Understanding the Bible The Bible and Revelation Is
Understanding the Bible The Bible and Revelation
Is the Bible True? • Look at the statement sheet – where do you stand? • Watch this video clip. This person is not a Catholic but they are a Christian • https: //www. youtube. com/w atch? v=2 uaoii. Fa. E 9 w • What views do they hold? Do you think all Christians need to hold these views?
Fundamentalism • The people in the video are Fundamentalists. • They believe that you should interpret the Bible literally in all its details. • This is taken to mean a view which excludes every effort at understanding the Bible that takes account of its historical origins and development. In other words it doesn’t ask questions like who wrote this, when, why, what was their world like?
• Fundamentalism doesn’t accept that human authors are capable of mistakes and have limited abilities or resources • It ignores the fact that from the start some of the material in the bible was never meant to be taken as historical or scientific fact
Catholics • Do believe that the Bible is the inspired word of God but • reject fundamentalism because it takes away from our use of reason and common sense. • For example Look up and compare Deut 20: 16 -17 with Exodus 20: 13, Proverbs 25: 21 • Look up Isaiah 2: 4 and Joel 3: 9 -10 • What problems would you have if you were a fundamentalist?
Catholics • Interpret the Bible within the living tradition of the Church. The community, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, helps Catholics interpret and understand. They draw on the knowledge and guidance of the community of the Church when trying to understand what scripture means
Revelation • Catholics believe in something called Revelation. • That is God wants to communicate with people. Revelation is the way people come to understand more about God and God’s will for them • For Catholics you could think about revelation like this:
How Does God reveal truth Tradition (magisterium) General Revelation Scripture Reason/Natural World Revelation
• Catholics believe that God gave people intelligence and you have to use this to find out more about the world, about life about the universe. However reason can only get you so far; to know more about God you have to turn to scripture and tradition.
Tradition • The Second Vatican Council explains that the Tradition is not something dead- only in the past, but alive and growing, and that it develops in various ways, through contemplation and study, through deepening understanding of spiritual matters, and through the authoritative preaching of the bishops (Dei Verbum 8). • The Apostles were the first people to preach the Gospel. The Bishops today, (in a direct line since the apostles) continue to do this under the guidance of the Holy Spirit. Catholics therefore look to the Bishops for guidance on how to understand scripture
• Catholics do believe the Bible is the Word of God but because the Word of God is expressed through human language scripture always requires interpretation • In order to understand scripture you need also to understand the type of writing you are reading. This is called The Literary Form (There are notes on this)
• This quote is from a book written by the Bishops of England Wales called ‘The Gift of Scripture’ Try to read it slowly. How would you explain this to another person? • We continue today to live as God’s people. . . The task of safeguarding the understanding of the word of God is given to the teaching authority of the Church, the bishops in union with the Pope. Their duty is to serve the word, by teaching it, listening to it attentively, protecting it conscientiously and explaining it faithfully (Dei Verbum 10). • The teaching authority, or Magisterium, seeks to ensure that new insights are faithful to the word of God. The Second Vatican Council explains: ‘It is clear, therefore, that Sacred Tradition, Sacred Scripture and the teaching authority of the Church, …are so linked and joined together that one cannot stand without the others.
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