates the Bible from Hebrew and Greek to German. He assumes that, since Jews wrote the Old Testament, theirs is the correct canon; he puts the extra 7 books in an appendix that he calls the "Apocrypha."

AD 1546: The Catholic Council of Trent reaffirms the canonicity of all 46 books.

Development of the New Testament Canon

AD 51-125: The New Testament books are written, but during this same period other early Christian writings are produced--for example, the Didache (c. AD 70), 1 Clement (c. 96), the Epistle of Barnabas (c. 100), and the 7 letters of Ignatius of Antioch (c. 110).

AD 140: Marcion, a businessman in Rome, teaches that there were two Gods: Yahweh, the cruel God of the OT, and Abba, the kind father of the NT. So Marcion eliminates the Old Testament as scriptures and, since he is anti-Semitic, keeps from the NT only 10 letters of Paul and 2/3 of Luke's gospel (he deletes references to Jesus' Jewishness). Marcion's "New Testament"--the first to be compiled--forces the mainstream Church to decide on a core canon: the four gospels and letters of Paul.

AD 200: But the periphery of the canon is not yet determined. According to one list, compiled at Rome c. AD 200 (the Muratorian Canon), the NT consists of the 4 gospels; Acts; 13 letters of Paul (Hebrews is not included); 3 of the 7 General Epistles (1-2 John and Jude); and also the Apocalypse of Peter.

AD 367: The earliest extant list of the books of the NT, in exactly the number and order in which we presently have them, is written by Athanasius, Bishop of Alexandria, in his Easter letter of 367. [Note: this is well after the Constantine's Edict of Toleration in 313 A.D.]

Again it is not tedious to speak of the [books] of the New Testament. These are, the four Gospels, according to Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. Afterwards, the Acts of the Apostles and Epistles (called Catholic), seven, viz. of James, one; of Peter, two; of John, three; after these, one of Jude. In addition, there are fourteen Epistles of Paul, written in this order. The first, to the Romans; then two to the Corinthians; after these, to the Galatians; next, to the Ephesians; then to the Philippians; then to the Colossians; after these, two to the Thessalonians, and that to the Hebrews; and again, two to Timothy; one to Titus; and lastly, that to Philemon. And besides, the Revelation of John.

These are fountains of salvation, that they who thirst may be satisfied with the living words they contain. In these alone is proclaimed the doctrine of godliness. Let no man add to these, neither let him take ought from these. For concerning these the Lord put to shame the Sadducees, and said, ‘Ye do err, not knowing the Scriptures.’ And He reproved the Jews, saying, ‘Search the Scriptures, for these are they that testify of Me.’

AD 904: Pope Damasus, in a letter to a French bishop, lists the New Testament books in their present number and order.

AD 1442: At the Council of Florence, the entire Church recognizes the 27 books, though does not declare them unalterable.

AD 1536: In his translation of the Bible from Greek into German, Luther removes 4 NT books (Hebrews, James, Jude, and Revelations) from their normal order and places them at the end, stating that they are less than canonical.

AD 1546: At the Council of Trent, the Catholic Church reaffirms once and for all the full list of 27 books as traditionally accepted.

Scripture Search: Knowledge of the Gospels

How many think they can find the four Gospels?

The Table of Contents might help

Close your eyes, leaf through the Gospels and randomly put your finger on at any point.

Open your eyes and share the passage in our group. If you have read the passage before or heard the story, share it with your group..

Continue to do this until everyone has shared their chosen pasage.

Understanding Revelation and Scriptures

-The entire biblical record of salvation history points to and finds fulfillment in Jesus Christ. However, the four Gospels hold a special place for all Christians because they offer the most direct record of Jesus and his teachings.

But some Christians accept only those beliefs and practices identified in the Bible. That is why some of your non-Catholic peers may occasionally challenge some of the Catholic Church’s teachings and practices, saying they are nonbiblical.

Differences also occur between Catholics and Fundamentalists, or those Protestants who interpret the Bible literally, regarding the nature of Scriptures.

For example, Catholics interpret the Gospels in light of the understanding of their development. The contend that we can fully understand the meaning of the Bible passages only if we take into account when, why, by whom, and to whom they were written.

Therefore, Catholics and many Protestants do not expect every word in the Bible to reflect our modern understanding of scientific and historical truth.

