Religion unit 2 definitions
connection between the Old and New Testament
"all of the writings of the Bible, Old and New Testaments, point to the Son of God who took flesh and blood to reveal God fully and faithfully- Jesus Christ"
meaning
*God speaks through the human authors *God's truth is what the Scripture communicates *God inspires human authors to communicate the truth about Himself, about ourselves, about our relationship with God and God's plan for us!
What is the difference between the Protestant canon and the Catholic canon?
- Catholic Bible has more books than the Protestant - Different religious communities have slightly different official lists. The Protestant Bible have 7 less books and 2 less sections than the Catholic Bible. These 7 books and 2 sections are called the deutero- canonical books
What three things does the Catechism of the Catholic Church say the reader of Scripture needs to discover about the sacred author's intention? Historical-critical approach:
- Conditions of the writers time and culture - the literary genres in use at the time - modes of feeling, speaking, and narrating then current
How do the genres listed on p70 help us understand the relationship between God as the ultimate author of Scripture and the human authors?
- God creates the Sacred Scripture stories - Human authors create the titles and edit Sacred Scripture - Human authors can't make up these stories alone, God is guiding them
Who is the author of Scripture?
- God is the ultimate author because the gift of the Holy Spirit inspired human writers to write the biblical materials. - Human authors used their own language, artistic style and creativity to communicate God's truth.
How did the early church decide the canon of Scripture?
- In the early centuries of the church, Bishops met in the local councils to decide what would be included in Scared Scripture for the whole community. They included the 46 books from the Septuagint and the 27 books we see today in the New Testament. (Relationship in Scripture; Tradition) - They discerned, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit which books were inspired by God. (Tradition- directed by the Holy Spirit) - At the Council of Trent (ecumenical council) and partly in response to the Protestant Reformation, the Catholic Church set the canon: 46 books of the Hebrew Scriptures that were included in the Septuagint and the 27 books of the New Testament.
How does the historical-critical approach help us understand the relationship between Scripture and Tradition?
- It helps us understand the stories and images from area cultures to make their points about God - The more we know about how people wrote, thought, and expressed themselves in biblical times, the better we can understand what they meant
Synoptic Gosepels
- The Gospels according to the Matthew, Mark, Luke. - They are similar in context and outline (how they tell the account of Jesus' life and teachings); told from point of view unique to each other
Tradition
- The Magisteriums responsibility is to interpert the Scripture taking into account all of the things listed in the historical-criticsl approach. - The living transmission of Revelation includes teaching - The guidance of the Holy Spirit continues today as we try to discover the religious truths in Scripture so we can live it in our lives today and hand it on from generation to generation
What was the contribution the monastic communities made in preserving the Bible?
- These communities were important in preserving education in Western civilizations during the dark Ages. - The communities lived lives of prayer, work and study. - They were responsible for preserving the Bible by copying ancient texts the Sacred Writings of the church.
Role of human authors
- Write at different times, but always under the guidance of the Holy Spirit (Holy Spirit guided them while writing the biblical books) - God inspired the authors - Used their own abilities and different literary styles to communicate his his words - Inspiration means that God speaks through human authors - Inspiration of God renders the author capable of writing with divine authority
QUALITILES SCRIPTURE AND TRADITION SHARE
-Both offer us God's words -Both are guided by The Holy Spirit -BOTH contain Divine Revelation - Bound together: Common source, equal to each other in role of communicating Revelation to us and in supporting each other - Both essential roles in the church *cannot receive fullness of Revelation in one source alone! *Scripture supports how the church lives out and hands on the faith; *Scripture developed from Tradition- the Apostles shared the message and lived Jesus' mission before they wrote it down; *Tradition helps us understand God's Revelation in Scripture and connect to God's word to our lives
DIFFERENCES BETWEEN SCRIPTURE AND TRADITION
-Tradition includes the spoken word, the life of the church and teaching of the church that has been guided by the Holy Spirit in all ages of the past and the work of the Holy Spirit in the present; a process of handing down essentials of the faith. -Scripture is the written word in the Bible. The Bible is not being added to.
Summary
A. PEOPLE EXPERIENCED GOD (DIVINE REVELATION) B. PEOPLE SHARED THEIR EXPERIENCES VERBALLY (ORAL TRADITION) C. PEOPLE WROTE DOWN AND EDITED THE STORIES (WRITTEN TRADITION) D. RELIGIOUS LEADERS SELECTED THE CENTRAL WRITINGS TO BE PART OF SCRIPTURES (CANON; COUNCILS; MAGISTERIUM) E. PEOPLE TRANSLATED THE BIBLE INTO THEIR OWN LANGUAGES (Ex. St. Jerome)
Deutero-canoncial books
Catholic expression referring to those writings included in the Septuagint (Greek Old Testament) not found in the Palestinian canon of the Hebrew Bible; literally, "second canon."
What contributions did St. Jerome make to our understanding of the Bible?
St. Jerome translated the Bible into Latin from Greek to Hebrew, the Vulgate. It was the officially recognized translation for more than 1000 years
Vulgate
St. Jerome's translation of the Bible; the official translation of the church from the east 600s for over 1000 years
Oral tradition
Stories, poems, songs, and proverbs that are passed down verbally (spoken) from one generation to another without being fixed in written form.
What are described as the "heart of all Scriptures?" Why?
The Gospels "heart of all Scriptures" are for Christians because they focus on JESUS, the Son of God who is true God, and true man.
Describe the role of human authors
The human authors used all of their abilities, their own style, language and artistic point of view to communicate God's truth They were not "word processors" God did not dedicate the words into the ears of the human authors
What fact helped identify which writings would be included in the New Testament?
The writings that make up the New Testament were seen as directly connected to the Apostles in some way. Recall: Once the early decisions were made on the canon, nothing new was added to Scripture. Even the old testament books were being used by the Apostles in the time
Who is the ultimate author of Scripture
Ultimately the author of Scripture is God
Historical-critical approach
analyzing a biblical text to try to learn the sources that influenced it, how people thought and expressed themselves at the time, and what that text meant to the audience for which it was written
Exegesis
is a Greek word that means, "to draw out." It is defined as analyzing specific passages of Scripture from different perspectives in order to discover the meaning
Religious truth
the deeper meaning that God intended to reveal to us in a particular way
Biblical inspiration
the gift of the Holy Spirit which assisted human authors in the writing of biblical books and which assured that the writing teaches without error God's saving truth
Deposit of faith
the heritage of faith contained in Sacred Scripture and Tradition, handed on in the Church from the time of the Apostles, from which the Magisterium draws all that it proposes for belief as being divinely revealed - Deposit of faith is our heritage Emphasize: A deposit intends to save something real, to have it for future use
Canon of Scripture
the list of writings officially recognized and accepted by the Catholic Church as inspired books of Sacred Scripture
Tradition
the living transmission, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, of the message of the Gospel in the Church - Reading Scripture - Celebrating Eucharist
Magisterium
the official teaching office of the Church- the bishops in communion with the Pope- that interprets Scripture and Tradition and ensures faithfulness to the teachings of the Apostles - official teaching office of the church - the bishops in communion with the Pope - Interprets Scripture and Tradition and ensures faithfulness to the teachings of the Apostles
Biblical inerrancy
the teaching that the Bible presents faithfully and without error the truths that God revealed for or salvation - Who God is! - What relationship GOD wants with us! - Path to discipleship! - Who Jesus is!
Genre
type of writing, such as history, parable, or poetry