MODULE 2: THE SOURCES OF THE CHRISTIAN FAITH

Lesson 1: The Sacred Scriptures as The Revelation of God

Lesson 2: Bible as a Book
Lesson 3: Bible as Literature
Lesson 4: Bible as Inspired Word of God

The Mystery of Christ is communicated in many different ways. Biblical religion has the Bible as
primary source of God’s communication to humanity to keep the faith alive. The New National
Catechetical Directory for the Philippines (2007) considered life’s realities, Tradition and the
Bible as the primary sources of the Christian Faith (NNCDP no. 133). Vatican Council II
considered Sacred Tradition and Sacred Scripture to form one sacred deposit of the word of
God which is entrusted to the Church (DV 10). As community of Christ centered evangelizers,
we, Holy Crossians must desire to form the Faith and consider the Bible as guide of our lives.

What is the Bible?

St. Jerome once wrote, “Ignorance of the Bible is ignorance of the Christ.” In our desire to grow
in Faith in the Christ within the Community, Bible plays fundamental role. It is therefore
necessary to have a wholesome understanding of the Bible though concise but best aligned to
the teachings of the Church.
The Word “Bible”
The word BIBLE is an Anglo-Saxon word from the Latin word “Biblia” which means “The Book”.
This Biblia was translation from Greek word “Ta Biblia” or “Biblios” meaning papyrus, a reed that
the Egyptians used to prepare writing materials. Biblios refers to a collection of manuscripts on
papyrus. This brings the meaning as “Books”. The name was well-chosen since the Bible is a
collection of many individual works, and not a product of a single person. For the Christians, the
Bible refers to a small library that contains history, drama, poetry, fiction, stories, prophecies,
proverbs, letters and other literary types of genre. (Wostyn 2004)

The Bible in the Christian world

In the Christian world, the Bible has garnered the title as the most venerated book because it is
used in all Christian worship activities. It is also given the title as the most studied book because
year after year, the Bible remains as the most published and the bestselling book. Lastly it is
called as the most translated book because it is translated into different languages (270
languages for the Old Testament and 700 languages for the New Testament).
The Bible is so dear to the believers of God because of the following: It contains the source and
record of God’s self-communication to the human person; It is the treasure chest of the wisdom
and inspiration that guided the generation before us; It contains some of the most profound
insights into the meaning of human life; The Bible is the single most important source for our
culture and has the most profound influence on modern religious thought; The Bible is the most
complete history of the ancient past that we possess. That is why many believers of God gave
terms of endearment to the Bible.
In fact, the Bible is called as “The Scriptures” which means a kind of a literary product.
Sometimes it is called as “Holy Scriptures or Sacred Scriptures” because it talks about holy
topic, holy origin. Through the Bible, every events and human experience are given holy or
religious meaning that allows everyone to have a contact with the Divine. In another times, the
Bible is called “The Testament” because it records the covenant or agreement between Yahweh
and Israel and between God in Jesus and the Christians.
Christians also called the Bible as “The Word of God” because God speaks to us through the
language of the human person in the contour and the fabric of human tradition. For this we
believe that this Word of God was once human person in Jesus Christ, the Word of God (Logos)
made flesh.
Furthermore, the Bible is called a “History of Salvation” because God has made Himself known
and the mystery of His plan of Salvation throughout the course of human history.
And finally, the Bible is called as “The Good News” because the message of Salvation that it
brought to us is concrete experience of the Saving Actions of God in history and reality.

The Bible as defined

Bible is a collection of Books written by different authors who wrote with different purpose
intended for different readers in different times in a span of 2000 years. So as a library, the Bible
bears different layers of culture, tradition and customs as well as different socio- cultural
heritage. (Abesamis, (1991). Exploring the Core of Biblical Faith p.xii).
Ronald Wilkins (1990) in his book “Introduction to the Bible,” defines the Bible as partial record
of the religious interpretation of the real history of the Israelites and of the Christians. Bible is a
partial record for it does not contain everything that happened to the Israelites and the early
Christians. It is a religious interpretation because the Bible gives religious causes for and faith
meaning to historical events of the chosen people of God. It is a real history because Bible
involves time, events, people, places and experiences that best unfold to answer the
fundamental religious quest of who is God and what is God.

The Bible as Organized into a Book

The Bible is divided into two major divisions: The Old Testament, which contains 46 Books, and
the New Testament, which has 27 Books. The Old Testament deals with the religious history of
the Israelites before the appearance of the Messiah in the person of Jesus Christ. It devotes the
agreement between God (whose name was Yahweh) and the People (whose race was the
Israelites).
The New Testament deals with the Christian belief of the most important event in history, the
appearance of the Messiah in the person of Jesus, the Christ, (the God-Became- Person) who
proclaimed the Reign or Kingdom of God in His person, life’s purpose and His words and works.
This records God’s covenant with the Christians in Jesus. Both the Old Testament and the New
Testament are necessary in our understanding of who is God and what is God. St. Augustine
summed up this idea when he said that the “New Testament lies hidden in the Old and the Old
Testament is unveiled in the New.”

The Books in the Bible:

The following figure is a Bible’s Periodic Table taken from Catholic Link Library
(www.pinterest.com) which presents the number of Books in the Catholic Canon together with
its Symbol, the name and the chapters each Book contained. It also presents the two major
divisions, namely: The Old Testament and the New Testament and the minor divisions, namely:
Pentateuch, Historical, Prophetical, Wisdom, Gospels, Acts, Letters and Revelation.

Stages of Formation of the Bible

In our study of the Sacred Scripture we will not take things for granted the ordinary and common
things that lead to the growth and development of the Bible. The Bible went through many
stages of development which believers of God should duly consider.
THE OLD TESTAMENT STAGES OF FORMATION
The Bible takes its roots from the ordinary and common historical events and experiences of the
Israelites which were interpreted in the eyes of faith. The Israelites perceived historical God’s
saving actions based on their efforts to relate with the God of faith.

A. The Oral Tradition: Before the year 1000 B.C.E, there was no written records, everything
has been handed down and preserved in Oral Tradition. The two important events that
happened to the Israelites, the EXODUS EVENT and the OCCUPATION IN THE LAND OF
CANAAN, became center of the Oral Tradition. Oral Tradition refers to the handing down of
events, experiences from one generation to the other by means of the word of mouth. There are
different forms like drama, stories, songs, worship, rites, values, culture, etc.
There are four traditions that preserved the Israelites history and influenced in the writing of the
writing of the Sacred Scripture. Sean McDonagh, (2002) outlined four traditions as identified by
the modern Biblical Scholarship, namely:
The Yahwist “J” Tradition is a historical epic that emerged as a result of the optimism
engendered by the territorial expansion and cultural flowering during the reign of David and
Solomon. This tradition is considered as the most ancient tradition that preserved their history. It
is a tradition that is identified by their addressed to God as “YAHWEH,” a God who is
anthropomorphic i.e., like a human being. (cf. Genesis 3).
The Elohist “E” Tradition. This tradition is more sober and rural and contains material that had
been handed down from the northern tribes. This second ancient tradition is identified by the
tribes’ address to God as “EL,” “ELOI,” or “ELI” or “ELOHIM.” This is where they got Yisra-EL.
After the fall of the northern kingdom their material was combined with the “J” account to form
“JE” Epic.
The Deuteronomist “D” Tradition, the tradition that gives emphasis on the reinterpretation of
the Law. This is the tradition that emerged before the fall of Jerusalem to the Babylonians. This
tradition wished that the Law must be responsive to the Israelites’ societal condition as a people
particularly during the downfall of monarchy.
The Priestly “P” Tradition is a tradition of cultic worship that had grown up around the Temple
in Jerusalem. It was developed and was interwoven with the Israelites’ experiences as
dispersed people being captives of Babylon. This priestly tradition considered the Exile in
Babylon as great spiritual retreat. The Tradition viewed the purpose of Israelites People as
intended for Divine Worship. According to this tradition, the People of Israel were created and
formed to worship Yahweh as One, True and Living God.
The whole content of the Bible is wrapped and influenced by these four traditions. They
preserved the Israelites’ history and handed them from one generation to the next to reveal the
truth of the God of History, God of Salvation and the God of Justice.
B. The Written Stage developed when knowledgeable people of oral history almost banished
and new learned generation came about. Written records became the common trend of
preserving history. People learned how to read and how to write, kept records of the faith
interpretations of their experiences with the presence of Yahweh. The Written Records started
on the following dates:
In 970-931 B.C.E, during the time of King Solomon in the Southern Kingdom, documents were
written and compiled in the Anthology of the Yahwist Tradition. Some of these written materials
can be found in Genesis 2 and 3, Judges 5, Song of Deborah and 2 Samuel 9.
In 885-875 B.C.E., during the time of Jeroboam in the Northern part of Israel, written records
were compiled in the Anthology of the Elohist (Eloist) Tradition. Some of these materials can be
found in 1 and 2 kings, 10 commandments, some chapter of Psalms and Judges.
In 700-650 B.C.E., when the Assyrians occupied the Northern Kingdom of Israel, written
records were compiled in the Anthology of the Deuteronomist Tradition. These written materials
can be found in the Prophets, Joshua, Judges, 1:2 Samuel, Deuteronomy, 1: 2 Chronicles.
In 580-540 B.C.E., when the Chosen People were exiled in Babylon, many written materials
were composed and recorded and believed to be from the Priestly Tradition. These materials
can be found in Genesis, Ezra, Nehemiah, 1 & 2 Chronicles, Numbers, Leviticus, Exodus,
and Prophets: Amos to Malachi, Psalms and Wisdom.

