(Just sharing my notes. Some of you may find the info interesting. Many of you may find it to be stuff you already know. I'm in both categories.) Introduction to Scripture Fr. Alain Marie 2/26/07 We must first make a distinction between the word of God and the Bible. The Bible is not the word of God. Read Vatican II’s Divine Revelation (Dei Verbum) The Bible is the word of God which has been put into writing by the Holy Spirit. For 30 years after Christ died there was no such thing as a New Testament. The first Christians lived without a Bible. They were listening to the word of God preached to them. First by the apostles, then by the apostles predecessors. Word of God -> Holy Scripture (word of God put in writing) -> Holy Tradition (Apostolic Tradition) The word of God is more than the Bible. Bible: Biblos -> book There are 72 books in the Bible (some say 73 has to do with diving a book of the OT) OT = 45 NT = 27 Divine Inspiration makes it all one book: The Book The Bible contains books in 3 different languages: Hebrew (OT) Aramian/Aramaic (never an entire book) Greek (NT & some OT) OT Jews divide in 3 parts: “Tanak” = Torah= The Law= The Pentateuch (First 5 books of Bible) Nebiim= The Prophets= 1. The Early Prophets (Joshua, Judges, Samuel, I&II Kings) 2. The Later Prophets (Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel & 12 minor prophets) Ketubim= The Writings 1. Psalms, Proverbs, Job 2. Song of Solomon, Ruth, Lamentations, Obadiah, Esther 3. Daniel, Ezra, Nehemiah, I&II Chronicles Catholic Christians divide it as such: Pentateuch Historical Books (Joshua, I&II Kings, I&II Chronicles, Ezra, Job, Judith, Esther, I&II Maccabees, Nehemiah) Sepiential (Job, Psalms Proverbs, Obadiah, Song of Solomon, Wisdom, Sirach) Prophetic (4 major prophets: Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel & Daniel & the 12 minor prophets) Jews didn’t accepts the books in the OT written in Greek. Protestant Christians don’t accept the books in the OT written in Greek. These include: Tobiah, Judith, Wisdom, Sirach, Maccabees, Baruk, and parts of Esther & Daniel The book of Daniel is written in 3 languages. Canon means “rule” in Greek, ie. The rule of faith. Jews fixed their canon after Jesus’ death, towards the end of the 1st century ~90 in Jamnia. Keep in mind, the temple was destroyed and their sacrifice of animals was stopped b/c the temple was destroyed. To this day, it hasn’t been rebuilt. Their writings were the only thing left and so they only kept the writings in Hebrew. After the church made the Canon and after the protest and reformation of the church, the protestants dropped the OT written in Greek. Keep in mind the entire new testament was written in Greek. Protestant Christians call the books in Greek the apocrypha Catholic Christians call the books in Greek the deuterocanonical books. How was the canon created by the church? We received the OT from the Jews Apostolic books were chosen for the NT. But not all books were chosen. For example: John’s 2nd & 3rd books were inspired, but not as important as the first. The faith of the church is rooted in the teachings of the apostles. How did we know what was inspired? The process was directed by the Holy Spirit. It was a question of faith. It was given to us by the church. It took much time for the church to decide. It wasn’t until the Council of Trent in the 1600’s where the Fathers wrote a list. There was no official list before. Why was it made? Because of the protestant reformation. The church felt no need prior. The church had to react against arianism, and other heresy. Also the reason for the council of ephasis. Some books were contested by protestants that are in the protestant canon: Hebrews & Revelations. Please feel free to discuss what you've read. I'd love to hear your thoughts. +Deus Vobiscum+ | 