THESIS NO.4
The Church considers
the Bible with its two Testaments as `Word of God' and so as an infallible
norm. Yet as literature, the Bible is subject to the norms of literary, form
and redaction criticism which govern the interpretation of any literature (ND
236). And so it is subject to the limitations of human authorship and
transmission. Thus the Bible us the Word of God in words of humans. Internal
and external pressures led the Church to establish and fix the Canon in a
process that covered about four centuries. Being the constitution and the
charter of the Church the Canon may not be tampered with by way of additions or
excisions (ND 210, 211, 212, 213). Since other religions too have their
scriptures we need to inquire into their nature and function.
The teachings of the Church is that
the Bible (which includes the books of both the Old and New Testaments) has its
origin in God, who not only
originated but also aided and guided the
process which led to the final production of our scriptures. Thus in
different ways both God and the human writers can be called authors of the
Scriptures. They contain the word (message) of God in words of humans. The
Bible (primarily the New and secondarily the Old Testament) is thus the norm
for right believing (orthodoxy) and right living (orthopraxis) for the
Christian. It took the Church a long time both to define this doctrine of
Inspiration and to fix its canon.
1. Introduction to the Bible
1.1 Etymology
and Meaning of the word "Bible"
The word "Bible" is from
"bible" (old French) which
is based on the Latin word "biblia"
and Greek "biblos"
(books), plural is biblion. The word
Bible refers to the Scriptures of Christian Church, but it may also denote the
canon of Jewish scriptures.
biblos -> ta biblia
-> ta bibion. ta biblia means the
booklets.
The Bible has been handed down to us
in more than one form. The Hebrew Bible, often called the Masoretic Text (MT),
is a collection of 24 books a few passages in Armaic. Its form is as follows:
The Law:(TORAH) Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy,
(the Pentateuch).
The
Prophets:(NEBIIM) Former prophets: Joshua, Judges, Samuel,
Kings, Latter Prophets: Isaiah,
Jeremiah, Ezekiel; the twelve minor prophets.
The
Writings:(ketubim) Psalms,
Job, Proverbs, Ruth, Song of Solomon, Ecclesiastes, Lamentations, Esther,
Daniel, Ezra-Nehamaih, Chronicles.
(Kindly
refer the appendix of the thesis for an expansion)
The Bible is a collection of booklets. The Bible is:
a) Theological Novel: e.g., Jonah, Esther,
Job, Judith
b) Theological History: e.g., Kings,
Maccabees, Judges, Joshea, Chronicles
c) Theological Poetry: eg. Prophets, Pss,
Song of Songs, Job
d) Folk Literature:
e) Full blown literature as in Job
Oral tradition was
put into writing became the Bible. Myths are reinterpreted in the Bible.
The Bible is a religious literature.
It talks of God who is invisible. Transcendent Reality cannot be explained,
therefore the use of symbols and myths in the Bible. Symbols of the community
can be explained by the community only. The Bible is a literature which gives
expression to their Faith Experience.
- dabar means the message of God. Word of God or Message of God
is experience of a community, writers are individuals. Scandal is also a way
God speaks, eg. Solomon, Samson
2. The Bible is the `Word of God' (INSPIRATION)
2.1 Etymology and Meaning of the word
"Inspiration"
IN + SPIRATION = Breath Into.
3. The Jewish Doctrine on Inspiration
3.1 Through Philo of Alexandria
3.2 The historian Flavius Josephus: (37/38-100) is the first to use the
Greek noun epipnoia "inspiration"
for the Scriptures.
4. The New
Testament Texts on Inspiration:
4.1. 2 Tim
3, 16-17
"All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for
training in righteousness, so that everyone who belongs to God may profit,
equipped for everyday good work."
pase graphe theopneustos = All Scripture is inspired by God.
pase graphe = either EVERY scripture (individual texts),
= or collectively, ALL Scripture (the whole of Scripture).
theopneustos = "God inspired".
- either
ATTRIBUTIVELY = "all
God-inspired Scripture is useful
for..."
- or PREDICATIVLEY = "all
Scripture is God-inspired and is useful for..."
Most scholars and translators prefer
the latter interpretation. This does not really make much for a difference to
the main thrust of the text which seems to be stating the function of the
Scriptures, that is its use in the ministry. The text is not expressly dealing
with the inspiration of the Scriptures. This is taken for granted by the text.
4.2 Pet 1, 19-21
"So we have the prophetic message more fully
confirmed. You will do well to be attentive to this as to a lamp shining in a
dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts. For
first of all you must understand that no prophecy
of scripture is a matter of one's own interpretation, because no prophecy ever came by human will,
but men and women, moved by the Holy
Spirit, spoke from God"
pasa propheteia graphes = every prophecy of Scripture
ton prophetikon logon = the prophetical message or word (refers either to the
Scriptures of the prophets (Mt 26:56) or to the Whole OT).
The word graphe, Scripture, in both texts refers to the Scriptures of
the Jews.
The last part of the text, "men
and women moved by the Holy Spirit, spoke from God." is rendered by some
versions. "moved by the Holy Spirit holy men (and women)of God spoke".
Both aspects seem to be stressed by
the text, (1) men and women were moved by the spirit and as a result (2) it is God's message that they are proclaiming.
4.3. 2 Pet 3,
15-16:
"So also our beloved brother Paul wrote to you according to
the wisdom given him, speaking of this as he does in all his letters. There are
some things in them hard to understand, which the ignorant and unstable twist
to their own destruction, as they do
the other scriptures".
hos kai tas loipas graphas: (like the rest of the Scriptures). The reference is to
the Corpus Paulinum
(collection of Paul's Letters) which now received the status of scripture on a
par with the Jewish Scriptures.
5. Apologists
and Fathers of the Church on Inspiration
5.1. Athenagoras (2nd Cent ca.177):
The Spirit uses the hagiographers as
a flutist blows into a flute. He seems like Montanists to hold that in the
process the hagiographers lost their consciousness.
5.2. Origen
(185-254) Lays emphasis on the inspiration of the text thus anticipating the discussion by centuries.
5.3. Augustine
(354-430)
The Scripture were dictated by God
to the writers.
Somehow
the hagiographer's role is too passive.
Interestingly
Calvin (1509-64) also uses
the idea of dictation but not
in the sense of a stenographer (secretary) taking down dictation!
6. Theories
of Inspiration of Later theologians
6.1. "INDIVIDUAL" Theories: (focus on the individual author):
6.1.1. Instrumental Causality:
Thomas
Aquinas (1225-1274): God
is the principle cause and the human author is the instrumental cause.
However this limits both the freedom
of God and that of the hum,an writer. The different styles of the human authors
is not sufficiently safeguarded.
6.1.2. Plenary Verba Inspiration:
Melcheior
Cano (1509-1560): As he
puts it, "Everything great or small has been edited by the sacred authors
at the dictation of the Holy Spirit".
But the personality and creativity
of the human authors is evident from their writings. They are real authors!!!
6.1.3. Negative Assistance:
L.
Lessius (1554-1623) and J. Jahn (1802-1804): God helps the
author to avoid mistakes.(This is not sufficient to claim divine authorship.)
6.1.4. Subsequent Approval:
D.B.
Haneberg (mid -1800s): The
Writers composed their works in their own and later on the Church merely
approved them!
How then can God be called their
author? This theory could have originated from a wrong understanding of the
"deutro canonical" books, a concept which is theological rather than
historical.
6.1.5.
Rohling (1839-1931): The
content (truth) is from God while the formulation is of the author.
Studies on language have shown that
it is not possible to separate content from form.
