Gods Word in the Scrip

The English word Bible

is from the Latin biblia,
from the same word in
Medieval Latin and
Late Latin and ultimately
from Koine Greek
,
ta biblia "the books"
(singular biblion)

1. The Bible is about God.

Through it we get to
know our God- His
identity, His character
and his purpose for
creating us, redeeming
and sanctifying us.
2. The Bible is about people
A part of the Bible
consists of narratives
About real men and
women who were
chosen by God to play a
role is his saving plan.

3. The Bible is about salvation

history.
Salvation history is a story 0f
Gods plan of salvation that
began with Israel, a small but
significant group of people,
whom had God liberated from
the Egyptian slavery and brought
to the promised land and reached
its climax in Jesus
Christ.

4. The Bible is about faith.

The Bible is not a collection of
scientific and historical records but
a
book faith that grew from a believing
community a living
witness of God
and the central
source of his
revelation and his gift of salvation to us
today.
5. The Bible is about us.
The universal themes of the Bible
speak to us like no other book or movie
can.

The stories great leaders and

people in the Bible that speak of
their strengths and weaknesses,
sins and failures, pride and
greediness, obedience and
reluctances to follow Gods will
speak about our own
characteristics and traits. They
provide us with a unique means
of understanding the true events
in our lives and our relationship
with God.

By reading the Bible, we grow in the

knowledge of ourselves, others and
most of all our knowledge God.
Doctrines Associated with the Bible
1.Biblical Inspiration
means that the authors were
inspired by God Himself for a unique
purpose--- our salvation.

Human authors
were empowered
to use their own
talents, abilities,
style and
vocabulary to write
what God wanted
to communicate
regarding our
salvation.

Two Extremes to be avoided in

understanding the concept of
Biblical Inspiration
a. Dont imagine that the Holy
Spirit dictated the authors of the
Bible to write the stories and
teachings of the Bible word for
word.
b. Dont imagine that the Holy
Spirit acted as watchdog that
kept the human authors from
writing erroneous materials.

2. Inerrancy of the
Scriptures
The Bible is without
error regarding
religious truths for
our salvation.
3. Canon of Scriptures
The numbers of Books
in the Bible which are
considered inspired
and accepted by the
believing community.

Division of the Bible

A.Old Testament
composed of 46 books
1-The Law
2-The Prophets
3-The Writings
Torah, Nebiim, and Ketubim

(Ta NaK)- Abbreviation

The Septuagint has 4 divisions of

the Old Testament namely...
1.Pentateuch five books
2.Historical Books
3.Wisdom Writings
4.Prophets
Deuterocanonical Books derived
from the Greek translation of the
Bible-- Septuagint

B. New Testament
The New Testament deals with the
New Covenant of Gods people with
Jesus Christ. Jesus death and
Resurrection fulfilled Gods promises
in the Old Testament of a Savior and
brought universal deliverance of all
humanity.

The Books of the New Testament

are grouped into four:
1-The Gospels (Matthew, Mark,
Luke and John)
2-Acts of the Apostles
3-Apostolic Letters or Epistles
4- The Book of Revelation

Old Testament
46 Books
5 books Pentateuch
16books - Historical
7 books Wisdom
18books - Prophetic

Basic Divisions of the Books

Old Testament
The Pentateuch or Torah /Law. They are the first
five books of the Scripture. They contain the
covenant of God and the Jewish people given
through Moses affecting all Jewish life.

1.Genesis
2.Exodus
3.Numbers
4.Leviticus
5.Deuteronomy

The Historical Books

The story of the Israel's ups and downs as they lived
out the promises they made in the covenant.
Mainly it is a story of infidelity.

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.

Joshua
Judges
1 Samuel
2 Samuel
1 Kings
2 Kings

7. 1 Chronicles
8. 2 Chronicles
9. Ezra
10. Nehemiah
11. 1 Maccabees
12. 2 Maccabees

Isaiah
2. Jeremiah
3. Ezekiel
4. Daniel
Twelve Minor
Prophets
1. Hosea
2. Joel
3. Amos
4. Obadiah
1.

5. Jonah
6. Micah
7. Nahum
8. Habakkuk
9. Zephaniah
10.Haggai
11. Zechariah
12. Malachi

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.

Job
Proverbs
Ecclesiates
Song of Songs
Ruth
Lamentations
Esther
Tobit
Judith

10. Baruch
11. Wisdom
12. Sirach
13. Psalms

New Testament
27 Books
4- Gospel Books
1- Acts of the Apostles
14- Pauline Letters
7- Catholic Epistles
1Revelation/Apocalypse

Four Gospels
They are concern with the story of Jesus
and the good news of salvation offered by
him.
1.
2.
3.
4.

Matthew
Mark
Luke
John

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.

Romans
1 Corinthians
2 Corinthians
Galatians
Ephesians
Philippians
Colossians
Philemon

9. 1 Thessalonians
10. 2 Thessalonians
11. 1 Timothy
12. 2 Timothy
13. Titus
14. Hebrews

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.

