GENERAL INTRODUCTION TO THE BIBLE
Author
Rev. Fr. Chacko Mulloor
Chennai
Revised by
Rev. Dr. Mariaraj Arockiaraj OFM Cap
.
TABLE OF CONTENT.
I.
II.
III.
IV.
V.
VI.
VII.
VIII.
General Introduction
Inspiration and Inerrancy of the Bible
The Canon of the Bible
The Texts of the Bible
The Translations of the Bible
The Interpretation of the Bible
The Rules of Interpretation
The Bible in the Life of the Church
Editorial
Dear Students,
It is my pleasure to welcome you to the program of the Bible Correspondence Course. It
is a two years' course covering the whole Bible in 24 lessons. We begin this course with the
first lesson on the General Introduction to the Bible. This lesson includes some of the basic
background which one must know to understand the mighty revelation of God contained in the
Bible. If you carefully study this lesson you will come to understand the greatness of the
inspired Word of God.
The Bible is holy because it is the Word of God spoken in the words of humans. At the
same time Bible is a riddle as it is revealed to people of completely different culture, time, land
and language. We have to decode the literary forms contained in the Bible. That is why we need
to approach the Bible critically by which we are able to bring out the meaning for the present
world.
A full and comprehensive understanding of ancient books is not at all easy unless we
search for the meaning through a deep study. Moreover, the strangeness of the Bible imagery
(“Smoke went out from his nostrils, and devouring fire from his mouth” - Ps 18:8) is to be
carefully studied to bring out its relevance to our present times.
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This study of the Bible will help you for the above effort and you are fortunate to have this
chance to study systematically the Bible through this program.
Once again, I welcome you all to spend some time every month to carefully study the
lesson and write the answers. This is a process of study by which you will become familiar with
the Word of God which is our source of salvation.
The students need to go through the lesson again and again so that they will come to
know the basic principles of the study of the Bible. When you read through this lesson you
need also to keep your copy of the Bible by your side and refer it wherever the biblical
references are given. We prefer the New Revised Standard Version (NRSV) or English
Standard Version – Catholic Edition (ESV-CE), as these versions are considered to be closer to
the original. When you have finished reading the lessons answer the questions given at the end
and submit them as directed.
I wish you a very successful study of the Bible through this program.
Yours at the service of the Word of God,
Rev. Dr. A. John Baptist
Principal
Bible Correspondence Course
I. General Introduction
1. Popular Notions about the Bible.
The Bible can be viewed from many different angles. Therefore, it can be described in many
ways. Each description conveys one or more aspects of the Bible.
A. The Bible is the Word of God in the words of human.
This description emphasizes the divine - human authorship of the Bible. God’s eternal word
takes the form of (limited) human language. God inspires and the human beings to write. Both
are true authors.
B. The Bible is the Record of Revelation.
The Bible contains the eternal truths about God. The human intelligence fails to grasp the
whole truth. Hence, divine revelation is needed. Through the Bible, God reveals his plan for the
salvation of humankind. God’s will is enshrined through His words, deeds, visions etc. The
divine revelation took place at various stages, through different holy men and women in the
salvation history (cf. Heb 1:1).
C. The Bible is the Faith Document.
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This follows from the fact that the Bible is a Record of Revelation. God’s revelation can be
understood and accepted only through faith. It is written by the people of faith to the people of
faith in order to invite them to and to strengthen them in faith.
D. The Bible is the History of salvation.
The principal motif of the Bible is the salvation of the whole human race. The Bible records
important persons, events, places, stages involved in the salvation history. No nation could be
excluded from the salvation of God.
E. The Bible is the History of God’s Kingdom.
God works out salvation in and through His kingdom. The Church is on the way to the
Kingdom. The Church contains the elements of that Kingdom. However, the Church is different
from the Kingdom.
F. The Bible is God’s Letter to His children (St. John Chrysostom).
This description emphasizes the aspect of God’s love. “Through this revelation the invisible
God, out of the abundance of His love speaks to men as His friends” (DV.2). 1 Through this love
'letter', God, our Father, teaches, reproves, corrects and trains us, His children in righteousness
(cf. 2 Tim 3:16-17).
G. The Bible is the collection of 73 books written under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit and
accepted by the Church as inspired.
Here let us remember three elements: 1.It is made up of 73 books. 2. These books have
been inspired by the Holy Spirit.3. Their inspiration is guaranteed by the Church. They contain
authentic and infallible message.
2. The Etymology of the term ‘Bible.’
The term ‘Bible’ comes from the Greek word ‘Biblos’ which means a ‘papyrus’, 'scroll',
or 'book'. The plural form of it is 'Biblia'. Latin adapted this plural form and used it in the
singular sense. Hence, in Latin 'Biblia' means simply a book. Many European languages
adapted the term from Latin. Thus, we have 'Bible' in English, 'Bibia' in Italian, 'Bibel' in
German, 'Bible' in French and so on. Etymologically, the word 'Bible ' just means ‘book’.
Kindly Note: It is also possible to trace the origin of the word 'Bible' from 'Byblos', a
Phoenician port in Lebanon through which papyrus (a writing material) was imported from
Egypt.
3. Other Important Names of the Bible.
A. The Scripture.
The word scripture comes from the Latin word 'Scriptura' which means ‘writing, what is
written, book.’ Since the Bible is holy, we call it 'Sacred Scripture' or 'Holy Writings'.
B. Testament.
The word testament emerges from the Latin word 'Testamentum' which juridically means
a ‘will’ made by a person before death. Its Greek equivalent is diatheke that means agreement,
1Dei Verbum (Dogmatic Constitution on Divine Revelation).
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pact and covenant. The Old Testament (OT) deals with the covenant made between God and
the Old Israel. The New Testament (NT) deals with the covenant made between God and the
New Israel (the whole humankind).The OT deals with who is to come. The NT deals with the
one who has come and will come again.
4.'One book ' and 'Many books'
The Bible is one book because its divine author is One - God. Its principal theme is one
– the History of salvation. The Bible has many books: 1.Its human authors are many. 2. All the
73 books have their own specific theme, motivation, vocabulary, focus, historical context etc.
5. The Holy book of Jews and Christians.
A.The Old Testament.
The Palestinian Jews accept only 39 of the OT books while the Diaspora Jew (the Jews
living outside Palestine) accepted the 46 OT books which are found in the Septuagint version
(Greek Translation of the OT). The Christians accept both all the Old and New Testament
books.The Jews don't use the term 'Old Testament'. Instead, they name it 'TANAK'. The NonCatholics accept only 39 books of the OT which are written in the Hebrew language. However,
the seven books, Tobit, Judith, Baruch, Sirach, Wisdom and 1,2 Maccabees are not accepted by
the Jews and the Non-Catholics. These are cited as examples: their original texts are found in
the Greek language2; they were written after Babylonian exile: and they are composed outside
Palestine.
As we have mentioned above the Jews call the OTas “TaNaK”. T stands for Torah
(Law).N stands for Nabiim (Prophets).K stands for Ketubim (Writings).The Torah contains
Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy.The Nabiimcould be further classified
as former Prophets and later prophets. The Former Prophets are Joshua, Judges, 1,2 Samuel, 1,
2 Kings. The later prophets could be subdivided as the Major Prophets and the Minor Prophets.
Ketubim has Psalms, Proverbs, Job, Song of Songs, Ruth, Lamentation, Qohelet (Ecclesiastes),
Esther, Daniel, Ezra, Nehemiah, 1,2 Chronicles.
B. The New Testament.
The Jews do not accept the NT at all. They still expect their earthly Messiah in the
tradition of David. All the Christian churches accept the 27 books of the NT.
6. The classification of the OT by the Catholics.
They classify theme as Historical, Didactical and Prophetical books.
A. The Historical books are:
i.
Pentateuchal History: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy.
ii.
Deuteronomistic History: Joshua, Judges, 1, 2 Samuel, 1,2 Kings.
iii.
Chroniclers History: 1,2 Chroniclers, Ezra, Nehemiah.
iv.
Maccabean History:1, 2 Macabees.
v.
