Lesson 2_The Bible_Lecture notes

San Beda College Alabang THEO1: Jesus in the New Testament Prof. Carlo Enrico C.
Tinio,
Religious Education Dept. and Contemporary Times S.T.B., M.A.PaM.,M.A.L.
Lesson 2
THE BIBLE
Lesson 2 is not so much concerned with the content of the Bible / Sacred Scripture but with the
nature of Sacred Scripture as Divinely Inspired which is Authoritative or Normative for Christian
Living. It discusses the bible’s inerrancy and canonicity in the Sacred Tradition of the Catholic Church.
I. AUTHORITY OF SCRIPTURES
The Gospels: The Authority of the Lord and a Collection of Gospels
1. Locus of Authority
a. Lies beyond the documents—points to God / Jesus Christ: demands obedience
because it is God himself who speaks
b. Because God is the authority—behind Sacred Scripture is God of all time; then
authority of Sacred Scripture extends to us
c. This authority of Sacred Scripture is contained / embedded in the content itself of the
bible
d. False loci of authority

i. Not in the community that collected the tradition
ii. Not in the community that formed the canon
iii. Not in the reconstructed tradition that underlie the books of the bible (ex.
“Q” source, common fragments or stories)
iv. Not in the reconstructed “real Jesus” of the Jesus Seminar
1. There is something diluted in Sacred Scripture
2. Look for what Jesus authentically said
3. Local church just added / put words in Jesus Christ’s mouth
4. Authority: the historians
5. Discover the real Jesus, not the one created by the evangelists
6. NOT THE CHRIST OF FAITH
v. Not in the personal experience / reading of Sacred Scripture
e. Authority of Sacred Scripture functions not to validate human experience rather,

authority of Sacred Scripture creates / corrects human experience
i. Involves interpretation, understanding
ii. Some find answers in life’s questions through ideologies /social sciences:
philosophy, psychology, anthropology, sociology, natural sciences, pop
culture
iii. The problem is if they become normative in our life
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San Beda College Alabang THEO1: Jesus in the New Testament Prof. Carlo Enrico C. Tinio,
iv. If Sacred Scripture just conform with social and natural sciences, culture, etc.,
it becomes problematic.
v. If we are to be Christians, Sacred Scripture should be NORMATIVE.
vi. If Sacred Scripture is distorted into an ideology we distort the Word of God—
we only impose our own words
vii. The bible has to be interpreted by the authority (for Catholics, it’s the work of
the Magisterium)
f. Identification of Biblical Authority

i. Authority of Sacred Scripture lies in its ability to author reality
1. Not about these: Biological truth, cosmological truth, historical truth
2. But about these: religious truth, existential truth—our most
fundamental questions (found / assessed by biblical witness)
ii. Wrong to say that we have a vision of life which Sacred Scripture validates.
Right to say that Sacred Scripture shapes our vision of life.
iii. Biblical authority is not the property of any individual / community (has
transcendental authority)
iv. Sacred Scripture have authority because God uses the text to carry out His
salvific plans
v. Biblical authority is not created by the Church but recognized by the Church
vi. Any proclamation / way of life that is inconsistent with biblical witness is
untrustworthy or questionable
g. How can Sacred Scripture which is historically conditioned, meaning, written by finite
man and woman, be normative or authoritative for all time in all situation?
i. False approach: proof-reading
1. You cannot simply open / cut the bible and say that this is God’s word
for me
2. Literalize / transpose the original meaning to our new context
ii. Valid approach:
1. We need to re-interpret Sacred Scripture
a. Written in particular past context so we need to re-interpret it
2. Need to distinguish unchanging truth for the changing formulation
(Myst. Eccl. 1973)
3. “All faith formulations are incomplete and perfectible”
h. How do we apply Sacred Scripture to our situation today?

