Sources of wisdom and authority

Question 1

Outline the nature of the bible

Answer 1

Christian holy scripture
Written by over 40 authors over the course of 1500 years
Church finished deciding what to canonise by 4CE

Old Testament: 1200 - 165BC
original Hebrew bible containing creation story and laws.

New Testament: 50-100AD
4 gospels
St Pauls 13 letters contain key theological and ethical teachings

Question 2

Outline the literalist understanding of the bible

Answer 2

Infallible inerrant word of God, any possible contradictions in the bible are limitations of human intellect, contradictory science is believed to be put their by God as a challenge to faith.

Evangelical Protestants look to the bible as their sole source of authority.

Question 3

Provide support for the literal interpretation on the Bible

Answer 3

St Paul - “all scripture is God breathed”

Arthur S Wood - “Let us not change the word of God, we ourselves should be changed through the word”

Scripture sets the standard; our lives should be adapted to be consistent with it.

Question 4

Outline the Catholic interpretation of the Bible

Answer 4

Scripture is not the literal but the inspired word of God, therefore requires the authority of the Church for its interpretation.

Authority to interpret comes from apostolic succession and tradition. The bible should be consulted alongside the Church. Eg: The Catechism contains a summary of Church doctrines and the Pope writes encyclicals on current moral issues.

Dei Verbum: “The Bible was not intended to convey precise historical information… the authors were authors of their time”

Question 5

Outline the authority of the Catholic Church

Answer 5

The Church has a responsibility to make “disciples of all nations”

The apostolic succession and tradition depicts how the Church’s authority can be directly be traced back to that of Jesus and consists of an uninterrupted transmission of spiritual authority from the apostles through a line of successive bishops and popes.

Jesus appointed Peter as the first bishop - “On this rock I will build my Church” As Peter’s successor, the present day’s Pope is believed to hold the same authority,