Midrashic History: Ruth, Tobit, Judith, Esther.
2In the Qumran caves large part of the Hebrew text of Sirach is found.
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B. The Didactical books are Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Qohelet (Eclesiastes), Song of Songs,
Wisdom of Sirach (Ecclesiasticus).
C. The Prophetical books are subdivided as Major Prophets and Minor prophets.
Major Prophets: Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel and Daniel3. Lamentation and Baruch form a
part of the book of Jeremiah.
Minor Prophets: Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk,
Zephaniah, Haggai, Zachariah, and Malachi. These are called Minor Prophets as their written
prophecies are less.
7. The Christians classification of the NT Books.
They follow the same pattern of the OT Classification.
Historical books: the four gospels (four versions of the history of Jesus) and the Acts (The
history of the church).
Didactical books are all the 21 letters.
Prophetical book is the book of Revelation.
In Short:
OT
The Jews
39
The Catholics
39 + 7
The Non- Catholics 39
N.T.
27
27
Total
39
73
66
Note: If the book of Lamentation is considered as a part of Jeremiah the total number of
Biblical books will be only 72. Otherwise it is 73.
8. Division as chapters and verses.
The original biblical scripts were written simply without the division of chapters and
verses. They too lacked spacing between words and sentences. The present chapter divisions in
our Bibles were invented in 1205 by Stephen Langton, a professor in Paris who subsequently
became the Archbishop of Canterbury. He incorporated his system into Latin Vulgate edition of
the Bible. The chapters were further divided into verses in 1571 by Robert Stephen and Sanctus
Pagninus.
9. The Use of the Bible in Christian and Jewish Liturgy.
The Jews used to divide the Pentateuch into 167 portions for public reading for the course of
three years. Besides, they had appropriate readings from other books on special occasions.
Thus, they read from the Song of Songs for the Passover, from Ruth for the Feast of
Tabernacles, from Esther for the feast of Purim, from Lamentation for the anniversary of the
destruction of Jerusalem, and from Ecclesiastes for the feast of Booths. These five are called as
five Megilloth (the five scrolls).
The Church imitates the Jewish practice. It uses the biblical passages in the Holy Mass, the
divine office, the Para liturgical celebration, the administration of sacraments and sacramentals
3In the Hebrew Bible Daniel is not placed among the prophets but writings.
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etc. After Second Vatican Council (Vat II) there has been a revision in this practice providing
abundant and varied selections.
10. The Importance of the Bible in everyday life.
The Bible is the nerve center of Christians for various reasons.
A. It is important for their spiritual life. It has inspired millions of people. The few following
passages are basic guidelines for our spiritual existence.
i.The good and successful human beings are the ones who constantly meditate on the
word of God (Ps. 1:2).
ii. Ps. 19:7-14contains the transforming value of the word of God.
iii. Every verse of this longest psalm (Ps. 119) records a praise of God's law as the
source of human's happiness.
iv. 1 Cor 10:1-11instructs us that the writings of the OT that express the experiences of
Israel should serve as a salutary lesson for Christians.
v. The Sacred Scripture is useful to make one, morally perfect (2 Tim 3:16-17).
vi. The word of God serves like a two-edged sword. It is capable of penetrating the in
most secrets of our soul (Heb 4:12-13).
vii. God’s power to save the human race is revealed in the Gospel (Rom 1:16-17).
viii. The word of God cannot fail to bear fruit; it is like the rain that enables the earth to
bring forth abundant fruit (Isa 55:10-11).
ix. The word of God is like a seed that is sown in the field (Mark 4:26-29).
x. God's word can build up what is good and destroy what is evil (Jer 1:9-10).
xi. God’s word is a hammer. It functions like fire (Jer 23:29).
NB. Please, read the references from the Bible.
B. It is important for Theological study.
Vat II calls the Sacred Scripture as the Soul of Sacred Theology: “Sacred Theology rests
on the written word of God, together with sacred tradition as its primary and perpetual
foundations. By scrutinizing in the light of faith all truth are stored up in the mystery of Christ.
Theology is most powerfully strengthened and constantly rejuvenated by that word. For the
Sacred Scriptures contain the word of God and since they are inspired, they are as it were the
soul of the sacred theology” (DV 24).
C. It is important for the ministry of preaching.
The theme of Christian preaching should be Christ (1 Cor 2:1-5). And Christ is the
center of the Bible so much so that St. Jerome said, “to be ignorant of the Bible is to be
ignorant of Christ.”
D. It is important for the total formation of the people.
The Bible is a store house of knowledge.
i.
It too at times speaks about the history of the ancient people like, the Egyptians,
Babylonians, Assyrians, Canaanites, Persians, Greeks and Romans.
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ii.
iii.
iv.
v.
vi.
It is a historical book, for it records the history of the gradual realization of God’s
salvific designs for mankind.
The Biblical literature has a very great influence on the western literature.
Much of the western art such as painting, sculpture and music, has been influenced
by the Biblical thought.
It is a library. For it enshrines centuries long development of Hebrew, to certain
extent Greek and Aramaic language, the ancient near eastern culture, theology,
literature etc… the biblical study is the eternal study. Jerome calls Bible as divine
library.
Today the Bible is printed, translated and read practically in all the major languages
and dialects of the world. Hence, it continues to exercise its salutary influence on
people all over the world.
11. The Time of writing.
The history of the writing of the Bible is long and complex. It started in the 13th century BC
at the time of Moses. And it probably ended with the death of John, the Evangelist at the end of
the 1st Cen AD. Hence, the books of the Bible were written during the course of 14 centuries
(more or less).
Much of the OT is based upon the oral traditions circulated from mouth to mouth. Only at a
later stage they came to be written down. For example the book of Genesis goes back to the
patriarchal times (19-17 cen. BC). But it is committed into writing in the 6 th -5thcen BC. A
similar process can be applied to many other books of the OT. David was of course a famous
Psalmist. He did compose a few of the psalms. However, most of the Psalms have been
composed after the time of David by different persons. Most of Prophetical books were written
down by the disciples of the prophets at a later time. However, Baruch the secretary of
Jeremiah wrote his prophecy as he dictated it.
When we come to the NT, Jesus did not write, nor did he command his disciples to write.
Jesus commanded them to go and preach (Mt. 28:16-20). Writing was a difficult job then. They
committed NT to writing for various reasons: 1. The original disciples were dying. 2. The
persecution of the Church was raging like wild fire. 3. The new converts were multiplying fast.
4. The authentic life and teaching are to be preserved from unnecessary additions like legends,
errors etc. 5. They intended to hand over to the future generations a more permanent and
tangible form. Most probably, the writing was done during the second half of the 1 st cen. AD. A
period of thirty or forty years of preaching preceded their writing.
12. The Contribution of the Human Author.
The formation of many books especially of the OT took many centuries. Therefore, one
person cannot the author of all the books. Besides, in ancient time, any writing was considered
to be the property of the community, not so much of the individual. Many times, the real
authors suppressed their names in favor of the community. In fact, we know the names of the
authors of the gospels from Christian tradition, not from the gospels themselves. We are
ignorant of the names of the writers of all the OT Books except Jeremiah (Jer. 36:1-2, 217
23,32) and Sirach (Sir 50:27).We are fortunate with regard to NT authors. In most cases, we
know their author either from the tradition (gospels) or from the writings themselves (Letters).
Some OT books like the proverbs, Song of Songs, Ecclesiastes and Wisdom are attributed to
Solomon. Modern scholars opine that these books belong to a much later period. Solomon was
told to have received from God the gift of wisdom (1 Kgs 3). Therefore, there was a tendency
to attribute most of the books of the Wisdom literature to him. The titles such as Job, Joshua,
Samuel, Kings, do not refer to the authors. But the title indicates the heroes of the books.
II. Inspiration and Inerrancy of the Bible.
1. The meaning of the word “Inspiration”
Etymologically, the word 'Inspiration' comes from Latin 'inspirare' which means to breathe
in or to draw in breath.
In the general sense, it indicates any inner movement or inclination of the soul. Eg., poetic,
musical inspiration.