i. Irenaeus: Rule of Faith
1. Eventhough there are already canonical books, the leaders quarrel /
has conflict with proper interpretation
2. We have to refer to the rule of faith
3. We will find Sacred Scripture authority by the rule of faith
4. Rule of faith: the CREED (our basic belief as Christians)
ii. Schillebeeckx: Correlation Method
1. Original reader / human author (text) = original meaning—cannot
simply be transformed into our context without re-interpreting
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2. New reader (text) = new context / new meaning

iii. Pontifical Biblical Commission:
1. We cannot simply research the meaning of the original text
2. We need to know the canonical sense or biblical sense
3. What does Sacred Scripture says as a whole (which is transmitted
through Tradition)
2. Oral Tradition
a. Oral tradition: for several decades, the authority of the Lord resided in oral tradition.
“Christians probably preferred the oral tradition for decades after written gospels
were available”
b. Distinction between “words of Jesus” from ‘gospel’, a term used in 150 AD onwards
c. Many gospels were written which were not included eventually in the canon
i. Sincere attempts to record things Jesus said and did. Ex. Gospel of Thomas
ii. Apologetics against heretics, such as the Gnostics
iii. Fiction. Ex. Infancy Gospel of James about childhood of Mary
d. During period of the Apostolic Fathers, words of Jesus is still more authoritative than
the written gospel (they quote Jesus as authoritative 17 times)
i. In a few cases they quote one of the Gospels verbatim
ii. In other cases they quote what seems to be derived from the Gospels but is
not.
iii. Still in other cases, their quote has no parallel in any of the gospels
3. An Emerging Problem: During the period of the Apostolic Fathers, words of Jesus do not yet
have final form, which is fine since none of the quotes contradicts the essence of the Gospel
message. But what happens when words attributed to Jesus are contested?
a. Letter of Polycarp, 135 AD: oldest witness to dispute about the meaning of Jesus’
words
b. Justin, 165 AD: is first Christian to use gospel in the plural, which for him meant
‘memoirs’ of the apostles. He cites Jesus’ words about 60x. He may have synthesized
the 3 synoptics for class use
c. Marcion estimated the first known canon, which contained 10 letters of Paul and only
the gospel of Luke
d. Effect: more and more people wrote and proclaimed, citing Jesus’ supposedly
authentic words; moreover, content of those writings became more and more
divergent
4. Therefore, there’s a need for fixed, written authority = a canon!

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a. Irenaeus, 180 AD: 4 gospels, no more, no less.

b. Tatian combines the 4 gospels, using John’s as framework, into 1 narrative, which
was called the Diatessaron and used for at least 2 centuries by the church in Syria.
The Apostles: A Collection of Letters and their Authority
1. Gospels: making the universal message particular to local churches; the Epistles: making the
particular universal
2. 3 theories why Paul’s letters were collected

a. Paul’s letters were forgotten. After Luke writes Acts, someone collects Paul’s letters
b. Someone collected them as a defense against Gnosticism
c. A Pauline school preserved and edited his letters
3. Emerging Christian library:

a. 50 AD, only the Old Testament; by 100 AD, plus a few Christian writings
b. Why the need for a library?
i. To solve practical problems at the local level
ii. To help structure their worship
c. Paul’s letters were surely read first during Sunday Eucharist celebrations
d. Christian communities gathered whatever writings would help them
4. Passing Authority from Apostles to their Writings

a. As the first disciples died, their authority was transferred to their writings or writings
attributed to them
b. Letters of the apostles were authoritative in 2 senses:
i. This letter is authoritative because an apostle, ex. Paul, wrote it
ii. This letter is authoritative; thus an apostle must have written it. Ex. Letter to
the Hebrews, attributed to Paul.
c. Eventually the authority of the 4 gospels was reinforced by attributing them to the
apostles or the apostles’ disciples
Criteria for Canonicity
1. A New Testament emerged because the authority of Christian truth had to be fixed in a
standard and universally acceptable form.
2. Who decided which books to accept into the canon?—The Church understood as a
collectivity and represented especially by the bishops.
3. Criteria
a. Early date. Ex. Shepherd of Hermas was written too late (140-150 AD)
b. Liturgical use. Ex. Some bishops did not permit the reading of the Apocalypse of
Peter at Mass
c. Apostolic authorship
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i. Yet, Paul’s letters to the Laodicenes and to the Alexandrians were not
accepted
ii. Whereas, today we know Hebrews was not written by Paul yet is part of
canon
4. Conclusion: ultimate criteria: Rule of Faith (significance of Christ-event)

Muratorian Fragment, a private list written in Rome in 180: “there may be four gospels, but
their teaching is one.”
a. The one Holy Spirit guided their writing
b. They all teach the one rue of faith: Christ’s life, death and resurrection
Sources:
1. Achtemeir, Paul J., “The Authority of Scripture,” in Inspiration and Authority (Minnesota:
Hendrickson Publishers, Inc., 1999) 144-59.
2. Schneider, Sandra M., “The New Testament as Word of God,” in The Revelatory Text: Interpreting
the New Testament as Sacred Scripture (San Francisco: Harper, 1991) 27-46.
II. FORMATION OF SCRIPTURES

