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October 2009 2
Opening Prayer
Christ, Son of God, the Father’s favor
rested on you and he commanded us to
listen to you. Give us the gift of
understanding, so that we may
contemplate your word and experience its
gentle power.
We ask this through Christ our Lord.
Amen.
October 2009 3
What We’ll Cover Tonight
Misconceptions about the Bible
Why Read the Bible?
Timeline of the Bible
Development of the Bible
Literary Forms in the Bible
Different Christian Bibles – which one to use?
October 2009 4
What We’ll Cover Tonight (cont’d)
How to read the Bible – 3 senses
Fundamentalism
Historical Critical Method
Modern tools of interpretation
A thematic tour of the Bible
The Bible in the liturgical year
Sources, aids, study guides
October 2009 5
Misconceptions about the Bible
The Bible is one, large book
The Bible is too difficult to read
The Bible is a source of confusion and
conflict among people
The Bible is too old to be relevant
The Church should tell me what’s worth
reading in the Bible
October 2009 6
Why Read the Bible?
God’s self-revelation
Salvation history
Not information about God so much as an invitation to relationship
Analogies of God:
Father
Bridegroom
Shepherd
Mother eagle
October 2009 7
Biblical Timeline - handout
Oral tradition came first – tribal society
Writing followed – once you had a stable
agrarian, cosmopolitan society
Earliest writings are histories
Exile period firmly established the writing
habit – routine now
Note shift from Hebrew to Greek language
starting with Tobit
October 2009 8
Biblical Timeline - handout
First NT writings are Paul’s letters
Mark is the first gospel, source for Mt, Lk
Letters attributed to Paul (but unlikely
authorship): Colossians, Ephesians, Titus,
Timothy
By 100 AD, biblical revelation is complete
October 2009 9
Development of the Bible
Salvation events
Call of Abraham, slavery in Egypt, Exodus, Promised Land,
Monarchy, Babylonian Exile…
Oral Tradition
Narratives, poems, songs, rituals, myth
Written Tradition – mostly anonymous
Edited Tradition – pulling together sources
Canonical Tradition
Selecting the books that best express the faith of the
people, as shown in liturgy and catechesis
October 2009 10
Stages of Gospel Formation
Public ministry of Jesus (30-33 AD) The raw “Jesus material” as remembered by his
companions
Locked in time and place (Palestine)
Apostolic preaching about Jesus (33-65 AD) Proclamation of Jesus with post-resurrection eyes
Missionary preaching by apostles and students
Written Gospels (65-100 AD) Authors unlikely to have been eye witnesses
Evangelists shape, develop, prune the transmitted Jesus material to suit a purpose
Logical, not chronological, order prevails
October 2009 11
Literary Forms in the Bible
Remember, the Bible is a library of books
History
Court history – kings of Israel (Sam, Kgs, Chron)
Epic history – Exodus
Folk history – Gideon, Samson (Judges)
Poetry
Lyric poetry – Psalms, Song of Songs
Didactic poetry – Job, Proverbs, Sirach, Wisdom
Epic poetry – song of Moses (Ex 15)
October 2009 12
Literary Forms in the Bible
Prophecy Major and “minor” prophets
Mostly condemn injustice and call Israel back to covenant
Why were these prophets included?
Didactic fiction Jonah, Tobit
Parables of Jesus
Myth Go beyond ordinary life
Origins, purpose, meaning, and aspirations of all people
Gospels
October 2009 13
Definition of a Gospel
God-Spiel, “good tidings”, Anglo-Saxon
Euangelion, “to announce good news”, Greek
“Good” – a point of view
“News” – fresh, current, pay attention
Named for an influential person in the
respective community of origin
Apostolic origin – relying on eye witnesses
Inspired by the Holy Spirit
October 2009 14
Different Christian Bibles - handout
Recommendations
New American Bible – used in Catholic liturgy,
study editions available
New Jerusalem Bible – poetic character, prayerful
Good News Bible – American Bible Society,
Catholic version exists
Get several – use some for prayer, some for
study
October 2009 15
Basic Catholic Beliefs about the Bible
The word of God, expressed in human language
(Dei Verbum, 13)
The Bible is inspired by God (DV 11)
The Bible as a sacred text is a canonical standard.
Other texts must not contradict the truth of the Bible.
The Bible is God’s self-revelation. (DV 2)
The Bible is without error in the divine truths
revealed. (DV 11) Factual errors due to human
authors (geography, history) exist.
October 2009 16
Catholic Biblical Scholarship
Early Church – only St. Jerome’s Latin Bible
accepted
1893 – Provenditissimus Deus – Leo XIII
allowed scholars to consider other sources in
Greek and Hebrew
1943 – Divino Afflante Spiritu – Pius XII
required scholars to use original source
material (Greek, Hebrew, Aramaic) – focus
on literal and spiritual senses
October 2009 17
Catholic Biblical Scholarship
1965 – Dei Verbum – definitized what the
Church teaches about Scripture
1993 – The Interpretation of the Bible in the
Church – John Paul II outlines the slow and
steady progress of biblical scholarship –
“make haste slowly”
October 2009 18
Development of the Canon - handout
For the Old Testament, the Jewish Tanak:
Torah (first 5 books of the Bible)
Prophets
Wisdom writings
Used in worship and liturgy
Some dispute over later works
October 2009 19
Development of the Canon - handout
For the New Testament, criteria were:
Apostolic origin
Used in multiple communities
Used in worship and liturgy
Expresses the “faith of the people”
Church tradition drove the canon
October 2009 20
How to read the Bible
Literal sense Human author’s intended meaning
Not to be confused with “literalist” sense
Spiritual sense Read through the eyes of Christ
Allegory: Isaiah’s suffering servant = Christ
Moral: God’s continuing call to conversion
Anagogical: point to the future, hope filled
Fuller sense Deeper meaning, intended by God, but not clearly
expressed by human author
October 2009 21
Faithful Interpretation
Interpret in light of:
The human author’s purpose
Context – consider surrounding material
Historical and cultural background
The literary form
The entire canon of Scripture (cross-reference)
The teaching tradition of the Church
Trust the Holy Spirit!
October 2009 22
Fundamentalism
Literalist – word for word truth
Rejects historical critical method
Treats biblical texts as if dictated by God
Historicizes material never meant to be history: Genesis, Jonah, Job, etc.
Rejects tradition of the Church as equally important as Scripture.
Rejects that the Church preceded the composition of the New Testament.
October 2009 23
Fundamentalism
A recent phenomenon – dating from 1895
A response to concerns for fidelity to the
meaning of Scripture
Fundamentalism is often anti-Catholic church
Intellectually dead – a false certitude –
confusing the divine substance of the Bible
with its human limitations
October 2009 24
Historical Critical Method
Criticism means careful judgment and thoughtful
evaluation, not finding fault
Textual – get as close to the original document as
you can – for example, the Dead Sea Scrolls
Form – reconstruct the oral tradition behind the text
Source – are their multiple authors?
Redaction – how the editors combined sources
Historical – what does archeology and geography
tell us? Other texts from same time period?
October 2009 26
A Thematic Tour of the Bible
1. The Exodus
2. Origins and Ancestors
3. Life with God in the Promised Land
4. Gospels of Mark and Luke
5. Paul and His Letters
6. The Gospel of John
7. Christian Apocalyptic Expectations
8. The Pre-Exile Prophets
October 2009 27
A Thematic Tour of the Bible
9. Exile and Post-exile Prophets
10. The Restoration after the Exile
11. Hebrew Poetry and Song
12. Wisdom Literature
13. Judaism in the Greek World
14. Christianity in the Greek World
From Steve Mueller, The Seeker’s Guide to Reading the Bible, a Catholic View
October 2009 29
Recommendations for Reading
Pheme Perkins, Reading the New Testament
Raymond E. Brown, The Churches the Apostles Left Behind
Burton Throckmorton, ed., Gospel Parallels
Commentaries of note
William Barclay, The New Daily Study Bible
Raymond E. Brown, An Introduction to the New Testament
Bergant & Karris, The Collegeville Bible Commentary
October 2009 30
Copy of Presentation
Download from www.dcnpeterh.com
Both Powerpoint and PDF versions will be
there
October 2009 31
Closing Prayer
We thank you and bless you, Lord our God. In
times past you spoke in many varied ways through
the prophets, but in this, the final age, you have
spoken through your Son to reveal to all nations the
riches of your grace.
May we who have met to ponder the Scriptures be
filled with the knowledge of your will in all wisdom
and spiritual understanding, and may we bear fruit in
every good work.
We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen.