Lesson 2

The Bible as the Word of God

(Cropped photo from pxfuel)

Synopsis

In what way can we say that God is the author of the Bible? How does he speak to us through the words written down by its human authors? Three important theological concepts that help us answer these questions are: inspiration, biblical truth, and interpretation. Inspiration is the name we give to the process by which God moved the biblical authors to write down what he wanted them to put to paper. This divine inspiration is the guarantee that whatever the biblical authors intended to affirm is true. However, to discover their intended meaning we need to know how to interpret the text correctly. The Church has also given us several important criteria to help us do so.

Learning Objectives

You will have successfully completed this lesson when you can explain in your own words the theological meaning of the terms: inspiration, biblical truth, and interpretation.

Introduction

In the previous lesson, we saw how the human authors were true authors of the biblical texts. They wrote their books and epistles as any author would. This enables us to study their writings as we would do with any other written text. To do so, exegetes apply the tools developed by literary criticism and exegesis. These tools help us, for example, to identify the literary genres that are being used as well as other literary devices such as plot, character, setting, and design patterns. Knowing these things can helps us to better understand what the authors wanted to say. This is important because everything “that the inspired authors or sacred writers affirm should be regarded as affirmed by the Holy Spirit” (CCC 107).

Now we will look at the Bible as the word of God. In what way can we say that God is its author? How does he speak to us through the words written down by its human writers? The Church has given us three important theological concepts to help us answer these questions: inspiration, biblical truth, and interpretation. We will see how the authors were inspired by God to write down those things that he wanted them to write. This divine inspiration is, therefore, our guarantee that whatever these authors intended to affirm is true. The Church has also given us several important criteria to help us interpret the biblical text correctly. These are the themes we will be discussing in this lesson.

Inspiration

We say that the Bible is the word of man because it was written by human beings like David, Luke, and Paul. However, it is more than just a human book and the truths it teaches are more than just human truths. The Bible is also the word of God. This is so because, while the human authors were writing, God was also actively working in them. He was inspiring them to write down those things that he wanted them to write. How did he do this? Pope Leo XIII, in his encyclical on the Bible explains:

For, by supernatural power, He [the Holy Spirit] so moved and impelled them to write—He was so present to them—that the things which He ordered, and those only, they, first, rightly understood, then willed faithfully to write down, and finally expressed in apt words and with infallible truth. Otherwise, it could not be said that He was the Author of the entire Scripture. (Providentissimus Deus 20)

Let’s return to the example of Luke that we saw in the previous lesson. Remember, he starts his gospel by saying that although others had already written an account of the things that happened, he had also decided to write about these things in an orderly manner. As he was thinking about what to write and how to write it, the Holy Spirit was working in him and inspiring him to understand and then write down those things that God wanted him to write. This is why God is also the author of this gospel. He is in fact, its principal author.

Biblical Truth

Just because God is the author of the Bible doesn’t mean that we must accept everything it says as literally true. The creation is a good example of this. Was the world really created in six 24-hour days? To discover the truth in the Bible, we need to look at what the human authors intended to say. This means that we must investigate whether the author(s) of Genesis really wanted to give us a scientific and chronological description of the process of creation.

Remember, it is the task of the biblical exegetes to study the human authors intentions. Were they describing an historical event? Were they making a point using an image? Were they expressing feelings in a poem? That is why exegetes study the literary genres they used. We saw in the BibleProject videos that only about 24% of the Bible is written in prose-discourse, whereas 43% of it is storytelling, and the remaining 33% is poetry. The Catechism teaches that:

In Sacred Scripture, God speaks to man in a human way. To interpret Scripture correctly, the reader must be attentive to what the human authors truly wanted to affirm, and to what God wanted to reveal to us by their words. (CCC 109)

In order to discover the sacred author’s intention, the reader must take into account the conditions of their time and culture, the literary genres in use at that time, and the modes of feeling, speaking and narrating then current. “For the fact is that truth is differently presented and expressed in the various types of historical writing, in prophetical and poetical texts, and in other forms of literary expression” (CCC 110).

For example, if I were to say, "She makes me feel butterflies in my stomach," would I be claiming that butterflies are literally flying in my stomach? Obviously, not. The physical sensation of fluttering in the stomach that we feel when we fall in love is due to the reduction of blood flow to the organ caused by the body's production of substances such as dopamine. This expression, instead of giving us a scientific explanation, is describing the effects of this biological process using a poetic image.

When we study the biblical text, we need to try to understand what the human author intended to say with the words they chose to use. Since they were inspired by God, everything they intended to say must be true. About biblical truth, the Catechism teaches:

The inspired books teach the truth. “Since therefore all that the inspired authors or sacred writers affirm should be regarded as affirmed by the Holy Spirit, we must acknowledge that the books of Scripture firmly, faithfully, and without error teach that truth which God, for the sake of our salvation, wished to see confided to the Sacred Scriptures.” (CCC 107)

That is, whatever the human authors truly wanted to affirm is true. Since, as we have seen, the Holy Spirit is the author of “the books of the Old and the New Testaments, whole and entire, with all their parts” and since the Holy Spirit cannot deceive or be deceived, we cannot ascribe error to the Bible. Theologians call this the “inerrancy” of Sacred Scripture.

