SAINT JOSEPH COLLEGE

THEOLOGY DEPARTMENT
Maasin City, Southern Leyte

MODULE 2
(THEO 1a-OLD TESTAMENT)
1st Semester, AY 2020-2021

Prepared by:
Veronica B. Cabales, LPT, MAED
Jeany Cris S. Nemez, LPT
Instructors
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MODULE 2

Topics:

A. i. Historical Background of the Bible: Abraham to Jesus Christ

ii. Bible in God’s Plan of Salvation
B. i. Tradition and Holy Scripture: Definition and Division
ii. Divine Origin of the Holy Scripture: Inspiration
iii. Canon of Scripture
iv. Languages of the Bible
v. Teaching authority of the Church

Opening Prayer:

Creator of all things, true Source of light and wisdom, lofty origin of all being. Graciously
let a ray of Your brilliance penetrate into the darkness of my understanding and take from
me the double darkness in which I have been born, an obscurity of both sin and ignorance.
Give me a sharp sense of understanding, a retentive memory, and the ability to grasp
things correctly and fundamentally. Grant me the talent of being exact in my explanations,
and the ability to express myself with thoroughness and charm. Point out the beginning,
direct the progress, and help in completion; through Christ our Lord. Amen.
LESSON 1

I. OBJECTIVES

After the lesson, the students should be able to:

 Know the background information about the Bible, its historical background in
particular.
 Understand the situation and relationship between God and His chosen people.
II. INTRODUCTION

A. Make a DIY (do it yourself) bookmarker, at least 2. Write a Biblical verse you like
the most in your bookmarker and use it to mark the readings mentioned below.
B. Reading guides
 These passages are to be read ahead of time in the succeeding lecture.
1. Genesis 15:1-21 4. 2 Samuel 7:8-16 7. Ezra 6:14-18
2. Exodus 24: 3-8 5. Jeremiah 17: 1-4 8. 1 Micah 2:15-30
3. Joshua 24:1-5, 14-18 6. Ezekiel 36: 24-28 9. Luke 2:1-7
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A O Z E C H A R I A H E L L H U
E P V A K A V K E U E A B W A B
S Q F U L E B L C H D L L A D U
A E R I G D D I A F V G E S U R
I R T O T C G L E S H E S T J N
H S Y B C F Z Y S W B O S E K V
T T J N V B S G A R T U I S I A
A U K A B R A M R B S J N I L U
T V S G R V S I A F V O F N L H
T W C H S F B U G I S M O S E S
A J F R E D F R U L A B D E R O
M N J T D S X E S S W J O R F J
B Z F G F T E F T C S O N F B I
C Y L F V R D V U U C B O C N O
D G A D C Y R U S V Y N T B M N
D I V A D H I E S T H A G G A I

C. Search the ten names of person/place that can be read in the nine reading passages above.
c.1. Do you know these people? Who do you think they are?
____________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
c.2. What could be their role in the History of salvation?
____________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________

Notes:
From the previous discussion, we have understood about what is revelation which includes
disclosing ourselves to others, not fully but partially and God’s revelation to us on how He
communicates to us. In this lesson then we take up some historical background information
about the bible.

I. PATRIARCHAL STAGE

After the fall, God promised reconciliation through a Messiah that would be born of a

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woman. This Messiah, being human, had to be born of a certain family, in a certain place and at
a certain time. So God started a long-term preparation for this great event. His choice fell on a
man named Abram-later changed to Abraham – a native from the city of Ur where the people
worshipped the moon as god. His family moved to Haran and there God spoke to Him for the
first time.
Patriarchs – the term used for Israel’s key ancestors or father figures
Canaan – the name of God’s Promised Land to His chosen People

God announced to Abraham what He intended to do for mankind through him and his
descendants. He not only announced it, but made a promise contained these elements:
 To make Abraham a great nation and a blessing
 To bless and curse other nations based on how they treat Abraham’s descendants.
 To bless all mankind through Abraham.
 To give a land to his descendants
Then God, in a solemn ceremony, bound Himself to fulfill these promises – and laid no
conditions on Abraham on his part. It was unconditional covenant.

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Covenant – a binding mutual agreement between two parties solemnized by a ritual

(Read: Genesis 15:1-21)

Abraham begot Isaac, and Isaac begot Jacob. Jacob had twelve sons from whom
sprung, the twelve tribes of Israel. Joseph, the youngest and Jacob’s favorite was sold as a
slave by his brothers out of envy and was brought to Egypt. When famine came his brothers
went to Egypt to buy grain. They met Joseph who was now Pharaoh’s right hand and in-charge
of Egypt’s granary. Eventually Joseph had Jacob fetched from Canaan, so the entire clan
migrated to Egypt. At first they were treated as guests, but as they increased prolifically during
their 400 years stay, their population posed threat to Egypt’s security. So the succeeding
pharaohs enslaved them, making them bricklayers under the eye of slave drivers. In addition
was the decree to throw Hebrew male infants into the Nile River. They cried out to God. And
God, mindful of His promise to Abraham, heard them.
Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob are called the patriarchs
Pharaoh – the common title of the king of Egypt

II. EXODUS

(Greek) exodus = “departure”

God took upon Himself the responsibility of delivering this people from slavery. He chose
a man named Moses to lead His people. When Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, refused to let them
go, God sent plagues – ten of them! At Moses’ command – flies, frogs, hailstorm, Nile river
turning to blood, darkness, and so on, gave testimony to God’s power and concern for this
people. The most dramatic of all was the last one – God sent an angel of death to kill all the
Egyptian firstborn, including Pharaoh’s firstborn. Out of fear, Pharaoh released them finally. But
not long after that he changed his mind and sent his army after them. The “Reed Sea” parted to
let the people pass and then closed to drown the pursuing army. This was how God personally
and visibly freed His people from Egypt.
When the Hebrews reached Sinai, God made another covenant with them. This time it
was a conditional covenant: God would bless and protect them if they would obey His
commandments and punish them if they would disobey. The people agreed. To ratify this
covenant, Moses sprinkled animal blood on the people and on the altar which signified God.
(Read: Exodus 24:3-8)

This stage was significant in uniting the people officially into a community of faith, a new
people called Israel after the name of God had earlier given to Jacob. Their religious rites
centered on the Ark of the Covenant and on the portable Tent of Meeting where Moses spoke
with God. However, they completely failed in their promise. They disobeyed God; they
displeased Him very much by desiring to return to Egypt in several occasions, like when they
were hungry and fearful of the occupants of the Promised Land. To teach them a lesson, God
allowed them to wander in the desert for many years till almost everyone in their doubting
generation died, Moses included.

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III. TRIBAL STAGE

In spite of the people’s infidelity, God held on to His promise of giving them the land. So
after His people learned their lesson in the desert, He picked another leader for them. His name
was Joshua. Under his able leadership and God’s assistance, they reached the Promised Land
and captured a number of cities, but not everything yet. What they had were subdivided
according to tribes, wandering God’s promise was fulfilled. The tribe of Levi was not given land
inheritance because their men had been chosen for the sacred duties, starting in the desert and
later in the Temple. Instead, a number of towns with pasture lands and six cities of refuge were
allotted to them where they served a s spiritual leaders. For support, they received tithes and
food offerings from other tribes.

(Read: Joshua 24: 1-5, 4-18)

During the time of Joshua the Israelites were faithful to the covenant. They met to worship at
various holy places in the hills, particularly in Shiloh were the Tent of Meeting was set up to the
house the Ark of the Covenant. After Joshua’s death, the succeeding generations became
unfaithful to the covenant by adopting the worship of the Canaanite gods (Baal) and goddesses
(Astartes) (see pictures below). To remind them of their covenant obligations, God permitted
their unconquered neighbors to invade and oppress them. When they remembered the
covenant and returned to God, He raised up a military leader called “judge” to lead them to
victory. We see then a four-phase cycle:
1. People sinned
2. Punishment through an oppressor
3. Remembrance of God and repentance
4. God raising a savior or judge, then victory
5. Then, they sinned again (1) and so on.

That four-phase is monotonous, but the religious significance is rich. When we see how
each generation was faced with a personal decision between the service of false gods and of
the living God, we discover
that faith is not inherited. In
Israel’s history, we can also
see the history of the Church
and our personal history.
A
S
B T
A A
A R
L T
E
S

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The tribes realized

political disunity. Now in the period of the
Judges after the leadership of Moses and
Joshua, they were a loose confederation of
tribes; their only bond was the Sinai pact
symbolized by the Ark of the Covenant at
Shiloh. They realized then the necessity of a
central government in order to survive.

IV. KINGDOM PERIOD

The people, after living for a lifetime as a

loose confederation of tribes in the face of
persistent neighboring enemies, decided
finally to have monarchy as their form of
government.