In a more restricted sense, it denotes any divine action on human in view of his salvation.
Eg. We do get the inspirations while praying, reading a good book, listening to a good sermon
etc.
Biblical Inspiration: It underlines a very special light given by God to a few chosen ones for
the purpose of writing the books of the Bible. These chosen ones traced out the plan of God for
the salvation of the humanity and commit them to writing.
2. Biblical evidence for the Inspiration of the Bible
God’s chosen people both the Jews and the Christians strongly believe and proclaim that the
sacred scriptures are divinely inspired. The Bible contains the will of God in a tangible form.
The testimony for this fact is also found in the OT, Jewish writings, NT and in the tradition of
the church. Let us see some of them.
A. Evidence of the OT.
i. Some are inspired to proclaim the message (Num 22:38, 24:2ff, 2 Sam 23:2, Isa 59:21,
Hos 3:8, Amos 3:8, Ezek 11:5, Mic 3:8, Neh 9:30). ii. God has given his Spirit to some people
to fulfill his mission: Gideon (Jugd 6:34) Jephthah (Judg 11:29), Samson (Judg 14:6, 19). iii.
Very often God commands His prophets to write. Eg., The Lord said to Moses: “Write this
down in a document to be remembered ...” (Exod 17:14)(The matter refers to Moses' victory
over Amalekites). Similar commands can be seen in Isa 30:8; Jer 30:2 and Hab 2:2. Isaiah
justifies his own written prophecy as “the book of the Lord” (34:16). iv. There is strong belief
on the divine origin of the scriptures (2 Macc 2:13;12:9;8:23;15:9).
In the NT, the divine origin of the OT is taken for granted: The conviction of Jesus (John
10:35; Matt 5:17; 10:26; 19:4-5); the conviction of the Apostles (2 Tim 3:16-17; 2 Pet 1:20-21).
The two pillars of the early Christianity (Peter-Paul) justify the divine inspiration of the OT:
“All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful for teaching, reproving, correcting....” (2 Tim
8
3:16 -17); “Above all, you must realize that no prophecy was ever produced by man’s will. On
the contrary, men with a message from God spoke as they were moved to do by the Holy
Spirit” (2 Pet 1:20-21).
There are a few scriptural texts that justify the divine inspiration of the some of the passages
of the NT. Eg. “Our beloved brother Paul wrote to you according to the wisdom given to him,
speaking of this (the second coming of the Lord) as he does in all his letters. There are some
things in them hard to understand, which the ignorant and unstable twist to their own
destruction, as they do for the other scriptures” (2 Pet 3:15 -16). This passage places the letters
of St. Paul on the same level with the writings of the OT. And those who twist the writings of
St.Paul, twist the message of the OT and thus, incur punishment. When Paul rewrites the
quotation of Deut 25:4 (“You shall not muzzle an ox which is treading out the grain,”) in 1 Tim
5:18and adds Luken commentary (“The laborer deserves his wages” (Luke 10:7)) to it, he
means that Luke and Deuteronomy are divinely inspired. Paul introduces the quotation with the
title, “the scripture says.” Again Rev 1:1-3; 10:18-19;22:7 justify the divine origin of the book
of Revelation.
3. The Traditional Evidence for the Biblical Inspiration
A. The Jewish Writers.
Among the early extra-biblical Jewish writers Philo and Josephus Flavius merit our special
attention. Both of them lived in first century AD. The former was a philosopher who first
adapted the Greek verb 'to inspire' (Epiphein, Katapnein) to express the divine origin of the
Scriptures. The brief statement of Josephus regarding the Sacred books is worth mentioning:
“...although long ages have now passed, no one has dared to add, remove or change a syllable;
and it is an instinct with every Jew, from the day of his birth, to regard them as the decrees of
God, to abide by them, and if necessary, to die for them gladly....”
B. The Tradition of the Church.
From the very inception, the Church has been rendering due respects and honor to the
Sacred Scripture.
i.
The Bible is used in the liturgy.
ii.
The Biblical passages are explained through homilies and sermons.
iii.
The Christians are ready to sacrifice even their life to preserve the Bible.
iv.
Apart from the liturgical celebration the Bible is used for the personal readings also.
C. The Fathers of the Church.
The early Church Fathers refer to the Bible as “the oracle of God.” They uphold the divine
authorship and dictation. The following are a few important opinions of them: i. St. Clement of
Rome, “Bible proceeds from God and contains the undisputable truth.” ii. St. Justin, “Bible
proceeds from the Holy Spirit.” iii. St. Ignatius of Antioch, “The Bible was inspired by God.”
iv. St. Cyril of Jerusalem, “God is the author of the Bible.” v. St. Jerome, “Bible was dictated
by God.” These expressions emphasize the initiative as well as the primary role of God in the
composition of the Bible. They too minimize the role of the sacred writers.
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4. How does God inspire?
The following definition of Pope Leo XIII is worth noting, “Inspiration is a supernatural
action of the Holy Spirit on the Sacred writers moving them to write in such a manner that they
first rightly understood, they willed faithfully to write down, and finally expressed in apt words
and with infallible truth all the things and only those things which He ordered them to write.”
This definition looks at Inspiration in three angles.
1. God who inspires.
2. The person who is inspired.
3. The book that is written.
A. God.
Inspiration pertains to the order of sanctification and it is attributed to the Holy Spirit. The
Spirit chooses whom He likes. They need not necessarily be the best or the cleverest. He fills
the writers with all possible divine graces to write the books. The help lasts till the books are
completed.
B. Person Chosen.
God’s action influences the whole person - his intellect, will, memory and all other internal
and external faculties. It elevates his intellectual and spiritual capacities enabling him to put
them to the maximum use. It enables the person to do his work with infallible efficacy without
diminishing his freedom. How it is achieved is a mystery, beyond any human comprehension.
C. The Written Book.
The written Bible is the combined work of both God and Man. God is the principal author,
for the initiative came from him. His action continued till the end of the work. Sacred writer
was the instrumental author because he co-operated with God. Therefore, the Bible is fully
(100%) divine and fully (100%) human. This divine-human co-operation makes the Bible the
unique book. Its divine aspect is seen chiefly in its truthfulness and holiness. Its human aspect
is seen chiefly in its variety of style, vocabulary, arrangement etc.
5. The Sanctity and Holiness of the Bible
The Bible is holy because God, who is Holiness itself, is its Author. Moreover, it is given by
God to men to show the path of holiness.
The Bible is truthful as its author is God: God is Truth itself (Cf. Rev 3:11). The Bible too
contains a few scientific errors as it is a human work. 4 Eg. Sun is moving around the earth (Josh
10:12-13; Ps 19:5-6). The world was created in six days (Gen 1).These objections arise from a
wrong understanding of the aim, time, sources and literary forms of the Bible.
A. Aim
The aim of the Bible is not to teach scientific truths, but salvific truths (Cf.2Tim 3:16-17;
John 20:30-31).
B. Time
4The Bible too contains highly human elements: Ps. 58, Solomon’s many wives, apostasy and daily provisions (2 kings
4:22).
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Sacred authors lived at a time when the modern scientific knowledge was unavailable. The
scientific factors of the universe were unknown to them. Like their contemporaries, they wrote
and spoke in a popular way as things appeared to their senses. Even today all, including
scientists, speak of “sun rise and sun set.” The sun neither rises nor sets. The earth rounds
around it.
C. Sources
In ancient times writing was rare. It was a very difficult job. Much of information was
handed down orally, from mouth to mouth. Each one (tradition) differed in understanding the
facts and reproducing them. All the oral traditions are not uniform as they emerged from
different sources.
D. Literary Forms.
The Bible writers use many literary forms. Each form has its own way of conveying the
truths. The book of Judith is commonly considered as a novel with very little historical basis. In
it does exist contrary opinions to historical facts. For example, consider, “He (David) entered
the house of God, when Abiathar was high priest….” (Mark 2:26). This statement should be
taken for face value. It is Ahimelech who gave the showbread to David.
6. The less Holy Elements of the Bible
Polygamy: Even great and holy persons such as Abraham, Jacob, David practiced
Polygamy. Jesus rules it out in his teaching (Mk 10: 5-9).
Deut 24:1 permitted divorce. But Jesus disqualifies the concession given by Moses
(Matt.5:32).
Retaliation and Revenge are condoned in the OT (Exod 21:23-25; Deut 19:15-21). Jesus
preaches unlimited forgiveness (Matt 5:38-42).
Some persons in the OT prayed against the enemies (Ps 109; 137:9). But Jesus advocates
praying for the enemy (Matt 5:42-48).
7. How to answer these objections?
First of all, let us remember that three is no change in God. New scientific discoveries,
education, and progress of the world bring out change in mental attitude and approach. Hence,
less humane opinions are corrected in the later texts.
Israelites shared the moral attitudes of their neighbors. In those days they wrongly
thought that to kill the enemies or non-believers would please God. It was very sad that some
sects considered it as a religious act.
The Bible as the history of salvation teaches the ways to free oneself from sin. Hence
this history presupposes the existence of sin. If the Bible were to be silent about the sin itself, it
would not be true history.
Let not the details about sin in the Bible trouble us. Rather let us learn to admire and
praise the wisdom, patience and condescension of God that gradually lead mankind from the
imperfection of the OT, to the perfection of the NT, from the unclear vision of the OT to the
new sunshine of the NT.
Moreover, the sins and their punishment often mentioned serve as warning signals (Cf.1
Cor 10:1-13).
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8. The Contribution of the Human Author
In the prologue of the book of Sirach, the author speaks of the pains and labours he had
taken in the composition of the book and begs pardon for any imperfection that may exist in the
finished work. He speaks of his own contribution (Sir 1:31-33). 2 Maccabees tells of the sweat
and loss of sleep that went to compose the book (2 Macc 2:24-32) and concludes the book “If it
is worthless and mediocre, that is all I could manage (2Macc15:38). Luke mentions (Luke 1:3)
the contribution of the human author.
9. Wrong theories regarding inspiration
A. Banez advocates the theory of dictation. According to him, God dictated the human authors
word by word. Objection: This theory cannot be accepted since it denies the human freedom
and the use of the (limited) human sources.
B. Philo speaks about the theory of Ecstasy. According to this theory, the human authors
inspired by God, wrote the Bible unconsciously. Objection: Perhaps some parts of the Bible
could have been written in ecstasy (Rev 1:10). But in general, the Biblical authors knew what
they wrote (Cf. Luke 2:1-4. Paul too owns his authorship).
C. The theory of negative assistance: This theory upholds only the human authorship. The
role of God is nothing but to prevent the human author from committing error. Objection:
Since this theory negates the divine authorship, we can't accept this.
D. Some consider that the whole Bible arrived from heaven. Objection: It totally denies human
instrumentality.
E. The theory of subsequent approval of the Church: According to this the Bible was written
by human authors. When the church recognized and accepted them, the human words became
the divine words. Objection: The role of God is not explained here.
10. The defective theories of Inspiration.
A. Theory of Cardinal Franzeline.
This great churchman and scholar lived in the 19th cen. He suggested that the ideas came
from God’s inspiration, while the words and expressions belonged to the human writer.
Criticism: This theory was widely acclaimed when it was proposed. But later it was found
defective. The main reason is: It is not possible to make an air-tight distinction between the
ideas and their verbal expressions. Certain ideas cannot be expressed without a set of definite
words. Hence, inspiration extends not only to the ideas, but also to a great extent, to the choice
of proper words and expressions.
B. Theory of J.L. McKenzie (Social Inspiration).
McKenzie holds that the gift of inspiration is given to the Church, and not to individuals.
The community played an important role in the formation of the Bible. The Bible is the
expression of her faith and practice. Criticism: It is quite true that the community played a vital
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role in the formation of the Biblical Tradition. We however cannot deny the fact that each book
reveals the traits of individual writers. The motive of the evangelists is vividly seen in the
gospels. Moreover, community is a moral entity and it cannot write. Writing is done by
individuals. Though the individual may write in the name of the community, the method, style,
vocabulary, etc., are his own.
C. K.Rhaner's Theory.
He says that God is the author of the Bible in as much as He is the author of the Church,
especially the Apostolic Church of which the Bible is an essential part. By creating the Church,
God has created also the Bible which is the expression of her faith and practice. Criticism: This
theory applies to the NT. We cannot apply it to OT. Rhaner overrules the objection saying, OT
is preparation for the NT. However, both OT and NT form one book. By preparing for and
executing the NT, God also prepared and executed the OT.
D.The second Vatican council teaches about inspiration thus: “Those divinely revealed
realities which are contained and presented in Sacred Scripture have been committed to writing
under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. For holy mother Church, relying on the belief of the
Apostles (see John 20:31; 2 Tim. 3:16; 2 Pet 1:19-20; 3:15-16), holds that the books of both the
Old and New Testaments in their entirety, with all their parts, are sacred and canonical because
written under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, they have God as their author and have been
handed on as such to the Church herself. In composing the sacred books, God chose men and
while employed by Him they made use of their powers and abilities, so that with Him acting in
them and through them, they, as true authors, consigned to writing everything and only those
things which He wanted. Therefore, since everything asserted by the inspired authors or sacred
writers must be held to be asserted by the Holy Spirit, it follows that the books of Scripture
must be acknowledged as teaching solidly, faithfully and without error that truth which God
wanted put into sacred writings for the sake of salvation. Therefore "all Scripture is divinely
inspired and has its use for teaching the truth and refuting error, for reformation of manners and
discipline in right living, so that the man who belongs to God may be efficient and equipped for
good work of every kind" (2 Tim. 3:16-17, Greek text). (DV 11).”
11. Inerrancy of the Bible.
Inerrancy is a quality by which the Bible is protected from error. We believe that God
inspires the Bible and everything written in it, prepares for and leads to Christ. Today’s
scientific study questions some of the traditional belief and calls for the re-evaluation of the
past conclusions. We do accept that it does contain historical, chronological and scientific
errors. There are also problems with regard to the morality of the OT, like the practice of
Herem5. But the Vat II says, “…we must acknowledge that the books of scripture firmly and
forcefully and without error teach the truth which God for the sake of salvation wished to see
confided in the sacred scriptures” (Dei Verbum 11). This definition underlies that the Bible does
not teach every manner of truth but the truth that leads to salvation. To put it in other words,
there is no error with regard to the truth about the salvation history in the Bible. Cardianal
Baronius rightly puts it, “The scriptures teach us not how the heavens go, but how we may go
to heaven.” The motive of the author conditioned by time and space is also to be considered.
5Many wives
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He wrote the Bible when such scientific methods of study are unavailable. Besides, the
revelation is progressive: often the limited or partial expression of truth in one part of the Bible
is corrected and more fully presented in another part. The truth of the Bible is the quality of the
Bible taken in its entirety (not by parts).
12. The Biblical writings are culturally conditioned.
The heavenly truths have been put in the limited literary forms. God’s word assumes all
the limitation of human speech. The human aspect of the scripture never is lost sight of. The
Bible is culturally conditioned. We also need to keep in mind that the OT is written by the
Semites who reflect Semitic mentality that is different from ours.
The Semitic mentality is synthetic (synthesis is combining of separate parts, elements
etc., to form a complex whole) and not analytic (study of something by examining its parts and
their relationship) as of Greeks. They view the things as a whole or totality in the attempt to
grasp them.
Israelites made use of concrete images to express thoughts, not of abstract concepts.
They thought in terms of pictures rather than in those of ideas. 1. The word of anger aph is
derived from nose and the angry person breaths hard.2. The verb qana to be jealous, zealous,
originally meant to become red. 3. Rahamim means pity, loving feeling, compassion. It too
indicates the parts of abdomen like intestines, womb, kidneys, liver, spleen etc. 4. Numerous
progeny is compared to the stars of heaven and sand on the sea shore (cf. Gen 22:17).5. The
beautiful nose is comparable to the tower of Lebanon overlooking Damascus (Song 7:4). 6. On
the day of marriage, they break open a pomegranate and say that their children will be plentiful.
Semitic mind does not make the distinction between cause and effect, primary and
secondary cause, the various shades or grades of feeling. 1. The word awon can mean iniquity,
also its results guilt, and punishment. 2. peulah means work and the wages.
III. The Canon of the Bible
1. The Etymology of the term Canon.
The word ‘canon’ comes from Gk Kanon, which originally meant ‘a reed.’ It later
employed for ‘the rod’ used for measuring length. Reed, being a straight plant, was often used
by carpenters and masons to measure various objects. It metaphorically means ‘a norm,
standard, or rule.’ The canon of the Bible means the collection of writings of the OT and NT,
which are considered inspired. Therefore, they “have a normative authority and are held as the
rule of our faith and life.” They contain good morals and rules of faith.
2. The Church and the Canonicity.
The Church is the only infallible mouth-piece of God on the earth. She is guided by the
Spirit of Truth. This same Spirit has inspired the sacred authors. The same Spirit guarantees the
books inspired by Him. He speaks and functions through the Church.
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There are innumerable books in the world. Some of them are very excellent from the
literary and doctrinal aspects. Eg., The Imitation of Christ, The Spiritual Exercises of St.
Ignatius of Loyola, The Writings of St. Thomas Aquinas etc. Yet, the Church has not accepted
them as inspired. On the other hand, some books of the Bible (Eg. Leviticus, Judges) appear
less attractive from the literary and doctrinal point of view. Yet they form a part of the Bible.
Hence, the only criterion of inspiration is the declaration of the Church. The council of Trent
with infallible certainty declared these 73 as inspired.
Let us make difference between the Inspiration and Canonicity. Inspiration is the action of
the Holy Spirit helping a person to write a book of the Bible. Canonicity is the official
recognition of that book by the Church as inspired.
3. The 'Proto Canonical' and 'Deutero Canonical'
'Protos' in Greek means, the first. The term 'Proto Canonical' designates all the books
which are accepted by the Catholics and the Non-Catholics as inspired. Both groups
unanimously accept 66 books of the Bible. The Catholics name 66 books as Proto Canonicals
while the Protestants names them as canonical. 'Deuteros' in Greek means, the second. The
Catholics name those 7 books (Wisdom, Sirach, Tobit, Judith, Baruch, I & II Maccabees) as
'DeuteroCanonical'. However, the Protestants call it, Apocrypha.
4. The Catholic Canon of the OT.
The Catholic canon accepts 7 books of the OT that neither Jews nor the Protestant
church accepts. The Apostles and other early preachers used the Hebrew Canon (Palestinian) as
long as they were in Palestine. When they went out of Palestine, they had to use the Greek
version of the OT (Septuagint) that contains 46 books of the OT. The Hebrew was not spoken
outside Palestine. Jesus, Apostles and Paul have quoted the Greek Version of the OT. Let us
keep in mind that even in the time of Jesus Greek was widely used in the official circles in
Palestine. The Hebrew faith and morals (NT) are spread through Greek language. Moreover, all
the NT books are written in Greek. As the Church of universal, the longer Canon was accepted
everywhere by the Church.
5. The Council of Trent on the Canonicity.
As we have explained above, many Christians had doubts about the inspiration of the 7
additional books of the OT. Even many distinguished Catholics (St. Jerome, for example)
continued to doubt since they were influenced by the Palestinian Jews. Doubts about the 7
books of the NT also prevailed (Hebrews, James, II Peter, Jude, I, III John,
Revelation).Moreover, doubts were raised about the inspiration of parts of certain books (Dan
3:13-14; Mark 16:9-20; John. 21).The council wanted to dispel all these doubts and to declare
infallibly once and for all which are the books(or parts of the books) she accepts as inspired and
Canonical. The Council carefully studied the books and declared the 73 as inspired and thus,
fixed the Canon of the Bible.
6. Apocrypha
A. Etymology and meaning.
The word 'Apocrypha' in Greek means 'hidden'. The Non-Catholics use the term
Apocryphato mean the 7 books, which the Catholics call, 'Deutro-Canonicals.’ The Catholics
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name those books as Apocrypha which are rejected by the Church. These books are said to be
'hidden' (unknown) because their authors are unknown. They wrote in the name of famous
Biblical persons to get popularity for their books and to satisfy the curiosity of the believers.
Some OT Apocryphal books are: III Esdras; III Macchabees, The Testament of 12 Patriarchs,
Book of Enoch; Assumption of Moses, etc.... A few NT Apocryphal books are: Gospel
according to the Hebrews, Gospel according to Thomas, Gospel of the Infancy, Acts of Peter,
Acts of Paul etc....
B. The Time of Apocryphal Writings.
The most part of the NT Apocrypha flourished from 1 st cen AD to 3rdcen AD. The most
of the OT Apocrypha flourished from 3rd century BC to 1st cen BC with the influence of Greek
philosophy. Some were written even in the early centuries of the Christianity.
C. The Value of the Apocrypha
i. They present to us the religious mentality of the Jews and Christians of those centuries.
ii. They help us to understand the literary qualities of that time.
iii. They are not totally unhistorical. They furnish with a number of historical details which
are otherwise unknown to us.
iv. Many works of Art and Literature are based on them.
v. A comparison between the Apocrypha and the inspired books reveals to us the
superiority of the latter in all respects like, sincerity, objectivity, brevity and sobriety in
narrating the facts.
IV. The Text of the Bible
1. 'The Text' of the Bible
The term Text can be understood in two ways.
In a restricted sense, it means the original languages in which the Bible was written.
They are Hebrew, Aramaic and Greek.
In a broad sense, this term refers to the Bible in any language. The biblical texts are
different from their commentaries.
2. The Original Languages.
In Hebrew:All the proto-canonical books and Dan 1:1-2:3 and Dan 8:1-12:13are written
in Hebrew. In the Qumran caves they have discovered the Hebrew text of Sirach.
In Aramaic:A part of Daniel (Dan 2:4-7:28) and a part of Ezra (Ezra 4:8-6:18;7:12-26),
a verse in Jer 10:11, a part of the verse in Mark 15:39, Matt 27:46,Gen 31:47 (two words) are
found in Aramaic. The scholars opine that there existed Aramaic Gospel of Mathew.
In Greek:All the seven Deutro-canonicals, part of the book of Daniel(Dan 13-14)and all
the NT books are found in Greek.
3. The Material of the Bible
The more common materials were papyri and parchments. Papyrus is a kind of leaf found in
abundance in some countries like Egypt (It may be noted here that the word 'paper' comes from
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the word 'papyrus'). Parchment is made of the skin of animals. If properly preserved, both will
last long. The papyri were piled up one over the other and neatly fastened. The Parchments
were rolled upon cylinders. These were called Scrolls. In course of time, the original texts
(Scrolls, Codex) have disappeared either due to constant use, or ravages of times or due to
climate, war etc., However, in the Qumran cave many biblical scripts written in scrolls are
found.
Let us remember that: 1. Ancient people used many other kinds of material like Stone (the
Ten Commandments), metals, wood, clay etc., to write. 2. Until recently people in India used
palm leaves. Many old documents are preserved on palm leaves.
4. The Originality of the Texts.
We are sure that the texts we have today are original because:
i. Before the autographs were lost, copies have been made.
ii. Because of the community’s deep veneration for the Bible, the Jews and the Christians
took great care to copy down the text very carefully.
iii. This is proved from the fact that a Hebrew text of Isaiah belonging to the 1 st cen. BC,
discovered in a Qumran Cave, was found very similar to another text of Isaiah belonging
to the 16th cen. AD.
The defect of the sight, bad condition of the old scroll, defective hand writing of copyists
caused errors in the text. But these errors are so accidental that they do not affect the sense of
the text.
5. The Qumran Documents.
Qumran is a rocky area on the coast of the Dead Sea. It is believed that a sect of Jewish
monks called Essence lived there from 2 ndcen. BC. They kept their writings safely (Biblical and
non-Biblical) in some caves there, when they were chased away by the Roman soldiers in 180
AD. These writings were discovered and edited from 1947 onwards. The biblical writings
contained large sections from Isaiah and other OT writings. Non-Biblical writings were made
up of their own rules and regulations, their faith and practices. These writings have been useful:
1. To know more about the sect of Essenes. 2. To know the care and fidelity with which the
Jews preserved the text of the Bible.
V. The Translations of the Bible
1. A few Earlier Translations
A. Septuagint(LXX).
The first translation of the Bible was done from Hebrew into Greek for the sake of the
Greek speaking Jews living outside Palestine. It is believed to have been done between 3 rd and
2nd Cen BC. It is called the Septuagint (LXX).King Ptolemy Philadelphus of Egypt (285-246
BC) ordered the translation of the Hebrew text into Greek language. 72 scholars well-versed in
Hebrew and Greek worked for seventy two days in separate rooms and produced identical
translations. (There is another legend that 70 Jews are chosen from various tribes of Israel).This
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translation was very popular among the Greek speaking Jews. It contained 46 books of the OT.
Most probably this Greek translation was used in Jewish liturgy. The Apostles and apostolic
preachers used it when they went out of Palestine, and so the Church accepted it. This
translation is much in use especially in scholarly circles. Some terms, ideas, sentences,
theology which are not found in the Hebrew text of Today (Codex Leningradencies) are found
in the Greek translation. Therefore, the scholars believe that the original Hebrew text basing on
which the Greek translation was made is lost. The modern scholars make use of both the
Hebrew text and the LXX to discover the original authentic text. LXX served as the basis of
several translations, such as the Coptic, the Ethiopic, the Armenian, the Gothic, the Georgian
and so on.
There were also other Greek translations of the Hebrew Bible like, Aquila, Symmachus and
Theodotion. All of them belong to the early Christian era.
B. The Aramaic Versions.
Since the Jewish masses did not understand the Hebrew language, Aramaic translation
was needed. Then Aramaic was the vernacular during synagoguel worship. The paraphrases are
called as Targumim (the plural of Targum translation from the Aramaic verb ‘targem ‘to
translate, interpret).
C. The Syriac Versions
Syriac was the dialect of East Aramaic that the Arameans who were converted to the
Christian faith were using. The common Bible of the Syriac speaking communities is the
Peshitta (also Peshitto), the simple version, which is a very important translation.
D. The Latin translations
During the 2 and 3 century the faithful in Rome were speaking Greek, and the well
known Roman scholar St.Hippolytus wrote his works in Greek. But the Christians in Africa
were Latin-speakers and the Latin version made for them from the LXX is called Vetus Latina
(the old Latin). At times the phrase VetusItala (the old Italic) is employed. St.Jerome (340-420
AD) prepared the Latin translation known as Vulgata (the Vulgate, the popular version in the
language of ordinary people), which was not appreciated in the author’s time. St.Augustine
(354-430) opposed to the idea of a fresh translation of the scriptures from the Hebrew. With the
lapse of the time, Vulgate became the Bible of the West and the Council of Trent declared it to
be the juridically authentic text to be used in the liturgy. It has been in Public and private use in
the Church till today. Even today the Latin text, use in the liturgical books of the Western
(Latin) Church, such as, Missal, Breviary, Rituals, Pontifical letters, etc. are from the vulgate.
2. English Translations.
A. In a point of time 'The Rheims Duoay' Version done in 16 th cen. was the most important
Catholic translation.
B. The Revised Standard Version (RSV). It is done with great care to be faithful to the original
texts. Originally it was done by the Protestants (King James Version) and later it was accepted
by the Catholics. The Catholics all over the world use it. The Catholic edition included the 7
Deutero-Canonical books.
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C. The Jerusalem Bible. It was originally prepared and published in French by Dominican
Fathers of the Biblical and Archaeological School, Jerusalem. This edition is conspicuous for
the clarity of translation, scholarliness of introduction and comments and for its rich cross
references.
D. The American Bible (Catholic).
E. The New English Bible (Protestant) incorporating also the deutero-canonical books.
F. Today's English version (Protestant).
G. English Standard Version – Catholic Edition.
For a discussion the catholic and non-catholic versions cf. http://ccbibible.in/pdf/catholicbible2020.pdf
VI. The Interpretation
1. General Idea.
The Bible is an ancient book. It is written in the ancient languages. The social, political
and religious conditions of those times were quite different. As we have mentioned above, it is
a divine-human book. The ancient prophecies, symbols, types etc., need to be explained. The
interpretation intends to discover the original meaning of the texts. We too need to identify
human elements or the highly human elements and instruct the people accordingly.
Sense of a text is that particular meaning which the sacred writer intended to convey in
that particular context. A word or phrase can have many meanings. For example, the term 'way'
means both a path and manner (this is the way to do this work). In a particular context, the
writer intended only one meaning which has to be discovered.
2. Hermeneutics
We apply the principles of interpretation. The science of interpretation is called
Hermeneutics. This word comes from Greek word hermeneuein that means 'Interpretation'. The
application of these rules or principles with a view of finding out the original sense of a text is
called Exegesis. Hermeneutics provides the rules of interpretation. Exegesis applies the rules to
a given text to find out its meaning.
3. The various kind of sense.
A. Literal sense: It is the most important. We call it literal because it conveys the meaning
contained in the words. But a word can convey different senses. Hence, they are subdivisions of
the literal sense:
B. Proper sense: The sense that is quite clear, direct and obvious (Eg., This animal is a lion).
C. Metaphorical sense: The sense that is indirectly applied by the word by means of
comparison (Eg. Ram is a lion. Here the qualities of a lion are applied to Ram).
D. Allegorical sense: An allegory is an extended metaphor - comparison is prolonged (Eg.
Allegory of the Good shepherd (John 10): Qualities of shepherd and sheep are applied to Christ
and his followers respectively. See also, the allegory of Vine and branches (John 15).
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E. Symbolic sense: The sense conveyed by a symbol, which may be: A person: one seated on
the throne symbolizes God (Rev 4:2). An animal: Horse symbolizes God’s instrument of
punishment (Rev 6:2). A number: 1,44,000 symbolizes an enormous crowd (Rev 7:4). A color:
Pale color symbolizes death (Rev 6:8). An Action: Prophet Ahijah tearing the cloths and giving
10 parts to Jeroboam symbolizes the division of the Kingdom (1 Kgs 11:29-36). A vision:
Vision of Dry bones (Ezek 37) symbolizes the end of Babylonian exile.
F. Parabolic sense: Parable is a story based on everyday realities: sowing, fishing, building etc.
Here, the words are taken in their proper sense; but what is intended is not the story itself, but
the moral lesson it conveys. Eg., Parable of the Good Samaritan teaches the lesson of love
towards all including our enemies. Parable of the Prodigal Son teaches the lesson of God's
infinite mercy and forgiveness towards the repentant sinner.
Note: All the foregoing senses are common both for the Bible and any other book.
4. The Senses Proper to the Bible.
A. Typical sense: Type is a person, place or object, or event in the OT which has a deeper
reference to another person, place, object or event in the NT. This becomes known only in the
NT where the Sacred Writer explicitly mentions the NT realities as fulfillment of the
corresponding OT realities: Eg. Adam was the type of Christ (Rom 5:12-21; 1 Cor 15:21-22).
The earthly Jerusalem was the type of the heavenly Jerusalem (Rev. 21:9-27).
B. Fuller sense: It is a deeper sense of the OT text recognized in the NT. Eg.The full meaning
of the word ‘woman’ in Gen 3:15, becomes clearer in John 2:4 and 19:26.
C. Accommodative sense: It is called accommodative when a NT writer applies the OT text to
a different set of realities in the NT. Eg. “Their voice has gone to the ends of the world” (Ps
19:4). In the Ps. the text refers to the voice of inanimate creation silently praising God. In Rom
10:18, St. Paul applies (accommodates) the text to refer to the voice of Apostolic Preachers.
