Development of the Bible

How the Bible came to be!

Steps in the development of the Bible• People experienced God• People shared stories verbally– Oral Tradition

• People wrote down the stories– Written Records

• Religious leaders selected the central writings to be part of scripture– Setting the Canon

• People speaking different languages translated the bible into their own language from the original languages– Translation• Hebrew to Greek to Latin to the vernacular

Authorship

• The Bible was written by many different human writers. God is its author.

• The human writers used their own personalities and abilities to record the accounts in the bible.

• God sent the Holy Spirit to guide these human writers so that the accounts relayed the true message that God wanted revealed

• Inspiration– The guidance of the Holy

Spirit to the human authors of the Bible.

• Inerrancy– The quality of “No error”

in the message of the Bible as a result of inspiration.

Oral Tradition• Oral Tradition: The

handing on of the message of God’s saving plan from generation to generation.

Written Records

• The writing down of the oral tradition by scribes. Later these basic writings were revised and rewritten to form the final version of the books of the Bible

• All of this was done under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit

Canon • The Canon of the Catholic Bible is the official collection of inspired books of sacred scripture that contain the witness and instruction for our faith. (pg 28, text)

• Old Testament – 46 books– 39 Books of Hebrew

Scripture– 7 Deuterocanonicals

• New Testament -27 books– 4 Gospels– Acts– 21 Letters– Book of Revelation

How did the Church decide on the Canon of the Bible?

• Apostolic Origin• Used the witness and the teachings of the Apostles as a guide.

Some books were rejected since they were not inspired or contained misinformation.

• Universal acceptance• Was the book accepted and received by all major Christian

communities?• Liturgical Celebrations

• Was the text or book being used in Christian liturgies?• The Message

• Was the message in harmony with other Christian and Hebrew writings?

When was the Canon Set?

• In the 4th century AD, at the Councils of Hippo and Carthage, the first Canon of Scripture was set.

• In the 16th century, at the Council of Trent, the final list was set. This is the final version of the Bible and it added and included the seven “deuterocanonical” books

Translation• Original text of TaNaK is Hebrew• Translation by 70 scholars in Greek– Translation of both Hebrew scripture and New

Testament; Septuagint• Later translated into Latin by St. Jerome. – This translation is called the Latin Vulgate

• Subsequently it was translated into the vernacular (the languages of the people)

Scripture in the Life of the Church

Where and how is scripture used

today?

Usage of Scripture• Scripture Study• Proclamation of the

Word• Prayer

Scripture Study• To further our

knowledge of God’s message– Classroom– Bible Groups

Proclamation of the Word

• To let God speak to us through his Word.

Prayer• Scripture used at Mass and other

liturgies• Liturgy of the Hours• Psalms, Lord’s Prayer• “Lectio Divina” meditation on scripture• Personal prayer