Catholics,do you question any of the bible?

[godsent]

See when i read the bible,at the very beginning,it read,and i quote
" And God said, Let there be light: and there was light."

When i read that part,i thought to myself,what a basic way of putting it!
I think in my heart i know that its true,but i need some reassurance?
Any offers?

 

[Dandelion_Wine]

A VERY headsy-type book to read would be “Theology for Beginners” by Sheed.

It talks about the essence of God.

Very hard read for a “beginner’s” book.

But with that said, and we’ll get abstract here…

God IS. His very essence is Being.

Now here’s where my ability breaks down, so please don’t take the words I use as definitely technically correct, but…

God’s thoughts ARE. God’s thought of Himself “generates” the 2nd person of the Godhead. The LOVE between the two persons of the Godhead IS and thus “generates” the 3rd person of the Godhead.

So it’s not too far of a stretch that when God says, it IS. God has an idea of Light and it IS.

Sorry if I just confused you even more. It’s not something I think that’s easily grasped and that complicates the explanation of it. I hope my pitiful attempt at understanding/explaining helped a little.

 

[dcmac]

“Catholics,do you question any of the bible?”

No. For, the Holy Bible is the infallible written word of God.

I do, however, question my understanding of different parts of the Holy Bible. And I certainly question the continued re (mis) interpretation of the Holy Bible through Biblical Skepticism, Inclusive Language, etc.

I also recognize that I am not my own Divine Authority when it comes to the interpretation of the Holy Bible and leave that to God and His Church. There are many great Scripture scholars in the Catholic world. Among that already listed look to Kreeft and Hahn in particular.

 

[Thal59]

I never take the approach that the Bible is infallible.

The Bible, in english, is a translation of a translation of ancient texts that were written by people of another time, culture, religion, and reality.

Too many people are needed to translate a modern Bible. This is why I am hesitant to look apon the Bible as inerrent.

Whatever God can make perfectly, man can screw up if he gets his hands on it.

Thal59

 

[Dj_Roy_Albert]

…do you question any of the bible? No, The Bible can’t talk.

I’m still waiting to see if anyone, Protestant or Catholic, will ever take Christ’s word literally when He said “if you r hand makes you sin cut it off…if you eye makes you sin gouge it out…” :yup:

 

[Salmon]

Dj Roy Albert:

…do you question any of the bible? No, The Bible can’t talk.

I’m still waiting to see if anyone, Protestant or Catholic, will ever take Christ’s word literally when He said “if you r hand makes you sin cut it off…if you eye makes you sin gouge it out…” :yup:

Origen castrated himself because of that very passage.

That’s when the manure hit the perambulator.

Peace in Christ…Salmon

 

[dcmac]

Thal59,

Are you a Catholic?

 

[godsent]

The only questionning i have about the bible,is ,when we die,is heaven an actual place or just a word used for something else,i always get confused on this subject of where heaven actually is?
Any answers?

 

[Genesis315]

Thal59:

I never take the approach that the Bible is infallible.

The Bible, in english, is a translation of a translation of ancient texts that were written by people of another time, culture, religion, and reality.

Too many people are needed to translate a modern Bible. This is why I am hesitant to look apon the Bible as inerrent.

Whatever God can make perfectly, man can screw up if he gets his hands on it.

Thal59

If you get a Church approved translation, it’s usually assured to be doctrinally sound.

 

[Gottle_of_Geer]

godsent:

See when i read the bible,at the very beginning,it read,and i quote

“And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.”

When i read that part,i thought to myself,what a basic way of putting it!

I think in my heart i know that its true,but i need some reassurance?

Any offers?

I have no problem at all here - but I have been fortunate enough to study the OT as part of a Theology course, which meant coming across all sorts of other creation accounts from other cultures.​

And this account is very different from them:

It has one single creator god - not a whole lot of gods

It presents this God as creating by His mere word: some accounts - not all - are of creation by sexual activity. Since this God is the only one, He doesn’t do that. A single Creator-God, is a Sovereign Creator God, so a God Who is free of all constraint, so, a God Who is a God of grace, so, a God Who is free to enter into a covenant. And that, is the God of Israel - and of Jesus Christ.

Some accounts are of creation from the body of a deity whom the Creator has defeated in battle - there are fragments of this idea elsewhere in the OT, but not here. The OT often takes ideas which are found elsewhere, and re-interprets them so that they express its own faith.

In all accounts, it seems, there is a pre-existing “something” to create from: even if it is only a formless chaos. Genesis 1.1 comes close to this - without quite saying it. And in 1 Macc.7.28, it is is made explicit that God created from nothing.

This creation account has a very high view of man - instead of being made out of a dead god, as sometimes elsewhere, he is created from the dust of the ground, as in some other accounts: yet, equally important, he is made in the image of God. Which is very significant - the Assyrian king was also made in the image of god: but only he was, because of his function as king. In Genesis, all mankind, all Adam, is. The idea been “democratised” in Israel.

