Bible not true?

[John-the-Seeker]

Is the Bible true or not?

If this helps someone, Praise God! If not, Praise God, for He will send another messenger.

As a person, unknown to me, was quoted, (I believe.), as saying,“Be careful how you live, you might be the only Bible some people will ever get to know.”

For some reason, unknown to me a portion of this post was lost.

Here it is:

“The** BIBLE **is a book of instruction which, if you allow it, will enable you to Build In Belief Life Eternal. But remember, Blind Infidelity Brings Life Extinction.”

 

[mspencer]

I would hope that those who wonder about whether the Gospels are historical or not read section 19 of Dei Verbum themselves. It can be found easily enough on google.com. I see that there are several parties here taking different views that keep on promoting their views; in the face of this I would rather suggest that you go and see yourself what the Church actually teaches on this matter.

 

[javelin]

yinekka:

I am a catechist and I am becoming reluctant to tell the children anything from the bible because the children ask if what I am telling is true and almost every day I read of Catholic biblical scholars or theologians who come out in print denying what I was taught as true e.g. the infancy narratives aren’t true, Christ didn’t know He was God, James was Jesus’ blood brother etc. Is there any definitive Magisterial teaching which tells us the truth of the events in the bible?

Yinekka,

A few things to consider…

First, thank you for serving your Church and community by being a catechist! May God bless you, your children, and your efforts.

Second, please do not feel you need to (or should) teach your students everything that you hear a theologian somewhere asserting. Theologians can be “on the edge” of Catholic theology, and some are even downright heretical. For example, of the things you mentioned, the claim that James is a blood-brother of Jesus directly contradicts the Catholic dogma that Mary had no other children besides Jesus. James could ba a brother by marriage if he was a son of Joseph from a previous marriage. But he could not even be a half-brother by blood because Joseph was not Jesus’ blood-father.

So be sure that you are familiar with Catholic dogma and don’t ever teach things contrary to it. When you are unsure of the answer to a difficult question, don’t be afraid to say “I don’t know, but I’ll try to find out.” Resources like this site are great places to start.

As for what to say about Biblical historical accuracy in general, do a little research on it (as you are doing here), and prepare a discussion on that topic specifically. That way you can head off many of the questions ahead of time. Preparation is important because it is not a cut-and-dry thing in the Catholic Church where you could say simply “It’s all historically true” or “It’s all allegorical”. Depending on the age of your students, having them read Dei Verbum with you and discussing it might be appropriate.

Ultimately, though, please continue to use the Bible in your classes. Developing in your students a love of the Bible and respect for the Church’s authority in interpreting it correctly should be a foundational aspect of the curriculum.

I wish you the best, and hope this helps some.

Peace,
javelin

 

[buffalo]

patg:

mspencer:

I am puzzled sometimes why those who speak about whether the Bible is historical in the discussions here that have dealt with this here don’t seem aware of the words in the Second Vaticon Council’s document on divine revelation that the Gospels are historical and true. The exact quote for this is in section 19 of Dei Verbum: “Holy mother church has firmly and constantly held, and continues to hold and unhesitatingly assert, that the four gospels are historical docucments and faithfully communicate what Jesus, the Son of God, during his life among men and women, actually did and taught for their eternal salavation, until the day when he was taken up.”

This states that the four gospels are “historical documents” without defining what that means. The concept we have of what is historical and what constitutes an historical document is radically different from that of the authors. In any case, the term is not clearly defined.

Most people who quote this in order to demonstrate that the church is saying “the Gospels are historical and true” seem to ignore the phrase which clearly states they are not. The words “actually did and taught for their eternal salvation” clearly allows one to consider as unhistorical those events and details which are NOT related to our eternal salvation. It also allows us to consider as unhistorical those things which Jesus did not say or do but which masquerade as history in the gospels. The story of Barrabas, for example, is described as a common custom of the Jews. There is however, no reference to this in any Jewish document (or any other artifact) and it must be a literary creation of the author, The same can be said of most of the events in the infancy narratives.