SAUL (c. 1020-1000 B.C.)

Through the prophet Samuel, God chose
Saul to be their first king.
During his reign Israel was threatened mainly by the Philistines, a migrant people along the
coast of Canaan whose military organization and weapons were superior than Israel’s. Yet
initially Saul defeated them and their surrounding enemies. But then he fell into God’s disfavor
for disobeying divine instructions given by Samuel. So God asked Samuel to anoint David as his
successor. Saul then suffered from fits of depression and envious rage towards David that the
latter fled to the Philistines for safety. Eventually Saul was defeated in battle against the
Philistines; three of his sons were killed and he was severely wounded. Not wanting to be
captured, he took his own life. His son Ishbaal became king of the northern tribes, while David
who returned was anointed king of Judah. A civil war followed but then Ishbaal was
assassinated, and all the tribes of Israel asked David to be their king.

DAVID (c. 1000-962 B.C.)

David was a powerful leader. He did not only manage to confine the Philistines to the
sea cost, but also conquered the Canaanite areas within Israel’s territory that were still
independent. This was regarded as the final fulfillment of God’s promise of land. In addition, he
succeeded to build a Syro-Palestinian empire and made his neighbors (Philistia, Edom, Moab,
Ammon, and Aram) dependent on him in varying degrees. This became possible because the
empires of Egypt and Assyria at this time were torn by internal struggles.
Most of all David was able to unite the northern and southern tribes by a stroke of
genius. He did this by choosing a neutral city between the North and south as his capital, the
newly conquered city of Jerusalem. He also made it as Israel’s liturgical center by bringing the

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Ark of the Covenant there. His government was regarded as the final fulfillment of God’s
promise of protection and security from enemies.
However David was far from perfect. He was guilty of adultery and murder, and too weak to
punish his erring sons among others. His saving factor was his quick acceptance of his sins and
willingness to repent. His love for God could be seen in the psalms he composed which were
later used for public worship. Through the prophet Nathan, God revealed to him that it would be
through his lineage that the Messiah would come.

(Read: 2 Samuel 7:8-16)

SOLOMON (C. 962-922 B.C.)

Solomon, the son of David, took over after the death of the latter. What David won by
military might, he continued to build by diplomacy. He was considered the wise man. Many
proverbs and psalms were attributed to him. He was renowned builder; he constructed the
magnificent Temple of Jerusalem. He was also renowned trader; he engaged in international
chariot and horse trading. During his reign Israel become wealthy, but the people were heavily
taxed because of his many other building projects-palaces, a fortress, chariot, cities, etc. – and
he had recourse to forced labor for non-Israelite residents. In addition he maintained hundreds
of foreign wives and concubines. He built pagan temples for them, and eventually these foreign
wives led him to idolatry in his old age. In punishment, God permitted his enemies to cut into his
land, and great discontentment started within.
In the main, the strong leadership of a king was not the answer for God’s people. Even
the best of them was not able to bring in the kind of righteousness the Law been too much like
them, weak and sinful.

V. DIVIDED KINGDOM
After Solomon’s death the northern tribes requested Rehoboam, Solomon’s son and
successor, to lighten the taxes imposed by his father. Rehoboam refused.
The people in turn refused to accept him as their king. A revolt followed and the kingdom was
divided. The northern kingdom called Israel included in the ten of the twelve tribes. Its capital
was Samaria. The southern kingdom called Judea had only two tribes. It retained Jerusalem as
its capital.

Israel (Northern Kingdom): Jeroboam was its first king; he was in charge of the forced labour
under Solomon. To keep his people from goingt o Jerusalem for Temple worship, he im-
mediately established two shrines with golden calf in each and an unauthorised priesthood. A
prophet came to express divine disapproval but Jeroboam did not listen. He and the subsequent
kings were all marked by gross sins. God raised up prophet to warn them. The first two were
Elijah and Elisha. The next was Amos who warned the people against the great social injustice
going on. Hosea followed. He preached against the rampant idolatry. Still the people sinned
more and more. Finally, in punishment for their unfaithfulness to the covenant, God permitted
the Assyrians under Sargon II in 722/1 B.C. to capture the kingdom and deport the people.
Most deportees were from the ruling classes. They were resettled in different parts of the
empire and replaced with varied foreign colonists who brought their gods along with them.

