Religion 9 Quest 1
What is the relationship between divine inspiration and biblical inerrancy?
Biblical inerrancy is the doctrine that the books of the Scriptures are free from error regarding the truth God wishes to reveal for the sake of our salvation. Even though human authors wrote these books, divine inspiration means that God is their ultimate author. Because of this, the truths of faith that he inspired them to write are without error.
Wisdom Books
Contain poetry, both emotional and practical, on what it means to be wise.
Old Testament
Contains God's Revelation and lays the framework for our Christian faith. It is God's relationship with the Hebrews/Israelites.
Four Standards that the Bishops used to determine if the book was canical.
First, was the book based on the preaching and teaching of the Apostles and their followers? Second, was it universally accepted by major Christian communities in the early Church? Third, was the book being used in Christian liturgical celebrations, especially the Eucharistic celebration, or Mass? Fourth, was the book's message consistent with other Christian and Hebrew (or Jewish) writings? A book had to meet all four standards to be considered divinely inspired and canonical.
Books of Law
Found in the Torah or Pentateuch; the first five books of the Old Testament; provide the history and laws of God's Chosen People.
The Ultimate Author of the Sacred Scriptures and the relationship with the human authors.
God is the ultimate author of the Sacred Scriptures. He chose ordinary human beings to write the books of the Bible. These human authors had full use of their knowledge and creativity. They were true authors and reflected the culture and time in which they lived. But the Holy Spirit "breathed into" them the ways and truths of God. In this way, God acted in them and through them.
Five categories of New Testament
Gospels, Acts of the Apostles, Pauline Letters, non-Pauline letters, Books of Revelation.
Gospels
Heart of the scripture
Oral Tradition
In which the Apostles, empowered by the Holy Spirit, passed on to their followers all that Jesus taught and revealed.
Written Gospels
In which the Evangelists, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit and without error, synthesized oral and previously written tradition about the Incarnation and the Paschal Mystery.
Catholic Bible
Includes seven additional Old Testament books, called the deuterocanonical books. These books are included as part of Apostolic Tradition; they were part of the Septuagint, the Greek translation of the Old Testament.
Pauline Letters
Offer advice, teaching, news, and pastoral support to communities that Paul helped to form; Written by Paul
Non-Pauline Letters
Offer pastoral support, advice, and teaching to early Christian communities but were written by authors other than Paul.
Revelation
Offers support to Christians being persecuted for their beliefs; it reminds them of the second coming of Christ.
Four Jewish Sects
Pharisees, Sadducees, essenes, herodians, zealots.
Herodians
Political leaders who worked with the Roman Empire.
Historical Books
Recount Jewish history, specifically the lives of various leaders, and illustrate God's saving work in the lives of the Israelites.
Essenes
Retreated to a life of solitude and prayer in preparation for God's coming.
Zealots
Revolutionaries who sought to restore Jewish independence.
Sadducees
Strictly followed the Torah and preserved the holiness of the Temple.
Gospels
Tell about the life, ministry, Passion, death, Resurrection, and Ascension of Jesus Christ.
Acts of the Apostles
Tells us about Pentecost and the work of the early Christian community to spread the Good News.
Divine Inspiration
The divine assistance the Holy Spirit gave the authors of the books of the Bible so the authors could write in human words the salvation message God wanted to communicate.
Pharisees
The educated interpreters of the Law of Moses
The life and teachings of Jesus
The experience shared by his followers.
Three stages of the Gospels
The life and teachings of Jesus, Oral tradition, Written Gospels.
Prophet Books
The messages of the prophets, those visionaries and reformers whom God called to proclaim his message of hope and to challenge his people to repent.
Total Number of Books in Bible
The official canon of the Catholic Bible contains seventy-three (73) books: forty-six (46) Old Testament books and twenty-seven (27) New Testament Books.
The seven deuterocanonical books
Tobit, Judith, First and Second Maccabees, Wisdom, Sirach, and Baruch.
What is the "big picture" painted by both the Old Testament and New Testament together?
Together the Old Testament and New Testament paint a picture of God's gift of grace and redemption. We must read each in light of the other to see the history of salvation.
New Testament
The New Covenant, Jesus, which fulfills the Old Covenant and the promise of redemption found in the Old Testament.
Why is the New Testament called new?
The New Testament is called "new" because God the Father radically broke into the human condition by sending his only Son, Jesus Christ, to initiate a New Covenant with his People. He had never before revealed or manifested himself in such a way.
What is the proper understanding of the word old in "Old Testament"?
The Old Testament is called old because it is the foundation of our identity as a people of faith, touched by the Incarnation of God.
What is the Paschal Mystery?
The Paschal Mystery is the work of salvation accomplished by Jesus Christ, mainly through his Passion, death, Resurrection, and Ascension.
Protestant Bible
The Protestant reformers rejected the Septuagint as the source for the Old Testament and thus excluded these books from the Old Testament.
What are the four categories of books found in the Old Testament?
The books of law, The historical books, the wisdom books, the prophet books.