transmission of divine revelation

apostolic succession

before jesus returned to heaven, he commissioned the apostles to continue his mission of sharing the message of salvation

the gospel challenge

we were challenged by the gospel of christ to spread the truth and continue the mission he gave his disciples

tradition

passing on christ's revelations

where the word tradition came from

tradere
pass on, hand over

cultural traditions (small t)

- comes from the need of the church at a certain place and time
- can be modified

sacred / doctrinal tradition (big t)

- living and lived faith of the church
- these are official teachings
- cant be modified

what are the components of sacred tradition? (unshakable tripod)

scriptural (written), apostolic (oral), teachings of the magisterium (written & oral)

scriptural or written traditions

what's in the holy bible
- practices & beliefs that can be justified by referencing the sacred scriptures

apostolic or oral traditions

the teachings that the apostles have left us
- through the unbroken chain of popes, bishops, priests, deacons

teachings of the magisterium (written & oral)

- from the magister
- exercised by the pope or by a bishop in making solemn definitions / teachings
- encyclicals
- timely

sola scriptura

bases off of the scripture only
- reformers / protestants
- bible over tradition

was everything written down in the sacred scripture?

no

where did sacred scriptures originate

oral traditions

what do sacred tradition and sacred scripture form?

sacred deposit of the word of god

the bible
- written by? for who?
- what is it?

- written by and for believers
- an account of life, preserved in memory, turned into text
- records events designed by god
- encounters and experiences with god
- word of god written by men
- with inspiration from the holy spirit

how to distinguish catholic books?

nihil obstat, imprimi potest, imprimatur

nihil obstat

"nothing hinders"
- given by a censor liborum
- attests that the book does not damage faith or morals

imprimi potest

"it may be printed"
- given by a major religious superior
- only if the author is part of a religious congregation

imprimatur

"let it be printed"
- given by the author's diocesan bishop

codex

stacked sheets of papyrus folded and bound in the middle

bibliotheca divina
- who coined the term?

divine library
- st jerome

what does the bibliotheca divina contain?

- most sacred books
- historical narratives
- wisdom and poetry
- prophecies

1. emperor constantine

- ordered its production
- translations from non-hebrew and non-greek speaking communities emerged

2. pope st. damasus I

only authorized one translation of the bible (latin)

3. st. jerome

was commissioned by pope st damasus in 383 CE to translate the scriptures to latin-vulgate

"ignorance of the scriptures is ignorance of christ"

said by st jerome

4. archbishop stephen langton of canterbury

divided the books into chapters

5. robert estienne (stephanus)

divided chapters into verses

divine / biblical inspiration

special influence from the holy spirit to the humans to properly convey what god wanted to say

who is the principal cause?

holy spirit

who is the instrumental cause?

humans

dei verbum

pope paul iv
"the Bible must be acknowledged as teaching solidly, faithfully, and without error the truth, which God wanted to put into writing"

ccc, 104

the church affirms that the inspiration was divine

providentissimus deus

pope leo xiii
"god was so moved and impelled them to write..."

biblical inerrancy

the bible contains error but teaches no error

formation of sacred scriptures step by step

1. events & experiences
2. oral tradition
3. written tradition
4 edited tradition
5. canon of scriptures

what is canon?

the measure of what fits in the bible and what doesnt

canonization

recognition of a book's divine inspiration

canonicity

condition of a book having passed the standards for determining divine inspiration

criteria to be canon in the old testament

- prophetic origin
- coherence with the torah
- constant use in the liturgy
- language

criteria to be canon in the new testament

- apostolic origin
- coherence with the essential gospel message
- constant use in the liturgy

apocryphal writings

the books that didnt pass for canonicity
- no inspiration, used by scattered groups, no apostolic guarantee, heretical, irrelevant

how many books are canon? (roman catholic)

72-73
46/45 - old testament
(if jeremiah & lamentations are counted)
27 - new testament

how many books are canon? (non-catholic)

66
39 - old testament
27 - new testament

deuterocanonical

second canon

testament covenant

agreement between god and israel fulfilled by jesus christ

what does the old testament contain?

- a lesson on faithfulness
- covenants (promises), laws, prophecies in preparation for the coming of Jesus
- written in hebrew, some in greek

what does the new testament contain?

- tells us of jesus
- how he established the covenant relationship between god and humanity
- written in greek, some in aramaic