THE AUTHORS OF THE GOSPELS

		 [**[According to the Clementine Tradition]**](http://www.churchinhistory.org/pages/booklets/authors-gospels-1.htm)

The Gospels are Historical

FOREWORD

		 The theory that Mark's gospel was the first to be written 			dominates New Testament Studies today. This theory has led to serious **and widespread **doubts about the 			historical reliability of the Gospels, upon which our understanding of Christianity is built.

		 'The Authors of the Gospels' sets forth an alternative view.  Using primary sources written 			by the earliest Christian historians (**The** Church Fathers) and the findings of modern literary analysis,the author argues strongly in favour of a return to the chronology widely used prior to the time 			of Jerome.

		 This would conform to the traditional teaching of the Church that two of the Gospels were written 			by eyewitness companions of Jesus.** The author 			points out that this teaching was recently renewed in a Dogmatic Constitution, Dei Verbum, of the Second Vatican 			Council.**

		 **K.J.Gajewski**

 

[buffalo]

**From the Cathechism

II. THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN TRADITION AND SACRED SCRIPTURE**

One common source. . .

80 "Sacred Tradition and Sacred Scripture, then, are bound closely together, and communicate one with the other. For both of them, flowing out from the same divine well-spring, come together in some fashion to form one thing, and move towards the same goal."40 Each of them makes present and fruitful in the Church the mystery of Christ, who promised to remain with his own “always, to the close of the age”.41

. . . two distinct modes of transmission

81 "Sacred Scripture is the speech of God as it is put down in writing under the breath of the Holy Spirit."42

"And [Holy] *Tradition *transmits in its entirety the Word of God which has been entrusted to the apostles by Christ 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."43

82 As a result the Church, to whom the transmission and interpretation of Revelation is entrusted, "does not derive her certainty about all revealed truths from the holy Scriptures alone. Both Scripture and Tradition must be accepted and honored with equal sentiments of devotion and reverence."44

Apostolic Tradition and ecclesial traditions

83 The Tradition here in question comes from the apostles and hands on what they received from Jesus’ teaching and example and what they learned from the Holy Spirit. The first generation of Christians did not yet have a written New Testament, and the New Testament itself demonstrates the process of living Tradition. Tradition is to be distinguished from the various theological, disciplinary, liturgical or devotional traditions, born in the local churches over time. These are the particular forms, adapted to different places and times, in which the great Tradition is expressed. In the light of Tradition, these traditions can be retained, modified or even abandoned under the guidance of the Church’s Magisterium.

II. INSPIRATION AND TRUTH OF SACRED SCRIPTURE

105 God is the author of Sacred Scripture. "The divinely revealed realities, which are contained and presented in the text of Sacred Scripture, have been written down under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit."69

"For Holy Mother Church, relying on the faith of the apostolic age, accepts as sacred and canonical the books of the Old and the New Testaments, whole and entire, with all their parts, on the grounds that, written under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, they have God as their author, and have been handed on as such to the Church herself."70

106 God inspired the human authors of the sacred books. "To compose the sacred books, God chose certain men who, all the while he employed them in this task, made full use of their own faculties and powers so that, though he acted in them and by them, it was as true authors that they consigned to writing whatever he wanted written, and no more."71

107 The inspired books teach the truth. "Since therefore all that the inspired authors or sacred writers affirm should be regarded as affirmed by the Holy Spirit, we must acknowledge that the books of Scripture firmly, faithfully, and without error teach that truth which God, for the sake of our salvation, wished to see confided to the Sacred Scriptures."72

108 Still, the Christian faith is not a “religion of the book.” Christianity is the religion of the “Word” of God, a word which is “not a written and mute word, but the Word is incarnate and living”.73 If the Scriptures are not to remain a dead letter, Christ, the eternal Word of the living God, must, through the Holy Spirit, "open [our] minds to understand the Scriptures."74

 

[buffalo]

**III. THE HOLY SPIRIT, INTERPRETER OF SCRIPTURE

109 In Sacred Scripture, God speaks to man in a human way. To interpret Scripture correctly, the reader must be attentive to what the human authors truly wanted to affirm, and to what God wanted to reveal to us by their words.75

110 In order to discover the sacred authors’ intention, the reader must take into account the conditions of their time and culture, the literary genres in use at that time, and the modes of feeling, speaking and narrating then current. "For the fact is that truth is differently presented and expressed in the various types of historical writing, in prophetical and poetical texts, and in other forms of literary expression."76

