A Catholic view of the Bible
Submitted by Bonzo on June 29 1999 at 07:53:31
In reply to wots uh the deal with these errors. Submitted by The Dream Dragon on June 29 1999 at 03:58:57
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Hi Dragon -- You say: I understand the Catholics' view of the Bible, so I'm prompted to provide a summary of the current Catholic thinking about the Bible. The current "official teaching" about the Bible The bishops of the Church, as the successors of Jesus's apostles, all got together most recently in the early 1960s, to participate in what has become known as the Second Vatican Council. This council was the occasion for vigorous (and sometimes rancorous) debate about how God inspired the many different writers of the Biblical books, and about how these books are to be understood as being free from error. The result was a proclamation on Divine Revelation which states "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". The current consensus among Biblical scholars Catholic Biblical scholars generally endorse the view that the Hebrew scriptures known collectively as The Old Testament were written and edited over a period of many centuries, and that they portray an evolving understanding of the relationship between God and His Chosen People. These books provide a historical background that defines the context within which Jesus lived and preached. They also endorse the view that the early Christian writings collectively known as The New Testament accurately depict the words and deeds of Jesus, culminating in His redemptive act on the cross, as well as the experiences of His followers after His death and resurrection. The view that every sentence of every book in the Bible is literally true would be most charitably described by these scholars as unsophisticated. How closely does all this match your understanding of "the Catholics' view of the Bible"? -- Bonzo |