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These newcomers added Yahweh to their worship; and the Israelites who remained in Samaria
intermarried with them and adopted their religion. This was the origin of the Samaritans’ practice
of syncretism (combination of different religious beliefs and customs from different cultures) and
the reason why the New Testament Jews despised them. The northern deportees never
returned, but some formed communities of Israelites an continued contact with their homeland.

Judah (Southern Kingdom): Rehoboam, the son of Solomon, was their first king. He did not
alleviate the conditions of the people but worsened it. God sent other prophets to Judah to warn
the people against the same sins, but they ignored the warnings. They openly broke God’s law,
committing all kinds of idolatry, immorality and injustice. God raised up prophets Micah and
Isaiah. They were not heard. True, a few godly kings (Asa, Hezekiah, and Josiah) tried to reform
the society but were unsuccessful. Still, God sent additional prophets to warn them: Zephaniah,
Jeremiah, Nahum, Habakkuk. Again, these prophets were ignored.

(Read: Jeremiah 17:1-4)

Instead of learning a lesson from the fall of the North, Judah went deeper into sin. Finally
God’s punishment came. Babylon under Nebuchadnezzar conquered them. Twice Jerusalem
was invaded (597 and 587 B.C.) and people were deported to Babylon. At the second
deportation the walls of Jerusalem were torn down and the city was razed to the ground,
including the Temple in 587 B.C. All those who were a threat to Babylonian government (royal
family, military, wealthy landowners, skilled workers) were deported. Only small tenant
farmersremained in order to till the land, but they had to pay a certain amount to Babylonian
overseers. Some fled to Egypt and began large Jewish settlements there. Unlike Assyria,
Babylon did not import foreign colonists to replace them.
In general this schism has increased our knowledge of the ways of God. When people
turn away from Him, He warns and explains His ways over and over again;; He repeats His
promise and add new ones. When He punishes, it is not to hurt for the sake of hurting but to
recall back to Him.

VI. EXILE

In exile Judah learned many things. Without a nation, a king and a place of worship- all
these externals were snatched away- the Jews turned back to the Word of God. They
recognised their guilt and the truth of the prophets’ warning. The attachment they had to the
Temple went to the Word. (According to some scholars, the origin of the synagogue was during
the Babylonian exile) Much of their oral traditions they put into writing at this time more than in
any stage in their history. And God raised up the prophet Ezekiel, who among other things,
consoled them in their captivity.

(Read: Ezra 36:24-28)

This period of exile and captivity was not an end in itself. When its purposes were
achieved, God would bring His people home to make a fresh start. It was part of God’s care for
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His people as all sound punishments are meant to be.

VII. POST-EXILIC STAGE

A. PERSIAN DOMINATION

After fifty years or so the Jews were ready to start again. God used Cyrus the Great, the
benevolent king of Persia, to be His instrument. Cyrus conquered Babylon in 539 B.C. The
following year he issued a decree permitting Jewish deportees to return, and the Temple in
Jerusalem to be rebuilt using state funds and its furnishings taken by Nebuchadnezzar be
restored. Judah became then a Persian satrapy (province).

The Return in Stages (538 – 445 B.C.)

Most of the returning Jews were from the tribe of Judah and some from Benjamin. But
many who stable careers and thriving business refused to return. The first group of returnees
was led by Shesbazzar. (538 B.C.) who laid the foundation of the Temple but left it unfinished
because of local opposition. The second group led by Zerubbabel and Jeshua the high priest
(c.521 B.C.) also met continuous harassment especially from the Samaritans, since their offer to
help had been rejected. These conflicts delayed construction work and demoralised the
returnees. To encouraged and console them, God sent the prophets Haggai and Zechariah. In
515 B.C. the people finally completed the Temple and inaugurated it with great rejoicing.

(Read: Ezra 6:14-18)

The third group of returnees was led by EZRA (458 B.C.), a priest-scribe, empowered by
Persian authorities to teach and enforce the Jewish Law. Ezra explained to them the Law and
how to observe it strictly. Marriage with foreigners was prohibited, and those who had foreign
wives or husbands had to divorced them. This strict measure was to safeguard the purity of their
religion. Judaism was born and Ezra was considered its father.

The fourth group (445 B.C.) was headed by Nehemiah, the cupbearer of the Persian
king, with an entourage of soldiers and Jewish officials (not strictly a group of returnees). He
was appointed governor of Judah for two terms with the main task to rebuild and fortify the walls
of Jerusalem. He did his task in spite of harassments and introduced necessary administrative
reforms.

