The Catholic Church has many avenues for teaching the word of God. This is a difficult task due to language barriers and variations in interpretations of various church documents. The complications of these interpretations are exampled in such terms as inspiration, inerrancy and canon. This essay will briefly describe these terms and attempt to shed some light on how the Catholic Church uses them in the interpretation of biblical documents.
The theology of inspiration is a difficult concept to define in the form of human language, in part, due to the nuances of the concept. The catholic faith teaches inspiration of the Bible as coming from God and as man has no common language with God, the translation of his word can never be as perfect as was intended. The Bible was not merely inspired or inspiring in the same sense that is imagined with the inspiration of an idea or a great work of art, it inspires people in that it is the word and representation of God; a revelation of God. Inspiration is therefor based on the word of God and passed on to man in the form of the ecclesiastical writings. Biblical inspiration cannot be described by an earthly language; it is best described as an opportunity presented to man that can be acted upon by mans gift of free will. Additionally, the bible inspires the reader in another fundamental way. Man is inspired by biblical curiosity to seek further understanding of God’s word (Durand).
This is not to say that the leaders of the Church cannot make new revelations or that the laws of the church cannot be clarified or modified for use in today’s society. New revelations can be made known by God whenever then need arises. These revelations are not new ideas or truths from God; they are me...
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...ew questions and situations occur that cannot ever be foreseen except from the omnipotent God and these circumstances will need to be answered for those of faith. The challenge is for the language of that communication to remain consistent, even in the light of advancement and clarity, so that future generations do not lose the true word of God.
Works Cited
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Durand, Alfred. "Inspiration of the Bible." The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 8. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1910. 10 Mar. 2014
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Metzger, B. (1997). The Canon of the New Testament: Its Origin, Development, and Significance. New York.
Burns, Thomas J. Canonical Texts: Selections from Religious Wisdom Traditions. San Diego, CA: Cognella/U Readers, 2012. Print.
The four fundamental claims of the Catholic Intellectual Tradition, Human beings exist in a relation to a triune God, God’s presence in the world is mediated through nature and reality, faith and reason are compatible, the dignity of the human being is inviolable and therefore the commitment to justice for the common good is necessary. However, the great books in the Catholic Intellectual tradition show that they represent these fundamental claims in a broad distinctive way. This essay will show that these readings better represent one of the fundamental claims, human beings exist in a relation with a triune God, from the view point of three great books from the bible, Genesis, Exodus and the Gospel of Matthew. The Bible clearly supports the
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Everett F. Harrison, editor-in-chief, Baker’s Dictionary of Theology. Grand Rapids, Mich.: Baker Book House, 1960, pg. 356.
Dei Verbum, the Second Vatican Council’s Dogmatic Constitution on Divine Revelation signifies most important theological advances since the Vatican Council 1,also constructs upon the fundamentals which Vatican I laid. But Vatican 1 focused on Faith (Dei Filius). (Further, Dei Verbum is indicated with an abbreviation DV.) DV dealt with a matter that is fundamental to the faith. Divine revelation, which is the word of God expressed in Scripture and Tradition, is the basis of all Christian doctrine. While the Second Vatican Council generally avoided creating new dogmatic explanations, the present constitution at least touches upon the age-old question of the relationship between Scripture and Tradition. It also clarifies teaching about the authenticity and inerrancy of Holy Scripture, in light of modern developments in exegesis and criticism. Thus DV is a synthesis of enormous significance :the text binds together loyolty to church tradition with the yes to critical science, and there by once again opens the way for faith into the world today……(the dogmatic constituion a commentry joseph ratzinger)
Pope, William Burt, vol. 2, A Compendium of Christian Theology: Being Analytical Outlines of a Course of Theological Study, Biblical, Dogmatic, Historical, Volumes 1-3 (London: Beveridge and Co., 1879).
intertextuality. The concept of intertextuality, however, is still controversial among scholars because of its diverse claims and emphases.102 In this study we will consider intertextuality because it is concerned with a shared meaning of biblical texts that makes communication available between them. In this way, intertextuality offers a surplus of theologically meaningful possibilities between the texts. There are two principle loci where some sort of conversation is operative: literary associations and the broader complex of theological
Feister, John B, and Julie Zimmerman. "The Road to Official Sainthood." AmericanCatholic.org. n. page. Web. 1 Jan. 2014.
Pollen, John Hungerford. "St. Ignatius Loyola." The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 7. New York: Robert Appleton Company,1910. 23 Mar. 2014 .
Bainvel, Jean. The New Catholic Encyclopedia. New York City: Robert Appleton Company, 1912. http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/15006b.htm (accessed September 23, 2011).