How should we then interpret passages like the creation account in Genesis chapter 1? As the famous saying goes: “The Bible teaches us how to go to heaven, not how the heavens go.” The Bible teaches us truths which are necessary for our salvation. However, we have to understand this correctly. Biblical inerrancy does not mean that that only those parts of the Bible which speak of our salvation are true. The Bible in its entirety is true because whatever the human author intended to affirm is also affirmed by its divine author.

This is why exegetes study the Bible. They try to figure out what its human author intended to say. What was the author’s intention in Genesis when he portrayed creation as a six-day process? Did he want to give us a step by step description of how creation happened? Most exegetes don’t think so. Why? Because this chapter was written as poetry, which is generally not the genre used to communicate objective truths. Therefore, just as we shouldn’t interpret the expression “butterflies in my stomach” literally, neither should we read Genesis chapter 1 literally. The author did not intend to give a scientific explanation of creation. Instead, he wanted to teach us deeper truths, truths that are important for our salvation, such as:

Nothing exists that does not owe its existence to God the Creator (see CCC 338).
Each creature possesses its own particular goodness and perfection (see CCC 339).
Man is the summit of the Creator’s work (see CCC 343).

Interpretation

The Church gives us guidelines to help us interpret the Bible. The bishops and theologians who participated in the Second Vatican Council discussed this issue. They wrote an important document on the Bible called Dei Verbum. The things I have said so far about the Bible come from this document and the Catechism often quotes from it. About our interpretation of the Bible, it says:

But since Sacred Scripture is inspired, there is another and no less important principle of correct interpretation, without which Scripture would remain a dead letter. “Sacred Scripture must be read and interpreted in the light of the same Spirit by whom it was written.” (CCC 111)

That is, since the Holy Spirit inspired the authors to write down what they wrote, we should read the Bible in the light of this same Spirit. To help us do this, the Catechism—following Dei Verbum—gives us three criteria:

“Be especially attentive ‘to the content and unity of the whole Scripture.’ Different as the books which comprise it may be, Scripture is a unity by reason of the unity of God’s plan, of which Christ Jesus is the center and heart” (CCC 112). The Bible, although composed of 73 books is also just one book. We must, therefore, avoid interpreting passage in such a way that our interpretation contradicts other parts of the Bible.
“Read the Scripture within ‘the living Tradition of the whole Church’” (CCC 113). This is done especially in two ways. (a) We look at how Christians have always interpreted the Bible, especially the Church Fathers. It is usually problematic when someone comes up with a radically new interpretation that breaks with tradition. (b) We also look at how the whole Church (that is all Catholics from all times) lives the faith. In particular, we must pay attention to the prayers of the faithful, as the way we pray is a living expression of our faith.
“Be attentive to the analogy of faith” (CCC 114). “Analogy of faith” is a theological term that means that all truths we believe in are logically connected with each other. So, this principle is similar to the first one, but applied to the truths of our faith instead. Just as the Bible is one book written by God and therefore no part can contradict the other parts, so too does our Catholic faith form a unity. If we interpret a passage in such a way that it contradicts other things we believe in, then we can be sure that we are not interpreting it correctly.

We can sum up these three criteria in one word: continuity. Any interpretation of the biblical text should be in continuity with the message of the Bible as a whole. It is, after all, one book. This interpretation should also be in continuity with the living Tradition of the Church and the whole content of our Catholic faith. If someone comes up with an exciting new interpretation of some passage that contradicts any of these three things, then we can be sure that this interpretation was not done in the same Spirit as which the text was written.

Conclusion

In this lesson on the Bible as the word of God, we have studied three important concepts in biblical theology that help us understand what God is saying to us through the words written down by the human authors. These are:

Inspiration - This is the process by which the Holy Spirit moved and impelled the authors to write what they wrote. First, he helped them rightly understand the things he wanted written down, then he moved their wills to want to write them, and finally, he helped them express them with apt words.

Biblical truth - This means that everything the inspired authors intended to affirm is true because whatever they affirm should be regarded as being affirmed by the Holy Spirit. And, since the Holy Spirit is God, he cannot deceive nor be deceived, so whatever he affirms must be true.

Interpretation - Sacred Scripture must be read and interpreted in the light of the same Spirit by whom it was written. Three ways to ensure this are:
- Be especially attentive to the content and unity of the whole Scripture.
- Read the Scripture within the living Tradition of the whole Church.
- Be attentive to the analogy of faith.

Before you move on to the next lesson, make sure that you understand these three concepts and can explain them in your own words.

Assignments

Read Dei Verbum chapter 3.

Study numbers 105 to 114 of the Catechism of the Catholic Church.

Explain in your own words the following theological concepts:
- Biblical inspiration
- Biblical truth
- Biblical interpretation.

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