Interpreting Scripture

Interpreting
Scripture

Mr. Emmanuel Arenas, S.J.

Prayer

Grant us the grace, O loving God, that all our
intentions, actions, and operations may be directly
purely to the praise and service of Your Divine
Majesty.

Today’s Objectives

1.Understanding God’s Revelation Through Sacred
Scripture.

2.Understanding Biblical Genres

Poll

What is your experience of scripture?

• I don't know scripture

• I barely know anything about scripture

• I am familiar with scripture

• I know scripture well

Sacred Tradition and

Sacred Scripture

Dei Verbum
Dogmatic Constitution on Divine Revelation

Sacred Tradition

• “Christ the Lord in whom the full

revelation of the supreme God is
brought to completion (see 2 Cor. 1:20;
3:13; 4:6), commissioned the Apostles
to preach to all men that Gospel which
is the source of all saving truth and
moral teaching, and to impart to them
heavenly gifts.”

Dei Verbum, 7

Sacred Tradition

“Transmits in its entirety the Word of God which has been
entrusted to the apostles by Christ the Lord and the Holy Spirit.”

-CCC, 81

Sacred Tradition

“Through the same tradition the Church’s full canon
of the sacred books is known, and the sacred
writings themselves are more profoundly understood
and unceasingly made active in her…”

“Tradition and Scripture, “flowing from the same
divine wellspring, in a certain way merge into a
unity and tend towards the same end.”

“Both sacred tradition and Sacred Scripture are to
be accepted and venerated with the same sense of
loyalty and reverence.”

Dei Verbum, 8-9

Multiple Choice

What is Sacred Tradition?

• It includes the rosary and other devotional traditions.

• It is what we choose to preserve from the past. It should change depending on what we like today.

• Transmits in its entirety the Word of God which has been
  entrusted to the apostles by Christ the Lord and the Holy Spirit.

• Sacred Tradition is important, but Sacred Scripture is more important.

Sacred Scripture

What kinds of books do we find in the
library?

The Bible

What does the Greek word Biblia mean?

Biblia translates to “Books”

The Bible is not just one book but a collection of many
and diverse books, written by different authors over
several centuries for different audiences.

Historical
Juridical
Prophetic
Poetic
Sapiential
Evangelical
Letters
Apocalyptic

Literary Genres in the Bible

Authorship of Sacred Scripture

• “In comping the sacred books, God chose men and while

employed by Him they made use of their powers and
abilities, so that with Him acting in them and through
them, they, as true authors, consigned to writing
everything and only those things which He wanted.”

Dei Verbum, 11

•God is the author of the books of
Sacred Scripture.

•The human authors, though
moved by God, wrote in their own
manner, using their own thoughts,
images and words.

Review

• What is Sacred Tradition?

• Why are biblical genres important for

understanding the scriptures?

• Who authored the bible?

Tomorrow

• The Old Testament and New Testament

• The different senses of Scripture

 Literal
 Allegorical
 Moral
 Anagogical