111 But since Sacred Scripture is inspired, there is another and no less important principle of correct interpretation, without which Scripture would remain a dead letter. "Sacred Scripture must be read and interpreted in the light of the same Spirit by whom it was written."77

The Second Vatican Council indicates three criteria for interpreting Scripture in accordance with the Spirit who inspired it.78

112 1. Be especially attentive “to the content and unity of the whole Scripture”. Different as the books which compose it may be, Scripture is a unity by reason of the unity of God’s plan, of which Christ Jesus is the center and heart, open since his Passover.79

The phrase “heart of Christ” can refer to Sacred Scripture, which makes known his heart, closed before the Passion, as the Scripture was obscure. But the Scripture has been opened since the Passion; since those who from then on have understood it, consider and discern in what way the prophecies must be interpreted.80
113 2. Read the Scripture within “the living Tradition of the whole Church”. According to a saying of the Fathers, Sacred Scripture is written principally in the Church’s heart rather than in documents and records, for the Church carries in her Tradition the living memorial of God’s Word, and it is the Holy Spirit who gives her the spiritual interpretation of the Scripture (". . . according to the spiritual meaning which the Spirit grants to the Church"81).

114 3. Be attentive to the analogy of faith.82 By “analogy of faith” we mean the coherence of the truths of faith among themselves and within the whole plan of Revelation.

The senses of Scripture

115 According to an ancient tradition, one can distinguish between two senses of Scripture: the literal and the spiritual, the latter being subdivided into the allegorical, moral and anagogical senses. The profound concordance of the four senses guarantees all its richness to the living reading of Scripture in the Church.

116 The literal sense is the meaning conveyed by the words of Scripture and discovered by exegesis, following the rules of sound interpretation: "All other senses of Sacred Scripture are based on the literal."83

117 The spiritual sense. Thanks to the unity of God’s plan, not only the text of Scripture but also the realities and events about which it speaks can be signs.

1. The allegorical sense. We can acquire a more profound understanding of events by recognizing their significance in Christ; thus the crossing of the Red Sea is a sign or type of Christ’s victory and also of Christian Baptism.84
2. The moral sense. The events reported in Scripture ought to lead us to act justly. As St. Paul says, they were written “for our instruction”.85
3. The anagogical sense (Greek: anagoge, “leading”). We can view realities and events in terms of their eternal significance, leading us toward our true homeland: thus the Church on earth is a sign of the heavenly Jerusalem.86

**

 

[buffalo]

118 A medieval couplet summarizes the significance of the four senses: The Letter speaks of deeds; Allegory to faith;
The Moral how to act; Anagogy our destiny.87 [119](javascriptpenWindow(‘cr/119.htm’) "It is the task of exegetes to work, according to these rules, towards a better understanding and explanation of the meaning of Sacred Scripture in order that their research may help the Church to form a firmer judgement. For, of course, all that has been said about the manner of interpreting Scripture is ultimately subject to the judgement of the Church which exercises the divinely conferred commission and ministry of watching over and interpreting the Word of God."88

But I would not believe in the Gospel, had not the authority of the Catholic Church already moved me.89
IV. THE CANON OF SCRIPTURE

[120](javascriptpenWindow(‘cr/120.htm’) It was by the apostolic Tradition that the Church discerned which writings are to be included in the list of the sacred books.90 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 for the New.91

The Old Testament: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy, Joshua, Judges, Ruth, 1 *and *2 Samuel, 1 *and *2 Kings, 1 *and *2 Chronicles, Ezra *and *Nehemiah, Tobit, Judith, Esther, 1 *and *2 Maccabees, Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, *the *Song of Songs, *the *Wisdom of Solomon, Sirach (Ecclesiasticus), Isaiah, Jeremiah, Lamentations, Baruch, Ezekiel, Daniel, Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zachariah and Malachi. *The New Testament: the Gospels according to *Matthew, Mark, Luke *and *John, *the *Acts of the Apostles, *the *Letters of St. Paul to the Romans, 1 *and *2 Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, 1 *and *2 Thessalonians, 1 *and *2 Timothy, Titus, Philemon, *the *Letter to the Hebrews, *the *Letters of James, 1 *and *2 Peter, 1, 2 *and *3 John, and Jude, *and *Revelation (the Apocalypse).

