In order to reveal himself to men, in the condescension of his goodness God speaks to them in human words. Through all the words of Sacred Scripture, God speaks only one single Word, his one Utterance in whom he expresses himself completely. You recall that one and the same Word of God extends through Scripture, that it is one and the same Utterance that resounds, in the mouths of all the sacred writers, since he who was in the beginning God with God has no need to separate syllables; for he is not subject to time. For this reason the Church has always venerated the Scriptures as she venerates the Lord's Body. She never ceases to present to the faithful the bread of life taken from the one table of God's Word and Christ's Body. In sacred Scripture the Church constantly finds her nourishment and her strength for she welcomes it not as human word.
II Inspiration and Truth of Sacred Scripture
God is the author of Sacred Scripture. The divine realities, which are contained and presented in the text of Sacred Scriptures, have been written down under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. For Holy Mother Church, relying on the faith of the apostolic age, accepts as sacred and canonical the books of the Old and New Testaments, whole and entire, with all their parts, on the grounds that, written under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, they have God as their author and have been handed on as such to the Church herself. God inspired the human authors of the sacred books. To compose the sacred books, God chose certain men who, all the while he employed them in this task, made full use of their own faculties and powers so that, though he acted in them and by them, it was as true authors that they consigned to writing whatever he wanted written, and no more. The inspired books teach the truth. The books of Scripture firmly, faithfully and without error teach the truth which God, for the sake of our salvation, wished to see confided to the Sacred Scriptures. Still the Christian faith is not a religion of the book. Christianity is the religion of the Word of God, not written and mute word, but incarnate and living.
III The Holy Spirit, Interpreter of Scripture
Iii the holy spirit
Sacred scripture must be read and interpreted in light of the same spirit by whom it was written
The Second Vatican Council indicates three criteria for interpreting Scripture in accordance with the Spirit who inspired it:
1. Be especially attentive to the content and unity of the whole Scripture
The phrase "heart of Christ" can refer to Sacred Scripture, which makes known his heart, closed before his Passion, as the Scripture was obscure. But the Scripture has been opened since the Passion; since those who from then on have understood it, consider and discern in what way the prophecies must be interpreted.
2. Read the Scripture within the living Tradition of the whole Church
According to a saying of the Fathers, Sacred Scripture is written principally in the Church's heart rather in documents and records, for the Church carries in her Tradition the living memorial of God's Word, and it is the Holy Spirit that gives her the spiritual interpretation of the Scripture.
3. Be attentive to the analogy of faith
By analogy of faith we mean the coherence of the truths of faith among themselves and within the whole plan of Revelation.
According to an ancient tradition, one can distinguish between two senses of Scripture the literal and the spiritual, the latter being divided further into three categories.
The literal sense is the meaning conveyed by the words of Scripture and discovery by exegesis, following the rules of sound interpretation.
The spiritual sense
1. The allegorical sense
We can acquire a more profound understanding of events by recognizing their significance in Christ.
2. The moral sense
The events reported in Scripture ought to lead us to act justly.
3. The analogical
We can view realities and events in terms of their eternal significance, leading us toward our true homeland: thus the Church on earth is a sign of the heavenly Jerusalem.
119 "It is the task of exegetes to work, according to these rules, towards a better understanding and explanation of the meaning of Sacred Scripture in order that their research may help the Church to form a firmer judgement. For, of course, all that has been said about the manner of interpreting Scripture is ultimately subject to the judgement of the Church which exercises the divinely conferred commission and ministry of watching over and interpreting the Word of God."
But I would not believe in the Gospel, had not the authority of the Catholic Church already moved me.
IV The Cannon of Scripture
It was the apostolic Tradition that the Church discerned which writings are to by included in the list of sacred books. This complete list is called the canon of Scripture. It includes 46 books for the Old Testament and 27 for the New. The Old Testament is a indispensable part of Sacred Scripture. It's books are divinely inspired and retain a permanent value for the Old Covenant has never been revoked. The economy of the Old Testament was deliberately so orientated that it should prepare for and declare in prophecy the coming of Christ, redeemer of all men. Even though they contain matters imperfect and provisional the books of the Old Testament bear witness to the whole divine pedagogy of God's saving love these writings are a storehouse of sublime teaching on God of sound wisdom on human life, as well as a wonderful treasury of prayers in them too the mystery of salvation is present in a hidden way. Christians venerate the Old Testament as true Word of God. The Church has always vigorously opposed the idea of rejecting the Old Testament under the pretext that the New has rendered it void. The central object of the New Testament is Jesus Christ, God's incarnate Son: his acts, teachings, Passion and glorification, and his Church's beginnings under the Spirits guidance. The Gospels are the heart of all Scriptures because they are our principal source for the life and teaching of the Incarnate Word, our Savior. The are three stages of the formation of the Gospels
1. The life and teaching of Jesus.
The Church holds firmly that the four Gospels, whose historicity she unhesitatingly affirms , faithful had on what Jesus, the Son of God, while he lived among men , really did and taught for their eternal salvation until the day when he was taken up.
2. The oral tradition.
For after the accession of the Lord the apostles handed on to their hearers what he had said and done, but with that fuller understanding which they instructed by the glorious events of Christ and enlightened by the Spirit of truth now enjoyed.
3. The written Gospels.
The sacred authors in writing the four gospels, selected certain of the many elements which had been handed on either orally or already in written form; others they synthesized or explained with an eye to the situation of the churches, while sustaining the form of preaching, but always in such a fashion that they have told us the honest truth about Jesus.
The fourfold Gospels hold a unique place in the Church, as is evident both in the veneration which they liturgy accords it and in the surpassing attraction it has exercised on the saints at all times. Christians therefore read the Old Testament in the light of Christ crucified and risen. The New Testament has to be read in the light of the Old. As an old saying put it, the New Testament lies hidden in the Old and the Old Testament is unveiled in the New.
V. Sacred Scripture in the Life of the Church
And such is the force and power of the Word of God that it can serve the Church as her support and vigour and the children of the Church as strength for their faith, food for the soul, and a pure and lasting front of spiritual life. Access to Sacred Scripture ought to be open wide to the Christian faithful. Therefore the study of the sacred page should be the very soul of sacred theology. The ministry of the Word, too-pastoral preaching, catechetics, and all forms of Christian instruction, among which the liturgical homily should hold pride of place is healthily nourished and thrives in holiness through the Word of Scripture. The Church forcefully and specifically exhorts all the Christian faithful to ... learn the surpassing knowledge of Jesus Christ, by frequent reading of the divine Scriptures. Ignorance of the Scriptures is ignorance of Christ."
