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The teachings of the Catholic Church on the sacred Scriptures might be summarized in the following points:
- The Christian Scriptures are the Church's written, authoritative witness to how the Triune God is transforming the world through the missions of Christ and the Spirit.
- To say that the Scriptures are inspired is to say that everything involved in the human process of writing them and passing them down was guided by the Holy Spirit, in anticipation of using these same human products to help other humans experience something of what the Scriptures are presenting to us.
- Christian Scripture is an instrument that leads the hearers/readers to encounter and know Christ.
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RECOMMENDED READING
- Catechism of the Catholic Church, #26-184 (Link)
- Dei Verbum, The Dogmatic Constitution on Divine Revelation (Link)
- Overview and summary of Dei Verbum (Web link)
- Catholic Update, "Scripture and Tradition" (PDF)
- James Martin, S.J., "How Does a Catholic Read the Bible?" (Link)
- Excerpts from Raymond Brown, 101 Questions on the Bible (PDF)
- Some Resources for Studying the Christian Scriptures - Jon Stotts (PDF)
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Weekly Meditation: Find Yourself in Tradition
The Bible chronicles the story of God's unfolding self-revelation to the world. God summoned Abraham out of the life he knew to pursue a barely discernible mystery and an unbelievable promise. God gave Moses the power to deliver his people out of bondage and into a freeing covenant with the Creator. And, in the fullness of time, God came to us as a human to overcome sin and death in his own body and to bring us to life in the Spirit. The Scriptures remain an ongoing witness to God's gift, and by reading the Scriptures within the community of the disciples, we remain faithful to this gift.
- Take a minute and think about the role of the Christian Scriptures in your own life. When did the Bible become important to you? How did you come to recognize it as a special text?
Many Christians view the Bible as a unique and primary source of truth and guidance. For such people, the Bible is the authority, meaning that they give the words of Scripture power to tell them what is true and what is good and right to do.
- Take another minute and consider the authorities in your own life. To what texts, persons, or institutions do you give the power to speak truth or tell you what to do?
Catholic author G.K. Chesteron once wrote, "Tradition means giving votes to the most obscure of all classes, our ancestors. It is the democracy of the dead. Tradition refuses to submit to the small and arrogant oligarchy of those who merely happen to be walking about." In other words, tradition is the way that people who are alive today remain connected to the generations who have gone before, learning from them and carrying the good that they did forward.
- Do you feel like you're a part of any living traditions, ways of life passed down from generation to generation? How has Catholicism already become a living tradition for you? How might it become a tradition in the future?