BIBLE

- From the Greek word “Ta biblia” w/c means  Liturgical/Ecclesial Signs
“The books” - God continues to manifest Himself today
- Written by many authors that is inspired by through the Holy Spirit in the Church
God in diff. periods - The Holy Spirit is present in the Church’s
- Word of God preaching the truth of Scripture, in its
- It is infallible (no errors) witness of loving service, and through the
celebration of its Christ- given Sacraments
 Bible is like a WINDOW because it informs - Proclamation of the creed
us what happened before
 Bible is similar to a MIRROR because it  Seven Sacraments:
forms us 1. Baptism
2. Eucharist
REVELATION, in the Jewish tradition, is a chain of 3. Confirmation
faith experiences as a people, in w/c they recognized 4. Reconciliation
the presence and action of God in history 5. Anointing of the sick
6. Marriage
God reveals himself through: 7. Holy orders

A. IN CREATION (Natural signs) D. IN OTHER RELIGIONS (Church Prophetic

- Natural signs of the beauty and abundance Mission)
of our natural resources & our rich Filipino - One who nevertheless seek God with a
culture sincere heart, & moved by grace, try in their
- “The heavens declare the glory of God, and actions to do His will as they know it
the firmament proclaims His handiwork” (Ps through the dictates of their conscience, may
19:1) achieve eternal salvation.
- “Be fertile and multiply; fill the earth and
subdue it” (Gn 1:28) EXEGESIS
- Exposition or explanation of a text based on
B. SCRIPTURE-THROUGH SALVATION a careful, objective analysis.
HISTORY (Biblical signs) - “to lead out of”
- God revealed Himself in stages. In the Old - Interpreter is led to his conclusions by
Testament, God revealed Himself through following the text
biblical signs, both deeds & word.
- Then revealed Himself as “Yahweh” (He- EISEGESIS
who-is-with His people) - “to lead into”
- The interpreter injects his own ideas into the
 Stages of Revelation: text
a. God’s manifestation to our first parents - Opposite approach to Scripture, w/c the
b. Promised of redemption interpretation of a passage based on a
c. Covenant with Noah subjective, non-analytical reading
d. God chose Abraham
e. Liberation of Israel
f. Covenant with Israel
g. Jesus Christ

C. IN THE CHURCH (Liturgical signs)

- Jesus Himself had gathered around him a
group of disciples who would from the core
of his Church
 BIBLICAL INSPIRATION 3. Reader of the text
- We must let the Bible “forms” us
- The Sacred Scriptures are said to be - Seeking what the scripture text means
“inspired” meaning, it was written under the “for me/us”
inspiration of the Holy Spirit - Authentic interpretation of the text for
- God = “Author” the Christian community today must be
- Bible= “Word of God” in continuity and harmonize with this
- Holy spirit work in Scripture touches its traditon
human authors, proclaimers, & the hearers
4. The common horizon
 Divine Inspiration - First, unites all the books of the bible
- The holy spirit inspired the human into a basic unity
authors who wrote the Bible’s book - Second, links together the context of the
scriptural text and its tradition with our
 Biblical Inerrancy present reading context today
- Bible is free from errors because - We seek the truth that God wishes to
God himself is the ultimate author communicate to us today, through the
Scripture
 God chose ordinary ppl to write the books of
the Bible. INTEGRATION
- Holy Spirit “breathed into” them
the ways and truths of God. - The danger is that all this “doctrine” about
Revelation and its sources in Scripture and
BIBLE Tradition will remain only as “head
knowledge”, left behind in our daily living.
- Collection of historical accounts, - God is touching and calling us to relate to
doctrinal teachings, poems, Him in thought, word and deed-daily life
parables, ethical exhortations, experiences.
apocalyptic visions - Scripture and tradition illumine our
- Written over a period of more than experiences in 2 ways:
a thousand years o Showing us how to act like
disciples of Jesus
INTERPRETING SCRIPTURE o Helping is to discern God’s action
in our daily lives
- “All scripture is inspired by God and is
useful for teaching-for reproof, correction &
training in holiness so that the man of God
may be fully competent and equipped for
every good work

4 FACTORS in INTERPRETING SCRIPTURE

1. Human Author’s intention

- What is the author had in mind
- Involves some basic idea of the social,
economic, & religious conditions

2. The text itself

- We have to look at its literary forms w/c the
author is using
- Must be viewed in unity of the whole Bible
 Info. About the BIBLE: SACRED SCRIPTURE
 46 books in the O.T for Catholics
 39 books for the Protestants & Jews - Collected in the Bible, are inspired
 27 books for the N.T record of how God dealt with His
people, and how they responded to,
 Testament remembered, and interpreted that
- Special agreement between God & experience
God’s people - Scriptures as the expression of the
people’s experience of God and as
 Old Testament a response to their needs
- Agreement made between God and - Therefore, scriptures form “The
the Hebrew people before the time Book of the People of God”- The
of Jesus book of the Church

 New Testament 3 STAGES how the GOSPELS were FORMED

- Agreement made between God and
followers of Jesus of Nazareth. 1. The life and teachings of Jesus
- Contains the life & teachings of - Jesus of Nazareth, until Jesus was take up
Jesus & the first communities of
disciples 2. Oral tradition.
- After Jesus Ascension, the Apostles handed
GOD’S REVELATION on to their hearers what Jesus had said and
done
1. It is God who takes the initiative to reveal Himself
Herself to us. 3. The Written Gospels
2. God is already and always present and active in - The sacred authors, in writing the four
our life and the world Gospels, selected certain elements that had
3. God is revealing, showing, or telling us that been handed on orally or already in written
He/She is the God of life & love form, others they synthesized or explained in
4. God’s offer of life and love is free and view of the situation of their churches, while
unconditional preserving the form of proclamation. But
5. God speaks to us as friends and lives among us always in such a way that they have told us
the honest truth about Jesus
FAITH
- It takes faith to see or feel God’s TRADITION
offer of life and love in our
ordinary human experience - The process by w/c divine revelation,
coming from Jesus Christ through apostles
 Attitude of openness in relation to a higher - Communicated and unfolded in the
or supreme being For Christians; it is God community of the Church
who is the source & ground of their life
The Second Vatican Council taught on tradition,
 Faith is the gift of God that makes us see or scripture, and magisterium in Dei verbum, n. 10:
feel the mystery who is God, present and - Sacred Tradition and Sacred Scripture
active in everyday life in the world form one sacred deposit of the word of
God, committed to the Church.
 Faith is the response of the believer to the
God who offers life and love. It is obedience  FUNDAMENTALISM
by w/c the whole person entrusts oneself - Interprets the bible literally
fully to God
DIVINE REVELATION

Jesus: Agent, Content and Goal of Revelation

- Jesus Christ is “Himself both the
mediator and the fullness of all
Revelation”

a. Jesus as goal and the purposes of the whole of

man’s history in whose image we all are to be
confirmed.
- For it is through the Risen Christ that
we shall share the Trinitarian divine life
of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit

b. Jesus is the content, the Revealed One. Jesus

reveals both God and ourselves. Christ the new Adam
- Our faith centers on Christ precisely
because we believe we are called to
union w/ him, who is the light of the
world, from whom we go forth, through
whom we live and towards whom our
whole life is directed.

c. Jesus as agent, the mediator. God is the one, one

also is the mediator between God and men, the man
Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all

“Through His Church, the people of God, united in

his name. Christ established and sustains his holy
Church, the community of faith, hope and charity, as
the visible organization through w/c he
communicates truth and grace to all men.”