OFFLINE

I just want to share the outline of my lecture about Divine Revelation




Source of Divine Revelation:

     There is only one source of revelation, namely, God the Father, through Jesus Christ, in the Holy Spirit. God the Son, the divine Word, became man to save mankind. Likewise, to reveal himself to humanity, God speaks to them with human utterances. All these utterances can be summarized in only one word the divine Word. Jesus Christ is the original revelation of God.  (see Heb.1:2)

Transmission of Divine Revelation:

     Sacred Tradition and Sacred Scripture make up a single sacred deposit of the Word of God, which is entrusted to the Church. By adhering to it the entire holy people, united to its pastors, remains always faithful to the teaching of the apostles, to the brotherhood, to the breaking of the bread and prayers.  

     Before Christ ascended to heaven, He commanded his apostles to preach the gospel to all nations (see Mt.28:18-20). Overtime when Christianity spread all throughout the Mediterranean and Asia Minor, the apostles begun to commit their teachings into writings and circulated it to the Churches (see 1Thess.5:27). Aside from writing, the apostles and early Christians strictly adhere to the Apostolic Tradition. Apostolic Tradition is the unwritten teachings that were handed down to the next generation of Christians through preaching, teaching and the liturgy. The Pauline epistles lay down the Biblical foundation of Apostolic Tradition. In Paul’s first epistle to the Corinthians he said, I praise you because you remember me in everything and hold fast to the traditions, just as I handed them on to you.  The same language of handing on the faith is noted by St. Paul when he received from the Lord the Holy Eucharist, For I received from the Lord what I also handed on to you.  According to the New Testament scholar Jerome Neyrey, “receiving” and “handing on” are key elements in the transmission of sacred tradition in ancient Judaism.  In the context of Judaism and Christianity sacred tradition refers to both the written and unwritten traditions. In the second epistle of Paul to the Thessalonians, he commanded them to hold on to the traditions. So then, brothers and sisters, stand firm and hold fast to the traditions that you were taught by us, either by word of mouth or by our letter.  “word of mouth” is the unwritten tradition or Apostolic tradition and “by our letter” is the written tradition or the Sacred Scripture. The Apostolic tradition although transmitted through the words of mouth are truly and substantially the words of God, And for this reason we too give thanks to God unceasingly, that, in receiving the word of God from hearing us, you received not a human word but, as truly is the word of God.  

Sacred Scripture:

God is the Author of the Bible: Inspiration

     The divinely revealed realities, which are contained and presented in the text of sacred Scripture, have been written down under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. The divine origin of the Bible is a truth of faith. This belief must be a starting point. When we read the Bible, we must remember that God is its author. We must read it not as we read a novel; rather, we must carefully search out what God wanted to manifest.  

Divine Authorship

Internal Witness of Scripture:

Isa.30:8

Now come write it on a tablet they can keep inscribed it in a record that it may be in future days an eternal witness.
     
Jer. 30:2

Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: write all the words I have spoken to you in a book.

Jer.36:2

Take a scroll and write on it all the words I have spoken to you. . .

Hab.2:2

Then the Lord answered me and said: write down the vision clearly upon the tablets, so that one can read it readily.

2 Timothy 3:16

All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful for teaching, for refutation, for correction, and for training in righteousness.

2 Peter 1:20-21

Know this first of all, that there is no prophecy of scripture that is a matter of personal interpretation, for no prophecy ever came through human will; but rather human beings moved by the Holy Spirit spoke under the influence of God.

External witness (Church decrees)

Vatican I, Dei Filius 2

These [books of the Bible] the Church holds to be sacred and canonical, not because, having been composed by simple human industry, they were later approved by her own authority, nor merely because they contain revelation without error, but because, having been written by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, they have God for their author and were delivered as such in the Church.

Spiritus Paraclitus

You will not find a page in his writings which does not show clearly that he, in common with the whole Catholic Church, firmly and consistently held that the Sacred Books written as they were under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, have God for their Author, and as such were delivered to the Church.

Vat. II Dei Verbum

For the Holy mother Church, relying on the belief of the Apostles, holds that the books of the both Old and New Testaments in their entirely, with all their parts, are sacred and canonical because written under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, they have God as their author and have been handed on as such to the Church herself.

Scope and Extent of Inspiration:

The Bible is fully inspired from the beginning to end, embracing everything in between. This includes the deuterocanonical books that are part of the Catholic canon as well as the deuterocanonical portions of the books that the Church likewise accepts as Scripture (e.g., the additions to Esther and Daniel).

Providentissimus Deus No.20

But it is absolutely wrong and forbidden either to narrow inspiration to certain parts only of the Holy Scripture or to admit that the sacred has erred. For the system of those who, in order to rid themselves of these difficulties, do not hesitate to concede that divine inspiration regards the things of faith and morals and nothing beyond, because (as they wrongly think) in a question of the truth or falsehood of a passage, we should consider not to much what God has said as the reason and purpose that he had in mind in saying it, this system cannot be tolerated.

Inerrancy of Scripture:

The Bible’s veracity and inerrancy are direct consequence of its inspiration and divine origin. God is the principal author of the Bible (inspiration); since God is the Supreme Truth, he cannot deceive us (He always speaks only the truth), and he cannot be deceived (he can never be in error).

Providentissimus Deus No.20

For all the books which the Church receives as sacred and canonical, are written wholly and entirely, with all their parts, at the dictation of the Holy Ghost; and so far is it from being possible that any error can co-exist with inspiration, that inspiration not only is essentially incompatible with error, but excludes and rejects it as absolutely and necessarily as it is impossible that God Himself, the supreme Truth, can utter that which is not true. This is the ancient and unchanging faith of the Church. . . Hence, because the Holy Ghost employed men as His instruments, we cannot therefore say that it was these inspired instruments who, perchance have fallen into error, and not the primary author.




footnotes:
  Faith Seeking Understanding, p.107, Belmonte
  Dei Verbum, p.755, Flannery
  1 Cor.11:2 New American Bible
  1 Cor.11:23 New American Bible; see also 1 Cor.15:3; Jude 3
  The Resurrection Stories, p.13, J. Neyrey S.J
  2 Thess.2:15 NRSV-CE
  1 Thess.2:13 NAB
  Faith Seeking Understanding, p.113, Belmonte

  Catholic Bible Dictionary, p.385, Dr. Scott Hahn
  Faith Seeking Understanding, p.121, Belmonte