6.1.6. Fanzetin (1816-1886)
6.1.7. Lagrange (1855-1938):
Scriptures are totally the work of God and totally the work of the author.
This makes sense if the word
"author" is not given the same meaning in both cases.
6.2. "SOCIAL" Theories: (focus On The Society Or Community)
Under the influence of Form-Criticism and Redaction Criticism
the accent in the theories on Inspiration began to shift from the individual
author to the final text of Scripture.
And so a
word on these two schools will be necessary at this juncture.
FORM CRITICISM:
The original German word for it was Formgeschichte or "history
of form." The Form Critical School was founded by Hermann Gunkel who studied Genesis and the Psalms. Rudolf Bultmann applied the
theory to the New Testament Gospels. According to them the written material had
a prehistory in the oral tradition. They maintained that the literary form has
under gone changes (by being either enlarged or curtailed) according to its
life situation (Sitz-im-Leben). This
for eg. an original parable uttered by Jesus was expanded into an allegory by
the evangelist. So too the descriptions of the miracles(wonders) of Jesus in
Mark have been shortened by Matthew.
The hagiographers were members of
the faith community and so spokes persons of their communities. Thus Bultmann
speaks of community theology (Gemeindetheologie).
Thus it becomes evident that the
final text of Scripture has had a long literary process involving a host of
people. The biblical books are the work both of the authors as will as the
products of the faith community.
REDACTION CRITICISM
The German once more has Redaktiosgeschichte or
"history of redaction". Due role has been attributed to the
individuality and creativity of the individual writers, here evangelists,
beyond being gatherers and collectors of tradition. The evangelists not only
represent their commonties but have also made their own original theological
contributions. Once again we see that the biblical text is the work of a series
of persons who have all made their own specific contribution towards the final
tex.
KARL RAHNER'S THEORY ON INSPIRATION (1904-1984)
Given the discoveries made by the
previous two schools of Form and Redaction Criticism about the role played by
the community of faith to which the biblical writer belonged in the final
production, say of a Gospel, Ranher attempts a solution of the problem of the
biblical Inspiration in the content of the Church. His understanding if
Inspiration is ecclesial.
Ranher begins his treatment of the
problem by saying that God in a very special way willed the Church and consequently its constitutive parts: Sacraments,
Magisterium and Scripture (treats mainly of the
NT).
For any society to come into being
it needs a charter or a constitution which gives it identity and permanence.
The Primeval, "apostolic" Church (Urkirche)
is the norm for the later Church. This is a theological concept which in
history would correspond roughly to the Church of the first and second
generation of Christians. The New Testament Scripture fulfills this function.
In Ranher's theory the OT plays a purely subsidiary role. It is the prehistory of the Church, it
prefigures the NT and consequently the NT fulfills the OT.
Since God wants the Church to last
for ever He has to give it an infallible, inerrant norm in the Scriptures.
Now, if God is the author (urheber) of the Church
He is also the author of its constitutive parts without which the Church cannot
exist. The word "author" here means "originator", one
responsible for something. For eg., the NT says that God is the author of life
(Act 3:13). The hagiographers are mere writers
(Verfasser) of the books who have left an imprint both on the content
and the form of their writings. God is never called the writer of a book.
It must be remembered that already
in 1274 in the Greek profession of faith proposed to Michael Palaeologus God is
called archegos (author) and not syngrapheus (writer) of the two
Testaments.
Remarks: Ranher's theory is so far the best available. However
the function and role of the OT is not sufficiently explained in this theory.
Ranher merely says that the OT is the prehistory of the New.
7. Doctrine
of the Church on the Inspiration
7.1. Nicene
Creed: The law of
believing is reflected in the law of praying, " Lex Orandi, lex
credendi"! That God spoke through the prophets is an article of our faith.
"I believe in one God......who
spoke through the prophets". Very often in the NT Writings the term
"prophets" can apply either to the OT prophets or to the evangelists
of the NT (cf. Eph 3:5; 1 Cor 12:28; Rom 1:2)
7.2. Ecumenical Councils
7.2.1. Council of
Florence (1442): The One God is Author of both Covenants, the
One Spirit inspired both:
"One and the same God is author
of the Old and New Covenants, that is of the Law and the prophets and of the
Gospel; for by inspiration, one and the same Holy Spirit spoke to the Saints of
both Covenants. With all books". (DS 1334).
7.2.2. Council of
Trent (IV Session 1546): God is the author of both the dispensations
(Old and New Covenants) and the Holy Spirit "dictated" all the books.
"Following then, the example of
the orthodox Fathers, it (the Council) receives and venerates with the same
piety and reverence all the books of both......for they come from the mouth of
Christ (oretenus a Christo) or are inspired by the Holy Spirit (Spiritu Sancto
dictats), and have been preserved in continuous succession in the Catholic
Church." (DS 1501).
7.2.3. Vatican I (1870)
The Council practically repeated all
that Trent had said. It further rejects the 19th C theories of Inspiration like
Negative Assistance and Subsequent Approbation. God is the author of the
biblical books because the Holy Spirit inspired the human authors.
"These (the books of the
Vulgate, "in their integrity, with all their parts") the Church holds
to be sacred and canonical, not because having been carefully composed by mere
human industry, they contain revelation, with no admixture of error, but
because, having been written by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, they have
God for their author, and have been delivered as such to the Church
herself". (DS 3006)
7.2.4. Vatican II (Decree on Revelation): It states that
the NT phrase "God-inspired" (theopneustos) signifies for us at the
present time the authorship of God. The authorship of the biblical books is
taken for granted.
7.3. Papal
Encyclicals:
7.3.1.
Providentissimus Deus (Leo XIII, 1893): In the context of inerrancy of the Scriptures the
encyclical stresses the fact that there can be no contradiction between science
and faith as present in the Scripture.
7.3.2. Divino Afflante
Spiritu (Pius XII, 1943): It is the magna Charta (great charter) of the
Catholic exegetes. For the first time Catholic exegetes were allowed to examine
the Scriptures as literature submitting it to the norms of Form and Redaction
Criticism. Stress was laid on the study of the original languages, Hebrew and
Greek and on the various literary form.
LIMITATIONS OF HUMAN AUTHORSHIP & TRANSMISSION.
(INERRANCY)
The problem of biblical inspiration
leads to yet another problem of inerrancy of the bible. The term inerrancy
designates, negatively to the Bible's quality of being free from error; the
positively it refers to the truthfulness of the Bible.
Thus inerrancy of the Bible means
that there are no errors regarding the salvific message (soteriological). In its theological and anthropological
thrusts, it does not deceive us, but offers a reliable and trustworthy guide
for our spiritual pilgrimage.
Vat. I :
No admixture of error (ND 216).
Vat.II : No errors in the salvific truth (DV 11).
Some Errors and Inconsistencies in the Bible
The critical investigation of the
Bible has shown that there are errors in it.
(a) The geo-centric system in the Bible is
proved wrong. Copernicus affirmed a
helio-centric system.
(b) There are two different accounts of
creation, contradictory details of the Flood in Gen 6:19ff & 7.
(c) There are duplications and triplications
of incidents with common features. Eg.
Abraham pretends as though his wife is his sister and so deceives Pharaoh in
Gen 12:10f; but in Gen 22:1f he does this again to Abimelech; and according to
Gen 26:6f, Abimelech is similarly deceived by Isaac.
(d) There are also problems with regard to
the morality of the OT. The adultery of
David, a man chosen by God; the cursing Psalms like Ps 83; Jacob obtaining the
rights of the eldest son by fraud; the command of Yahweh to kill men, women,
infants and suckling .... in I Sam 15:1-3).
(e) There are misquotings by Jesus. He refers to Abiah, instead of Abimelech, as
the High Priest, when David entered the Temple and ate the bread.
It is impossible to defend the
inerrancy of the Bible from the modern historical and scientific points of
view. Hence, each problem in the Bible
needs to be solved in its own context.
Hence, Bible is inerrant in the
soteriological sense, i.e., inerrancy in salvific truth - in matters of
faith and morals (DV 11).
INTERNAL & EXTERNAL PRESSURES: FIX CANON
It is assumed that the early
christian church took over and enlarged the Jewish canon. Some historians claim
that it was Christians and not the Jews who fixed their scriptures first.
Because the Christian Church had to prove and assert its identity and not
Judaism which already been in existence.
It took four centuries to arrive at
a common consensus between the West and Eastern Churches. The Canon for the OT
was readily accepted but the NT. The Western Church had problems with the
Letters to the Hebrews because the authorship of Paul was under question. The
Eastern Church questioned the Book of Revelation because the heresy of the
Chiliasts (1000 years of Reign of the Messiah) seems to be based on it. In
their struggle with their common foe of the Arian heresy the West and the East
came to an understanding.
CANON
OF THE SCRIPTURES
1. Meaning
of the word "canon":
The English word "canon"
goes back via Latin, Greek, Hebrew and Akkadian to the Sumerian in the third
millennium BCE.
Originally "canon"
literally meant a reed and
hence later metaphorically a
measuring rod. Finally it came to
mean a norm. It also
got a derived meaning of a chronological
table or even simply a list.
When applied to the Sacred
Scriptures it has two meanings:
1. a norm for right living and right
believing and
2. list of inspired books.
2. History
of the Canon:
2.2. Who was
the first to fix a Canon?
Though it is assumed that the early
Christian Church took over and enlarged the Jewish Canon, some historians claim
that it was the Christians
and not the Jews who were the first
to fix a Canon of their Scriptures. This is of course understandable
for it is the Christian Church which had to prove and assert its identity and
not Judaism which had already been in existence for some centuries.
2.2. Is it correct to speak of an Alexandrian Canon?
Though we speak of an "Alexandrian Canon" it must
not have forgotten that the different versions of the Septuagint (LXX) or the Greek Bible have included some other
books besides those that are found in the Hebrew or Palestinian Bible. One must
not lose sight of the fact that both the Hebrew and the Greek Bible originated
in Jewish communities. But the Christian Church for eg., has excluded from its
Canon the Psalms of Solomon present in some of the LXX versions.
2.3. When was the Canon for the universal Church
fixed?
The Canon of the Scriptures was not
settled in a day but it took the Church about four centuries to arrive at a common consensus for the universal Church, that is for
the Western and the Eastern Churches. The canon for the OT was more readily
accepted than the canon for the NT. Thus the Western (Roman) Church had problems with the Letters to the
Hebrews because it questioned the authorship of Paul. The Eastern (Greek) Church questioned the Book of Revelation
because the heresy of the Chiliasts (thousand years' reign of the Messiah) seems
to be based on it. In their struggles with the common foe of the Arian heresy
they came to understanding.
2.4. Was the list
in the Muratorian Fragment a Canon?
We are not sure what theological
value can be given to the earliest list of the NT scriptures often known as the
Muratorian Canon, more
accurately Muratorian Fragment
from the late second century A.D., named after L.A. Muratori who discovered it
in 1740 in the Ambrosian Library in Milan. It also mentions some books which
the Church does not accept as canonical, like Pastor Hermas and the Apocalypse
of Peter. It does not include other like the Letters to the Hebrews, James and
1 and 2 Peter.
2.5. What were
the principles of fixing the Canon?
The principle which the Church used
in establishing the Canon seems to be the of liturgical usage in the different local Churches. For the
writings of the NT besides this the Christological and the apostolic principles were used.
In other words, "Do the books
have a reference to Christ?"
Further,"Do they
ordinate from an apostle?"
Thus there was hesitation in
including the Epistle to the Hebrews in the Western Church and the Book of
Revelation in the Eastern Church.
2.6. Origin and
Growth of the Canon:
2.6.1 The English word Bible comes from the Greek
word biblos, book, and its diminutive plural ta biblia, the booklets. Now the question before us is,
"how did the many booklets become the one single book we call the
Bible?"
2.6.2. The Hebrew Bible of the Jews:
i) Introductory
Note:
Generally the Jewish books of the
Hebrew OT are called proto canonical
books and the list itself is called the Hebrew or Palestinian
Canon. But it is a hotly debated issue whether and when the Jews
introduced the concept of canon. Thus in the sectarian group of Jews at Qumran,
who broke away from official Judaism, fragments of all sorts of apocryphal and
pseudepigrahical books have been found. Besides some scholars question whether
the so-called Council of Jabne
(dated 96 A.D.) can really be called a council and that it was called to
discuss and fix the biblical Canon (cf. NJBC, Section 35).
Among the books of the OT, the Torah
(Hebrew for instruction of law) or the Pentateuch
(Greek for the five scrolled book) takes precedence. We are not sure when the
final redaction of the Pentateuch took place. Some maintain that Ezra the scribe came with it to
Jerusalem from Babylon after the Exile. He is ascribed to the fifth or the
fourth century, generally to 398. But some historians like Gabrini even
question the very existence of the man! At any rate we have no certainty on the
matter. But surely the Pentateuch must have been in existence by the time of
Alexander the Great (ca 330) when the Samaritans
broke away from the Jews and built their temple on Mount Gerizim. Their Scriptures
are limited to the Pentateuch and a Samaritan version (at times tendentious) is
available. Ben Sira
(Ecclesiastics) who wrote around 180 B.C.E. testifies in his preface to the
fact that the Jews in his time had already added the collection of the books of
the Prophets and the Other books of our ancestors i.e., the Writings to the Law (Pentateuch). He calls this
whole collection "scripture". Incidentally the Gospel of Luke also
refers to a tripartite division of the Hebrew Scriptures (cf. Lk 24:44).
The Jews call their Bible the Tanach which is an acrostic formed with the first
letters of the following three words, Torah
(Law), Nebiim (Prophets) and Ketubim (Writings). According to
some Jewish sources it contains 24 according to others 22 books. It looks as if
the first opinion is more ancient since the second is artificially made to
coincide with the 22 characters of the Hebrew alphabet. And so Ruth is
considered as part of Judges (since the story takes place at the time of the
Judges) and Lamentations is taken as part of Jeremiah. But the numbering does
not correspond to ours because some of the books which we divide into two is
taken by them as one book like Samuel, Kings, Chronicles and Ezra-Nehemiah. So
too the Book of the Twelve Prophets is taken as one whereas for us they are 12
books. And so their numbering as 22 or 24 corresponds to 39 in our computation.
ii) Torah (5
books):
According to the Jews the Torah contains the so-called
five books of Moses. In Greek Torah has been rendered as Pentateuch, that is, the book written on five scrolls. The
names Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers,
and Deuteronomy came from the
Greek Bible. In Hebrew they name them after the first two Hebrew words with
which the books begin. Thus for eg. Genesis is called "In the beginning" (bere shit), Exodus is called "These are the names"
(elleh hasshe mot), Leviticus is called "And
he called" (wayyiqra), Numbers "In the desert" (bammidbar), and Deuteronomy "These are the words"
(elleh haddebarim). The Torah is the most important part of their Scriptures if
we are to judge from the number of rabbinic commentaries on the books of the
Torah.
iii) Nebiim (8 books):
This is subdivided into Early and
Later prophets.
The Early Prophets include the four books of Joshua,
Judges, Samuel and Kings, the later two are counted as two books instead of
four according to our computation. It is significant that these books are
called "Prophets" by the Jews whereas in our classification they come
under the so-called "historical books".
The Later Prophets also include four books, that is, Isaiah,
Jermaiah, Ezekiel and the Book of the Twelve Prophets (considered as one
book). It should be noted that the Book of Daniel is not included here. The 12
prophets (in the order of the Vulgate or Jerome's translation accepted by the
Church) are Hoshea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Micah, Jonah, Nahum, Habakkuk,
Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi.
iv) Ketubim (11 books):
In the Greek Bible they are called
the Hagiographa or the Sacred Writings. These included the books of Psalms, Job, Proverbs, Ruth, Song of Songs,
Koheleth (or Ecclesiastes in Greek), Lamentations,
Esther, Daniel, Ezra-Nehemiah (as one book) and Chronicles (as one book). It is to be noted that the books of
Daniel and Esther in the Hebrew Bible are shorter than the Greek versions.
2.6.3. The
Septuagint or Greek Bible of Alexandria
The collection of books, some
translated from the Hebrew, others originally composed in Greek is called the Septuagint (LXX) or the Bible of
the Seventy. This is due to a
legend found in the Letter if
Aristeas according to which seventy-two or seventy scholars translated
the books in seventy-two days under the patronage of Ptolemy II Philadelphus
around the year 275 BCE. No distinction is made between the books translated
from the Hebrew Bible and the others. Further it is to be noted that the number
of the books added to the Hebrew Bible is not the same in all the versions.
Thus the Vatican Codex does not contain any of the Books of Maccabees, the Sinaitic
Codex has only the first and the fourth, whereas the Alexandrine Codex has four
Books of Maccabees! And so it follows that the Jews in Alexandria did not have
an official Canon. But it is the Church that finally fix its own Canon. It did
not take over a Canon from any Jewish community.
The number of books which the Church
chose to include into its Bible besides of the Hebrew Bible and which the
Catholics called deutro-canonical books
are seven. They are the following:
1 and 2 Maccabees, Judith, Tobit, Baruch (with the Letter of
Jeremiah in ch. 6), Ecclesiastics
(Ben Sira or the Siracide) and the so-called Wisdom of Solomon.
2.6.4. Role and
Function of the deutro-canonical Books:
i) Chasm
between the Testaments
There is a real chasm between some
of the ideas from the books of the Hebrew Old Testament and those from the
books of the Greek New Testaments. This gulf seems to be bridged by the claims
made by Jesus as fulfilling the OT. But the difficulty seems to remain. Thus
for eg. the belief in the resurrection of the dead, life after death, and
immortality of the soul seem to be absent in the Hebrew Old Testament.
ii) Deutero
canonical books as a link between the Testaments
Thus in the Pentateuch there is no
clear concept of life after death. The main preoccupation of the patriarchs is
to be gathered with their fathers, that is to be buried in the family grave.
Some of the Psalms seem to believe that life continues after death in Sheol,
the abode of the dead, but in a rather shadowy form of existence and away from
Yahweh, as can be seen from the Canticle of Isaiah to be found as an appendix
to the Book of Isaiah (Is 38:9-20) hailing from the post exilic period. But
some time in the post exilic period theologians working on the problem of
theodicy or justification of God worked out some sort of a solution.
The connecting link between the two
Testaments is found in the so-called deutero canonical books. Thus the second
Book of Maccabees and the Book of Wisdom raise the problem of the suffering and
death of the just which puts in question the theology of retribution as
propounded for eg. in the Book of Deuteronomy. In the second Book of Maccabees resurrection of the dead and everlasting
life after death is expected for the just whereas the wicked are not
promised this (cf. 2 Macc 7:9-14). But of course the NT promised after life to
both, eternal life for the good and eternal fire for the wicked (cf. Mat 25:31-46). The Book of Wisdom even
speaks of immortality and
life after death (cf. Wd 2:21-3:4; 8:13-18). The problem of theodicy is also tackled here
when the author says, "In the eyes of the unwise they appear to die, their
going looked like a disaster, their leaving us like annihilation, but they are
in "peace" (Wd 3:1-2). The Christian doctrine of "creation out of nothing" is
also more clearly formulated than in first chapter of Genesis. "Observe
heaven and earth, consider all that is in them, and acknowledge that God made
them out of what did not exist (ouk
ex onton), and that mankind comes into being in the same way" (2
Macc 7:28)
iii) Deutro
canonical books open to other cultures
The openness of Jesus and the early
Christians (under the leadership of Paul) towards other cultures and religions
is also apparent from the fact that the Early Christian Church accepted into
its Canon books written in languages other than Hebrew like Aramaic (Book of
Tobit) and Greek (2 Maccabees and Wisdom).
iv) Proto
canonical, Deutro canonical, Apocryphal and Pseudepigraphical
What Catholics call proto canonical
(Hebrew Bible), Protestants call canonical.
What Catholics call deutro
canonical, Protestants call apocryphal (the addition to the so-called
Alexandrian Canon).
What some of the Catholic call
apocryphal, Protestants call pseudepigraphical.
Some of the Old Testament apocryphal
(Protestant pseudopigraphical) books are the following:
Testaments
of the Twelve Patriarchs, Books of Jubilees, Apocalypse of Baruch, Book of
Henoch, Book of the Secrets of Henoch, Life of Adam and Eve, Assumption of
Moses, Ascension of Isaiah etc.
3. Relationship
Between the Testaments
3.1. Holistic
understanding of the Bible
The very fact that the Scriptures of
the Jews are called "Old" Testament automatically influences its
interpretation and neglects its position to a secondary status in relation to
the "New" Testament. And the very fact that they are placed together
one book affects the interpretation of the one and of the other. Thus one can
legitimately speaks of a Christian reading of the OT.
3.2. Relativisation
of the OT
This relativisation was initiated by none other than Jesus
himself (cf. Mt 5:20-48). It was then continued by the disciples of Jesus
traces of which are to be found in the authors of the NT like Paul. For him
"the Law" (ho nomos)
in the sense of the OT was a preparation (paedagogos
= one who leads a Child) for
the coming of Christ (Gal 3:24). He calls the rituals and laws of the OT
"a shadow (skia) of what is to come, but the substance (soma) belongs to
Christ" (Col 2:17). The author of the Epistle to the Hebrews too calls the
Law "a shadow of the good things to come and not the true form of these
realities" (Heb 10:1).
3.3. NT as the
fulfillment of the Old
Jesus also made an expression claim
to fulfill the OT (Lk 4:21).
He seems to have been conscious of ushering in the Messianic era when he says
in his initial preaching, "The time is fulfilled and the Kingdom of God
has come neat" (Mt 1:15). He also seems to know that he is the Messiah
promised by the OT (Mt 11:1-6). By making a reference to Jeremiah's prophecy
Jesus expressly institutes the "new" covenant in his blood (Lk
22:20). It then becomes the teaching of the NT as for eg. Matthew's formula
quotations at the beginning and the end of his Gospel clearly show (Mt 1-4 and
21:4).
4.4. Typological
Interpretation of the OT
Writers like Paul shows that the "types" are in the OT
whereas the "antitypes"
are in the New. Thus Adam is called a "type (typos) of the one who was to come", that is Jesus, the
founder of the new humanity (cf. Rom 5:14). And so in the Christian tradition
Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Moses and David are made to prefigure Christ.
The author of I Pet calls baptism an "antitype" (antitypos) of Noah's flood (1 Pet 3:21, cf. also Heb 9:24).
4.5 N a
Continuation of the Old
The author of the Letter to the
Hebrews claims that there is no break between the two Testaments, that they are
two parts of the same divine-human drama, and that it is the same God who is
both the Testaments (cf. Heb 1:1ff). Thus the NT is a clear continuation of the salvation history
begun in the OT. In other words the same God who had begun the work of saving
humanity in the OT brought it to perfection in the NT through the saving work
of Christ.
4.6. OT
theological categories in the New
The OT also helps us to understand
in depth the NT. Theological
categories of the NT like the kingdom of God, covenant, testament, sin,
sacrifice, expiation, Messiah, Son of God, Son of Man are drawn from the OT to
say nothing about the Ten
Commandments. The controversies of Jesus and Paul
with the Pharisees, Sadducees and the rabbis make sense only in reference to
the laws of the Pentateuch.
4.7. Liberation
Theology inspired by the OT
Further, one must not forget that
the Liberation Theology Movement of
Latin America (Gutierrez, Boff) took its inspiration not only from Jesus but
also from the Book of Exodus ("Let my people go!") and the writings
of the Prophets.
4.8. OT as a
Value in itself
One can also consider the OT in
itself that is , without a reference to the New. Thus for eg. the writings of
the Prophets of Israel
continue to challenge us. The Wisdom
Writings continue to inspire us and help us to dialogue with members of
other religions. The Psalms
continue to be the official payer book of the Church and have been profitably
used by generations of Christians.
4.9. The
Testaments as mutually enriching and as mutual corrective
Finally since our canonical or
normative Scriptures are the whole Bible with its two Testament, one has to
keep in mind that the two Testaments not only complement each other, but in a
way serve as mutual correctives.
Thus the OT is much more holistic in its approach. There shalom is the total welfare of
the human person without splitting it into body and soul. The NT seems to be
slightly tainted by the dualism
of body and soul, matter and form, light and darkness, good and evil, arising
from Greek Philosophy and
from Gnosis/Gnostics and Qumran.
Even though the New Testament has only a moral
not an ontological dualism,
as a result of its struggle with the forces of Gnosis the spiritualizing tendencies of the New stand out in
comparison with the Old Testament.
Thus the New Testament tends to spiritualize the concept of
salvation, redemption and blessing (cf. Ephes 1 : 1f). Salvation is from sin,
our enemies are the powers of evil, our blessing is spiritual and in the
heavenly places. On the other hand in the Old Testament the same ideas seem to
limit themselves to this -worldly
realities. The enemies are Egyptians, Philistines, Assyrians, Babylonians.
Blessings are of the breast and of the womb of cattle and crops.
4.10. Biblical
Text and Hermeneutics
i) Holistic
Understanding of the Text
The whole Bible is inspired and
stress is to be laid on salvific truth. We now begin to interpret the inspired
text through Hermeneutics. As
in a mosaic the details make sense only when seen as parts of the totality.
The very fact that we have placed
the "Old" Testament in our Bible influences its interpretation. And
so one can legitimately speak of a Christian reading of the Old Testament.
For a proper understanding and
interpretation of ancient Scriptures one has to master the original languages,
with their corresponding thought patterns and world views. Philology archeology
and comparative religion are necessary tools for this.
However we should not get stuck in a
sterile historicism. The
written text is beyond the control of its original author or authors.
ii) Historical
Critical Method
The Historical Critical method is a
useful and indispensable tool for exegesis in so far as it reveals the
complexity of the biblical text by showing us the different layers of a given
text originating from different life situations. Besides, one must keep in mind
that postulating authentic (genuine) passages of the original author and
unauthentic (spurious) passages of a later redactor or glossator remains in the
long run a subjective matter, to say nothing about claiming to have access to
the intention of the author.
iii) Hermeneutics
As Hermeneutics has shown, the
meaning of the text is finally established through the dialogue of the reader
with the text. Now the reader is not a passive spectator in the process. The
reader comes with a definite pre-understanding and questions to the text. The
meaning is not found in the text like a treasure hidden in a field. The meaning
is created through this dialogue between reader and text. Meaning is not static
but dynamic. The text has both a "backward" and a "forward"
to it.
5. Inspiration
of Other Scriptures
5.1. Problem:
The problem of inspiration is
connected with theology and monotheism. If there is only one God as
Christianity maintains, who inspired the Scriptures of other religions? Or are
we to say they are not inspired.
5.2. Warning:
Our theology is primarily an attempt
to clarify matters for ourselves,
to make sense of our religion for ourselves.
We have no right to dictate or formulate a theology for others.
5.3. Posing the
Question:
Is our question properly posed? Is
our question meaningfully asked? And are we asking the right question?
5.4. Attempts
at Solution:
A). Negatively
i) Inspiration makes sense only in the
context of a theistic religion,
that is one which believe in a personal God.
ii) There are problems in attributing
inspiration to the Scriptures of so-called Monistic
or Pantheistic religions.
If
everything is one Reality, there is no possibility of One inspiring the other,
for in the context there is no other.
iii) There are problems in attributing
inspiration to the Scriptures of Hinayana
Buddhism.
If this
religious tradition does not believe in a personal God nor in the permanence of
the human person the question of inspiration is meaningless.
iv) There are problems regarding tribal religions.
So far
many of these do not have written
Scriptures. Their life is guided by oral
traditions and customs.
Are we
to say that since they have no Scriptures God is not interested in their
salvation? Or are we to postulate "inspiration" for the guide-lines
and rites which have been handed down in their oral tradition?
B). Positively
i) God is
Truth: Whatsoever is
true comes from one God who is Truth and the source of all truth.
ii) Universalism
of Salvation: Christianity
as a monotheistic religion believes in universalism of salvation (cf. 1 Tim 2:5).
And so in our theology we cannot lose sight of the members of other religions.
If God wants all to be saved He must give them the means to attain salivation,
one of which is Scripture.
iii) Divine
Providence guides all peoples:
The One God and Father of all sends prophets and wise persons in his divine
providence to guide members of the different religions. As the Koran teaches
God has not left any nation without a prophet. And as Ben Sira tells us,
"All Wisdom is from the Lord.... he has poured her out upon those who love
him" (Sir 1:1-10. cf. also 17:1-14).
iv) Experience
of God and its expression:
Scripture are word of God in words of humans and so errors can creep into the expression of religious truths.
The experience of God can be genuine whereas its formulation might be
deficient.
v) Inter
religious dialogue:
Truth is established through dialogue
which involves, mutual exchange, enrichment and correction among the various
religions. NO one religious tradition has the monopoly of truth. Every religious
tradition has something positive to contribute to the other.
vi) Specificity
of each religious tradition:
Thus the Judaeo-Christian (Judaism, Christianity, Islam) tradition stresses the
transcendence of the personal God who reveals his will to human
beings as it were from outside (Law). The Eastern (Hindu) tradition stresses
the immanence of God in the
personal experience of the individual.
The
dangers of the former are legalism, pharisanism and intolerance, whereas the
danger of the latter are illusion, hallucination and lack of concern for the
neighbour and for external reality. It is obvious that the two traditions have
much to contribute to each other.
APPENDIX
1. THE BIBLE
The English word "Bible"
is derived from the Old French bible,
which in turn based on Latin biblia
and Greek biblia (books), plural of biblion is biblos. Most commonly the term refers to the Scriptures of the
Christian Church, but it may also denote the canon of Jewish scriptures.
The Bible has been handed down to us
in more than one form. The Hebrew Bible is a collection of 24 books written in
Hebrew (but including some pages in Aramaic. Its form is as follows: The Law (torah) or Pentateuch, the Prophets (nebiim), The Writings (ketubim).