James
1 Peter
2 Peter
1 John
2 John
3 John
Jude

Revelation- the last of the NT

Interpreting Gods Word

We must know:
1.What the author intends to say
2.Why the message is important to
him
3.How far he is committing himself
4.How he is using various literary
devices
5.Seeking the truth through the help of
the teaching authority of the Church.

Every text in the Bible

has a world before it and
a world in front of it.
One must have a real
knowledge of the social,
economic and religious
conditions of the authors
in their particular
historical conditions to
refrain from committing
misunderstanding of the
text.

The Context of the text in relation to the whole Bible

1.Look for its literary form :
historical narratives
prophetic oracles
poems or parables which
the author is using.
2.The text must be viewed within the unity of the
whole Bible. The Old and the New Testament are
read by Christians in the light of the Risen Crucified
Christ.
The NTs own use of the Old Testament events,
persons, and things as types foreshadowing its
own, exemplifies the unity of the two Testaments.

Examples:
Types and Protypes
Abraham and Melchisedek = Christ
(Heb. 6:20-28)
Flood
= Baptism
(1 Pt. 3:20-21)
Manna in the desert
= Eucharist
(Jn. 6:48-51)

3. In seeking what the Scripture text means for

me/ us, we need to consider the witnesses
offered in the lives of holy men and women in
the Church through the centuries. Any
authentic interpretation of the text for the
Christian community today must be in
continuity and harmonize with this tradition of
meaning that has grown out of the texts impact
on Christian communities through the ages.
4.We need also the guidance of the living teaching
authority of the Church.
5.Seek for the guidance and assistance of the Holy
Spirit for the authentic interpretation of the
Churchs teaching authority.

Sacred
Scriptures

Sacred
Tradition

Holy Spirit

Magisterium

Interplay of the Right Interpretation of the Text

DV # 10
The task of giving
an authentic
interpretation of
the Word of God
has been entrusted
to the living
teaching office of
the Church alone.

Lectio Divina
(Personal Reading of the Bible)
Reading the sacred text for
inspiration. It is a reflection on
the Bible for spiritual growth.
This is a personal endeavor, best
done alone, as contrast to
communal Bible sharing. You
can read a passage from the
Bible every day or even a few
lines approaching the Bible
truly as the Word of God and
accepts it in faith.

Steps:
1.Lectio. Read the
text. What is the
common sense idea
of the text? What
does it mean? What
story does it tell?
What does it tell to
any ordinary
reader?

2. Meditatio.
React to the
text. What is
it telling me
in particular?
What word
(s) or phrase
in the text
strikes a vital
chord in me?

3. Oratio. Pray.
Converse with
Jesus about this
striking word(s)
or phrase.
Wrestle with the
Word. Tell Jesus
your difficulties
if you were to live
out His word.

4. Actio. Discern
what God wants
from you and
resolve to do
something
concrete about
what youve
prayed about.

5. Contemplatio. Go
into quiet. You
have already
presented your
case before the
Lord. Now,
simply listen.
Allow the Lord to
give you spiritual
insight about the
text Let God work
in you.

Valuing the Old Testament

To concrete see the value of the
Old Testament let us journey with
the different stages of Gods salvific
act in the history of ones faith or
simply in your life experience as
individual. See the table below.

Old Testament Salvific History

Personal experience and

Journey
to Gods Salvific Act

1. Patriarchal Events
(Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and
Joseph)
The experience of being chosen
from the covenant God made to
Abraham.

How do you experience God in your

family? How do respond to Gods
call of faith in the condition of your
family? You are miraculously born
to it.

2 . Exodus Event
(Moses leading Israelites
out of Egypt)
The experience of liberation from
oppression.

Transition stage. Entering the life

of an adolescence is an exodus from
childhood to adulthood.
Do you journey with God as you
experienced living with your
childishness? Negative attitude you
need to let go? Positive attitude you
need to acquire?

3. Tribal Event
(Joshua leading the Israelites to
the promised land)
The experience of having a land
of their own after a long awaited
dream)

4. The establishment of the

Kingdom
(Saul. David and Solomon)

5. The Division of the Kingdom

( The downfall of the Monarchy)

Like Joshua you are also called to

lead your family to the promised
land of prosperity.

Like David, Saul and Solomon you

too are called to establish a name
for your family by developing your
potential and abilities.

What weakness/es do you need to

give attention to avoid such a
downfall? There are many forms
of temptations in the life of an
adolescent how do you give
priorities to important things in
your life to avoid setbacks?

6. Exile
(The Jews turn back to the
word of God as their means to
restore their nationality and
dignity). Oral Traditions were
put into writing.

Listen to the counsel of the wise in

times of difficulties , trials and
challenges.

The rise of the prophets to

warn, to console and to
encourage
7. Birth of Jesus Christ
The coming of the
Promised Saviour/ The
Messiah

The fulfilment of the promise finds

meaning in nurturing the
friendship with Christ and
journeying in His joyful, sorrowful
and glorious moment
Living the right attitude to attain
happiness . ( The Beatitudes)