➢ How did Sacred Scripture came to be? (Historical)
➢ How is it that only 4 gospels were selected? What was the basis to say that only these 4 are
authoritative?
➢ What was the process of selection? What was the criteria?
Background:
1. Early accounts start with the story of a martyr’s death—how he died

2. Then they will trace his life backward
3. Biographers formulate stories
4. In the case of Jesus: they start with the Paschal Mystery (story of his passion, death, and
resurrection)
5. First came the experience of redemption (soteriology)
6. Then the people ask: Who is this Jesus Christ who has brought about our salvation?
(Christology)
a. Mark, 60-70 AD: Baptism of Jesus in the Jordan River—Jesus is the Son of God;
anointed by God to bring redemption
b. Follow-up question: was Jesus Christ the only one anointed by God to bring about
salvation?
c. Was he anointed by God only in his baptism?
d. Answer: NO! but from the moment of his conception—birth (Matthew 70 – 90 AD /
Luke 70 – 90 AD)
e. So, people will ask about his infancy narrative.
7. Follow-up question after the infancy narrative:
a. Who is this Jesus Christ in relation to us? (Savior)
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b. Who is this Jesus Christ in relation to God? (Son)

c. If he is the Son, is he a diety? Co-equal with God? Or lesser god?
8. John’s answer (90 – 100 AD): he is God not only from the moment of his conception but from
all eternity.
Introduction:
30 AD Jesus gives no instructions to his disciples to write books
140 AD Papias prefers a living voice to “things from books” (several books written
plus proclamation)
180-190 AD Irenaeus accepts the 4 gospels as normative (canon)
Between 140 and 180 AD, how and why did the New Testament (NT) emerge?
The Shape of the New Testament
1. Dates
a. Most books of the New Testament were written between 50-100 AD
b. A few perhaps later
c. Earlier are Pauline epistles: 50-60 AD
d. The Gospels: 70-100 AD
2. Divisions (27 books)

a. 4 Gospels
b. 13 epistles bearing Paul’s name, to which is added Hebrews, thus 14 books attributed
to Paul
c. 7 catholic epistles (addressed not to single churches but to all Christians):
i. 1 from James
ii. 2 from Peter
iii. 3 from John (although no mention of John as author)
iv. 1 from Jude
d. 2 “stray” books: Acts of the Apostles and Apocalypse (Revelation)
3. Consensus among Christian churches: No disagreement among Christians about which books
belong to the New Testament
4. Murky origins: While constitution of New Testament is universally accepted, its origins is not
easy to explain
5. Formation of the Canon

a. 180 AD—Irenaeus, in Against the Heresies, has closed canon of 4 gospels
b. 200 AD—Most churches had 20 books
c. 400 AD—only then is the canon of 27 books fixed
6. Misc. notes: Probing the Shady Period between 100-150 AD

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a. New Testament is anchored on the sole authority of Christian truth: the Lord
b. Before the emergence of the New Testament, Christians has a bible, the Jewish
scriptures interpreted through Christ
c. 100-150 AD is most obscure period in Church history (few records: we do not know /
sure on how liturgy / eucharist was celebrated)
d. By 150 AD, leader of each local church is a bishop, who had a council of presbyters or
elders, and some deacons (emergence of church hierarchy)
e. Baptism, eucharist, norms for membership were then established
f. Extant writings from 100-150 AD: 10 documents by authors called the Apostolic
Fathers, none of whom are theologians
Sources:
1. Lienhard, Joseph T., “Living Lord or Steadfast Word?,” in The Bible, The Church, and Authority
(Minnesota: The Liturgical Press, 1995) 24-41.
2. Kodell, Jerome, “How the Bible Came About,” in the New American Bible (Washington:
Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, 1970).
III. THE CANON OF SCRIPTURES