 

[buffalo]

**The Old Testament

121 The Old Testament is an indispensable part of Sacred Scripture. Its books are divinely inspired and retain a permanent value,92 for the Old Covenant has never been revoked.

122 Indeed, "the economy of the Old Testament was deliberately so oriented that it should prepare for and declare in prophecy the coming of Christ, redeemer of all men."93 "Even though they contain matters imperfect and provisional,"94 the books of the Old Testament bear witness to the whole divine pedagogy of God’s saving love: these writings "are a storehouse of sublime teaching on God and of sound wisdom on human life, as well as a wonderful treasury of prayers; in them, too, the mystery of our salvation is present in a hidden way."95

123 Christians venerate the Old Testament as true Word of God. The Church has always vigorously opposed the idea of rejecting the Old Testament under the pretext that the New has rendered it void (Marcionism).

The New Testament

124 "The Word of God, which is the power of God for salvation to everyone who has faith, is set forth and displays its power in a most wonderful way in the writings of the New Testament"96 which hand on the ultimate truth of God’s Revelation. Their central object is Jesus Christ, God’s incarnate Son: his acts, teachings, Passion and glorification, and his Church’s beginnings under the Spirit’s guidance.97

125 The Gospels are the heart of all the Scriptures “because they are our principal source for the life and teaching of the Incarnate Word, our Savior”.98

126 We can distinguish three stages in the formation of the Gospels: 1. The life and teaching of Jesus. The Church holds firmly that the four Gospels, "whose historicity she unhesitatingly affirms, faithfully hand on what Jesus, the Son of God, while he lived among men, really did and taught for their eternal salvation, until the day when he was taken up."99

1. The oral tradition. "For, after the ascension of the Lord, the apostles handed on to their hearers what he had said and done, but with that fuller understanding which they, instructed by the glorious events of Christ and enlightened by the Spirit of truth, now enjoyed."100
2. The written Gospels. "The sacred authors, in writing the four Gospels, selected certain of the many elements which had been handed on, either orally or already in written form; others they synthesized or explained with an eye to the situation of the churches, the while sustaining the form of preaching, but always in such a fashion that they have told us the honest truth about Jesus."101

127 The fourfold Gospel holds a unique place in the Church, as is evident both in the veneration which the liturgy accords it and in the surpassing attraction it has exercised on the saints at all times:

There is no doctrine which could be better, more precious and more splendid than the text of the Gospel. Behold and retain what our Lord and Master, Christ, has taught by his words and accomplished by his deeds.102 But above all it’s the gospels that occupy my mind when I’m at prayer; my poor soul has so many needs, and yet this is the one thing needful. I’m always finding fresh lights there; hidden meanings which had meant nothing to me hitherto.103

**

 

[buffalo]

The unity of the Old and New Testaments

128 The Church, as early as apostolic times,104 and then constantly in her Tradition, has illuminated the unity of the divine plan in the two Testaments through typology, which discerns in God’s works of the Old Covenant prefigurations of what he accomplished in the fullness of time in the person of his incarnate Son.

129 Christians therefore read the Old Testament in the light of Christ crucified and risen. Such typological reading discloses the inexhaustible content of the Old Testament; but it must not make us forget that the Old Testament retains its own intrinsic value as Revelation reaffirmed by our Lord himself.105 Besides, the New Testament has to be read in the light of the Old. Early Christian catechesis made constant use of the Old Testament.106 As an old saying put it, the New Testament lies hidden in the Old and the Old Testament is unveiled in the New.107

130 Typology indicates the dynamic movement toward the fulfillment of the divine plan when "God [will] be everything to everyone."108 Nor do the calling of the patriarchs and the exodus from Egypt, for example, lose their own value in God’s plan, from the mere fact that they were intermediate stages.

V. SACRED SCRIPTURE IN THE LIFE OF THE CHURCH

131 "And such is the force and power of the Word of God that it can serve the Church as her support and vigor, and the children of the Church as strength for their faith, food for the soul, and a pure and lasting fount of spiritual life."109 Hence "access to Sacred Scripture ought to be open wide to the Christian faithful."110