Learning God's Word: A Catholic Guide to Scripture Study

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Learning God's Word: A Catholic Guide to Scripture Study

Preface

Most introductions to the Bible are quite large and imposing - thick volumes with many pages of

text and fine print.

I have tried to write something much more brief, perhaps surprisingly so; it is meant to be like alittle "handmaid" for the reader who wants to have a succinct overview of the major themes in

biblical study both past and present - whether as a goal in itself, or as a framework for further,

more detailed study.

I have drawn the material from documents of the Magisterium and from reputable Catholic

scholarship both past and present, thereby hoping to provide the basic information andknowledge you need to appreciate the sacred texts within the living tradition in which they were

written. May His Word always accompany you.

- Fr. Michael Giesler


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Chapter 1 - God, the Church and Scripture

The story of the Bible begins with God and His everlasting love for human beings. As a matter

of fact theDei Verbum, Vatican II's Dogmatic Constitution on Divine Revelation, begins its

consideration of Sacred Scripture on the highest plane by connecting it with life and mystery ofthe Holy Trinity itself.

The mercy of God the Father for us reveals itself through the life and words of God the Son, who

then sends us His truth and love by God the Holy Spirit. All three Persons are therefore involvedin the revelation and realization of Gods saving plan for the human race, namely our

redemption.

Sacred Scripture is the written record of that revelation and redemption. It was composed by

human writers who were inspired by Gods grace and wrote inerrantly what He wished them to

communicate. This point should be taken into account at every stage of biblical studies; if it is

forgotten, the Bible will easily be misunderstood and its true meaning deformed.

Sacred Scripture - both the Old and New Testaments, all seventy-three books - is really the

manifestation of the truth and love of God Himself in His dealings with mankind. For thisreason, Scripture can truly be calledsacredand is unlike any other ancient book.

Jesus Christ is the summation and fulfillment of Scripture, as He reveals to us God the Fatherand God the Holy Spirit. Christ is therefore the greatest Revelation, which no book can fully

contain. This Revelation includes His miracles, His words, the infinite power of His divine

Person, His boundless charity for each person and His mysterious action through the sacraments.None of this could ever be captured in the written word.

We must remember that Christ Himself never wrote a book, and that Saint John, His closestdisciple, stated that there were "many other things which Jesus did; were every one of them to be

written, I suppose that the world itself could not contain the books that would be written" (see

John 21:25). From this text we can conclude that Christ said and did far more than was ever

written down in the Bible.

The total Revelation of Christ to His followers is called Sacred Tradition (seeDei Verbum, no.

9). It contains all the individual truths that He gave to His followers and, just as importantly, theproper context in which to understand them rightly. It is a living tradition because it comes from

Christ the Living Word Himself. It is active throughout the centuries, and as such it is entrusted

to His Church.

This is verified in Scripture itself. Christ promised that He would be with His disciples "to the

close of the age" (see Matthew 28:20), and that He would communicate His truth to men through

His disciples: "He who hears you hears me" (see Luke 10:16).

This communication of Christ, then, is not done in the abstract, but through the witness of His

followers in the Church that He founded. And it is the Third Person of the Blessed Trinity who
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works in those followers and maintains them in the vital context of Christs truth and love, as He

reveals God the Father (Dei Verbum, no. 8).

Therefore, this interrelated and powerful action of the Three Persons is preserved in the living

tradition of the Catholic Church. No part of Scripture can be properly understood outside of this

living tradition, which is really the Gospel itself in its full meaning.

The living unwritten tradition not only precedes the written word of Scripture, but also forms the

origin and vital context of its interpretation - and this can be applied to both the Old and NewTestaments.

Without an understanding and appreciation of Gods loving plan in Jesus the Messiah for the

Hebrew people, the books of the Old Testament would be largely unintelligible, and without anunderstanding and appreciation of Christs Person and gift to the new chosen people, the books

of the New Testament would be completely unintelligible.

It is not enough to know the biblical languages of Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek, or to studyhistory and archeology extensively. If the Bible is not read in the living context in which it was

written, it cannot be truly understood.

For this reason,Dei Verbum (no. 12) stresses that Scripture must be read and interpreted in the

same spirit with which it was written.

Practically, this means that the words of the Old and New Testaments must be understood within

the living tradition of the Church: "There exists a close connection and communication between

Sacred Tradition and Sacred Scripture. For both of them, flowing from the same divinewellspring, in a certain way merge into a unity and tend toward the same end" (Dei Verbum, no.

9).

Scripture alone, therefore, is not sufficient for understanding the whole truth of Christ and

Redemption; Scripture must be understood within a context greater than itself.

Intrinsically connected with Scripture and Tradition is the Magisterium of the Church. The

Magisterium is the teaching authority of Christs Mystical Body extended throughout time. It

consists of the pope, and the bishops in union with Him, as they explain Scripture and other

revealed truths, especially in matters of faith and morals.

The Holy Spirit actively guides the Magisterium, not only in times of heresy or

misunderstanding, but in an ordinary way through instructions given by popes and bishopsthroughout the ages.

The Magisterium can never be considered outside of the living tradition of the Church; rather, itis the supernatural extension and protector of the living tradition. Without the Magisterium, we

would have no guarantee that what we believe today was really revealed by Christ to His

disciples. This was emphasized by Vatican II:
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Yet this Magisterium is not superior to the Word of God, but is its servant. It teaches only what

has been handed on to it. At the divine command and with the help of the Holy Spirit, it listens to

this devotedly, guards it with dedication and expounds it faithfully (Dei Verbum,no. 10).

We will speak more about this connection, but perhaps an example will help. The Old Testament

text ofMalachi 1:11 says the following: "And in every place incense is offered to my name, anda pure offering; for my name is great among the nations."

In writing this prophecy, Malachi was working within the tradition of fidelity and loyalty toGods covenant, as were all the prophets. Implicit in Malachis message is the fact that God

should be honored with a generous fulfillment of the ritual laws, without cheating or

lukewarmness.

Thus, the literal meaning of this text, placed in its historical context, appears to be the correctionof unlawful practices when offering sacrifices.

Malachi is upbraiding those who would bring animals that were blind, or sheep that were lame,in order to fulfill their duty to God. However, placed within the living tradition of the Churchand of Christ the Messiah, this text refers to a greater offering which would be pure and universal

- extended to all the corners of the earth - namely, the offering of Christ to His Father for our

sins, for He is the Lamb without blemish.

Finally, the Council of Trent in 1562, working within this tradition and desiring to address

Protestant misunderstandings about the Eucharist, stated explicitly that Malachi 1:11 referred tothe sacrifice of the Mass. For Christs offering of himself to the Father in the Holy Eucharist is

truly universal, without blemish, and extending throughout the earth. In this and similar ways,

the Magisterium exercises its role of guarding and explaining what had been revealed.

We can appreciate the divinely established unity of Tradition, Scripture, and Magisterium. They

all support one another and, in a sense, elucidate one another. Tradition without Scripture would

run the risk of becoming vague or being forgotten; Scripture without Tradition would become asterile letter, without real life; and both Tradition and Scripture without the Magisterium could

be easily misinterpreted and deformed throughout time.

In light of this, one can appreciate more the Second Vatican Councils statement on their inter-

connection: "It is clear, therefore, that, in the supremely wise arrangement of God, sacred

Tradition, sacred Scripture and the Magisterium of the Church are so connected and associatedthat one of them cannot stand without the others. Working together, each in its own way under

the action of the one Holy Spirit, they all contribute effectively to the salvation of souls" (DeiVerbum, no. 10).
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The same variety can be found in the New Testament by comparing the direct and simple style of

Mark's Gospel with the more elegant and elaborate vocabulary of the Letter to the Hebrews. And

yet both proclaim the words and deeds of Jesus Christ: the former His miracles and love for

mankind, the latter His priesthood and the power of His sacrifice in the New Covenant.

What, then, is a good definition of inspiration? It is always difficult to define something that is

mysterious, and even more difficult to define the miraculous, especially when we try to describe

the interplay between the Divine Intellect and the human mind, and between the Divine Will and

the human will.

In his article on prophecy in theSumma Theologiae, Saint Thomas Aquinas distinguishes the

receiving of a truth and the judgment about the meaning of that truth; both are needed for true

prophecy and inspiration.

When the biblical author composes, he not only transmits a truth from God but he judges it alsoto have come from God, even though he may not always grasp its full implication (seeChapter

7). There is also an action of the Holy Spirit upon the will of man; God respects yet moves the

freedom of the human author, so that he desires freely to write what he is told or what he

discovers through the action of the Holy Spirit.

There are many instances of divine action upon the memory (assisting the writers of the

historical books of the Old Testament) and the imagination as well (as in Ezekiels visions, and

Saint Johns Book of Revelation).

Biblical prophecy is a result of divine inspiration and is a good example of the mysteriousconnection between the Divine Author and the human author.

The prophets (in Hebrew nabim, or those who speak for someone else) delivered Gods word

to the people. This word could be presented in different literary forms - as an instruction, a

correction, an exhortation, a warning, or at times a prediction - but the common element in them

all is the revelation of some aspect of Gods plan for His people.

Those prophecies that had to do directly with Christ are called messianic prophecies (for

example, Psalm 2: 21; Micah 5:2).Because of the dual authorship of Scripture, that is, the author

who is in time and the One who is outside of time, some biblical prophecies have a quality

known as compenetration.

In other words, they can refer to a historical event or person on one level, while simultaneously

referring to a person or event who is yet to come.

For instance, 2 Samuel 7:12-14 can refer to Solomon who succeeded David as the earthly king
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andto Christ the son of David, who is the eternal King. Similarly, Isaiah 40 can refer to the Jews

returning from exile in 536 B.C. andto the messianic kingdom at the end of time.

In all cases, however, biblical prophecy demonstrates the supernatural nature of inspiration: The

Divine Author enlightens the mind and moves the will of the human author to manifest a truth to

the people, which is always connected in some way with their salvation.

The Psalms and Wisdom literature of the Bible manifest a particular type of inspiration. The way

the inspired author composes a song or verse, or the way he reflects upon life or history, reveals

a beautiful and profound view of the majesty, justice, mercy, and countless other attributes of

God.

These texts help the reader to relate personally to his Creator, and greatly assist his prayer and

meditation by elevating his mind, will, and emotions. Praise, thanksgiving, lamentation, and joy

are among the many actions of the soul that the Psalms elicit; understanding, depth, and practicaladvice for daily living are among the gifts found in the Wisdom literature.

Apocalyptic works, on the other hand, use symbolic actions, visions, and numbers to express the

mysterious workings of God in human history, and even beyond history. Often they point to the

end of time or predict a climactic point in the battle between good and evil in the world.

The New Testament Book of Revelation, which was most likely the last book of the Bible to be

written, points to the ultimate consummation of the universe. It connects the final victory of

Jesus Christ and His saints with the struggle between good and evil that takes place throughout

time.

Modern authors have developed the theory that many of the books of the Bible are the result of

different traditions of writers, extending through the centuries, and that there were many writings

and re-writings that eventually led to the Bible we have today.

According to the popular "Four Source Theory," for example, the Pentateuch, or first five books

of the Bible, are really the result of a number of traditions compiled over a period of five

centuries; each of these would have its own theological message, historical origin, style, and

vocabulary. (See Chapter 8)

If such a theory were true, one would still have to affirm that God is the primary author of these

books, and that He guides the final writers or editors of these various traditions throughout the

centuries by assuring the truthfulness of their words and their salvific power.

According to a decree of the Pontifical Biblical Commission in 1948, such a theory would not

deny the unique contribution of Moses as author and legislator with respect to these books or
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traditions in the Pentateuch.

We can appreciate, then, how easy it is to exaggerate the true meaning of inspiration. By excess,

some have wanted to say that the hagiographer falls into a state of ecstasy before writing. This

could be true for some passages, but most of the Bible seems to have been written by people in a

more normal state of mind, even though they were definitely led by the Holy Spirit.

Another form of excess is to hold that God dictates every word. Yet if we read the preface to the

First Book of Maccabees, and the prologue to Saint Luke's Gospel, we realize that the authors do

normal research and obviously labor for their words, always in union, of course, with the Holy

Spirit.

By defect, others would reduce inspiration to mere human brilliance, as one could say that

Shakespeare was "inspired" when he wroteHamlet, or Edison was inspired when he invented

the light bulb. Or they would say that inspiration only comes with subsequent Church approval.

This was the theory of biblical scholar Jacques Bonfrere in 1625, who was struggling against the

sola scriptura error of the Protestant reformers. It is true that Church approval is necessary for

determining whether a text is inspired or not, but this approval is not the cause of the books

inspiration.

One of the best and most complete definitions of inspiration was given by Pope Leo XIII in his

famous encyclicalProvidentissimus Deus (no. 20). It describes the elements we have mentioned

above, from the point of view of the Holy Spirit as acting upon the sacred writers:

For, by supernatural power, [the Holy Spirit] so moved and impelled them to write - He so

assisted them when writing - that the things which He ordered, and those only, they, first, rightly

understood, then willed faithfully to write down, and finally expressed in apt words and with

infallible truth.

From this definition we can also distinguish the difference between inspiration and revelation.

Very often these two go together, but in itself revelation is the communication of some truth by

God to man, either in a public or personal way, whereas inspiration carries with it the desire to

manifest that truth, by word or writing, to others.

Inspiration therefore by nature exists for the good of the believing community, since it gives the

message of salvation to the people of God - both before and after the time of Jesus coming.

An example of how inspiration would operate in the New Testament is seen in Saint Luke's

Gospel. The prologue states that he went about his work diligently: "Inasmuch as many have

undertaken to compile a narrative of the things which have been accomplished among us . . . it
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seemed good to me also, having followed all things closely for some time past, to write an

orderly account for you" (Luke 1:1, 3).

Saint Luke does his research by taking into account eyewitness reports and by looking at other

written accounts of Christs works and words. Then, in an orderly and accurate fashion, he writes

down what he has found. This corresponds to the above description of inspiration.

There is a reception of truth - either from an oral or written source - a judgment that it is certain

and fit to be recorded, and then a communication of that truth to others. And during the process,

the Holy Spirit guides the author by engaging his mind and will so that he may grasp the divine

message and desire to manifest it to others.

In the case of Saint Luke, this guidance took place in the context of human effort and research,

which appears to be the normal way of revelation and inspiration in the Old and New

Testaments.

Of course, God can communicate His message in more extraordinary ways, as in the case of the

burning bush for Moses (Exodus 3:2) or in Isaiah's vision of the seraphim (Isaiah 6).

In these cases, the human author is more passive, as his mind or senses are filled with the power

and beauty of the divine communication. In all cases, however, we must say that inspiration is

the mysterious interplay between God's initiative and the faculties of the human soul.

Chapter 3 -Biblical Veracity and Historicity
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We have stated that in biblical inspiration there is a mysterious interplay between the human

mind and Gods word; this applies not only to an individual author writing a sacred text, but to

the recording of a biblical tradition or re-readings of it which could take place over a longerperiod of time. We have also noted inChapter 1 that Jesus Christ is the fullness of revelation,

that is, His Person and His Word bring the fullness of salvific truth to the world.

It is logical then that Pope Pius XII in his encyclicalDivino Afflante Spiritu (no. 37) would

actually compare biblical truthfulness and inerrancy to the Incarnation itself. He writes:

For as the substantial Word of God became like to men in all things, except sin, so the words

of God, expressed in human language, are made like to human speech in every respect, except

error.In practical terms this means that the Bible is truthful because of the truthfulness of God

Himself, who is the Primary Author, and because of His assistance to the human author. Theterm inerrancy is simply the negative way of expressing the same idea: because the Bible is

completely truthful, it is without error.

Strictly speaking, this absolute truthfulness applies to the original texts of the sacred writers, butgood transcriptions and translations share in this quality, insofar as they represent the original

text faithfully.

Since we have none of the original texts of either the Old or the New Testament books, the work

of biblical scholars in determining the best edition of a text is important, whereas the final

approval of the text by the Magisterium of the Church is essential. With Church approval we canknow with certainty that a transcription or a translation represents the original inspired text for

us, without doctrinal errors.

It is clear that the absolute truthfulness or inerrancy of Sacred Scripture must first be understood

according to the meaning that the human author expresses, as inspired by God. This is called theliteral meaningof a text, and must never be neglected in any study of Scripture.It forms the basisfrom which other meanings can be drawn, both for practical living and for doctrinal reflection.

Since God has chosen to express His infallible truth through a specific individual with a certainlanguage, and with a certain literary style, it is also essential to study the historical times and

specific literary forms of the hagiographer, as far as this is possible.

In the words of Pope Pius XII (Divino Afflante Spiritu, no. 23): "[L]et the interpreters bear inmind that their foremost and greatest endeavor should be to discern and define clearly that sense

of the biblical words which is called literal. Aided by the context and by comparison with similar

passages, let them therefore by means of their knowledge of languages search out with alldiligence the literal meaning of the words. . . ."

With the above in mind, controversies similar to those which rocked both the world and theChurch over the past century can be avoided. For instance, in the first chapter of Genesis, one

must understand that the sacred writer is not giving a description of the world in a modern

scientific sense, but rather is using the words and conceptions of his day.
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Therefore, in describing the universe, he speaks of the firmament of the sky, and the waters

above and under it (Genesis 1:7). In speaking of the descriptions of the visible universe by the

sacred writers, Pope Leo XIII (Providentissimus Deus,no. 18) commented that they describedand dealt with things in more of less figurative language, or in terms which were commonly used

at the time.

Once we understand this, we can begin to grasp the depth of Sacred Scripture, and appreciate

more clearly the truths underpinning the physical universe - for instance, God as the Origin and

Creator of all beings, the order and providence of the world, the interconnection of all thingsboth animate and inanimate, and the special role of mankind made in Gods image and likeness.

With the exception of certain passages which may have a unique literary form for narrating

history - and which would have to be proven of course - there is no evidence that the sacredwriters use more or less figurative language to describe human events.

Since their whole purpose is to show Gods salvific love for man, they wish to present fully and

forcefully the real character of His action in history. He truly intervenes in human history andworks through the real events of mankinds existence in this world. This does not mean,

however, that we can expect to find history as it is written in our modern sense.

Many biblical authors are not that concerned about exact chronologies or dates, or they may use

symbolic names for rulers and kings, but their clear intent is to give a true history and to show

Gods powerful action in man's life. The evangelists of the New Testament give differentchronologies of Jesus' life, but together they present a full and accurate account of His words and

actions.

From what has been said, we can affirm that salvation history has at least three aspects: the event

itselfin a specific time and place, with its physical and spiritual effects; the reflectionon thateventby the believer, or the community of believers, to understand and assimilate its depth; andthe proclamation of that eventfor the good of souls through the spoken or written word. In this

entire process, there is no fabrication, invention, or exaggeration.

As Vatican II teaches: "[T]he four gospels just named, whose historicity [Holy Mother Church]

unhesitatingly affirms, faithfully hand on what Jesus, the Son of God, while he lived among men,

really did and taught for their eternal salvation" (Dei Verbum, no. 19).

Could there be some texts that have "the appearance of history only"? Some biblical critics think

that this is the literary form used, for instance, in the Old Testament Books of Jonah, Tobit,

Judith, Ruth, and Esther. The only statement of the Magisterium in regard to this question isfrom the Pontifical Biblical Commission in the year 1905. The following query was put before

the commission:

Whether the opinion can be admitted as a principle of sound exegesis, which holds that the books

of Sacred Scripture which are held to be historical, either in whole or in part sometimes do not

narrate history properly so called and truly objective, but present an appearance of history only,

to signify something different from the properly literal and historical significance of the words?
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The Pontifical Biblical Commission, with Pope Pius X's formal approval, answered as follows:

"In the negative, except in the case, however, not readily or rashly to be admitted, where withoutopposing the sense of the Church and preserving its judgment, it is proved with strong arguments

that the sacred writer did not wish to put down true history, and history properly so-called, but to

set forth, under the appearance and form of history a parable, an allegory, or some meaningremoved from the properly literal or historical significance of the words."