Introduction
1. The Word “Canon”

a. Transliteration of Greek kanon; derived from Semitic word for “reed”
b. Literally, a straight measuring tool; metaphorically, a norm or standard
c. In the Septuagint (LXX) appears only 3x; in the New Testament used 4x, always
metaphorically
d. Early church: kanon meant rule of faith, norm of revealed truth. Ex. Decisions of
Nicaea were designated as canons
e. Present definition: a canonical book is one that the church acknowledges as
belonging to a list of sacred books, as inspired by God, and as having a regulating
(rule) vale for faith and morals.
2. The Content of the Catholic Canon

a. 39 protocanonical books + 7 apocryphal books (does not imply the 7 are less
canonical, but that their canonicity took longer to determine)
[Tobit, Judith, 1 & 2 Maccabees, Wisdom, Sirach, Baruch]
3. Relationship between Inspiration and Canonicity

a. Circular relationship, inspiration precede canonicity but could not be affirmed with
surety by all without canonical recognition by the Church
b. Manifests the social and communitarian nature of inspiration
c. Rahner: inspiration is the Church’s intuition of which books were inspired by God;
such books were said to have been inspired by God because they properly reflected
to the Church her self-understanding of the foundational events that constituted her.
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The Canon of the Old Testament
1. Criteria in the formation of the Old Testament Canon

a. We are not certain of the exact criteria used for deciding canonicity
b. Perhaps because of their legal character or relation to the Law
c. Perhaps because of specific motif, ex. Yahweh’s activity
d. Certainly, books used in the liturgy found their way into the canon
2. The ancient Christian Canon of the Old Testament

a. Jewish canon was closed at end of 2nd century. The first Christians thus used the
scripture of the Jews whose canon was still being finalized.
3. The Canon of Trent

a. The Tridentine Fathers did not determine the canon on the basis of purely historical
reconstruction but on the basis of consistent church usage
b. However, several books that had been used in the church had been omitted. Ex. 1
Esdra was used more often than Ezra / Nehemiah did not make it into the canon
c. “Not one of these difficulties impairs the binding force of the Tridentine decree…but
they illuminate the difficulties often voiced by non-Catholics.”
d. There was thus no absolute criterion implemented absolutely
e. Conclusion: there were general criteria but exceptions were allowed. Nevertheless,
Trent is binding.
The Canon of the New Testament
1. Preliminaries
a. No Christian writings between 30-50 AD. Christian faith was communicated orally
(Apostles were still alive)
b. Factors that led to writing the books of the New Testament
i. Geographical distance
1. In 49 AD, Jerusalem Church agreed to accept Gentiles without
circumcision. The Gentile territory became a vast mission field.
2. This need was met with letter and epistles
ii. Chronological distance
1. As the apostles eventually died, the need to preserve memory of
Jesus’ words and deeds emerged
2. Catechetical needs required organizing oral testimonies into compact
units. This gave rise to the preGospel collections
3. Threat of heresy: thus the need for normative teachings
4. Persecution: thus the need for encouragement
2. Criteria in the Formation of the New Testament Canon

a. Apostolic origin, real or putative (attributed)
b. Importance of the local community which produced a certain book
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i. Ex. Letter to Romans

ii. No book from Jerusalem community perhaps because of Jewish-Roman war
in 66-70 AD which disrupted the Christian community in Jerusalem
c. Conformity with the Rule of Faith
i. Ex. Doubts about millenarianism caused suspicion of Revelation
ii. Ex. Gospel of Peter was rejected because it denied the full humanity of Jesus
3. Composition and Collection of New Testament Works

