By RAYMOND DE SOUZA, KM
Part 10
“Ignorance of Scriptures is ignorance of Christ,” said St. Jerome, one of the greatest Bible scholars of all times, who translated the whole Bible from Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek into Latin in the fourth century — over one thousand years before Martin Luther preached his heresies in Europe.
Luther and his followers down the centuries have pretended to know the Scriptures without the Magisterium of the Church that gave those Scriptures to them; the result is the myriad of Protestant sects and churches and denominations of our days.
But the Bible as such is a Catholic library, put together by the Catholic Church in the fourth century (AD 397) at the Council of Carthage. Unfortunately for Luther and his followers, the Bible did not come down from Heaven all neatly organized and bound in a single volume, already printed in German or English or Spanish or whatever, totally independently from the Catholic Church.
I would like to dedicate a series of articles and lessons to the correct understanding of the nature of the Bible, its origins, composition, and the purpose of its books. And the very first thing to understand is that we, Roman Catholics, from day one of Christianity, have believed that the books of the Bible were inspired by God through the writers, have God as their author, and are the word of God.
Why do we believe that? Simply because the Church founded by Jesus Christ taught us so. The same Church of Christ taught us that the Bible is free from error, and its canon — or list of books — contains 46 books belonging to the Old Testament and 27 in the New, neither more nor less.
Moreover, we believe and know that the correct and official interpretation of the Bible does not belong to every Tom, Dick, and Harry who attempts to read it individually or in groups, but to the Magisterium of the Church of Jesus Christ, which started with the apostles and has continued through the centuries through their successors, the Catholic bishops in union with the Pope, the Successor of St. Peter.
It was that Magisterium that defined that the books of the New Testament were inspired and that approved the books of the Old Testament received from the Jewish Tradition.
Consequently, we firmly believe and publicly affirm that no one has the right to interpret the Bible in a manner contrary to the teaching of the unanimous consent of the Church fathers and the Magisterium of the same Church.
The teachings of the Church of Jesus Christ are found in the Sacred Scripture and in the Sacred Tradition of the early Christians, which contain the truths that God has revealed to mankind via His Church. It is a historical fact that God has spoken to us, and this is confirmed by miracles and prophecies. The Old Testament is fulfilled in the New Testament of Jesus Christ.
Where does the word “Bible” come from?
It is not from Luther or from any Protestant writer or preacher, but from the Catholic Church. The word “Bible” comes from the Greek word meaning “book.” The collection of both Hebrew books of the Old Testament and the Christian books of the New Testament were given the name of “Biblia,” meaning “Books,” the plural. From that word, Catholics used equivalent words in their respective languages, like “Bible” in English.
We must bear in mind that the Bible is not just one book, but a collection of books, written in different styles according to the mind and culture of the writers, written for different audiences and with different purposes, but always inspired by God and protected from error.
However, we often refer to the Bible as one book, because it contains the Revelation of God to mankind. When we say it was inspired by God, we mean that it was not dictated by God, as a business manager dictates his letters to a secretary. If they had been dictated, all the books would have the same style — a feature they demonstrably do not have in common.
For instance, in the Old Testament, the book of Amos is written in very simple language, as Amos was a shepherd; whereas the book of Isaias has a noble, high style, as he was an educated man of high position in the court. The writers recorded what God wanted them to record, but in their own individual ways, God respecting their intelligence, free will, and other human faculties, including personal styles.
St. Paul says that all Scripture is inspired by God (2 Tim. 3:16) not dictated by God. St. Paul recognized the authority of the Hebrew books as authentic.
The Bible is inerrant, that is, contains no error, because the Catholic Church told us so. Nowhere in the Bible is it stated that each and every book is inerrant. We trust in the Magisterium of the Church of Jesus Christ to give us that guarantee. There are some beautiful papal encyclicals on Sacred Scriptures, and Wanderer reader would do well to read them. For instance, Providentissimus Deus of Leo XIII; Pascendi of St. Pius X; Divino Afflante Spiritu and Humani Generis, both of Pius XII; and others.
There are people who try to find contradictions or inconsistencies in the Bible. We answer them with the testimony of one of the first defenders of the Christian faith in history, St. Justin Martyr, who gave his life to prove the truthfulness of his message. He wrote: “Since I am completely convinced that no text of Scripture contradicts another, if a text of Scripture is brought forward and there be a pretext for saying that it contradicts another text, I shall admit rather that I do not understand what is recorded” (Dialogue With Trypho, c. 65).
So we can summarize all of the above in four simple sentences:
Everything that is affirmed in the Bible is affirmed by the Holy Spirit, because it is inspired by Him, who can neither deceive nor be deceived.
Consequently, the Sacred Scriptures teach us the truths for our salvation firmly, faithfully, and inerrantly.
God willed these Sacred Scriptures for our eternal salvation — it is their salvific purpose.
We know all of the above because the Catholic Church, which is the Church founded by Jesus Christ, infallibly taught us so.
Next article: Sacred Scripture and Sacred Tradition.
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(Raymond de Souza is an EWTN program host; regional coordinator for Portuguese-speaking countries for Human Life International [HLI]; president of the Sacred Heart Institute, and a member of the Sovereign, Military, and Hospitaller Order of the Knights of Malta. His website is: www.RaymonddeSouza.com.)
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