As far as I know, no solid arguments have ever been given that deny the historical character ofthe above books. The same applies to certain parts of the New Testament that some scholars

consider to be the pious inventions of a later generation about Christs life - for instance, the

infancy narratives or accounts of His miracles.

There is absolutely no evidence that any New Testament writer intended to produce a fable about

Christ. Indeed, the first Christians rejected any book that was suspected of having non-authentic

material, as we shall discuss below.

There are certainly many parables in the New Testament, and a few literary allegories, but the

historical narratives are written to be accepted as such, even though some New Testamentauthors may have arranged some events of Christs life in a certain order so as to conform to

their evangelizing purpose.

Pope Benedict XV cautioned about applying the criterion of figurative language, used inpassages referring to the visible universe, to those passages referring to historical events.

Knowledge of history should not be transposed to the same level as the knowledge of the

cosmos.

Pope Pius XII also, even though he encouraged the use of literary forms to properly understand

historical passages, laments the denial of the historical character of Scripture: "In a particularway a certain too free interpretation of the historical books of the Old Testament must be

deplored. . . . Therefore, whatever of the popular narrations have been inserted into the Sacred

Scriptures must in no way be considered on a par with myths or other such things, which aremore the product of an extravagant imagination than of that striving for truth and simplicity

which in the Sacred Books, also of the Old Testament, is so apparent."

We should also consider that the Pontifical Biblical Commission in "The Historicity of theGospels" (1964), listed the following literary forms used in the New Testament: catechetical

formulas, narrative reports, eyewitness accounts, hymns, doxologies, and prayers. The possibility

of similar literary forms is mentioned, but no mention is made of a category such as "piousmyth" or "historical fable" for the edification of the people.

Related to this area was the theological controversy concerning implicit quotations. According tosome authors, the sacred writers could have quoted materials from other sources without

necessarily vouching for their truthfulness. Thus there could be historical inaccuracies that would

not endanger the inspiration or inerrancy of the text.
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In a similar way, some writers wanted to restrict inspiration only to those texts dealing with faith

and morals, again with the attempt to save the inerrancy of the text against historical skeptics.

While well-intentioned, both of these theories were rejected by the Magisterium. In response to

these theories, Pope Leo XIII (Providentissimus Deus, no. 20) replies: "[I]t is absolutely wrong

and forbidden either to narrow inspiration to certain parts only of Holy Scripture or to admit thatthe sacred writer has erred. . . . For all the books which the Church receives as sacred and

canonical are written wholly and entirely, with all their parts, at the dictation of the Holy Spirit."

To summarize, we can assert that allof Scripture is truthful, and that God chooses in Scripture to

use the limitations of human authors and language in order to reveal His salvific action - both in

historical events and in the souls of men and women.

Chapter 4 - The Biblical Canon
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For the next four chapters of this handbook, I am particularly indebted to Rev. John

Steinmuellers classic text, Companion to Scripture Studies, Volume I (seeBibliography).

With proper updating and nuancing, I have been able to incorporate and paraphrase many key

themes and biblical terms contained in this work - materials which Fr.Steinmueller himself drew

from earlier writers within the great Catholic tradition.

The English word canon is derived from a Greek word which means a rule or a measure. It has

both an active and a passive sense; that is, a canon is something that measures an object, butitself is measured, like a modern ruler or yardstick.

The Eastern Father of the Church, Saint Athanasius, was the first to use the term to refer to the

sacred books. In the strictest sense, we can state that the biblical canon is that catalogue of bookswhich the Catholic Church has declared to be divinely inspired, and which she therefore regards

as one of the sources of divine Revelation.

In determining the canon, both Tradition and Magisterium come into play, as is logical, since thebooks of the Bible cannot canonize themselves. For diverse reasons, some of the books of the

New Testament were doubted in the first centuries of the Church.

These included the Letter to the Hebrews, the Letter of James, the Book of Revelation, the

Letters of 2 Peter, 2 and 3 John, and Jude. In some cases, as in the Letter to the Hebrews and 2

and 3 John, there were questions of authenticity - some doubted that they were truly written bySaints Paul and John the apostle.

In other cases, such as the Book of Revelation and the Letter of Jude, heretics used quotes fromthem to advance their erroneous ideas. Of course, neither of the above suspicions can of

themselves negate the divine authorship or inspiration of the books, but they did delay their

universal acceptance by the Church.

Of course, the Christians received the Old Testament books from Jewish sources. For most of the

first century, Christians and Jews agreed which writings had an inspired character, but after therabbinical Council of Jamnia (100 A.D.), the rabbis declared that seven books of the Old

Testament could not be included in their listing of sacred books: the Books of Tobit, Judith, 1

and 2 Maccabees, Wisdom, Sirach, and Baruch.

The reasons given by the rabbis (most of them from the Pharisee party) were fourfold: (1) they

appeared to be in conflict with the Torah, that is, the main books of the Law. (2) they were

written after the time of the scribe Ezra (c. 450 B.C.), (3) they were written in a non-Hebrewlanguage such as Greek or Aramaic, (4) they were written outside of Palestine. Another factor

that made these books undesirable for the Pharisees was that they were frequently used by the

Christians.

As a result of this ruling, the Jewish canon of Scripture would henceforth be deprived of such

great truths as the action of guardian angels, Gods creation of the universe out of nothing, and

the reality of the after-life, since all of these revelations are contained in the seven books that the
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rabbis rejected.

After a period of uncertainty and debate, the Catholic Church accepted as divinely inspired atotal of seventy-three books: forty-six of the Old Testament and twenty-seven of the New.

All of the books that had been doubted, either by Christians or Palestinian rabbis, wereeventually accepted, so that by the year 400 A.D., the Church had the complete canon that we

know today. Canonicity was based on three criteria: (a) apostolic origin - one could trace the

books back to one of the apostles or their companions, (b) orthodoxy - the content of these booksconformed with authentic preaching about Christ and the Church, and (c) catholicity - those

books were used by all or nearly all the communities of the faithful.

The books that had been doubted for some reason were called deuterocanonical, to distinguishthem from theprotocanonicalbooks, which had never been doubted. Centuries later, the

Protestants would reject those Old Testament books which the Jews had rejected earlier.

Some Protestants also called into question the canonicity of the Letter of James, which MartinLuther doubted for his own theological reasons. For this reason, Protestant Bibles have fewer

books than Catholic Bibles. In the decree Sacrosancta (April 8, 1546), the Council of Trentformally declared all 73 books of the Old and New Testaments to be part of the Church's canon

(cf. Catechism of the Catholic Church, n. 120).

The complete list of the sacred books according to the Catholic Church is as follows:

Books of the Old Testament Books of the New Testament


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Pentateuch

Genesis

ExodusLeviticus

Numbers

Deuteronomy

Historical Books

Joshua .

JudgesRuth

Samuel, 1 and 2

Kings, 1 and 2Chronicles, 1 and 2

Ezra

Nehemiah

TobitJudith

Esther

Maccabees, 1 and 2

Gospels

Saint Matthew

Saint MarkSaint Luke

Saint John

Acts of the Apostles

Wisdom &

Poetical Books

Job

PsalmsProverbs

Ecclesiastes

(Qoheleth)

Song of SongsWisdom

Sirach

(Ecclesiasticus)

Prophetical Books

Isaiah

Jeremiah

LamentationsBaruch

Ezekiel

Daniel

HoseaJoel

Amos

ObadiahJonah

Micah

Nahum

HabakkukZephaniah

Haggai

ZechariahMalachi

Letters of Saint Paul

Romans

Corinthians, 1 and 2

GalatiansEphesians

Philippians

Colossians

Thessalonians, 1 and 2Timothy, 1 and 2

Titus

PhilemonHebrews

Other Letters

Letter of Saint James

Letters of Saint Peter, 1 and 2

Letters of Saint John, 1, 2, and 3Letter of Saint Jude

Revelation (Apocalypse)

For a brief description of the content of each book of the Old and New Testament, please see the

Appendix.


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Apocryphal Books

The apocryphalbooks (from the Greek word meaning "hidden" or "concealed") have a religious content,but were not held to be inspired by the Church.

The Old Testament apocryphals, such as the "Last Words of Jacob" or the "Psalms of Solomon," werewritten to adorn the biblical narrative with fictitious stories in order to build interest or to instill more

piety. Some, like the Assumption of Moses, contained predictions about the coming of the Messiah.

Many of these Old Testament apocryphal writings were discovered in the caves of Qumram, near the

Dead Sea, in 1948. They provide an excellent insight into the various expectations of the Jewish people

around the time of Christ, as well as the religious beliefs of one particular group known as the Essenes

who lived from 135 B.C. to 68 A.D. in the area where the papyri were discovered.

The New Testament apocryphals were also of different varieties.

Some, like the "Gospel of Matthias," actually presented heretical ideas from Gnosticism (a movement inthe early centuries that exempted people from obeying the Church and the Commandments, and that

denied Christs divinity and humanity).

One Gnostic gospel actually has Christ escaping from crucifixion, while another is crucified in His

place. Others presented fables or fictitious stories about Jesus in order to answer peoples curiosity.

For example, the "Gospel of Thomas" speaks of Jesus making birds out of clay as a boy, and performing

miracles in Josephs workshop. With her strong commitment to true historical witness and apostolic

origin concerning Jesus words and deeds, the Church rejected these and similar stories that could not besubstantiated.

But not all of the apocryphals are useless or harmful, and over the centuries the Church has incorporatedinformation from some of them. The "Gospel of James (also known as the Protoevangelium of

James), is the oldest of the extant apocryphal gospels. It gives us the names of the parents of Mary -

Joachim and Ann - and also the tradition of Marys presentation in the temple as a small girl.

The "Acts of Peter" contains the famous scene of the Quo Vadis outside of Rome (when Peter is fleeing

from persecution and meets Christ), and the crucifixion of Peter upside down. Other apocryphals speak

of the death of St. Joseph and Christs descent to the underworld. We know of the existence of thesebooks through the writings of the Church Fathers, but very few are extant.


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Chapter 5 - The Integrity of The Sacred Texts

Since God is the primary author of the Bible, He has also exercised a special providence throughout

history to preserve and transmit its contents. Although we do not have any original texts, from either the

Old or New Testament, we can safely say we do possess a faithful transmission of those texts in theapproved editions that we have today.

The biblical gift ofintegrity means that the original text has reached us as it was written at first - without

any substantial additions, deletions, or interpolations. This is quite remarkable, considering the numberof years that have passed and the number of hands that have copied the sacred texts.

The integrity of the Old Testament texts is owed in part to the Hebrew scribes who transmitted andscrupulously maintained the texts of the Torah (the Law), theNabim (the prophets), and theKetubim

(the writers); they would not allow any changes or additions.

Along with other evidence, this is amply substantiated by the Dead Sea scrolls, which contain not onlyapocryphal writings, but also many Old Testament writings whose conformity with later canonical texts

is noteworthy.

Around the tenth century A.D., a group of rabbis called the Massoretes established a text of great

authority which was later appropriately called the Massoretic text. It contains a series of pronunciation

marks for the Hebrew vowel sounds and a system of verses. The consonants were all fixed by theCouncil of Jamnia (100 A.D.), and the Massoretic text has remained the standard Hebrew text

throughout the centuries.

The New Testament texts were written in Greek. The oldest undisputed fragment of the New Testament

is the Ryland fragment, which contains a small part of a passage from the Gospel of John, and can bedated to approximately 150 A.D.

Some scholars in recent years, however, claim to have discovered Gospel texts dating back to 60 A.D.,

such as the Magdalen papyrus in Great Britain containing a text of Saint Matthew, and a fragment (7Q5)

of Saint Marks Gospel found in a Qumran cave.

The oldest New Testament texts were written on papyrus and are located at various universities and

museums throughout the world. Textual scholars use the system "p1, p2, p3," etc., to number thepapyri

which have been discovered.

Another group of ancient texts is the uncials (known for their large capital letters), which were writtenon vellum or parchment. They date from the early fourth century to the ninth century. Among the most

important uncials (orcodices) are the Codex Sinaiticus (S) of the early fourth century, which contains

the entire New Testament, the Codex Alexandrinus (A) of the early fifth century that has most of it, and

the codex Vaticanus (B) of the early fourth century, which contains the books of the New Testament upto Hebrews 9:14. Codices discovered later are classified with the letter "O" followed by a specific

number.


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Apart from the papyri and uncials, there are also the minuscules which consist of small letters linked

together by ligatures. These manuscripts date from the ninth to the fifteenth century, when the printing

press was invented.

There are about fifty minuscules which contain the entire New Testament. In addition to these sources,

there are also lectionaries, or ancient liturgical books, which have the readings of the Mass and otherprayers that help us to determine what texts of Scripture were used at that time.

By connecting texts according to their style and origin, biblical scholars have also been able todetermine various families of New Testament texts. The first family is called the Alexandrian family,

which consists of the older uncials, most particularly codex B. This family is marked by its brevity, the

use of common forms of words, and a general freedom from harmonistic tendencies (the joining of

different texts to make a more complete story).