• All works accepted into the New Testament were probably written before 150 AD
• Need to distinguish Composition of New Testament books from formation of New
Testament canon
a. Pauline epistles
i. Most were addressed to local churches (not Romans and Ephesians)
ii. 13 letters bore Paul’s name. Hebrews was attributed too to him as his 14th
letter
iii. Considered authentic letters of Paul: Romans, 1 & 2 Corinthians, Philippians, 1
Thessalonians, Philemon, Galatians
iv. Modern scholarship has questioned Paul’s writing of 6 of these, which were
probably penned by a disciple of Paul after his death: 2 Thessalonians,
Colossians, 1 & 2 Timothy, Titus, Ephesians, Hebrews
b. The Gospels
i. Even after words and deeds of Jesus were written down, there was a
preference for oral proclamation
ii. PreGospel writings, such as ‘Q’, proto-Mark, and pre-Johannine sources were
probably written in the 50s, give or take 10 years
iii. The canonical Gospels were written in 65-100 AD
1. Mark: 65-75 AD (Rome)
2. Matthew: 75-90 AD (Antioch)
3. Luke: 80-95 AD (Rome)
4. John: 90-105 AD (Ephesus)
c. Collection
i. Initially there was only one gospel. Each gospel written was a local
community’s version of the one gospel.
ii. Apostolic identity was one criterion for accepting a gospel as canonical
iii. The importance of the community was also a factor that led to the survival of
the gospel
1. Matthew: Syrian community in Antioch
2. Mark: composed in Rome, preserved in Alexandria
3. Luke: related to Antioch, Greece or Rome
4. John: probably composed in Ephesus
iv. By the end of the 2nd century, the idea of 4 and only 4 gospels were accepted
in the Greek and Western churches
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v. Alongside the canonization of the 4 gospels, oral Jesus material from the 1st
century survived into the 2nd century
1. Some authentic sayings of Jesus are found in the Gospel of Thomas
that did not make it into the canon
2. Media claims about a new Jesus or a new Christianity based on
discoveries of apocrypha (ex. Gospel of Judas) need to be treated
with skepticism
vi. Marcion formed canon of 10 Pauline epistles and the Gospel of Luke
vii. The Church responded by insisting on a wider collection (4 Gospels and 14
Pauline epistles)
Excursus: Some gospels not accepted in the canon
1. Infancy Narrative according to Thomas

➢ The stress is on the divine power of Jesus: All were written to spread the faith with Jesus
Christ
➢ Is Jesus fully human?—over focus of divine power
➢ Jesus is not normal—seemed to undermine the humanity of Jesus Christ
➢ If Jesus is Lord, what was he like as a child?
➢ Many infancy narratives record half of the 2nd century
➢ One of the earliest begins with Jesus as 5 years old miraculous stories (turning clay into
alive birds; cursing his bad playmates to die, etc.)
2. Gospel of Peter
➢ Used in several Christian churches in the 2nd century
➢ Eventually disallowed by Church leaders because it was deemed heretical
➢ Fragment narrates death and resurrection
➢ Author identifies himself as Simon Peter
➢ Anti-Semitic
➢ Jesus as impassible: not capable of suffering
3. Gospel of Philip
➢ Discovered in the Nag Hammadi (village in Egypt) library in 1945
➢ Not a narrative but a collection of mystical reflection
➢ Under the name of Philip
➢ Contrast between 2 groups
• Exoteric knowledge: knowledge available to all
• Esoteric knowledge: knowledge available to a few / select
➢ According to him, what save is “knowledge” not life witness
• Exoteric: ordinary Christians = called “Hebrews”
• Esoteric: Gnostic Christians = called “Gnostics”
Criteria:
1. Doctrine—what do these gospels say about Jesus Christ? Is it consistent with our
experience of Jesus Christ?
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2. Time element—when do we demarcate history—later writings cannot make it anymore to

the canon
3. Usage—if it has not been used, never part of the living tradition; particularly in Liturgy
Enduring Problems in Canonicity
1. Authorship
a. “Modern scholarship agrees that the Fathers were often wrong in identifying the
writers of biblical books”. Ex. Hebrews mistakenly attributed to Paul
b. “There is no longer an official Roman Catholic position about the identity of the
writer of any biblical book”
c. Naming books after a disciple though he was not actual writer does not indicate
deception or conspiracy or insincerity on the part of the Early Church
2. Concept of Authorship in Antiquity

a. Author wrote book with his/her own hand
b. Author dictated book or letter to scribe
c. Author supplied ideas and statements to someone who later wrote the book
d. One’s disciples wrote a book based on the words and spirit of their master
e. One may be considered an author if a work was written in the literary tradition for
which he/she was famous
(note: according to today’s standards, letters d and e would constitute

pseudonymity)
Finality of the Canon of Trent
1. The Council defined which books, along with their parts, should be accepted as canonical and
inspired.
2. But Trent did not say that these were the only inspired books
3. Natural question: Would lost books written by an apostle discovered today be deemed
inspired?
4. Answer: Criterion Trent used to determine whether a book was inspired or not was its long
use in the life and liturgy of the Church
5. Ex. Of books considered sacred by New Testament writers: 1 Enoch, Didache. These were not
used throughout the Church’s history, thus will never be recognized inspired.
Sources:
1. Brown, Raymond F., “Canonicity,” in The New Jerome Biblical Commentary (Englewood Cliffs,
N.J.: Prentice-Hall, 1990) 1034-54.
2. Nichols, Aidan, “The Authority of Scripture: Canonicity,” in The Shape of Catholic Theology
(Minnesota: Liturgical Press, 1991) 99-109.
3. Ehrman, Bart D., Lost Scriptures: Books that Did Not Make It into the New Testament (Oxford:
Oxford University Press, 2003) 330-42.
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IV. BIBLICAL INSPIRATION
1. Introduction
a. The theological problem:

i. In what sense can one speak of Sacred Scripture as inspired by God?
ii. Inspiration: written words—the influence of God
iii. Divine Origin = inspired authoritative Normative for Christians
iv. Council of Trent: God is the author of both Old Testament and the New
Testament
v. Pope Leo XIII: Theology is grounded on the Word of God in Sacred Scripture
vi. If Sacred Scripture is authoritative, how do we trace its Divine Origin?
b. The Word of God

i. Not to single word of God but in general to divine speech (word of God can
encompass many words)
ii. Does God really speak to us?
iii. Are these just projections of our inner longing?
iv. The Word of God in scripture cannot be taken LITERALLY
1. 1st reason: our human mode of understanding and communicating is
different from God’s way/mode of understanding and communicating
Man = finite, mortal, corporeal
God = infinite, immortal, pure spirit
We can only use analogy
2. 2nd reason: language is limited
a. Words are polyvalent—have many possible meanings
b. No language is fully translatable
c. Ex. Rice; snow (experience of reality varies from culture to
culture)
d. Meaning changes over time
3. Conclusion: we should avoid literalizing language about God
c. 2 Questions:
i. Is God the source of Sacred Scripture?
ii. How is Divine Inspiration present or mediated in the books that the canon
included? How is the Divine made present in the human word?
d. Old Testament in the question of Inspiration

i. No internal attestation
1. No assertion that the books of the Israelites religion as a whole are
divinely inspired
2. Ex. 622 BC: King Josiah (Deuteronomy)—about National Reform
3. Ex. 427 BC: Ezra (Pentateuch)—about reconstruction / renewal /
rehabilitation
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ii. Jesus’ time: high origins of the Torah (3 theories)

1. Mental contact between God’s mind and Moses’ mind
2. Miraculous handing over of text to Moses
3. Dictation to the ear of Moses
Conclusion: the Torah came from God himself
e. New Testament on the question of Inspiration

i. 2 Timothy 3:15-16
1. “all scripture is inspired by God” (referring to Old Testament)
2. External attestation to Old Testament
3. There is no mention of the human agent
4. No mention how divine inspiration take place (how inspiration
occurs)
ii. 2 Peter 1:21
1. Moved (propelled) by the Holy Spirit, men spoke for God (under the
agency of God)
2. There is mention of human agents
3. “propelled”?—free and creative human agents
iii. Revelation 1:1-3
1. “God sent his angels to John…to give witness…and John has written
down everything”
2. Internal attestation
2. Theories of Inspiration
a. Maximizing Direction (from God to man)
i. Hypnotic Theory
1. Philo, 50 AD—biblical writers were possessed by God
2. Athenagoras—biblical writers lost their reason (=pipe played by the
piper)
3. Origen—biblical writers fell into ecstasy but mental powers were
enhanced (they were not imposed upon, their human faculties were
not undermined by God)
4. Problems:
a. Many styles instead of uniform style (genre; uniformity)
b. Biblical writers: talk about the writing process
i. Ex. Sirach—trouble writing
ii. Luke—too much to research on
5. 2 weaknesses
a. Loss of the literary sense (meaning intended by the author—
human is mere passive agent)
b. No historically original meaning (text itself will not be
historically conditioned)
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ii. Condescension
1. John Chrysostom, 347-407 AD
“God comes down to our level adopts his language to our weak
human nature”
2. Analogy: Incarnation of the Word of God
iii. Aquinas Instrumental Causality

1. Efficient cause = God
2. Instrumental efficient cause = biblical writers
3. Ex. Teacher = efficient cause; Piece of chalk = instrumental cause
iv. Verbal Dictation

1. Product of 16th and 17th centuries
2. God communicates the language of Sacred Scripture to human
authors supernaturally while respecting the writer’s individuality
3. Author’s task: to be receptive to God
4. This is to protect the creativity and style of the human author (use his
own language, symbols, stories, etc.
5. Improvement by Domingo Banez
a. How to explain the different styles?
b. God adopts himself to the thinking and the style of the human
agent
6. Strengths
a. Literary sense is retrieved
b. Historically original meaning
7. Weaknesses
a. Literary sense: only in a technical sense
b. This theory would have to subscribe to the theory of verbal
inerrancy
b. Minimizing Direction (from human writer to God)
i. Subsequent Approbation Theory

1. Pope Sixtus of Sienna, 1520-69
2. Revived in 19th century
3. Inspiration is retroactive: canonization by the Church imbues the
biblical book with inspiration
4. It teaches that the church only recognizes the books that are already
inspired
5. Church canonization infuses the mark of inspiration
6. A human product is elevated into a divine product
ii. Negative Assistance Theory

1. Developed in Louvain by the Jesuits
2. God only intervenes in the uniting process whenever the bible author
is about to commit mistakes
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3. Weakness: implication—biblical book is a human product; biblical

author autonomous in so far as what he/she writes is correct
iii. Levesque’s Theory of Directionalism

1. The interior aspect of inspiration = an impulse to communicate one’s
materials in a certain way
2. Weakness: the biblical writer will not only need an impulse to write
(volition /will) but also content / message (illumination of mind)
iv. Lagrange’s Theory of Illumination

1. Inspiration = illumination of the mind of human author
2. Enables writers to judge the worldly experience according to God’s
will
3. Why others are not declared inspired?
a. Normative—for belief and behavior
b. It speaks of “the whole of life” – all aspect of human life
c. Content itself—message of God (conveys the message of
salvation)—whether you are inspired or not
v. Rahner’s Social Inspiration

1. The minimum conditions for Scripture to be of Divine Origin
a. “Inspiration requires no more than that God, willing the
production of a certain book, influence the human writer in
such wise efficaciously to ensure that
i. he will actually form a concrete conception of what he
is to write (iudicium speculativum et practicum)
ii. will effectively decide to write down what he has so
conceived
iii. will actually execute this decision
b. This is all that is required for the divine authorship, regardless
of how we suppose that God concretely carries out this divine
pre-definition.
2. Presupposition 1: God founds the Church
a. God wills the Church into being—God appropriates to himself
the founding of the Church in a qualitatively unique fashion,
because it is the work a) of his formal predefinition, which is
b) within the context of salvation history, and c)
eschatological in character.
3. Presupposition 2: The Apostolic Church is subject to divine
intervention in a qualitatively unique manner as distinct from the
subsequent preservation of the Church through history. The Apostolic
Church is the permanent ground and norm for everything that is to
come.
4. Thesis: THE BIBLE TOO BELONGS TO THE CONSTITUTIVE ELEMENTS
OF THE APOSTOLIC CHURCH WHICH WAS THE QUALITATIVELY
15
UNIQUE WORK OF GOD AND PERMANENT ‘CANONICAL’ ORIGIN OF