One could go on - this is a very profound piece of writing. It only looks dull and unimpressive because most people have no idea just how it compares with other texts and ideas familiar - taken for granted - in most of the Ancient Near East. It is an amazing piece of writing, in its profundity, its view of a single sovereign Creator God, its high view of mankind as made for communion with God and not made as slaves to do the work of the gods. It is a piece of writing with an ethical outlook which is based on faith in this One God - another thing that makes the Jewish Bible unique. Israel’s religion is in many ways no different from that of its neighbours - but in what matters most, in ethics and the basis for ethics, in its refusal to let holiness be separated from righteous living, and either of these from faith in God Who is One and Unique, it is unique.

And Christians don’t even seem to know this

The trouble with Christians, is that they, we, have been spoiled by being able to take for granted that there is only one Creator God - 2500 years ago and more, this idea was almost unknown. We cannot be grateful enough for having inherited this creation-narrative; because the doctrine of creation by a single God is absolutely basic to Christian thinking: it affects everything. ##

 

[Della]

Thal59:

I never take the approach that the Bible is infallible.

The Bible, in english, is a translation of a translation of ancient texts that were written by people of another time, culture, religion, and reality.

Too many people are needed to translate a modern Bible. This is why I am hesitant to look apon the Bible as inerrent.

Whatever God can make perfectly, man can screw up if he gets his hands on it.

Thal59

The Church does not teach that there are no errors of translation, etc. but rather that what the Bible teaches is inerrant. Perhaps you misunderstood/didn’t know this?

 

[Della]

godsent:

See when i read the bible,at the very beginning,it read,and i quote
" And God said, Let there be light: and there was light."

When i read that part,i thought to myself,what a basic way of putting it!
I think in my heart i know that its true,but i need some reassurance?
Any offers?

Well, it depends on what you think that phrase means. Can you expand on what you are wondering about?

 

[Della]

godsent:

The only questionning i have about the bible,is ,when we die,is heaven an actual place or just a word used for something else,i always get confused on this subject of where heaven actually is?
Any answers?

We don’t know, except for what Jesus has told us–that there are many dwellings for the faithful and that we will be with him and the Father (and the Holy Spirit, of course). Whether or not this is a state of being or a place matters little to me. I only want to behold the Beatific Vision for all eternity along with the whole people of God.

 

[Thal59]

Della:

The Church does not teach that there are no errors of translation, etc. but rather that what the Bible teaches is inerrant. Perhaps you misunderstood/didn’t know this?

Thanks to all for your concern. Yes, I am Roman Catholic. I do understand what you are asking. However, if there are errors in a bible’s translation, then those errors can mask what the bible is attempting to teach. The RCC has always held to the belief that Apostolic Tradition is necessary for us to be able to interpret the bible correctly.

What I am trying to say is that one must have the bible, Apostolic Tradition and the guidance of the Holy Spirit through the magesterium to clearly understand the truth. No bible is inerrent. For instance, the current copies of the book of Judith are terribly corrupted. Protestants delight in pointing out its obvious flaws. But, there is a website which I believe is called CIAS (California Institute for Ancient Studies?) that will demonstrate that the book of Judith is indeed accurate. You will however have to read through over 60 pages of highly complex and scholarly explanations to see that this is true.

So, while the book of Judith can be explained and demonstrated to be accurate - as it appears in our bibles, it is a disaster of typos and cross-translations.

In the end we have to remember that Jesus did not promise us an inerrent book that man could never be able to corrupt. (Just study a KJV and you will see corruption.) What Jesus gave us was something far better than a bible and endless bible study. He gave us His promise to send the Holy Spirit who would “Call to mind all things I have taught you, teach you all things, lead you into all truth, and be with you forever.”

Don’t get me wrong, the bible is great. But the living link between the Holy Spirit and the Magesterium of the Church is far more important and incorruptable.

Thal59

 

[Liberian]

godsent:

See when i read the bible,at the very beginning,it read,and i quote
“And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.”

When i read that part,i thought to myself,what a basic way of putting it!
I think in my heart i know that its true,but i need some reassurance?
Any offers?

There is a delightful little book–no, not the Bible, not even a particularly Christian book–called God and the Astronomers. It was written a generation or two ago by Robert Jastrow, the director (I think) of Goddard Space Flight Center. In the book he declares that he is not a Christian and (I think) not even much of a theist. The book describes the very emotional and very negative reaction of the astronomical community to the Big Bang theory of the creation of the universe. Before that the Steady State theory had held sway. The Steady State theory taught that the universe was pretty much in a steady state (hence the name), that it had had no beginning and would never end. The idea that the universe had a beginning (as taught by the Big Bang theory) was utterly repugnant to the scientists. (Incidentally, I think Pope Pius XII declared that the Big Bang theory was consistent with the teachings of the Catholic Church.) Jastrow’s book ends with a beautiful metaphor about the scientist climbing the mountain of knowledge with great difficulty, only to find the theologians waiting for him at the top. “And they have been there for centuries.”

• Liberian

 

[Church_Militant]

“Catholics,do you question any of the bible?”

No. For, the Holy Bible is the infallible written word of God.

I do, however, question my understanding of different parts of the Holy Bible. And I certainly question the continued re (mis) interpretation of the Holy Bible through Biblical Skepticism, Inclusive Language, etc.

I also recognize that I am not my own Divine Authority when it comes to the interpretation of the Holy Bible and leave that to God and His Church. There are many great Scripture scholars in the Catholic world. Among that already listed look to Kreeft and Hahn in particular.

This is my own approach as well .:irish1: