Sacred Scripture the Inspired Word PDF

Sacred Scripture the Inspired Word THE BOOKS OF THE OLD TESTAMENT PREPARED THE WAY FOR THE NEW TESTAMENT IT SPEAKS OF CHRIST THROUGH PROPHECY AND TYPES  Sacred Scripture  The Church determined which books were inspired by the...

Sacred Scripture the Inspired Word THE BOOKS OF THE OLD TESTAMENT PREPARED THE WAY FOR THE NEW TESTAMENT IT SPEAKS OF CHRIST THROUGH PROPHECY AND TYPES  Sacred Scripture  The Church determined which books were inspired by the Holy Spirit & which were not  The Bible is divided into Two sections:  the Old Testament & the New Testament  The N.T. does not nullify (negate) the Old Testament  Rather it fulfills & completes it  If the N.T. tells the story of Jesus, why do Christians need to know about the old Testament?  The first thing to know about Jesus Christ, Matthew tells us, is how Jesus is related to the O.T.  Genealogy  Genealogy  is the study of ancestry, or a chronological list of ancestors. The Gospels of Matthew & Luke show evidence that Jesus is in the ancestral line of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, & David.  “The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham”. Matthew 1:1  The books of the O.T. tell the story of the long journey toward salvation  That is completed in the N.T. where the promises of the O.T. are fulfilled in Jesus  The Old Law Prepared the Way for the Gospel  “ In many & various ways God spoke of old to our fathers by the prophets; but in these last days he has spoken to us by a Son.” (Hebrews 1:1-2)  Stresses the unity of the Scriptures – author is God –  And the difference in quality between God’s messengers:  1st the Prophets, & finally His own Son.  The unity of the sacred books is reflected by their Latin name biblia, singular it is one book  The Book of Books  Analogy of Faith  Because God is Truth, there is absolute unity & harmony of truths contained in the various books of the Bible  The various books shed light on one another  These Truths can never be contradictory  Each truth helps us to understand the other truths & the total plan of Revelation.  This principle is called “the analogy of faith”  This criterion, i.e., using truths contained in one part of the Bible to understand truths contained in other parts, must be applied in the interpretation of the Bible  Figure or Type  One essential aspect of the Bible’s inner unity is both the O.T. & N.T. refer to Christ  Figure or Type  An event or person in Scripture that points toward a later event or person.  The type has similar virtues or other qualities as its fulfillment  Noah’s ark prefigures the Church, within Salvation is to be found.  Manna prefigures ( is a type of) the Eucharist  The N.T. is hidden in the Old & the O.T. is made manifest in the New  46 Books of the Old Testament  Old Testament  46 Books written over period of 1500 years  Pentateuch 1-5 Torah or Law  From Creation until Israelites enter into the Promised land following their exodus from Egypt  The Last books, which relate the Maccabean revolt vs. Greeks  Four main types: law, history, wisdom, & prophecy  Law –(5) Pentateuch  History (14) of the people of Israel - conquest of Canaan thru the end of the kingdoms of Israel & returning to Jerusalem  Wisdom, (7) several different kinds of books in this section  Prophecy, (20) prophets are sent by God to bring his words to his people  O. T. Law & History & Wisdom  Joshua (History)  Job (Wisdom)  Judges  Psalms  Ruth  Proverbs  1 & 2 Samuel  Ecclesiastes  1 & 2 Kings  Song of Solomon  1& 2 chronicles  Wisdom  Ezra  Sirach______________  Nehemiah  Genesis (Law)  Tobit  Exodus  Judith  Leviticus  Esther  Numbers  Deuteronomy  O.T. Prophecy- major & minor Prophets  Isaiah (Major)  Micah  Jeremiah  Nahum  Lamentations  Habakkuk  Baruch  Zephaniah  Ezekiel  Haggai  Daniel______________  Zechariah  Hosea (Minor -shorter)  Malachi  Joel  1 & 2 Maccabees  Amos  Obadiah  *Deuterocanonical Books 7  Jonah  Same authority as rest of the books of the Bible  New Testament Law & History  Law – Four Gospels  History  Matthew  Acts of the Apostles  Mark  Luke  John  New Testament Wisdom & Prophecy  Wisdom  Hebrews  Romans (Wisdom)  James  1 & 2 Corinthians  1 & 2 Peter  Galatians  1, 2, 3 John  Ephesians  Jude  Philippians  Colossians  1 & 2 Thessalonians  Prophecy  1 & 2 Timothy  Revelation  Titus  Philemon  Old Testament Law  Genesis (Greek for “origins or beginnings”) tells the story of creation of the world & beginning of the nation of Israel  Exodus (Greek for “going out”) Israelites’ escape from Egypt  Leviticus ( having to do with the Levitical priests of Israel)  Book of Laws to do with religious observances  Numbers -40 years in the desert & constant rebellion  Deuteronomy - (Greek for “second law”) Ten commandments are repeated from Exodus, new laws concerning how Israelites would live in the Promised land  History  These books tell the history of the people of Israel  From the conquest of Canaan through the end of the kingdoms of the North (Israel) & south (Judah)  To the restoration of Jerusalem  Joshua – the story how the Israelites led by Joshua began their conquest of Canaan  Judges- long history of the story of the conquest & Israel’s unfaithfulness leading to punishment  Prophecy  Prophets are sent by God to bring his words to his people  Many of the prophets predicted the coming of the Messiah (the Christ)  Isaiah -some of the clearest prophecies of the coming of Christ  Jeremiah -foretold the destruction of Judah, called them to repent – gives us many details about his life  Ezekiel – strange visions given in symbolic pictures, valley of dry bones coming back to life- bring dead Israel back to life  Hosea is a story about his marriage (his unfaithful wife) which is a metaphor for God’s relationship with Israel  Wisdom - Poetry  Most of the wisdom books are written in verse  Job long poem that asks: why does God let bad things happen to people who have done nothing wrong  Many of the Psalms, are poems in praise of God  Proverbs, tells us how to face our everyday problems.  Ecclesiastes is a long meditation on the vanity of worldly things – only good a person can do is trust in God.  Song of Solomon is the worlds most famous love poem  Bride & groom speak their love for one another  Poem is an allegory of Christ’s love for his Church  Sirach- how to live a good life in the real world without compromising your faith in God  Wisdom is a poem in praise of wisdom & how God is patient with human folly  The New Testament  The N.T. does not replace the Old Testament, but rather fulfills the O.T.  St. Augustine said that the New Testament is hidden in the Old, & the Old is revealed in the New  The O.T. is the story of the gradual unfolding of God’s plan of salvation  The Old Law is a preparation for the Gospel  New Testament 4 classes of Books  Law  Old Testament 5 books of Moses & story of founding of Israel  New Testament 4 Gospels give us the new Law & story of founding of the Church = New Israel  History  Old Testament book: Joshua history of Israel from death of Moses  New Testament book: Acts of the Apostle history of early Church  From the Ascension of Jesus  Wisdom  N.T. the Epistles ( letters) written by the Apostles tell us how to live as Christians  Prophecy  Book of Revelation, John speaks the Word of the Lord in Symbols & images as the prophets did in the Old Testament  Gospels are the heart of all the Scriptures  The Gospels are the principal source for the life & teaching of the Incarnate Word (enfleshed Word)  3 Gospels Matthew, Mark, Luke tell the story of Jesus in a similar way thus called the “Synoptic Gospels”  Synoptic means “seeing together”