As a whole in this period of restoration, the most responsible for the reorganization of the
Jewish religion and civil life were Ezra and Nehemiah. The people listened to and cooperated
with them, unlike the generation before the Exile. Meanwhile the Greek empire was spreading
fast. In the year 333 B.C. this empire under Alexander the Great conquered Persia. As a result
the Jews were passed to the new conquerors, the Greeks.

B. GREEK DOMINATION

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In the beginning of the Greek take-over everything went on as before, including the
people’s religious freedom. Then little by little, Hellenization of the diffusion of Greek language
and customs was felt.

Alexander the Great extended his empire past Indu River in northwest Indi and
southwest Pakistan. He died suddenly in Babylon in 323 B.C. at the age of 33 without any heir.
So his empire was divided among his four generals, two of whom, Ptolemy and Seleucus,
headed dynasties which rule the Jews.

Ptolemies (323-198 B.C.) The Jews were allotted to the Ptolemies based in Egypt. Freedom of
religion continued, so Judaism deepened even in places outside Palestine notably Babylon,
Alexandria in Egypt, and Antioch in Syria. It was in Alexandria that the Hebrew Bible was
translated into Greek (c.250-150 B.C.). This Greek version, called the Septuagint (LXX),
became the Bible of the Diaspora.

After the Assyrian and Babylonian invasions, the population of the dispersed
communities outnumbered those living in Palestine. The dispersed Jews looked to Jerusalem as
the center of their religion, contributed to the upkeep of the Temple, and made pilgrimages
there.

Seleucids (198-167 B.C.) Meanwhile the Ptolemies were continuously at war with the
Seleucids based in Syria, with Palestine between them as a contested area. The Seleucids won
under Anthiochus III and so Palestine was passed on to them. To unify the diverse peoples in
the empire, the succeeding king Antiochus IV Epiphanes imposed Hellenism under pain of
death (168 B.C.) He desecrated the Temple by erecting in it an altar to the Greek god Zeus. He
prohibited Temple worship, circumcision, Sabbath observance and other practices, and forced
Jews to sacrifice to pagan gods. Many Jews died a martyr’s death rather than deny their faith.
Eventually a revolt arose.

C. THE MACCABEAN REVOLT (167 B.C.) AND THE HASMONEAN RULE

A big number of Jews submitted to Hellenization, but in a village called Modein, a priest
named Mattathias of the family of Hasmon revolted and many followed him. He and his sons
started guerilla warfare in 167 B.C. They were greatly supported by a group entirely dedicated
to the Law, the Hasidim.

(Read: 1 Maccabees 2:15-30)

Mattathias led the revolt for only one year. His son Judas called Maccabeus (“the Hammer”)
succeeded him. Judas restored religious freedom, purified the Temple and rededicated it in 164
B.C.-an event commemorated each year by Jews (Feast of Dedication / Hanukkah). Judas died
in battle nd the leadership was taken in turn by his brothers Jonathan and Simon who also

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assumed the high priesthood. In 142 B.C. Simon obtained total national independence. But like
his brother Jonathan, he was treacherously murdered; his son John Hyrcanus I succeeded him.

Hasmonean Rulers (135-63 B.C.): From John Hyrcanus I onwards the Maccabean princes ere
known as the Hasmoneans, after Hasmon, an ancestor of the family. Eventually they assumed
the title king and high priest. Hyrcanus extended the boundaries of Judea; his son Alexander
Janneus succeeded to control an area almost as large as David’s kingdom. But there was
continuous unrest because Judaism was enforced.

The Hasmonean downfall started when his two grandsons had a civil war: the young
Aristubulos II, with local support, usurped the throne of his elder brother John Hyrcanus II. The
latter was supported by foreigners with selfish interests: Antipater of Idumea (with his sons
Herod and Phasael) and King Aretas of Nabatea. Both factions asked the help of Syria, now a
Roman province.

In response Pompey called off the siege and went to Jerusalem. When Aristubulos
showed resistance, Pompey was forced to besiege Jerusalem. The city fell in 63 B.C. and the
Jewish independence won by the Maccabees ended.

D. ROMAN DOMINATION

Pompey incorporated Palestine to the roman province of Syria (63 B.C.) and
established Hyrcanus II as high priest and Ethnacrch (63 B.C.), but the actual power behind was
his Idumean minister Antipater. Pompey carried off to Rome Aristobulus II and his son
Antigonus as prisoners.