C. EDITING STAGE developed when people wanted to compile the different works of the great
writers of their nation. They started to gather the pieces of written materials of the different times
of the different authors as handed down by different traditions. Experts set criteria for the
inclusion of the materials in the compilation of the Sacred Scriptures as follows:
It is written in the Hebrew Language.
A Forceful display of the Religious Faith of the Israelites.
A strong presentation of the love of God for Israel.
Authenticity of the presentation
Fit in the purpose of the editors of that time.

THE NEW TESTAMENT STAGES OF DEVELOPMENT

The NEW TESTAMENT is a collection of the written materials about what the Christians believe
as the most important event in the history of the world that is THE APPEARANCE OF THE
ANOINTED ONE OF YAHWEH in the Person of Jesus. It is a collection of 27 books of the Bible
written seventy years following the resurrection of Jesus. The Church of the Apostles wrote
them as an authentic expression of their faith. The Church has officially recognized these books
as inspired by God.
The Scholars of the Scripture generally recognized that the New Testament was developed in
three distinct stages visualized as follows:

Stage I: The Historical Jesus

The Gospels basically have their roots in the words and works of Jesus of Nazareth and in His
experiences with the disciples and other groups with which he came in contact with. We can
date the existence/appearance of Jesus from 6 – 4 B.C.E. until 30 C.E. This person, Jesus, the
God in the Christian faith, was an ordinary person whose existence was traced through His birth
and His death. Jesus was believed to be born during the time of the rule of Herod, the Great
whose death has been recorded by Dennis, the Little, occurring around 4 B.C.E. So Jesus’ birth
was probably before Herod’s death. This period is marked it with the slaughter of holy innocents
(Mt. 3:16-23).
The death of Jesus happened near the Passover Feast in the Month of Nissan in the Jewish
Lunar calendar. This month is roughly equivalent to the weeks between our last week in March
and first three weeks in April. This is generally held to be the year 30 C.E. As John’s Gospel
specifically hints, the date (see John 18:28, 19:31) certainly has to be within the 10-year span of
Pontius Pilate’s rule from 26 –36 C.E. Thus Jesus died in the reign of Pilate at three O’clock in
the afternoon on a Friday (Mt. 28:46), probably in 30 C.E.
Stage 2: The Oral Preaching of the Early Christians
After the tragic event of Jesus’ death came the joy of the Easter experience. This is marked by
the giving of the Holy Spirit on Pentecost began to enliven the enthusiasm of the despairing
Apostles to live according to the Master’s conviction and commitment. They were burning with
zeal to spread the good news of Jesus’ victory over sin and death. Led by Peter, and later by
Paul, the apostles burst with missionary enthusiasm preached the message of Jesus through
the Roman (Mediterranean) world. The early preaching emphasized significantly among others
that Jesus was to return in glory very shortly i.e., during the very life time of the apostles. Thus,
it did not make much sense to write down the eyewitness’ testimonies in these early years
because the world would have to end soon.
The Oral Proclamation focused mainly on faith interpretations of the words, sayings, memories
and quotations of Jesus, highlighting his deeds: His miracles and healing activity, his sufferings,
his death and his resurrection. Everything was told orally because:
The Apostles were not literate; they did not know how to read and write.