A translation of the Jewish
scripture into Greek, commonly called the Septuagint
(LXX).
The Christian Bible consists of the
OT and the NT. In the Roman Catholic and Eastern Christian communities (eg.
Greek, Syriac, Armenian), the OT is based on the LXX, while most Protestant churches
accepted only the books of the Hebrew Bible as their OT canon. The NT canon we
have inherited now consists of 27 books: the
Gospel of Matthew, Mark, Luke, John; Acts of the Apostles; Romans, 1 and 2
Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, 1 and 2
Thessalonians, 1 and 2 Timothy, Titus, Philemon (all attributed to Paul); Hebrews, James, 1 and 2 Peter, 1,2 and 3
John, Jude, and Revelation.
The development of the various
biblical canons was a long and complex process.(refer the longer notes): the
Council of Jamnia (ca. Ad. 90) ? and the Jamnian canon of Judaism was first to
fix canon!!!. By the second century, it was not common to find church fathers
using books found in the LXX but not in the Jamnian canon.
It was not until the Protestant
Reformation that these books ("apocryphal") were clearly denied
canonical status (in Protestant circles). The Roman Church, however, continues
to affirm their place in the canon of Scripture.
The NT canon also has an uneven and
complex history. No canonical list appear before around A.D. 150, when the
heretic Marcian proclaimed a canon consisting of his version of Luke and ten
letters of Paul. By the end of the century, more inclusive lists of
authoritative NT writings were advanced, eg. the Muratorian Canon, Irenaeus
(mid-second century A.D.), and Tertullian. The 27 book Latin Vulgate of Jerome
exerted considerable influence upon what books were recognized. Unanimously in
the Western church was not fully achieved, but the 27 book canon was predominant.
In the Syrian church achieved a 22 book canon by the fifth century, although
later christological controversies created division, resulting in some erosion
of the fifth century division.
Formation
of the Hebrew SS: Scholars have
argued that the Pentateuch is the final product of the interweaving of several
literary sources, called J, E, D, and P.
The Yahwist source (J) the earliest (ca. 1000 B.C.). Its most distinguishing
character is its use of the divine name Yahweh. The Elohist source (Elohim). Its
portrayal of God is less anthropomorphic than that of J. Scholars generally
date E about a century later than J. The Deuteronomic Source (D) concerns lie
chiefly in its radical opposition to the worship of Ball, its program of
restricting sacrifice to the Jerusalem Temple was developed for the purpose of
stamping the Baal worship. The Priestly source (P), dating from the period of
the Babylonian exile (late sixth to early fourth century B.B.) emphasizes the
cultic institution of Israel, eg. Sabbath, circumcision, etc.
By the early post exilic period
(late sixth cent. B.C.), the first two parts of the Hebrew Bible (torah &
Prophets) were almost complete. The section of the canon called the Writings
was not finally completed until the second century B.C. The book of the
Apocrypha (so-called_ were written during the first two centuries B.C. and the
first century A.D.
Formation of the Christian NT: Scholars generally agree that much of the material in
the synoptic Gospels originated in oral traditions, only later finding its way
into written Gospels. Most scholars believe that Mark was the first Gospel to
be written. The compilers of Mt. and Lk used both Mark and what may have a
source of Jesus' teachings labeled Q, according to the prevailing view. A minority
of scholars doubt the priority of Mk and the existing of Q. It is widely
accepted that John is the latest of the four Gospels, though early traditions
may be contained within it. The synoptic Gospels were probably written between
A.D. 70 and 100, with John coming in the late first or early second century.
The Letters of Paul were probably
written in the 50s and 60s. Many scholars doubt that Paul wrote Ephesians (some
doubt Colossians and 2 Thessalonians also), and there is a widespread belief
that the pastoral Letters (1 & 2 Timothy, Titus) were written perhaps after
the turn of the second century by some speaking in the name of revered apostle
Paul. The "catholic (or original) epistles" (James, 1 and 2 Peter,
Jude, 1,2, and 3 John) probably emerged in the first and early second
centuries. It is likely that Hebrews and Revelation stem from the late first
century.
2. INSPIRATION: As "Word of God"
Until 19th century
biblical inspiration and inerrancy was not an issue at all because, till then,
the Church believed and firmly taught that the Bible is the work of God; God is
the author of the Bible. As such, it is
the Word of God, and has a divine authority which guarded the text from all
error/mistake. This sort of a purely
theological understanding posed no doubt regarding biblical inspiration and
inerrancy. But with the emergence of
scientific criticism (critical reading and investigation) the nature of
inspiration (divine authorship) was questioned (with the discovery of the many
historical, chronological and scientific errors), and thus, paving the way for
establishing that the Christian Scriptures are human writings, subject to
limitations of human authorship, and transmission.
Etymology of the word "INSPIRATION"
Literally the word
"inspire" means, "blow into" or "breathe
into". Hence, when it is used in
the context of biblical inspiration, it refers to mean that God is giving some
influence in writing the texts, or, God is actively supporting in writing what
God wanted the human authors to write.
Therefore, God himself is the author, and the humans are the literary
writers.
Types of Inspiration :
(a) Poetic Inspiration : It is a
heightened human experience that leads a poet to compose a poem.
(b) Prophetic Inspiration : The
prophet is inspired by God and is filled with the Spirit which urges him to
give an oracle (which communicates a message of God). Thus the prophet speaks the "Word of
God".
(c) Scriptural Inspiration : That
which effects the written texts of the Bible, for it contains the God
experience whereby making it a book different from other books, giving it a
supra-human origin and a supra-human authority.
JEWISH
DOCTRINE ON INSPIRATION
The Israelites believed that God
inspired Moses, prophets, authors of Wisdom Literature etc. So, a gradual
development of Scriptural inspiration appeared among the Jews.
(a) Philo of Alexandria
(13 BC-45/50 AD) : The Jewish teaching about the divine origin of the SS is
known to us through Philo. He, being
influenced by Platonism, held that the SS were pre-existent like the Platonic
ideas. And God dictated them to the
human authors. Philo is the first to
adopt the Greek verb epipnein or katapnein, meaning "to inspire" and to use it in this
context.
(b) Flavius Josephus
(37/38-100) : This Jewish historian is the first to use the Greek noun epipnoia, meaning "inspiration" for Scriptures.
NEW
TESTAMENT TEXTS ON INSPIRATION
There are three texts that
apparently deal with Scriptural Inspiration.
(a) 2 Tim 3:16-17 :
"All scriptures is inspired by God...". This is the only text explicitly referring to
the inspiration of the Scriptures. However, the thrust of the text seems to be
stating the function of the Scriptures, that is, its use in the ministry. Again, "all Scriptures" refers
to the Jewish Scriptures (OT), because there was no collection of Christian SS
existing at the time when 2 Tim was written.
(b) 2 Pet 1:19-21 : It
refers either to the scriptures of the prophets or to the whole OT.
(c) 2 Pet 3:15-16 :
Here, the reference is to the Corpus
Paulinum (collection of Paul's Letters).
Paul's Letters are considered as sacred Scriptures in the Church, and
thus, placing it on a par with the Jewish Scriptures (OT). But the text does not say anything about the
Inspiration of the Bible.
Hence, no NT text claims to be or is
treated as Sacred Scripture, except for the Letters of Paul which are classed
as Sacred Scripture in 2 Pet 3:15-16.
There is no explicit affirmation of the inspiration of the Bible except
perhaps in 2 Tim 3:16, which may be affirming that all Sacred Scripture (OT) is
inspired by God without, however, telling us what such inspiration would mean.