By 49 B.C. Pompey and Caesar had a civil war. When Caesar won, Hyrcanus
switched loyalty. He and Antipater helped Caesar in some military campaign and Caesar
rewarded them with administrative positions, including Antipater’s Herod and Phasael. Soon
after Caesar was assassinated (44 B.C.). His assassins were defeated by his friends who
eventually ruled the empire: the West ruled by Octavian and the east ruled by Antony. Herod
and his brother supported Antony since Palestine belonged to the East. (Their father Antipater
at this time had been poisoned by Hyrcanus’ cupbearer and to mend relations, Hyrcanus had
offered Herod his granddaughter Mariamne in marriage.

Meanwhile Antigonus, the last Hasmonean prince imprisoned in Rome, had

escaped. With the help of the Parthians (successors of the Old Persian empire), he besieged
Palestine. Phasael committed suicide while Hyrcanus was mutilated and deported to Babylon.
Herod was able to escape to Rome where he won the favour of Antony and Octavian who
proclaimed him future “king of the Jews.” Antigonus reigned as king and high priest (40-37 B.C.)
while fighting Herod who returned with Roman troops. Antigonus was captured and executed by
the roman. His death ended the HAsmonean dynasty and started Herod’s dynasty.

Herod (37-4 B.C.) installed himself as king subject to Rome and began his reign with
col-blood execution of all possible claimants to the throne. He even had the Hasmonean wife
Mariamne killed and also their two sons.

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Not a few years after, Antony and Octavian had a civil war (31 B.C.). Antony was
defeated. He committed suicide together with Cleopatra of Egypt. Hence Octavian had the
entire Roman Empire to himself. Immediately, Herod paid homage to him and Octavian
confirmed his position as king of the Jews. Octavian now assumed the title Caesar Augustus
(“illustrious emperor”), wanted to know the population of his empire; so he issued a census
decree which St Luke refers to in his Gospel account of Jesus birth.

(Read: Lk 2:1-7 The Birth of Jesus)

So Jesus of Nazareth was born during the reign of Caesar Augustus and of Herod the
Great. With this reading, we complete an overview of the historical background of the Old
Testament. To conclude we ask ourselves the question:

From the story of Abraham till the story of Jesus’ birth, what insight about God and
human struck you most?

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LESSON 2

I. OBJECTIVES

After the lesson, the students should be able to:

 Name the books in the Old Testament.
 Define the terms Tradition, Sacred Scripture, Inspiration and Canonicity.
 Appreciate the blessing of the Bible in the home by the celebration of Bible enthronement.
II. INTRODUCTION

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Activity:

Share what you know about the three best-selling books in the previous years, and then
answer the guide questions below.

Guide Questions

1. Do these books interest you? Why or why not?

_________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________

2. Are these books popular among teenagers of today? Explain.

_________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________

3. What do you think are the lessons/ learning’s that we could get from these three best-
selling book series that were turned into blockbuster films?
_________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________

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Notes:

From the previous lesson, we have seen that after God’s original plan in creating the
world and humankind was destroyed by sin, He initiated a plan of salvation to be accomplished
by a Savior born in Israel. Its preparation and accomplishment lasted for around 2,000 years. All
along God inspired selected persons to put on a record the significant events of His saving
actions from creation to the saving mission of the Savior, His own Son. He transmitted these in
different ways, through Sacred Tradition and Sacred Scripture.

SACRED TRADITION

The word tradition (noun) has Latin roots in the word tradere, which means hand over or
hand down. Sacred Tradition, therefore, refers to a “handing down” of God’s revealed word from
apostolic times to the present day.

CCC 76 In keeping with the Lord’s command, the Gospel was handed on in two ways:
orally, “by the apostles who handed on, by the spoken word of their preaching, by the example
they gave, by the institutions they established, what they themselves had received – whether
from the lips of Christ, from his way of life and his works, or whether they had learned it at the
prompting of the Holy Spirit”; in writing, “by those apostles and other men associated with the
apostles who, under the inspiration of the same Holy Spirit, committed the message of salvation
to writing”.

SACRED SCRIPTURE

CCC 81 “Sacred Scripture is the speech of God as it is put down in writing under the
breathe of the Holy Spirit”.

“And Holy Tradition transmits in its entirety the Word of God which has been entrusted to
the apostles by Christ the Lord and the Lord and the Holy Spirit. It transmits it to the successors
of the apostles so that, enlightened by the Spirit of truth, they may faithfully preserve, expound,
and spread it abroad by their preaching”.

Dei Verbum 10 Sacred tradition and Sacred Scripture form one sacred deposit of the
word of God, committed to the church. Holding fast to this deposit the entire holy people united
with their shepherds remain always steadfast in the teaching of the Apostles, in the common
life, in the breaking of the bread and in prayers, so that holding to, practicing and professing the
heritage of the faith, it becomes on the part of the bishops and faithful a single common effort.

When these written records were put together, they turned out as a collection in different
languages and forms of literature – like a mini-library.

The Bible, a library, In the Ancient world literary works were

written on rolls which were bulky and unwieldy. These rolls were

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made of papyrus plant, was durable when kept dry but

became increasing brittle. The book form called codex, either
made of papyrus or skins of Papyrus plant paper animals, emerged only about
a second century A.D. Hence, the Bible as a library could not
be lost sight of in the ancient world, especially that period when every book occupied a separate
roll. But with the invention of printing, the printed Bible is only one book, though it contains
seventy-three books.
The first book printed by Johannes Gutenberg using movable metal type was the Bible
(1452-55). The text is the Latin Bible of St. Jerome (Vulgate).

ook The origin of the English word Bible comes from the Greek through the Latin. The Greek
“Ta biblia”, meaning “the books” became singular noun in the Latin “biblia”, meaning “the
book” , though still referring to the same collection of Scriptural materials. So from the Latin
“biblia” comes to us the word Bible, which we use to refer to the seventy-three biblical books.

Divine Origin of the Sacred Scripture: INSPIRATION

The Bible, as a true and authentic record of the divine revelation to man is a trustworthy
account of how God reveals himself to man written down under the guidance of the Holy Spirit.
Thus, the Bible is an inspired book. St. Paul, in his second letter to Timothy, states:

2 Timothy 3:16 All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful for teaching, for
reproof, for connection, and for training in righteousness.

The word “inspiration” comes from the Latin word inspirare which means God breathed.
In relation to the Bible, it refers to the divine authorship of this sacred book. God wanted things
on record in order to safeguard His self-revelation through the ages. So He personally chose the
writers. The belief in the divine origin of the Bible started with the Jews and was passed on to us
Christians, but the nature of this divine authorship or inspiration has been explained in different
ways. Concerning official Church teaching on the nature of inspiration, we limit ourselves to two
sources:
Pope Leo XIII’s encyclical (1893):
“He (God) so moved and impelled them (human authors) to write – He
so assisted them when writing that the things which He ordered, and those
only they first understood, then willed faithfully to write down, and finally
expressed in apt words and with infallible truth”
(On the Study of Sacred Scripture, Providentissimus Deus).
Vatican II (1965):
“….written under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit they have God as their author …. In
composing the sacred books, God chose men and while employed by Him they made use of
their own powers and abilities, so that with Him acting in them and through them, they, as true
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authors, consigned to writing everything and only those things which He wanted”
(Constitution on Divine Revelation, ch. 3, no. 11).

CANON OF SCRIPTURE
The root word “canon” comes from the Hebrew word “kaneh” which means a reed; a reed
can be used as a ruler. Its Greek equivalent is “kanon” meaning a straight rod or bar, a tool for
measuring. Used metaphorically, it means a norm, a rule or standard of behavior, a set form or
pattern. (The Canon of the Mass is a set form; Canon Law presents the Church’s established
norms of conduct). In historical chronology, “kanon” referred to a chronological table.
Occasionally it simply meant “series” or “list”.

Applied to the Bible, the term “canon” refers to the unchanging lists of books officially
recognized by the Church as divinely inspired: the Old Testament (OT) canon and the New
Testament (NT) canon. Every book in each list is canonical, that is, officially acknowledged by
the Church as inspired by God, thus offering rules for life in matters of faith and morals.
Canonicity then could be defined as “the right of a given composition to be included in the
official list of inspired books and its continued presence there”.

CCC 120 It was by the apostolic Tradition that the Church discerned which writings are to
be included in the list of the sacred books. This complete list is called the Canon of Scripture.
It includes 46 books for the Old Testament (45 if we count Jeremiah and Lamentations as one)
and 27 books for the New Testament.

The terms protocanonical (protos, “first”) and deuterocanonical (deuteros, “second”) came in as
a result of prolonged discussions on the canonical status of the biblical books under the
question.

The Protocanonical books (first list of inspired books) refer to those books of the Old
Testament which are also included in the Hebrew Bible and which have always been
considered canonical by almost all Christians in the world.

The Deuterocanonical books (second list of inspire books) are those books accepted by
the Catholic Church but contested by other Christians. Deuterocanonical books include seven
books (Tobit, Judith, 1 Maccabees, 2 Maccabees, Wisdom, Sirach, Baruch) plus parts of Esther
and Daniel. Protestants called these books apocrypha. To the Catholics, however, “…
Apocrypha has come to designate books that in content and in title approximate canonical
Scripture (both OT and NT) but have not actually been accepted into the Church’s official
catalogue”. Some examples of apocryphal writings are the Book of Enoch, 3 and 4 Maccabees,
3 and 4 Esdras, Gospel of Thomas, and Gospel of the Hebrews. These books, the Protestants
call pseudepigrapha (Greek, “falsely attributed”).

LANGUAGES OF THE BIBLE

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The Bible, as we knew from our first activity, was written originally in Hebrew, Aramiac,
and Greek. Hebrew and Aramaic are Semitic languages read from right to left and for many
centuries were written without vowels. On the other hand, Greek is an Indo-European language
like Latin and English. Most of the Old Testament books were written in Hebrew with small
portions in Aramaic, while the New Testament was written in common Greek (koine), not in
ancient classical Greek nor in a heavenly Greek as thought before. As a whole Bible language
is a normal human language, though characterized by many expressions peculiar to Jews.
But in general biblical language has the elements of language we already know like the
use of nouns, verbs and other grammatical forms, and familiar figures of speech like trees
clapping their hands or hills laughing. And though the Bible was written in languages foreign to
us, it can be adequately understood by using a carefully done translation.

TEACHING AUTHORITY OF THE CHURCH

By the Magisterium we mean the teaching office of the Church. It consists of the Pope
and Bishops. Christ promised to protect the teaching of the Church : "He who hears you, hears
me; he who rejects you rejects me, he who rejects me, rejects Him who sent me" (Luke 10. 16).
Now of course the promise of Christ cannot fail: hence when the Church presents some doctrine
as definitive or final, it comes under this protection, it cannot be in error; in other words, it is
infallible. This is true even if the Church does not use the solemn ceremony of definition. The
day to day teaching of the Church throughout the world, when the Bishops are in union with
each other and with the Pope, and present something as definitive, this is infallible. (Vatican II,
Lumen Gentium # 25). It was precisely by the use of that authority that Vatican I was able to
define that the Pope alone, when speaking as such and making things definitive, is also
infallible. Of course this infallibility covers also teaching on what morality requires, for that is
needed for salvation.

A "theologian" who would claim he needs to be able to ignore the Magisterium in order
to find the truth is strangely perverse: the teaching of the Magisterium is the prime, God-given
means of finding the truth. Nor could he claim academic freedom lets him contradict the Church.
In any field of knowledge, academic freedom belongs only to a properly qualified professor
teaching in his own field. But one is not properly qualified if he does not use the correct method
of working in his field, e.g., a science professor who would want to go back to medieval methods
would be laughed off campus, not protected. Now in Catholic theology, the correct method is to
study the sources of revelation, but then give the final word to the Church. He who does not
follow that method is not a qualified Catholic theologian. Vatican II taught (Dei Verbum # 10):
"The task of authoritatively interpreting the word of God, whether written or handed on [Scripture
or Tradition], has been entrusted exclusively to the living Magisterium of the Church, whose
authority is exercised in the name of Jesus Christ" (Most, William G., 1990).

ACTIVITY

A. Write down all the books in the Bible; 46 books in the Old Testament and 27 in the New
Testament.
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B. Identify the books according to its division.

CLOSING PRAYER
T
hank you, Lord God, for opening my eyes to the light of your wisdom. You have delighted my
heart with knowledge of truth. I ask You, Lord, help me always to do Your will.

Bless my soul and body, my words and actions.

Grant that I may grow in grace, wisdom and virtue, that Your name may always be glorified,
Father, Son and Holy Spirit, now and forever. Amen.

References:

Baybay, Monina V, FSP. Discovering Together God’s Word. Paulines Publishing House, 2017

Paras, Raul L. Understanding our Faith: The Word of God. Dane Publishing House, Inc., 2015

William G. Most. (c.) Copyright 1990 by William G. Most. The Magisterium or Teaching Authority
of the Church. Recovered from https://www.ewtn.com/catholicism/teachings/churchs-teaching-
authority-214 on September 23, 2020

- End of module 2 -

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