Sacred Scripture, Pt. 1 Revelation: Introduction to Sacred Scripture & Sacred Tradition

Knowing God

“Though human reason is, strictly speaking, truly capable by its own natural power and light of attaining to a true and certain knowledge of the one personal God…there are may obstacles which prevent reason from the effective and fruitful use of this inborn faculty…The human mind is hampered by the impact of the sense and imagination, but also disordered appetites, which are the consequence of original sin.”

Pope Pius XII, Humani Generis

The Clouded Reason

Human reason is clouded by sin, and can only get us so close to God.

“Reason can see God only as first principle and the last end.” CCC 36

Thus, “man stands in need of being enlightened by God’s revelation.” CCC 38

God’s Revelation

“In His goodness and wisdom, God chose to reveal Himself and to make known to us the hidden purpose of His will by which through Christ, the Word made flesh, man has access to the Father in the Holy Spirit and comes to share in the divine nature.”

Dei Verbum, Sec. 2

Pentecost

The birthday of the Church.

“He will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all I have said to you.”

The Era of the Church

The the presence of the Holy Spirit, we can “ensure continuity and identity of understanding in the midst of changing conditions and circumstances…in the Church there will always continue the same truth which the Apostles

head from the Master.”

Ensuring Continuity and Identity of Understanding

Means & Method of Transmission:

•  Sacred Scripture

•  Sacred Tradition (2 Thes. 2:15; 2 Tim. 2:2)

•  Magesterium

Sacred Scripture & Sacred Tradition

“There exists a close connection and communication between sacred tradition and Sacred Scripture. For both of them, flowing from the same divine wellspring, in a

certain way merge into a unity and tend toward the same end.” Dei Verbum Sec. 9

The Same End

“In giving us his Son, his only Word, he spoke everything to us at once in this sole Word– and he has no more to say…because what he spoke before to the prophets in parts, he has now spoken all at once by giving us the All Who is His Son. Any person questioning God or desiring some vision or revelation would be guilty not only of foolish behavior but also of offending him, by not fixing his eyes entirely upon Christ and by living with the desire for some other novelty.” –St. John of the Cross

The Magisterium of the Church

Lt. magistra (to preside); the teaching authority of the Church.

Matt 16:18-19; 1 Tim 3:15

“He will teach you all things…”

Education as Liberation, not Enslavement.

Sacred Scripture + Sacred Tradition + Magisterium = Deposit of Faith

“It is clear, therefore, that sacred tradition, Sacred Scripture, and the teaching authority of the Church in accord with God’s most wise design, are so linked together that one cannot stand without the others, and that all together and each in its own way under the action of the one Holy Spirit contribute effectively to the salvation of souls.” Dei Verbum, Sec. 10

Revelation: Mission Accomplished

There will be no further revelation. CCC 66

“No new public revelation is to be expected before the glorious manifestation of our Lord Jesus Christ.” Dei Verbum, Sec. 4

YET, “even if revelation is already complete, it has not been made completely explicit; it remains for Christian faith gradually to grasp its full significance over the course of centuries.” CCC 66

Revelation versus Insight

Revelation is public by nature and reveals Christ, who has been completely revealed through the Incarnation.

What we call private revelation is merely insight into the fullness entailed in Christ.

Sacred Scripture

Scripture: Writings

Bible: Books

Inspiration: God breathed (remember ‘words’ and ‘aspiration’)

Canon: straight rod or measuring stick

2 Parts: Old & New Testament

The Old Testament TaNaK

Jewish compilation

Named after its organization: Law (Torah), Prophets (Neviium), and Wisdom (Ketuvim).

39 Books of Palestinian origins

c. 70 A.D.

Septuagint

Catholic compilation

Named after the 70 translators commissioned (LXX).

46 Books of Diaspora Jews (seven additional books: Tobit, Judith, 1 Maccabees, 2 Maccabees, Baruch, Sirach, Wisdom; plus longer Esther & Daniel)

c. 3rd & 2nd Cent. B.C.

The Septuagint (LXX)

King Ptolemy of Alexandria: amassing the Library of Alexandria asked for a contribution of the Jewish stories.

Commissioned 70 translators who collected the stories of the Jews in Alexandria and surrounding area. The miracle of the 70.

Most Jews in the Diaspora had lost the ability to read Hebrew and therefore the texts were mostly in Greek and translated into Greek.

The Septuagint (LXX)

LXX is made the official Old Testament canon at the Council of Hippo in 393 AD.

St. Jerome looked at the TaNaK for cross-referencing, but relied on the Greek LXX and noted the seven “apocryphal” or deutero-canonical books.

TaNaK relied only on Palestinian Hebrew texts, therefore, LXX was the most widely familiar and circulated OT compilation. In the NT if the OT is cited, it is almost exclusively from the LXX text. However, no deutero-canonical books are referenced in the NT, but neither are many other OT books even in the TaNaK.

Protestant & Catholic Bibles

In 1534 sought to translate texts from the original, not from the Vulgate (which was from LXX).

Inserted apocryphal books between OT & NT with: “Apocrypha, that is, books which are not held equal to the Sacred Scriptures, but nevertheless are useful and good to read.”

Protestant & Catholic Bibles

Why?

Purgatory and Masses & Prayers for the Dead: 2 Macc. 12:43-45

Efficacy of Good Works in Attaining Salvation: Tobit 12:9, Sirach 7:33

TaNaK: the Hebrew Bible

Why the sudden need to have an authoritative canon in 70 A.D.?