APOLOGISTS
AND FATHERS OF THE CHURCH ON INSPIRATION
The early fathers used metaphors to
show that God is the writer of the Scriptures.
(a) Athenagoras
(2nd cent. ca.177) : The Spirit uses the hagiographers (human
writers) as a flautist blows into a flute.
Limitation : He seems to hold (like the Montanists) that in the
process the hagiographers lost their consciousness.
(b) Origen (185-254)
: He emphasized on the inspiration of the text,
(not on the inspiration of the writers) thus anticipating the discussion by
centuries.
(c) Augustine (354-430) : He held that the Scriptures
were dictated by God to the writers.
Limitations : The hagiographer's role is too passive. Also, it fails to account for the errors in
the Bible. God seems to be responsible
for the errors and inconsistencies.
(Calvin [1509-64] also uses this idea of
dictation but not in the sense of a stenographer (secretary) taking down
dictation!).
THEORIES
OF INSPIRATION OF LATER THEOLOGIANS
(a) "INDIVIDUAL"
THEORIES : These focus
on the inspiration of the individual author.
(1) Instrumental Causality (Thomas Aquinas [1225-1274]): According
to him, God is the principal cause and the human author is the instrumental
cause.
Limitations: It limits the freedom of both God and the human
writer. The theory cannot be applied to
human beings who are conscious and free, but to inanimate beings. Also, it does not sufficiently safeguard the
different styles of the writers. It also
does not solve the problem of inconsistencies in the Bible.
(2) Plenary Verbal Inspiration (Melchior Cano [1509-1560]) Everything,
great or small, has been edited by the sacred authors at the dictation of the
Holy Spirit.
Limitations: This denies human authors as the real authors, and
their personality and creativity evident from the writings.
(3) Negative Assistance (L.Lessius [1554-1623 & J.Jahn [1802-?]) : They opined that God
helps the author to avoid mistakes.
Limitation : This is insufficient to claim divine authorship.
(4) Subsequent Approval or Approbation (D.B. Haneberg [mid 1800s]) : The writers
composed their works on their own and later on the Church merely approved them.
So, the text is inspired because the Church says it so.
Limitation : How then can God be called their author? This, thus, rules out God's sovereignty as
the originator of the SS.
(5) Content and Form (Franzelin [1816-1886]) : The content
(truth/message) is from God while the formulation is of the author.
Limitation : Studies on language have shown that it is not possible
to separate content from form.
(6) Dual Authorship (Langrange [1855-1938]) : Scriptures are
totally the work of God and totally the work of the author.
Limitation : Both God and man cannot be authors in the same
sense. Thus, this theory makes sense
only if the word "author" is not given the same meaning in both the
cases.
(b) "SOCIAL THEORIES" : The focus is on the community.
Under the influence of Form
Criticism and Redaction Criticism the accent in the theories on Inspiration
began to shift from the individual author to the final text of the SS. Thus, the focus is not on the question of
inspiration of the individual authors, but the inspiration of the book. The
Bible is not the personal composition of certain individuals; it is the end
product of a long, repeatedly edited and re-edited traditions of a believing
community.
(1) Form Criticism : The form Critical School was founded by Hermann Gunkel who studied Genesis and
Psalms. Rudolf Bultmann applied the theory to the NT Gospels. According to them, the written material had a
pre-history in the oral tradition. They
maintained that the literary form has undergone changes (either enlarged or
curtailed), according to its life situation (Sitz-im-Leben). Thus, for
example, an original parable uttered by Jesus was expanded into an allegory by
the evangelist. So too, the descriptions of the miracles (wonders) of Jesus in
Mark have been shortened by Matthew.
The hagiographers were members of
the faith community and so spokesperson of their communities. Thus the final text of SS has had a long
literary process in the oral tradition, involving lots of people. The biblical books are, thus, the work both
of the authors as well as products of the faith community.
(2) Redaction Criticism : This attributes a dual role to the
individuality and creativity to the individual writers (evangelists), who were
not merely gatherers or collectors of tradition. The evangelists not only represent their
communities but have also made their own original theological
contributions. Hence, the biblical text
is the work of a series of persons who have made their own contribution towards
the final text.
(3) KARL RAHNER'S THEORY OF INSPIRATION
Rahner attempts a solution of the
problem of Biblical Inspiration in the context of the Church. His understanding of Inspiration is
ecclesial.
According to Rahner, the Church is
willed by God in a very special way. Its consequently its constitutive parts
are : Sacraments, Magisterium and Scriptures (treats mainly the NT).
For any society to come into being
it needs a charter or constitution which gives it identity and permanence. The "apostolic" Church (a
theological concept which in history corresponds to the Church of the first and
the second generations of Christians) is the norm for the later Church. The NT Scriptures is the charter and norm for
the Church. (For Rahner, the OT's role is only subsidiary; it is the
pre-history of the Church; it pre-figures the NT and consequently the NT
fulfills the OT). Since God wants the
Church to last for ever He has to give it an infallible and inerrant norm
(regarding faith and morals = soteriological) in the Scriptures, which is the
constitution of the Church.
Hence, according to Rahner, God is the author of the Church and its constitutive parts. Here, the word "author" means "originator" (Urheber = one responsible for something).
The hagiographers are the mere writers, or literary authors (Verfasser) of the books who have left an
imprint both on the content and the form of their writings. (God is never
called the writer of a book).
Hence, according to Rahner, what
makes the Bible inspired is that it is the constitutive element of the Church,
and that it expresses the faith experience of the apostolic Church.
Remarks : Rahner's theory is so far the best available one
offering a satisfactory model for understanding biblical inspiration. However, the function and role of the OT is
not sufficiently explained in this theory.
According to him, the OT is (inspired) merely (because it is) the
pre-history of the NT.
DOCTRINE
OF THE CHURCH ON INSPIRATION
(a) Nicene
Creed : This creed makes it God spoke
through the prophets an article of faith : "I believe in one God/....
who spoke through the prophets".
Very often in the NT Writings the term "prophets" can apply
either to the OT prophets or to the evangelists of the NT (cf. Eph 3:5; 1 Cor
12:28; Rom 1:2) - SS are thus the Word of God through the prophets.
(b) Ecumenical
Councils
(1) Council of Florence
(1442) : The Council taught that the One God is the author of both the
Covenants (OT & NT), and the One Spirit (spoke to the Saints [human
writers]) inspired both; and the Church has accepted these books (DS 1334).
(2) Council of Trent (1546 -
Session IV) : God is the Author of both the New and Old Testaments; and the
Holy Spirit "dictated" all the books (DS 1501).
(3) Vatican I (1870) : The
Council merely repeats what Trent had said.
It also rejected the 19th century theories like Negative
Assistance and Subsequent Approbation.
Hence, in keeping with the teaching of Trent in the Dogmatic
Constitution of the Catholic Faith (Dei
Filus,1870) it affirmed that bible is sacred and canonical because God is
the author of the biblical books and they were written under the inspiration of
the Holy Spirit (ND 216-217).
(4) Vatican II (Dei Verbum,
Decree on Divine Revelation): Scripture is the work of the cooperation between
God and human beings. Because, God
through the Holy Spirit inspired the faculties of the human writers to write
what God wanted (please see the original text, for clarity, in DV 11-13).
(c) Papal
Encyclicals
(1) Providentissimus Deus (Leo XIII, 1893) : In the context of the
inerrancy of the Scriptures the encyclical stresses the fact that there can be
no contradiction between science and faith as present in the Scriptures.
(2) Divino Afflante Spiritu (Pius XII, 1943) : It is the Magna Charta (great chart) of Catholic
exegetes. For the first time Catholic
exegetes were allowed to study the SS critically (examine it as literature
submitting to it to the norms of Form and Redaction Criticism), by studying the
original Hebrew and Greek, and the various literary forms present in the Bible.