THE LATER CHURCH.
a. The Holy Scripture are essentially the Church’s book [i.e., they
are recognizable as sacred only through her]
b. Thus, ‘the concrete, fully realized essence of the Church
includes the Scriptures; they are a constitutive element of her
c. The bible is the self-expression of her faith
i. While undeniably God’s word to man,
ii. The bible is also the written record of the Apostolic
Church’s faith and of her self-constitution
d. The bible has a normative function for the future Church
i. The bible has written down her own self-
understanding and self-constitution
ii. This self-understanding is normative for all future
generations of Christians
5. Conclusion: THE INSPIRATION OF HOLY SCRIPTURE IS NOTHING ELSE
THAN GOD’S FOUNDING OF THE CHURCH, INASMUCH AS THIS
APPLIES TO PRECISELY THAT CONSTITUTIVE ELEMENT OF THE
APOSTLIC CHURCH WHICH IS THE BIBLE.
Sources:
1. Collins, Raymond, “Inspiration,” in The New Jerome Biblical Commentary (Englewood Cliffs, N.J.:
Prentice-Hall, 1990) 1023-33.
2. Rahner, Karl, Inspiration in the Bible (New York: Herder & Herder, 1961).
3. Nichols, Aidan, “The Authority of Scripture: Inspiration,” in The Shape of Catholic Theology
V. INERRANCY
Closely linked with the belief about inspiration is the belief about inerrancy. If the bible is of God, it
cannot be in error since God is the author of truth, not lies.
1. The words of the bible are true only in the sense in which the human authors conveyed them.
a. Therefore, we must determine how they thought, what influenced them, and so
forth.
2. The human authors were not necessarily without error.
a. Many of their personal opinions and even convictions may have been wrong
b. But inerrancy means that these opinions and convictions did not affect the message
itself
3. Inerrancy does not rule out the use of common literary devices, such as poetry, figures of
speech, paradox, approximation, compressed narratives, inexact quotations, folklore,
legend, song.
4. The human authors were Oriental, not Western.
a. They did not think metaphysically or according to the rules of Scholastic logic
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5. Insofar as the principle of inerrancy applies, it applies to those essential religious affirmations
which are made for the sake of salvation.
Therefore, “the books of Scripture must be acknowledged as teaching firmly, faithfully, and without
error that truth which God wanted put into the sacred writings for the sake of our salvation”
(Vatican II, Dogmatic Constitution on Divine Revelation, Dei Verbum, n.11).
The conciliar teaching, explicitly cited in The Catechism of the Catholic Church (1992), reflects the
earlier teaching of Popes Leo XIII (Providentissimus Deus [1893]) and Pius XII (Divino Afflante Spiritu
[1943]).
Sources:
1. McBrien, Richard P., “Inerrancy,” in Catholicism (Great Britain: Geoffrey Chapman, 1994) 61.
2. Nichols, Aidan, “The Authority of Scripture: Inerrancy,” in The Shape of Catholic Theology
That in all things God may be Glorified.
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Lesson 2_The Bible_Lecture notes

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Lesson 2_The Bible_Lecture notes

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San Beda College Alabang THEO1: Jesus in the New Testament Prof. Carlo Enrico C.

d. False loci of authority

e. Authority of Sacred Scripture functions not to validate human experience rather,

f. Identification of Biblical Authority

h. How do we apply Sacred Scripture to our situation today?

2. New reader (text) = new context / new meaning

4. Therefore, there’s a need for fixed, written authority = a canon!

a. Irenaeus, 180 AD: 4 gospels, no more, no less.

The Apostles: A Collection of Letters and their Authority

2. 3 theories why Paul’s letters were collected

3. Emerging Christian library:

4. Passing Authority from Apostles to their Writings

Criteria for Canonicity

4. Conclusion: ultimate criteria: Rule of Faith (significance of Christ-event)

II. FORMATION OF SCRIPTURES

1. Early accounts start with the story of a martyr’s death—how he died

b. Who is this Jesus Christ in relation to God? (Son)

The Shape of the New Testament

2. Divisions (27 books)

5. Formation of the Canon

6. Misc. notes: Probing the Shady Period between 100-150 AD

III. THE CANON OF SCRIPTURES

1. The Word “Canon”

2. The Content of the Catholic Canon

3. Relationship between Inspiration and Canonicity

The Canon of the Old Testament

1. Criteria in the formation of the Old Testament Canon

2. The ancient Christian Canon of the Old Testament

3. The Canon of Trent

The Canon of the New Testament

2. Criteria in the Formation of the New Testament Canon

i. Ex. Letter to Romans

3. Composition and Collection of New Testament Works

Excursus: Some gospels not accepted in the canon

1. Infancy Narrative according to Thomas

2. Time element—when do we demarcate history—later writings cannot make it anymore to

Enduring Problems in Canonicity

2. Concept of Authorship in Antiquity

(note: according to today’s standards, letters d and e would constitute

Finality of the Canon of Trent

IV. BIBLICAL INSPIRATION

a. The theological problem:

b. The Word of God

d. Old Testament in the question of Inspiration

ii. Jesus’ time: high origins of the Torah (3 theories)

Conclusion: the Torah came from God himself

e. New Testament on the question of Inspiration

a. Maximizing Direction (from God to man)

iii. Aquinas Instrumental Causality

iv. Verbal Dictation

b. Minimizing Direction (from human writer to God)

i. Subsequent Approbation Theory

ii. Negative Assistance Theory

3. Weakness: implication—biblical book is a human product; biblical

iii. Levesque’s Theory of Directionalism

iv. Lagrange’s Theory of Illumination

v. Rahner’s Social Inspiration

UNIQUE WORK OF GOD AND PERMANENT ‘CANONICAL’ ORIGIN OF

That in all things God may be Glorified.

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