The writing materials were so expensive that only the rich could afford; the followers of
Jesus came from poor strata of society.
The written documents were not needed since the eyewitnesses were still alive.
People/Early Christians thought that Jesus would come back soon.
All of the faith community’s memories about Jesus were told in forms of stories, sayings, actual
way of life in the Christian community. Their way of life attracted many so that Christianity
spread beyond expectation.

C. Stage 3: The Written Gospels

The memories of the life and works of Jesus were kept alive by making collections of his
sermons, parables, his great works and key sayings. These collections were used in the early
Christian liturgies, in the preaching and instruction to new converts. There are lots of materials
written by fragments. The Good News about Jesus of Nazareth has to be written based on the
following reasons:
The eyewitnesses began to die due to martyrdom.
The literate audience grew in number (people now learned to read and write).
Jesus did not come again soon as the community of believers expected him.
There was a need to keep an authentic record for correction of distorted messages about the
remembrance of Jesus.

There are four authentic versions of the written communal faith expressions of this Good News.
These four versions of Faith Testimonies are written to keep a record of Jesus memories in the
Christian Faith. The Christians believed that the body of written material that makes up the New
Testament is a Sacred Literature. In and by itself, it is made up of special and unique materials
presenting the life, words, actions and meaning of Jesus of Nazareth, a Jewish man who lived in
Palestine about two thousand years ago. The New Testament is a one-of-a-kind piece of
literature that is respected and honored by all believers of Jesus. It is revered, cherished, read,
studied, and believed in. It is inspirational, informative, and awe-inspiring. The figure of the
Origin of the New Testament will give us a glimpse about the root of the New Testament.
The Bible we have today is a product of the different stages. It was only in the 13 the century
A.D. when Stephen Langton, Archbishop of Canterbury, was tasked to divide the Bible into
chapters, both the Old and the New Testament. Needs of the times dictate that the chapters of
the Old Testament must be divided into verses. This was done by Santes Paginus in 1528 A.D.
Later in 1551, Robert Etienne divided the New Testament into verses. The Bible has different
stages of formation, involved hundreds of years in its development and written in different
literary forms. Above all these, it has only one story to tell, that is the Saving Actions of God in
Human History (Israelites) and it has only one purpose, that is, to let the people know of who
and what is the God whom they believed in.

BIBLE AS INSPIRED WORD OF GOD

Christians believe that the Bible is a Word of God because it is inspired by God (CCC # 105)
and accepted as rule of faith and morals. As written work, it was produced by many individuals
who recorded the history of their people from the point of view of their faith in God. How come
the Scripture is a Word of God? Vatican II states, “Sacred Scripture is the Word of God is as
much as it is consigned to writing under the inspiration of the Divine Spirit” (DV # 9). The Church
teaches that the Principal Author of the Bible is none other than God Himself. It further defines
the Bible as “the Word of God written by human authors through the inspiration of the Holy
Spirit.” The Biblical Inspiration is the way of the Church to teach us about the authorship of the
Bible.