In
conclusion, what can be said
is that the role of God in Biblical Inspiration is that He is the author, i.e.,
He is the Originator; and the human authors are merely literary authors who
have written down what God wanted them to write down and has also contributed
their own theological ingredients in keeping with the context of the believing
community's sitz-im-Leben. As such,
errors and inconsistencies are possible in the Bible. For the literary codification is the work of
human writers.
INERRANCY:`The Bible is the Word of God in the words
Humans'
The problem of biblical inspiration
leads to yet another problem of inerrancy of the bible. The term inerrancy
designates, negatively to the Bible's quality of being free from error; the
positively it refers to the truthfulness of the Bible.
Thus inerrancy of the Bible means
that there are no errors regarding the salvific message (soteriological). In its theological and anthropological
thrusts, it does not deceive us, but offers a reliable and trustworthy guide
for our spiritual pilgrimage.
Vat. I :
No admixture of error (ND 216).
Vat.II : No errors in the salvific truth (DV 11).
Some Errors and Inconsistencies in the Bible
The critical investigation of the
Bible has shown that there are error in it.
(a) The geo-centric system in the Bible is
proved wrong. Copernicus affirmed a
helio-centric system.
(b) There are two different accounts of
creation, contradictory details of the Flood in Gen 6:19ff & 7.
(c) There are duplications and triplications
of incidents with common features. Eg.
Abraham pretends as though his wife is his sister and so deceives Pharaoh in
Gen 12:10f; but in Gen 22:1f he does this again to Abimelech; and according to
Gen 26:6f, Abimelech is similarly deceived by Isaac.
(d) There are also problems with regard to
the morality of the OT. The adultery of
David, a man chosen by God; the cursing Psalms like Ps 83; Jacob obtaining the
rights of the eldest son by fraud; the command of Yahweh to kill men, women,
infants and suckling .... in I Sam 15:1-3).
(e) There are misquotings by Jesus. He refers to Abiah, instead of Abimelech, as
the High Priest, when David entered the Temple and ate the bread.
It is impossible to defend the inerrancy
of the Bible from the modern historical and scientific points of view. Hence, each problem in the Bible needs to be
solved in its own context. Hence, Bible is inerrant in the soteriological
sense, i.e., inerrancy in salvific truth - in matters of faith and morals
(DV 11).
INTERNAL & EXTERNAL PRESSURES LED TO FIX CANON
It is assumed that the early
christian church took over and enlarged the Jewish canon. Some historians claim
that it was Christians and not the Jews who fixed their scriptures first.
Because the Christians Church had to prove and assert its identity and not
Judaism which already been in existence.
It took four centuries to arrive at
a common consensus between the West and Eastern Churches. The Canon for the OT
was readily accepted but the NT. The Western Church had problems with the
Letters to the Hebrews because the authorship of Paul was under question. The
Eastern Church questioned the Book of Revelation because the heresy of the
Chiliasts (1000 years of Reign of the Messiah) seems to be based on it. In
their struggle with their common foe of the Arian heresy the West and the East
came to an understanding.
THE CANON MAY NOT BE TAMPERED WITH ADDITIONS OR EXCERSION
INSPIRATION
OF NON-CHRISTIAN SCRIPTURES
Christians are not the only people
who believe in the inspiration of the SS.
Other religions also have their SS which they consider to be inspired -
having a supra-human origin and a supra-human authority. But every religion understands inspiration in
its own particular way.
(a) If
inspiration is understood in a broad
sense, i.e., SS contain the self
revelation of God, all SS are inspired (LG 16; NA 2-3). Therefore, the non-Christian SS are the
communities' attempt to articulate their experience of God's self
communication. And so, it is God's Word
for them.
(b) In
a specific sense, when we say that
the Christian SS are inspired it means that it (the Bible) expresses the faith
experience of the apostolic community, and it is normative for us. Hence, we cannot speak of the inspiration of
the non-Christian SS in this sense.
Because they are not normative for our faith as we are rooted in our
Christian tradition and faith.
There are also other positions held
with regard to the inspiration of the non-Christian SS.
* Non-Christian
SS are inspired in an analogous way, i.e., the faith experience of the
apostolic community is rooted in history and the non-Christian SS are
indirectly part of this faith experience as they are part of their history. Therefore, they are some way inspired.
* God wills
the salvation of all. We cannot restrict
salvation only to Christians, and God's self communication and salvific will
manifested only in the Christian SS. God
reveals himself in manifold inscrutable ways to different people at different
times.
LG
16, NA 2-3 Speak of truth and goodness found in
other religions.
Jn 1:9, Col 1:16, 1 Cor 8:6 - Universal Salvific Will of God.
We need to respect and esteem the
non-Christian SS, although it is not normative for our faith. Because, they also contain the self
communication of God and thus we can be enriched and enlightened by them too.
Sruti and Smriti : Hindu understanding of Inspiration and Inerrancy.
Sruti means "what is
heard". The truth contained in
Sruti is deemed to be both eternal and impersonal. Those who communicated it did not have any
part to play in its expression or composition.
Hence, they were not inspired in the Christian sense of the term. The only heard the sound of the eternal truth
and re-produced it as an echo. Sruti and Vedas are synonyms. Vedas are collections of various ancient
texts which were composed in the course of centuries which reflects the various
aspects of religious life in India till the appearance of Buddhism.
Smriti means
"recollections". It is the
collection of all other sacred texts which have a human origin and derive their
authority from the Sruti in so far as they agree with it.
In Hinduism, Sruti is extolled as
the primary authority in all matters of religious truth and practices. It is said to be perfectly infallible,
because it is eternal as it is independent of any individual, man or God.
Hence, it is called as "apauruseya".
So, it is really unoriginated in time and eternal. Those who believe in the authority of the
Sruti are called Astikas. Nastikas are
those who refuse to accept Sruti as the unconditional authority.
All other types of testimony or
authoritative word (sabda) are originated from an individual (purusa) witness
as the expression of his own personal experience. Hence, it is called "pauruseya. This witness stands as an intermediary
between the fact and testimony, and since being limited he is fallible, his
testimony is somewhat uncertain. all
works of smriti belong to this category.
Therefore, their authority cannot be the final.
FUNDAMENTALISTIC & CRITICAL INTERPRETATIONS OF SS
The fundamentalistic interpretation
of the SS arises from a non-critical reading of it. It is a method of closed approach as it does
not take into consideration the principles of hermeneutics. In the fundamentalistic interpretation,
people take the SS (biblical texts) literally and without recourse to the
context and circumstance of the passage and the meaning intended by the author. Therefore, people are prone to quote and SS
to make their point even though it does not make any sense, for that case, in
any situation. This tendency is because
of peoples' wrong understanding that whatever is written in the Sacred Book is
literally true, and contains nothing but historical truths, whereas the content
of the Sacred Book is the message of salvation, the narration of the encounter
of the humans with the divine.
A critical reading of the SS (Bible)
will enable one to understand the sitz-im-leben and the author meaning of the
text. The result of such a reading would
be that of understanding the SS as the message of salvation and not as an
incompatible formulation of historical truths.
Principles of Biblical Hermeneutics
For an authentic interpretation of
the Biblical texts there should be the following general requirements:
(1) Faith in the SS
as the Word of God.
(2) Common Sense
(the ability to discover harmony in things that agree and disagree)
(3) Knowledge of
biblical language, culture, history and geographical background, etc.
(4) Openness and
obedience to the Word of God.
(5) Purity of
intention and life.
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