This use of OT text is legitimate since it does not go against the sense of the original text, but
only uses it for something similar. Preachers often use this kind of interpretation.
5. The Documents of the Teaching Authority of the Church.
The teaching office of the church, time to time, has come out with some documents
relating to the Bible, its interpretation and use in the life and liturgy of the Church. Here we
mention some of them: Pope Leo XIII published Providentissimus Deus (The Most Provident
God) in 1893.Pope Benedict XV published Spiritus Paraclitus (The Consoler Spirit) in 1920.
Pope Pius XII published Divino Afflante Spiritu (Under the Inspiration of the Holy Spirit) in
1943.Vatican II has a special document named Dei Verbum(The Word of God) in 1962.
Pontifical Bible Commission has published, “The Interpretation of the Bible in the Church” in
1993. Pope Benedict XVI brought out post-synodal apostolic exhortation Verbum Domini
(Word of the Lord, 2010). Recently Pope Francis brought out Motu Proprio named Aperuit
Illis (30 September, 2019) constituting the third Sunday of the Ordinary time as Sunday of the
Word of God (for the text of these documents cf.https://c-b-f.org/en/Materials/Church-documents).
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VII. Rules of Interpretation
1. Common Rules of Interpretation
A. Examine the Text carefully
A careful examination of the text can yield the true meaning. A careless reading would
mislead to unnecessary guesses, misinterpretations etc. Eg.The episode of the Magi (Matt 2)
has some problems.
i. How many of them? Mathew speaks of the Wise men from the East. Mt does not
mention how many of them. It is commonly believed that they were three. Certainly,
they are more than one as the term is plural. They could have been 2 or 3 or 4 or 5....
Most probably, the tradition speaks of 3 wise men because of the 3 gifts placed
before Jesus. It is not necessary that the number of gifts correspond to the number of
givers. Even 2 or 4 or 10 people could give 3 gifts.
ii. Which was their native place? India? Africa? China? There are so many legends on
this point also. But the Text does not specifically mention the country. It states
generally from the East. In all probability they were from Arabia, East of Palestine.
iii. How were they called? Some traditions name them as Gaspar, Melchior, and
Balthazar.
iv. Were they Kings? The text calls them as wise men. The details furnished by the
legends only satisfy the curiosity. They are not needed to nourish our faith.
B. Examine the Context Carefully.
i.
Proximate Context: “Woman, what have you to do with me?” (John 2:4). When we
try to interpret this question very literally or out of its immediate context, it would
appear very unpleasing. i. Jesus addresses his own mother as woman. ii “What have
you to do with me” denotes complete disagreement and displeasure.
But if we examine the proximate context; namely Mary's order to the servants to
do whatever Jesus commands. Jesus asked them to fill the jars with water. Jesus does
the miracle on the request of his own mother. As the result they had abundance of
vine and everyone was overjoyed. There was perfect understanding between Jesus
and His mother. Moreover, let us understand the ‘woman’ is not an impolite word.
ii.
Remote context: Meaning and significance of the word 'woman' in John 2:4 and
19:26 will become clear in the light of Gen 3:15. Sin and death came into the world
through the instrumentality of a woman, Eve. Hence Jesus’ use of the term 'woman'
to refer to His mother at the beginning and end of His Messianic ministry is to show
that Mary reverses the role of Eve.
C. Examine Carefully the Parallel Passages.
The same passages narrate the same event in different parts of the same book or in
different books.
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A typical example is found in 2 Sam 24 and 1 Chr 21. The former states that the David
was moved by Yahweh to take the census, later he felt remorse; he was punished. One would
wonder why David would feel remorse for a deed which was inspired by God. Why he should
be punished for the same. The latter text clarifies saying that David was moved by Satan to take
the census. This makes the point clear. Examination of parallel passages can help us to explain
and clarify many apparent contradictions in the Bible.
D. Examine other Aspects.
One needs to examine well the various aspects of the book, such as Author, Time, Aim,
Circumstances, for, the message of a book is determined by these factors.
iv.i.Authors: The method, terminology, literary forms employed in a book depends
very much on the background of the writer. Mathew, the tax collector was well
versed in writing accounts. Therefore, his gospel is the most methodical one.
John lived long and meditated on the life of Jesus. Therefore, his gospel is
spiritual, theological and mystical. Isaiah is named as the prophet of faith because
he insists that the king Ahaz turns to Yahweh in faith. If he is very strong in faith,
God will take care of his own land and his people.
iv.ii.
Time: The cry for the social justice becomes clear in the context of the
flagrant injustice of the time of Amos.
iv.iii.
Circumstances: To understand the Gospel well, a certain knowledge about
the following aspects is necessary: Political and Religious rulers of Palestine; the
various Jewish sects like Sadducees, Pharisees, Herod and his dynasty etc.;
Geographical condition of Palestine.
iv.iv.
Aim: John 20:31; 21:25 tell us that the Gospels are incomplete accounts of
the life of Jesus, and the reason why they are incomplete. John’s aim was to
show that Jesus Christ is the incarnated word of God; that accepting Him and
believing in Him people may be saved.
2. The Peculiarities of the Biblical Languages.
Each language has its own peculiarities. We shall mention some of the peculiarities of
the Hebrew language. Although the NT writers wrote in Greek, they follow Hebrew idioms
quite often. Because all of them were either Hebrews (Jews) by origin or as in the case of Luke,
knew the Hebrew style.
A. Formation of the superlative by repeating the noun
King of Kings – The Greatest King
Holy of Holies – The holiest person or object
Song of Songs – The best song.
B. Formation of comparison by denial;
I love Jacob and hate Esau = I prefer Jacob to Esau
I love Mercy, not sacrifice = I prefer mercy to sacrifice.
He who wants to come after me and do not hate... father and brother...
= One must prefer me to one's parents.
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C. Parallelism.
There are several kinds of parallelism and the most frequent form is: Synonymous
Parallelism where the idea expressed in the first line is repeated in different words in the second
line. The law of parallelism helps us to understand the meaning of the lines though the words
are different. Eg., i. My soul magnifies the lord, my spirit rejoices in God, my savior. ii. When
Israel came forth from Egypt, the house of Jacob from a people of alien tongue. This kind of
parallelism is one of the most important features of the Hebrew poetry, found very frequently in
the Psalms and proverbs.
D. Use of the Terms.
'Son', 'Daughter', 'Brother', 'Sister' etc. to designate different degrees of relationship. i.
The phrase, ‘Son of God’, in the strict sense refers to Jesus, begotten of the Father. However, in
the broader sense it refers to all who lived by Grace (John 1:11-12).ii. The term, ‘Brother’ in
the strict sense indicates blood brothers like John and James (Matt. 4:21-22). However, in the
broader sense it means relatives: Abraham calls Lot his brother, though Lot was only his
nephew (Gen 13:8). The same term indicates the Brother in faith i.e., fellow Christians (Acts
1:15; 9:30). Or any man as in 1 John 2:9; Matt 7:3.
E. Absolute and Universal terms mean relative and particular facts. i. You shall not swear at all
(Matt 5:34). It actually means don't swear without real need. ii. You shall no longer be called
Jacob (Gen 35:10). In fact, the name Jacob was used even afterwards. iii. All flesh died (Gen
7:21-23). It actually means that every living creature in that area. iv. Devout Jews from every
nation (Acts 2:5). It means from many nations.
F. Anthropomorphism.
Anthropos in Greek means Man. Morphein Greek means form or shape.
Anthropomorphism is the way of presenting God's activities as if He were a Man. Eg., Gen 2-3
is filled with anthropomorphism: God is shaping man as a potter. God is planting Garden. God
is taking a rib from Adam… God is repenting, getting angry etc.
G. Exclusion is not Denial.
Abraham had two sons (Gal 4:22). Paul here does not deny the existence other children of
Abraham. He knew well the history of Abraham that he had other children (Gen 25:26). Paul
spoke of two children because he wanted to use them as the symbols of the two Testaments.
Not every statement is a decisive one. There are statements which have different shades of
meaning which are to be seen from the whole context.