Inspiration comes from the Latin word “In-spirare.” This is commonly understood as to breathe
into, a kind of inhalation, a kind of influence, and a kind of expression of opinion. In religious
sense, inspiration as a kind of supernatural motion by which the person is impelled to teach
others what God wants them to teach.
Inspiration in the Sacred Scriptures is an influence of the Holy Spirit on the sacred author or
Holy writer moving and impelling him to write in a manner that he rightfully understood and
faithfully willed to write down. In this manner, the author expresses the things that God willed in
apt words and infallible truth. The Sacred Authors/ Holy Writers are people influenced by the
Holy Spirit to write down the Faith interpretation of the ordinary experiences. In what manner
does this happen? The Author rightfully understood what is to be written then, he intentionally
wrote those matters.

THE BIBLE AS GOD’S REVELATION

The believers of God are dependent upon God for all things, even for the knowledge that
God exists. Nonetheless God is under no obligation to reveal himself yet he chose to reveal
himself to human person through creation. God reveals himself as eternal, powerful, glorious,
creative, orderly, loving, all-knowing, sovereign, and worthy of worship. By creating man in his
own image, by giving him a soul, self-consciousness, the ability to reason, and a general
knowledge of right and wrong, God reveals himself as personal, holy, wise, righteous, and just.
God’s self-revelation comes to us through human beings chosen by him. The Church, guided by
the Holy Spirit, assures us that the biblical books are divinely inspired. God helped believers to
recognize his inspiration and to collect these writings into a unique library of books. This
process worked essentially the same way for the Old Testament and the New Testament. The
Bible is a record of God’s initiative of letting himself be known: His self-communication, His
intervention in the ordinary experiences of the Israelites to make them conscious of his
presence in the events struggles and triumph as a faith community. It is in the Bible that God
personally manifests and communicates his Divine self. It is the result of God’s self-revelation
over many centuries, made to a community of believers but intended for all God’s people.
The Bible being an inspired revelation of God, serves as the rule of faith and moral living. We,
as believers of God, can find in the Bible is not only Good News but also moral obligation.
Vl. THE CATHOLIC CANON OF THE BIBLE
The word CANON comes from a Greek word “Kanon” that originally means “reed or stick” used
for measuring. This reed or stick was a standard for measurement. From this step onward,
Canon was applied to the things measured and then to the catalogue or list of measured things.
Biblical Canon refers to the official list of books that the Church recognizes as divinely inspired
by God and which the Church considers as a rule of Faith and Morals.
The following terms may help us understand as follows:
1. Canonical Books are books belonging to the Official List recognized by the Church as
inspired
2. Protocanonical Books (literally means “belonging to the first Canon”) are Books which
inspiration was never doubted in history.
3. Deuterocanonical Books (literally means “belonging to the second Canon”) are those Books
which inspiration was doubted sometime in history and with some people, but later it was
accepted by the Church as also inspired and counted as part of the Canon of the Bible.

There are Books both in the Old and New Testament considered to be Deuterocanonical as
follows:
Old Testament – Tobit, Judith, Ecclesiasticus (Ben Sirach), Wisdom, Baruch, 1Maccabees, 2
Maccabees and some passages of Esther and Daniel. There are versions of the Old Testament
that do not include these Books until today.
New Testament – Hebrew, Revelation, James, 2 Peter, 2 John, 3 John and Jude. These Books
in the New Testament are now part of our present versions of the Bible. Apocryphal Books are
books that are not recognized by the Church as canonical or inspired, even if they were claimed
to be so by their title or the supposed author or content.

The Bible in the Life of the Holy Crossians

Bible as guide in living the Christian Faith
St. Paul admonished Timothy by writing, “All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful for
teaching the truth, rebuking error, correcting faults and giving instruction for right living (2Tim.
3:16).” As Christians, the Bible is precious to the life of a Holy Crossians. A true blooded Holy
Crossian believed that it is not enough to know how the Bible developed, how they came to be
written and the literary forms used but how the Bible become a guide of living the life of Faith.
There are, in the field of scientific study of the Bible, many approaches and means of making
the Bible in dialogue with our daily life. So if we want the Bible to be a guide for our lives,
Wostyn (2004) in His book, “I Believe,” listed down some necessary reminders as follows:
1. The Bible is not God. It is the book of our faith community. That makes it the Word of God.
2. The Bible has revealed truth. It is found in what various human writers wanted to express
about the meaning of faith.
3. The Bible is believed to be inspired, not because the Holy Spirit dictated each word, but
because we, as Christian communities, believe that a special truth from God can be found in
those writings.
4. The Bible writers, within different situations, made use of different literary forms. We have to
know the history and the literary background of the various books of the Bible.
5. The Bible includes different opinions. Let us not be surprised to find contradicting ideas.
6. The Bible is not a history book. Neither is it a science book. We are not to believe in every
detail that we find in it.
7. The Biblical message is to be considered in its totality. We cannot take one passage from the
Bible and make it absolute.
8. We have to read the Bible regularly to stimulate and nourish our personal faith.
9. We do not have to make the Bible to decide for our lives. The responsibility of making
responsible decisions in the light of our faith rest on us.
10. As a faith community, we need to read the Bible. It is our conscience. It will not agree with
everything that we are doing. It challenges us to go beyond ourselves and to reverse many of
the values we have been too contented with.

The Holy Crossian reads the Bible

“The Church desires that in the ministry of the word, Sacred Scripture should have a pre-
eminent position. In concrete terms, catechesis should be ‘an authentic introduction to lectio
divina that is, to a reading of the Sacred Scriptures done in accordance to the Spirit who dwells
in the Church’.” (General Directory for Catechesis, 71) To stimulate and nourish our personal
faith guided by the Sacred Scripture, the Daily Gospel 2015 supplied us with simplified form of
Lectio Divina.

Lectio Divina is a Latin term for divine reading, spiritual reading or holy reading and represents
a traditional Christian practice of prayer and scriptural reading intended to promote communion
with the Lord and to increase in the knowledge of God’s Word. Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI
encouraged the practice of Lectio Divina: “The diligent reading of Sacred Scripture
accompanied by prayer brings about that intimate dialogue in which the person reading hears
God who is speaking and in praying, respond to Him with trusting openness of heart (DV no.
25). If it effectively promoted, this practice will bring to the Church. Lectio divina is a powerful
way to encounter God in Sacred Scripture. Through the ancient practice of lectio, meditatio,
oratio, and contemplatio we encounter a personal God by praying with his Sacred Word. One of
our most important tasks being Holy Crossians is to learning the skill of reading the Bible in
order to prayerfully encounter the living God.
The four simple steps of Lectio Divina
LECTIO (Read) – WHAT DOES THE BIBLE SAY? This is a slow, reverent and repeated
reading of the suggested Biblical text. A careful reading, taste the words and understand the
faith.
Instruction: read the Bible passage slowly and reflectively for three times, then ask, “Whatdoes
the text say?”
MEDITATIO (Reflect) – WHAT DOES THE TEXT TELL ME? This is entering into the truth of
the text. Chew the word, the printed word becomes the Word of God.
Instruction: Reflect and pick a word that struck you most with this question, what does the text
tell me?
ORATIO (Pray) – WHAT DO YOU WANT TO TELL GOD IN YOUR PRAYER? This is the first
prayer which comes from the meditation – adoration – thanksgiving – repentance – petition.
Talk to Jesus, the living Word.
Instruction: Talk to Jesus, “What do you want to tell God in Prayer?”
ACTIO (Act) – WHAT DOES THE TEXT WANT ME TO DO? This step is making fruitful in our
lives what the Word has taught us, resolution on how you will live out God’s message concrete
plan of action, simple, doable who, when, what to respond to the word.
Instruction: Respond to Jesus and asked yourself, “What does the text want me to do”