Another family is the so-called "Western family," since its texts were frequently used in the Western

Church. These texts have many additions, paraphrases, and harmonistic tendencies.

The third family, the Caesarean group, lies somewhere between the other families in style and content.

The fourth family is the Byzantine group, which is headed by codex A. Some of its chief characteristicsare elegance in diction, additions, and harmonistic tendencies.

The fifth family is called the Syrian, and is headed by the Old Syriac version of the Bible.

TheByzantine group was used in the Churches of the East, especially in Constantinople. It was printed

in the sixteenth century and continued as a kind of official or received Greek text until the year 1831. In

that year biblical scholars were more drawn to the Alexandrian family of texts, according to the textualB type.

In the nineteenth century, many new critical editions of the New Testament were published, the mostfamous of which was by C. Tischendorf in 1872. Other Protestant scholars who sought to establish a

better critical text are B. Weiss and E. Nestle. Catholic scholars of the past century who also based their

editions on codex B are H.I. Vogels and A. Merk.

The most recent text is by Kurt and Barbara Aland in 1984, which presents the Neo-Vulgate Latin text

alongside the Greek text with an extensive critical apparatus at the bottom of each page.

Despite the many hands, editions, and variations of the Bible throughout the centuries, it is truly

amazing to realize that its text has reached us substantially unchanged and uncorrupted. In this aspect it

is unlike any other ancient book.

The larger part of the texts from the different families and codices show a great uniformity. If there are

any differences in the versions, they are in the order of words, or slight grammatical variations, or smallchanges caused by copyists errors. There are only fifteen instances where the changes may be enough

to affect the meaning of a text in a significant way, but none of these changes call into question any

dogma of the Church.


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We can see in a very clear, almost dramatic way, the evidence of the gift of integrity, or the Holy Spirit's

protection of the biblical texts.


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Chapter 6 -Principal Versions of Scripture, Ancient and Modern

The primary biblical languages are Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek. Most of the Old Testament books

were written in Hebrew, though some of the deuterocanonical books were written in Aramaic and

Greek. These two had become the more common languages in the Middle Eastern world and hadreplaced older languages like Hebrew.

About the third century B.C., a group of Hebrew scholars undertook a translation of the sacred writings

from Hebrew to Greek, for the benefit of those Jews who lived in cities outside of Israel, for instance, inAlexandria, Corinth, and Ephesus.

According to tradition, this translation was completed by seventy scholars who were sent by the highpriest Eleazar from Jerusalem to Egypt around 250 B.C., where they translated the Torah (the first five

books of the Bible) into Greek. The work was continued by others, and all the sacred writings were

translated by 100 B.C. This translation is called the Septuaginttranslation, according to the above-

mentioned tradition that seventy scholars ( in Latinseptuaginta) initiated it.

Though the Septuagint translation of the books was of unequal value (the Pentateuch and earlier

prophets are considered by scholars to have been the best), there was an effort to present difficultpassages more clearly, and some messianic texts were also rendered more forcefully.

One famous example of this more specific rendering is Genesis 3:15, where God is addressing theserpent after the Fall and predicting his punishment, and which the Septuagint translates as "He shall

bruise your head," instead of the more literal "It[the seed] of the woman shall bruise your head."

This translation will have great importance and resonance with the coming of Christianity, and the belief

in Christ the Messiah who conquers the devil who is the enemy of mankind.

Similarly, the Septuagint translates Isaiah's prophecy to Ahaz (see Isaiah 7:14) as "a virgin shall

conceive and bear a son" instead of the more general "a young woman shall conceive and bear a son,"

which was in the original Isaian text.

This translation paved the way for the Christian belief that Christ the Messiah was not conceived by the

physical union of man and woman, but by the power of the Holy Spirit, and that he was born of a virgin

mother.

The Septuagint was used extensively by the Jews in various parts of the world and by the early

Christians. Many of the prophecies quoted in the Gospels are rendered in the Septuagint text, whichshows how respected it was in the early Church.

Because of its use by Christians, the Septuagint became suspect to the Pharisees meeting in the Council

of Jamnia in 100 A.D., and they rejected it as a valid translation. As a result, several other Greektranslations were undertaken by Jewish writers in the first three centuries. Most notable of these were

the translations of Aquila, Symmachus, and Thedotion.
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In the year 220 A.D., the great biblical scholar Origen undertook one of the earliest exercises in textual

criticism.

His famousHexapla listed in six columns the Hebrew text, the Greek transliteration of the Hebrew, the

Aquila translation, the Symmachus translation, the Septuagint, and the Theodotion translation. His

purpose was to reconstruct the best Greek translation, since the proliferation of the other versions wasquite confusing.

In this way he hoped to provide a uniform translation for all, and to help the Christians in theirdisagreement with the Jews about what the Hebrew Scriptures really said. He devised groups of critical

symbols that showed which of the Septuagint texts were missing from, or added to, the original Hebrew

- thereby anticipating the work of textual criticism fifteen centuries later.

Unfortunately, this great work, reputed to be some fifty volumes, was lost, and the only extant portions

are a few verses from Psalms 22 and 45. A good portion of theHexapla however is preserved in the

writings of the Fathers of the Church and in the margins of several manuscripts.

Other important translations of Scripture included the Old Latin, the Syriac, and the Coptic. Many of

them were conserved in papyri and codices.

Because of the many variant readings in the Old Latin texts, Pope Saint Damasus in the year 383 asked a

traveling scholar by the name of Eusebius Hieronymus (later Saint Jerome) to translate the Gospels.

Though we do not know the exact texts that he used, it appears that they were closely related to theAlexandrian family of which the Codex Vaticanus is the chief representative.

About the year 387, while in Palestine, Jerome revised the Latin text of the Old Testamentprotocanonical books according to the fifth column of Origen'sHexapla, which at that time was

available in the library of Caesarea.

Finally, in order to answer the accusations of the rabbis that Christians did not understand the Old

Testament because they lacked a genuine scriptural text, Jerome began in Bethlehem a huge project. It

was the Latin translation of the Old Testament directly from the Hebrew texts which he had availablethere.

After sixteen years he completed his project. He translated all the books of the Old Testament, except

the deuterocanonical books of Wisdom, Sirach, Baruch, and 1 and 2 Maccabees.

Though Jerome's work was not immediately accepted by everyone in the Church, it later came to have a

great authority so that by the ninth century it was used universally. The name "Vulgate," that is, theedition for the "people," was probably coined in the thirteenth century. Saint Jeromes translation is

noted for the clarity of its expression, for the elegance of its diction, and above all for its fidelity to the

original text.

Because of the controversies with the Protestants, and the proliferation of translations, the Council of

Trent in 1546 declared that Jeromes Vulgate was a text free from errors in faith and morals, and that it

should be henceforth used in the public liturgies of the Church.
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For the next 400 years this was the case, until the vernacular languages began to be used in many parts

of the world after the Second Vatican Council (1962-65). We should note here that the Council of Trentdid notstate that texts in the original languages were of no value, or that the Vulgate was the best

translation possible, but simply that it was an authentic witness of the original texts, and that it contained

no errors of faith or morals.

Later improved editions of the Vulgate were mandated by the Church, the first appearing in 1592. Pope

Saint Pius X in 1907 asked the Benedictines to carry out a farther revision of the Vulgate by using thebest texts and codices then available, some of which - because of nineteenth-century archeological finds

- were even better than the texts that Saint Jerome used.

This enormous task was completed in 1979, and theNew Vulgate was promulgated by Pope John Paul IIin the apostolic constitution Scripturarum Thesaurus.

We know of several English versions appearing before the sixteenth century, such as the translation of

Saint Bede in the eighth century, and that of the dissident John Wycliffe in the fourteenth century, butthey have been lost.

We do know that Stephen Langton of Canterbury divided the Bible into chapters in the year 1206 while

teaching in Paris. But with the sixteenth century, and the appearance of Protestantism, there was a

greater demand for Bibles in the vernacular tongue.

Thus, the Protestant versions of Tyndale, Coverdale, and the so-called Bishops Bible were produced in

England, followed by the famous King James version in 1611. This version was completed by Anglican

scholars who drew from Hebrew and Greek texts, but unfortunately its translation of the New Testamentis quite faulty because these scholars refused to use the Vulgate as a source, which drew from far more

ancient manuscripts.

Twenty years earlier, an English version of Saint Jeromes Vulgate was produced by English Catholic

scholars who had been exiled from England and worked across the channel in the two French towns of

Douay and Rheims.

Their translation, known for its fidelity to the original Latin, was henceforth called the Douay Rheims

version, and was used for over 350 years by English-speaking Catholics. Its style also had a profound

influence on the vocabulary of the King James Version.

Updates of the Douay Rheims were the Challoner version of the eighteenth century and the

Confraternity Version of 1940. In 1956, Monsignor Ronald Knox published a translation of the Biblefrom the Vulgate, which has a very elegant style noted for its longer sentence structure and paraphrases.

Other English versions published during the past century include the Revised Standard Version(1901),which was the Protestant revision of the King James Version; the Revised Standard Version, Catholic

Edition (O.T. 1946, N.T, 1952) ; the Jerusalem Bible, published by the Ecole Biblique (1966); theNew

American Bible(1970), and the New Revised Standard Version (1990), with a Catholic Edition (1993).

All of these versions were taken from original Hebrew, Greek, and Aramaic texts, though their quality is
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not equal.

The best of them for elegance of style, accuracy, and fidelity to Church teaching is the Revised StandardVersion, Catholic Edition, which is used in this book. Unfortunately, the New Revised Standard

Version, Catholic Edition (1993) misuses inclusive language and has mistranslated the original text in

some instances.


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Chapter 7 - The Interpretation of Sacred Scripture

Before beginning this very important section, let us recall the chapter on inspiration. We must alwayskeep in mind that the Bible has two authors: God and man. For a proper understanding of any text,

whether it be a psalm verse, or a Gospel narration, or a prophecy, both authors must be taken into

account.

At the same time, we must never forget the intimate relationship that Scripture has to the new People of

God, the Church. The Scriptures were born in the Church, were written for her, and were entrusted to

her for their custody and interpretation.

The technical name for determining the meaning of Sacred Scripture is hermeneutics (from the Greek

word hermeneuo, meaning to interpret).

This is a very general term, but in classical biblical studies it was divided into three constituent

disciplines: noematics, the general study of the various meanings of Scripture; heuristics, which studiesthespecific meanings of texts by using certain literary and doctrinal criteria; andprophoristics, which is

the exposition of biblical materials for the general public.

Exegesis is the study of the meaning of a text in relationship to theology and the Church as a whole, andembraces the subject matter ofheuristics andprophoristics; it includes the historical and literary study

of a text, a determination of the texts meaning within the context of the wider canon of Scripture, and

its application to the Churchs life today.

Because biblical meanings are not well defined in many modern books, and because there is a great

number of new and at times contradictory approaches to Scripture study, I have chosen in thisintroductory handbook to retain these classical divisions. They explain quite clearly the different objects

of biblical study, and thus they help us avoid the confusion that is frequently encountered in this field.

The Literal Meaning of Scripture

The literal meaning is the first and most important sense to determine; it is the basis for understanding

both the actual words and any deeper meaning that could be derived from them. In his encyclicalDivinoAfflante Spiritu (no. 23), Pope Pius XII teaches:

Let the Catholic exegete undertake the task, of all those imposed on him the greatest, that namely of

discovering and expounding the genuine meaning of the Sacred Books. In the performance of this task

let the interpreters bear in mind that their foremost and greatest endeavor should be to discern and define

clearly that sense of the biblical words which is called literal.

A way of defining the literal meaning, which takes into account the dual authorship of Scripture, is that

meaning intended by the sacred author as moved by the Holy Spirit. It is usually taken to mean the

sense expressed immediately and directly by the words themselves. As stated above, all the other

biblical meanings are derived from it (see Catechism,no. 116).

The literal sense is twofold:
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proper, when the words are taken in their ordinary meaning, such as he overturned the tables of the

money-changers (see Matthew 21:12) or Abraham called the name of the son who was born to him,whom Sarah bore him, Isaac (seeGenesis 21:3); and

improperormetaphorical, when the words have a derived or figurative meaning, such as Behold theLamb of God (see John 1:29), since the text does not speak of the animal, but of a man. Parables and

and allegories, which are developed comparisons between two or more things, also have a derived or

figurative meaning.

The so-calledsensus plenior(fuller sense) is a meaning that goes beyond the words themselves, but is

nevertheless based on them. It is really an extension of the literal meaning, and is possible because of the

dual authorship of the Bible: one of the authors is in time, but the Other is outside of time and thereforecan give a deeper meaning to the human words. This meaning may take centuries to elucidate.

In the words of Pope Leo XIII (Providentissimus Deus,no. 14): "For the language of the Bible is

employed to express . . . many things which are beyond the power and scope of the reason of man - thatis to say, divine mysteries and all that is related to them. There is sometimes in such passages a fullness

and a hidden depth of meaning [ampliore quadam et reconditiore sententia] which the letter hardlyexpresses and which laws of interpretation hardly warrant."