Fundamentalist Protestants, on the other hand, accept every word and detail in the Scriptures as factual –including understandings of science and history.

This position is called biblical literalism. This difference in the way Catholics and fundamentalists understand scientific and historical truth in the Bible accounts for much tension between these groups of believers.

Open Your Bible

The Bible is divided into two main sections:

The word Bible means: Book – the Bible is a collection of books.

The Old Testament (covenant)

The New Testament

The covenant with God experienced by the Jewish people of Israel before the time of Jesus.

The new covenant that was brought about by the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus.

Some disagreement persists among Christians churches about the number of books that are part of the Old Testament.

Catholics accept forty-six books in the Old Testament.

…and twenty seven in the New Testament.

Total – 73 Books

Exodus

BARUCHEcclesiastics

WISDOMTOBIT

JUDITHMaccabees 1

Gene

sis

Levi

ticu

s

Deut

eron

omy

Josh

ua

Jud

ges

1 S

amu

el

2 S

amu

el

1 K

ings

2 K

ings

Former Prophets

Ru

th

Este

r

Dan

iel

Jon

ah

Stories Poetry

PROPHECY

1 C

hro

nic

les

2 C

hro

nic

les

Ezra

Neh

emia

h

Wisdom

LamentationsSong of Solomon

PsalmsJob

ECCLESIASTES

PROVERBS

Chronicler

Maccabees 2

Isai

ah

Zep

han

iah

Hag

gai

Zech

aria

h

Mal

ach

i

Joel

Am

os

Ob

adia

h

Mic

ah

Nah

um

Hab

akku

k

Jere

mia

h

Ezek

iel

Hos

ea

Old Testament 46 BooksNew Testament

PentateuchThe Law (Torah)

The Old TestamentThe Old Testament has forty-six books divided into the following sections:

The Pentateuch (Genesis through Deuteronomy)These books are the core of the Old Testament. They tell the story of Creation, sin, and the origin of God’s Chosen People.

The Historical Books (Joshua through 2 Maccabees)

These books tell how the Israelites settled in the Promised Land. They also tell the stories of the great and not so great –kings.

The Wisdom Books (Job through Sirach)These are books of poetry and the collected wisdom of the Israelites.

The Prophets (Isaiah through Malachi)These books are collected speeches and biographies of the Israelite prophets. The prophets spoke for God against idolatry and injustice.

Mark

GospelsBARUCHEcclesiastics

WISDOMTOBIT

JUDITHMaccabees 1

Matt

hew

Luke John

Acts

History

Eph

esia

ns

Colo

ssia

ns

2

The

ssal

onia

nsLetters Pastoral Letters

Catholic Letters

Rom

ans

Cori

nit

hia

ns

1Co

rin

ith

ian

s 2

Gal

atia

ns

Pastoral Letters

HebrewsTitus 2 Timothy

1 Timothy

Paul’s Letters

Maccabees 2

Jam

es

2 Jo

hn

3 Jo

hn

Jude

1 P

eter

2 P

eter

1 Jo

hn

New Testament 27 Books

Old Testament

Ph

ilip

pia

ns

Th

esal

onia

ns

1

Revela

tion

Phrophecy

The Old TestamentThe Jewish people’s moral sense developed gradually through their long history of coming to know and relate to God.

- Some sections of the Hebrew Scriptures seem terribly cruel, even barbaris, and this can make for difficult reading at times.

- But with proper guidance, some patience, and an open mind, we can recognize the Old Testament as one of the most profound and influential works of literature ever developed.

- It serves as a foundation for the complete revelation of God that came in Jesus.

The New TestamentThe New Testament has twenty-seven books divided into the following sections:

The Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John)These four books are the most important books to Christians because they convey the meaning of Christ Jesus’s life and teaching as their central message.

The Acts of the ApostlesThis book is the continuation of the Gospel of Luke and tells the stories of how the early Church was spread.

The Epistles (Romans through Jude)These are twenty-one letters, written by Paul and other early Church leaders, which give teachings and guidance to individuals and the first Christian churches.

The Book of RevelationThis book records the visions of an early Christian named John.

Exodus 6: 28-30

The name of the book. Look in the Table of

Contents for the page

The ChapterThe verses within the chapters.

How to use a citation to locate a passage in the Bible.

Closing Prayer2 Tim 3: 14-17