3. The Interpretation of the Bible as the Divine Book.
The Biblical history is a gradual unfolding of truths, both in matters of faith and morals.
The Bible reveals how God, step by step educated His people. Hence we should not be shocked
to see the imperfect mentality of Israel.
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A. In Matters of Faith:
i.
Idea of God: Polytheism was the prevalent idea at the time of Abraham who
belonged to a polytheistic family (Josh 24:2-3). From the idea of many gods, there
could have emerged the idea of the main God, and finally the idea of One God. This
idea of One God was taught chiefly by prophets.
ii.
Idea of life after death: Until 2nd Cen BC Jews had no idea of a happy glorious life
after death. According to them the dead continued a gloomy, shadowy existence in
Sheol, a sort of dark, cheerless life (cf. Ps. 6:4-6).Or it is also frequently told that
they are buried with their forefathers. The idea of a future glorious life after death
became clearer and clearer towards the end of the OT times, chiefly from the 2 nd Cen
BC. (Dan 12:1-3, 2 Macc 7, Wis 3).
iii.
Idea of responsibility: In the earlier period, the Israelites, like others believed in
collective responsibility, that is, community or children responsible for the sins of
individuals. As time went on, this idea changed, the idea of personal responsibility
developed (Ezek 3:18-33).
B. In matters of Morality.
i.
Polygamy: It was very common. Even Abraham, Jacob, David and Solomon were
practicing polygamy. Value of monogamy dawned as time went on.
ii.
Divorce: Deut 24 legislated in favor of divorce. It was Jesus who restored marriages
to its original unity and indissolubility (cf. Matt 19).
C. God still Speaks.
The Bible being the word of God, we need God's help to understand it correctly (2 Pet
1:20-21; 1 Cor 2:10-11). Luke 24:45-46 justifies that Jesus opened the minds of the Apostles to
understand the Scriptures. John 14:15-31; 16:5-15 indicate that Jesus promises the Holy Spirit
so that they may, with the Spirit's help, understand the message and life of Jesus. Acts 2 Shows
the marvelous effects of the Holy Spirit on Apostles. God speaks to us through the Church –
The church's teaching come down to us in different ways:
i. Through Ecumenical Councils.
ii. Through the exhortation of the hierarchy.
iii. Through the Encyclicals and decrees of the Popes.
iv. Through the Pastoral Letters and sermons of the Bishops.
v. Through the holy and learned teachers (Theologians).
vi. Through the various pastoral activities of the Church.
vii.Through the Liturgy
The Spirit who inspired the Bible is also the Soul of the Church guiding her in all truth.
Hence, we should have an unshaken confidence in the guidance of the Church.
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VIII. The Bible in the Life of the Church
1. The Bible in the Sacred Liturgy.
The Second Vatican Council greatly renewed the interest in the Bible among the
Catholics. The results are enormous. Around and before 1950sonly a few well educated could
interpret the Bible. The council opened up many ways. In the middle of the last century the
scriptures were read in Latin at Mass. There were few selections from the OT and a rather small
number of NT passages dominated the one year cycle. In response to Vat II we now have a
three year cycle of Sunday readings and a two year week day cycles. The OT is very prominent
in the daily readings and almost the entire NT is represented. The readings of course, are in the
vernacular. It enabled everyone to understand the Biblical truth and propagate the same.
The centrality of the Scripture in the Catholic liturgy involves both preaching and
sacramental practice. Dei Verbum no. 21 insists that “all the preaching of the Church, as indeed
the entire Christian religion, should be nourished and ruled by the sacred scripture.”The same
paragraph directly confronts and dissolves the opposition between word and sacrament that has
been prominent since the Protestant Reformation. It does so with reference to the celebration of
the Eucharist: The church has always venerated the divine Scriptures as she venerated the Body
of the Lord, in so far as she never ceases, particularly in the sacred liturgy, to partake of the
bread of life and to offer it to the faithful from the one table of the Word of God and the Body
of Christ. The council document insists that word and sacrament belong together in the
Eucharist; to the point of asserting that they form ‘one Table.’
2. The Bible in the Catechism of the Church.
At the middle of the twentieth century, study of the Biblical texts was not an integral part
of the catechetical curriculum in the Catholic schools. At best Bible content was conveyed
through summaries of the texts. Sunday catechism students worked through the Bible with the
aid of cautious textbooks as guides. But now the texts of the Bible form the primary resource of
the catholic religious education at all levels. The Bible courses are especially popular in adult
education.
3. The Bible in the Seminaries
Before Vat II the Catholic seminarians took most of their scripture courses towards the
end of their theology program; in comparison with dogmas and moral theology, Scripture study
was considered a minor course. However, now biblical studies are a major component of the
seminary curriculum at all stages. An important saying of the Vat II is the following: scripture
is the soul of Theology. Hence biblical courses are made major subjects and they are very
popular too. Students in Catholic seminaries assume that much of the preaching and teaching in
the future will be devoted to the Bible.
4. The Para Liturgical Celebrations
The Bible is prominent not only in Catholic liturgy and education but also in popular
piety since Vat II. The revised prayers for the sacraments and other liturgical actions use
biblical language almost entirely. Charismatic prayer groups and basic Christian communities
have found biblical reflection and prayer to be the source of great spiritual energy. Even
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traditional Catholic observances like the Rosary are (and always have been) thoroughly
biblical. The language of the catholic payer is almost every instance derives from the Bible.
5. Ecumenical Movements
The scriptures have also been a major element in the ecumenical movement since the
council. The serious historical and theological differences between the Christian churches
remain. But the most progress has been made where the different church groups have found on
the Bible as their common heritage and have reexamined their differences in the light of the
Bible’s language and thought patterns. When this has occurred the usual result has been the
recognition that unites the Christian churches is more important and fundamental than what
divides them. In the marvelous new relationship that has emerged between Christians and Jews
in recent years, the Biblical studies have been a vital force towards greater mutual
understanding and respect.
Catholic theology since the council gives far more attention to biblical sources and is
likely to express itself in biblical rather than philosophical language. Official church documents
on theological matters or current problems almost always begin from scripture and ground their
argument in biblical texts. The Catholic Church today is far more “biblical” than it was in
1950s.
Appendix – 1
Abbreviations for the Books of the Bible
The Old Testament
Gen
Exod
Lev
Num
Deut
Josh
Judg
Ruth
1Sam
2 Sam
1Kgs
2 Kgs
1Chr
2 Chr
Ezra
Neh
Tob
Jdt
Esth
1Macc
2 Macc
Job
Ps
Prov
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Genesis
Exodus
Leviticus
Numbers
Deuteronomy
Joshua
Judges
Ruth
1 Samuel
2 Samuel
1 Kings
2 Kings
1 Chronicles
2 Chronicles
Ezra
Nehemiah
Tobit
Judith
Esther
1 Maccabees
2 Maccabees
Job
Psalms
Proverbs
Eccl
Song
Wis
Sir
Isa
Jer
Lam
Bar
Ezek
Dan
Hos
Joel
Amos
Obad
Jonah
Mic
Nah
Hab
Zeph
Hag
Zech
Mal
Ecclesiastes
Song of Solomon
Wisdom of Solomon
Sirach
Isaiah
Jeremiah
Lamentations
Baruch
Ezekiel
Daniel
Hosea
Joel
Amos
Obadiah
Jonah
Micah
Nahum
Habakkuk
Zephaniah
Haggai
Zechariah
Malachi
The New Testament
Matt
Matthew
Mark
Mark
Luke
Luke
John
John
Acts
Acts
Rom
Romans
1 Cor
1 Corinthians
2 Cor
2 Corinthians
Gal
Galatians
Eph
Ephesians
Phil
Philippians
Col
Colossians
1Thess
1 Thessalonians
2 Thess
2 Thessalonians
1Tim
1 Timothy
2 Tim
2 Timothy
Titus
Titus
Phlm
Philemon
Heb
Hebrews
Jas
James
1 Pet
1 Peter
2 Pet
2 Peter
1 John
1 John
2 John
2 John
3 John
3 John
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Jude
Rev
Jude
Revelation
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