Referring to the same phenomenon, Saint Thomas Aquinas comments: "God could have had the

hagiographer understand many consequences and applications of his text. But even if he did not, wecannot doubt that the Holy Spirit knew them, who is the main Author of the sacred books." (DePotentia, Q.IV, a.1.c)

One example of thesensus plenioris seen in God's word to the serpent and to Eve after Adams and

Eves disobedience in Genesis 3:15: "I will put enmity between you and the woman, between your seed

and her seed."

This verse literally seems to refer to the opposition between serpents and human beings, while its

plenary meaning can extend to something far more profound: the battle between Satan and the humanrace, and the conquest of Satan by the son of Mary.

Another is the literal meaning ofPsalm 118:22, the verse referring to the stone rejected by the builders

that has become the cornerstone; at first this verse appears to be an architectural image, but it is appliedin a plenary way by Peter to Christs rejection by the leaders and elders of the Jews (seeActs 4:11). He

is indeed the stone rejected by the builders but he has become the cornerstone of the new people of God.

Because of the profound nature of thesensus pleniorand its close relationship with inspiration itself, its

existence should be verified by its use in the New Testament or by the Fathers of the Church; theexegete should not invent it on his own.

Consequent and Accommodated Meanings
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The consequent sense is the meaning reached by a simple process of reasoning which begins from some

proposition or truth contained in the Bible. This is not strictly speaking the inspired meaning, but it

follows logically from it and can be derived by an individual person, a theologian, or the Magisterium.

Our Lord Himself used the consequent meaning. For instance, from the Exodus text: "I am . . . the God

of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob" (see Exodus 3:6), He concluded that the patriarchswere still alive because God is not "the God of the dead, but of the living" (seeMatthew 22:32).

Similarly, the Council of Trent applies Saint Pauls passage "Therefore as sin came into the worldthrough one man and death through sin" (see Romans 5:12) - to the perennial Catholic teaching on

original sin and its spread to the entire human race.

The accommodated meaning is that which is given to the text other than the one directly or indirectlyintended by the human author. It is based on a certain resemblance between the object in the

hagiographers mind and in the mind of a later commentator or preacher.

For the accommodation or actualization to be valid, the later commentary should always respect theharmony of faith (the interconnection of all revealed truths) and conform to the right understanding of

the original text.

Therefore, when Christ said, "Put out into the deep" in Luke 5:4 (Latin "Duc in altum"), the original

object was for the fishermen to trust in His word and go into the Lake of Gennesaret to lower their nets

again, but a more current application could be that of Christ asking Christians to believe more in Himand go into the world to draw others to the Church.

InNovo Millennio Ineunte, Pope John Paul II actualized this phrase "Duc in altum" to encourageChristians to go forth with confidence into the new millennium, giving brave witness to Christ and His

salvation. This is a proper actualization or application of the text because it respects the harmony of faith

and legitimately extends its original meaning to another related dimension.

Improper quoting of Scripture occurs when the literal meaning is violated, quoted in the wrong context,

or when its usage denies a truth of faith. An instance of this is the devils misuse ofPsalm 91:11 whenhe asks Christ to throw himself from the pinnacle of the temple in order to lead Christ to the sin of

presumption (see Matthew 4:6-7).

The Typical or Spiritual Meaning

The typical sense is grounded on the literal sense and takes into account both the human and divine

authorship of Scripture. God has authority and power not only over words, but also over the actualevents and persons of human history.

Because of Gods intervention, certain persons, events, or things in Scripture can actually point to orforeshadow other persons, events, or things. The person, or thing, employed by God to signify

something else is called a type; that which is foreshadowed is called an anti-type (not in the sense of

being opposed, but in the sense of being completed).
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In the words of Pius XII inDivino Afflante Spiritu (no. 26): "For what was said and done in the Old

Testament was ordained and disposed by God with such consummate wisdom, that things past

prefigured in a spiritual way those that were to come under the new dispensation of grace. Wherefore theexegete, just as he must search out and expound the literal meaning of the words, intended and

expressed by the sacred writer, so also must he do likewise for the spiritual sense, provided it is clearly

intended by God."

Types both in the Old and New Testaments have profound theological and often salvific meanings. For

instance Adam the first man can be considered a type of Christ who is the perfect man, Noahs ark maybe considered a type of the Church because it saved the human race at the time of the flood, and the

manna in the desert is a type of the Holy Eucharist because it sustained the people of God in their

journey.

There are certain requirements however that are needed for there to be a true biblical type:

The real existence of the person, thing, or event. It cannot be a mere poetic image or a figure from a

parable.

A true similarity between the type and the anti-type. This similarity could be physical or spiritual: forinstance the manna in the desert physically was a kind of food and was a gift from God; the Eucharist is

a spiritual food and is also a gift from God.

Verification that it was Gods intention to prefigure something with another thing. This can be shownby a quotation from Christ ( Jonah prefigures his burial and resurrection, the manna prefigures the

Eucharist), or by a sacred writers affirmation (the Letter to the Hebrews states that Melchizedek

prefigured Christ), or by a unanimously substantiated use by the Fathers of the Church (Noahs arkprefigures the Church).

Applying the above criteria, scholars over the centuries have been able to identify four major kinds oftypes:

Messianic types refer to the Messiah in His Person: Melchizedek, the king and high priest who offersbread and wine after Abrahams victory (see Genesis 14:18-20), is a type of Christ.

Allegoricaltypes refer to the Messianic kingdom: the sacrifices of the Old Testament, such as the burnt

offerings and the Passover lamb, refer to the sacraments of the New Testament.

Anagogicaltypes refer to the things of the world to come. The destruction of Jerusalem in the New

Testament prefigures the end of the world and Gods final judgment.

The tropologicalor moral types contain lessons for our moral guidance. The life of the people under

the Judges prefigures our own life: sin, punishment, conversion, and renewal (see Catechism, no. 117).

In The Interpretation of the Bible in the Church, its 1993 document the Pontifical Biblical Commission

offers a slightly different approach to the typical sense of Scripture and thesensus plenior. It considers

both of these to be subsets of a more general spiritualsense, which must always be founded on the
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Parallelism is the study of those passages that have a certain resemblance either in vocabulary or content

to the passage in question. Matthew 8:1-4and Luke 5:12-14 both speak of Jesus' curing of a leper, but in

slightly different ways. Psalm 118:22 and 1 Peter 2:7both speak of a stone rejected by men.

An example of doctrinal parallelism is the teaching of Christ on the indissolubility of marriage and

passages from Saint Pauls letters on marriage. Parallelism can show, either by contrast or harmony,how all the texts of Sacred Scripture truly complement one another in presenting the mysterious unity of

Gods truth to mankind.

This meaning is being more and more hi

Documents

Learning God's Word: A Catholic Guide to Scripture Study