Where Is God's Word

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Theophilus76

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I want to read and meditate on God’s Word.

In my sola scriptura past, I would go to the Bible. If I wanted a deeper understanding, I would consult 3 or 4 different bible versions, several commentaries authored by people from various denominations, and/or consult Greek word studies to glean what I could. But after all was read and processed, the Bible was the official source document.

Now, I understand there is a Deposit of Faith (Bible + Tradition; big T), and dogmas that also make up God’s Word. Is the entire Deposit of Faith written down?

I found a list of document types issued by various popes or groups within the Catholic church. These include encyclicals, declarations, constitutions, constitutions, exhortations, letters, decrees, instructions, and promulgations. The document descriptions tell me there is an authoritative hierarchy among them. Are any of these the infallible Word of God? Sure, these writings contain truth, but they can also contain non-binding opinions, and some have conclusions that were/could be later reversed (i.e. disciplines).

Where can I find official Catholic teaching? Other than the Bible, where else should I go to read/meditate on God’s infallible Word?
 
Theophilus76 said:
I want to read and meditate on God’s Word.

In my sola scriptura past, I would go to the Bible. If I wanted a deeper understanding, I would consult 3 or 4 different bible versions, several commentaries authored by people from various denominations, and/or consult Greek word studies to glean what I could. But after all was read and processed, the Bible was the official source document.

Now, I understand there is a Deposit of Faith (Bible + Tradition; big T), and dogmas that also make up God’s Word. Is the entire Deposit of Faith written down?

I found a list of document types issued by various popes or groups within the Catholic church. These include encyclicals, declarations, constitutions, constitutions, exhortations, letters, decrees, instructions, and promulgations. The document descriptions tell me there is an authoritative hierarchy among them. Are any of these the infallible Word of God? Sure, these writings contain truth, but they can also contain non-binding opinions, and some have conclusions that were/could be later reversed (i.e. disciplines).

Where can I find official Catholic teaching? Other than the Bible, where else should I go to read/meditate on God’s infallible Word?
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No the entire Deposit of Faith is not all written down, if it were it would basically be another set of scriptures and we already have one of those 😉

A good starting place to learn about the extra-Biblical parts of our faith is the Catechism of the Catholic Church. Use the CCC as a launching pad to read and meditate on the other documents (Papal encyclicals, Conciliar documents and the like) which the CCC refers to in its footnotes. The CCC can help you sort the wheat from the chaff.
 
You might want to read the Catechism of the Catholic Church. It has many scriptural references for the Church’s teachings. Also, the writings of the great Saints such as Alphonsus de Liguori are filled with scriptural citations.

If it’s devotional reading you want, there are many resources for Catholics. I like this site: dailygospel.org/M/AM/ for the daily Mass readings. The site also has a nice meditation on the day’s Gospel reading from saints, popes, and other good sources, as well as short bios on the saints of the day.

I think all the referencing and so forth can get a little tiring and isn’t all that necessary. God wants us to put ourselves in his presence and listen more than he wants us to be searching through concordances and commentaries.

As Catholics we can be sure we are getting authentic teaching that will lead us to salvation. There’s really no need to have a list of dogmas or doctrines for this. 🙂
 
And just so you’re not reading the CCC in a temporal vacuum, get yourself a Baltimore Catechism and the Catechism of the Council of Trent.

The Catholic Encyclopedia is also a great resource (the first edition, not the abysmal later one). You can find it here, along with the Church Fathers, the Summa, and the Scriptures:

newadvent.org/cathen/
 
Theophilus76 said:
I want to read and meditate on God’s Word.

In my sola scriptura past, I would go to the Bible. If I wanted a deeper understanding, I would consult 3 or 4 different bible versions, several commentaries authored by people from various denominations, and/or consult Greek word studies to glean what I could. But after all was read and processed, the Bible was the official source document.

Now, I understand there is a Deposit of Faith (Bible + Tradition; big T), and dogmas that also make up God’s Word. Is the entire Deposit of Faith written down?

I found a list of document types issued by various popes or groups within the Catholic church. These include encyclicals, declarations, constitutions, constitutions, exhortations, letters, decrees, instructions, and promulgations. The document descriptions tell me there is an authoritative hierarchy among them. Are any of these the infallible Word of God? Sure, these writings contain truth, but they can also contain non-binding opinions, and some have conclusions that were/could be later reversed (i.e. disciplines).

Where can I find official Catholic teaching? Other than the Bible, where else should I go to read/meditate on God’s infallible Word?
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This Catholic thinks your study skills are excellent. You can’t go wrong studying the Bible. You CAN however do more as previous posters have described to put what you read into its the context of the living tradition that the Church provides us.

What you will probably find is a very tight feedback loop. What you find in Scripture will be what the Church teaches. What the Church teaches can be found in Scripture. I find that there are only a few teaching of the Church (especially those concerning Mary) that are really explained best by looking primarily at extra-Biblical sources.

BTW, great screen name. Are Luke/Acts your favorite NT books?
 
I totally agree with using the Catechisms referenced above. But, what standard did the author(s) of the Catechism(s) used to determine what to include and leave out? How do we discern from the Tradition (big T) that is part of the Deposit of Faith and traditional (little t) rituals subject to change? Isn’t this important to defend against heresy? What standard do we use to determine if a particular decree conflicts with official church teaching? Is it only the Bible and Catechism, or something else, too?

You see, since sola scriptura is not feasible (I truly believe the Bible demonstrates this), then what else is there? Since Jesus gave the church the Holy Spirit to lead them into all truth, where does this truth go upon receipt?

BTW, my screen name does come from Luke’s books. The person(s) to whom Luke was writing struck a positive chord with me since I was a child. I always identified myself with a sort of Theophilus who sincerely seeks God through careful investigation.
 
Theophilus76 said:
I totally agree with using the Catechisms referenced above. But, what standard did the author(s) of the Catechism(s) used to determine what to include and leave out? How do we discern from the Tradition (big T) that is part of the Deposit of Faith and traditional (little t) rituals subject to change? Isn’t this important to defend against heresy? What standard do we use to determine if a particular decree conflicts with official church teaching? Is it only the Bible and Catechism, or something else, too?

You see, since sola scriptura is not feasible (I truly believe the Bible demonstrates this), then what else is there? Since Jesus gave the church the Holy Spirit to lead them into all truth, where does this truth go upon receipt?

BTW, my screen name does come from Luke’s books. The person(s) to whom Luke was writing struck a positive chord with me since I was a child. I always identified myself with a sort of Theophilus who sincerely seeks God through careful investigation.
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Dear Theophilus,

It would probably take a lifetime to follow the Church’s teaching and traditions from the time of Jesus until today. I can tell you a good place to start, by reading about the formation of the Canon based on the teachings of the Church fathers. My personal focus includes what was included, and reading what was excluded. The discovery of the Gnostic gospels shows us very clearly that the early Church fathers knew exactly what was orthodox teachings, and what was false gospel. Some of what passed for “Christian” literature in the early days has nothing to do with the Gospel of Christ crucified for our sins.

So many “Dan Brown Scholar” types use these writings to try and show how a pleathera of early Christian thought was ruthlessly purged…but reading them myself shows clearly that these writings are in grave error, and that the warnings of our Church fathers to avoid them was true.

From there I am going into the original writings of the Church fathers themselves from the earliest, to the more modern. This will take more than my lifetime, but much like you, the careful investigation of what has been passed down to us is worth as much time as I am given. 👍
 
Theophilus76 said:
I want to read and meditate on God’s Word.

In my sola scriptura past, I would go to the Bible. If I wanted a deeper understanding, I would consult 3 or 4 different bible versions, several commentaries authored by people from various denominations, and/or consult Greek word studies to glean what I could. But after all was read and processed, the Bible was the official source document.

Now, I understand there is a Deposit of Faith (Bible + Tradition; big T), and dogmas that also make up God’s Word. Is the entire Deposit of Faith written down?

I found a list of document types issued by various popes or groups within the Catholic church. These include encyclicals, declarations, constitutions, constitutions, exhortations, letters, decrees, instructions, and promulgations. The document descriptions tell me there is an authoritative hierarchy among them. Are any of these the infallible Word of God? Sure, these writings contain truth, but they can also contain non-binding opinions, and some have conclusions that were/could be later reversed (i.e. disciplines).

Where can I find official Catholic teaching? Other than the Bible, where else should I go to read/meditate on God’s infallible Word?
Click to expand...
Your previous approach was good and can be continued as long as you are using a good Catholic translation of the scriptures and orthodox Catholic commentaries.

If you want to study the Word of God, then pick up the Word and do it! No need to change just because you’re Catholic now!
 
Theophilus76 said:
I want to read and meditate on God’s Word.

I

Where can I find official Catholic teaching? Other than the Bible, where else should I go to read/meditate on God’s infallible Word?
Click to expand...
Have you tried looking into the writings of variosu saints?

Like:

Perfect Joy of St. Francis

Interior Castle or The Mansions
Description: Interior Castle is the work of 16th century Carmelite nun and Christian mystic St. Teresa of Avila. She wrote Interior Castle as a spiritual guide to union with God.

These are just two to scratch the surface/
 
“The Fundamentals of Catholic Dogma” by Dr. Ludvig Ott is handy for studying Catholic teaching as it contains theological assertions on a wide range of topics (such as Creation, God and the Trinity, Christ, the Sacraments) with a description of the theological certainty each one bears. The system is such as that on Wikipedia which contains levels like “De fide” considered infallible revelation or “Sententia certa” not finally pronounced by Church Magisterium while deducable from revelation. It also generally expounds on the doctrines with quotes from the Bible and Tradition alike.
 
As I read the catechism this morning, I notice references to Vatican 2 documents. When I read through the V2 documents sections referenced, I’m struck by how the Holy Scriptures are referenced throughout. At the top of these documents (Dei Verbum, for instance), it says “Dogmatic Constitution…”

Can I take Vatican 2 documents (or any formal church council documents) as God’s Word communicated to me through His church’es Magisterium who were moved by the Holy Spirit?
 
Theophilus, there is a difference between infallibility and inspiration. The infallible teaching of the Church is by the grace of God excluded from the possibility of error. However, being guaranteed freedom from error is not the same as being inspired by God as the Scriptures are. The First Vatican Council states that

“These books the Church holds to be sacred and canonical not because she subsequently approved them by her authority after they had been composed by unaided human skill, nor simply because they contain revelation without error, but because, being written under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, they have God as their author, and were as such committed to the Church.”

The writings from the ecumenical councils are human writings which are infallibly taught by the Church because they are true. The Scriptures are unique because their composition was so guided by God that they can be said to have God principally as their author. The teaching of the Church is God’s word only in the looser sense that it conveys the same revelation that God delivered to the saints.
 
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