TREDTRI Notes (1)

2nd Term, SY 2010-11

INTRODUCTION TO THE BIBLE

- We can never underestimate the power of the word of God

for it shall endure forever. That was the faith of Israel. The
Book of Isaiah says: A voice says, “Cry out!” (Is 40:6-7). In
the same book the prophet attests, “so shall my word be
that goes out from mouth; it shall not return to me empty,
but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and succeed in
the thing for which I sent it.” (Is 55:11).

- The Bible confronts, rebukes, challenges, consoles, inspires,

transforms, and moves those who listen and hear it. The
Letter to the Hebrews tells us that “the word of God is living
and active, sharper than any two-edged sword…it is able to
judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart…(Hebrew
4:12-13).

The Nature of the Bible

1. The Bible is a book of shared memories

- If there is one factor that unites the Jews and the

Christians, or one element that gives them their
uniqueness and identity as communities, it would be
their story.

- Memory is tenacious in the East. In Ancient Israel, the

people would gather together in the evenings around a
bonfire and they would narrate the story of their
forefathers, their ups and downs as a people, how
Yahweh manifested himself as their liberator and
defender.

- Telling the story was at the heart of their community’s

 life of faith and worship.

- Remembering to tell their story of God and his saving

goodness is an obligation of the children of Abraham:
“Remember the long way that the Lord your God has
led you these forty years in the wilderness, in order to
humble you…” (Deut. 8:2)

- It was the memory of the Exodus that convinced Israel

of God’s power and mercy.

- Remembering is for learning. But memory is not just

intellectual; it strengthens the solidarity of the
members. Remembering to tell the story encourages
hope.

- The book of Deuteronomy reminds us: “If you do forget

the Lord your God…I solemnly warn you today that you
shall surely perish.” (8:19)

- As a book of shared memories, it is a record of a

people’s past experiences woven into a life-story. It is a
story of God’s dealings with his people.

- It is a record of past events that have given both Jews

and Christians a sense of identity and destinty.

- Israel is human community bound together primarily

by shared experiences. Its most distinctive feature is a
strong sense of tradition.

2. The Bible is the word of God

- it is a divine revelation in human expression, i.e. God’s

word expressed in human words.

- It is a work of God and the work of human hands

written in faith and can be understood only in faith.
 - The Vatican II document, Dei Verbum (21) affirms that
it is through the Bible that God speaks – that “the
Father who is in heaven comes loving to meet his
children and converses with them.”

- Through the Bible God discloses himself inviting us to

interiority through mutual self-disclosure. This shared
life is primordially realized in dialogue, in speaking and
listening.

- When a believer reads and contemplates on the word

of God, the proper attitude is: “Speak, O Lord, your
servant is listening.”

3. The Bible as a means of divine revelation

- the Bible is a symbol or sacrament that points to divine

revelation. It is in fact the privileged place for divine
revelation.

- The biblical text deeply participates in divine

revelation. It reveals and conceals God’s self-gift. It
invites us to an ever deeper encounter with the divine
self-gift.

- Jesus Christ made flesh (John 1:1-18), which implies

that the Word of God may not be reduced simply to
written texts. To do so would be fundamentalism which
defined as idealization of words which leads us to rigid,
close-minded, dead-end approach to the Bible.

4. The Bible as a library of books

- The Bible text were not written at a single sitting by

one human author and their contents have never been
easy to master.
- In fact, they contain books of different literary genres,
written at different times and different places and for
varied situations.

- Hence, they need to be studied across a thousand or

more years of history.

- This book has become a rule of faith, moral integrity

and worship for Jews and Christian alike.