The Bible

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A collection of writings which theChurch of God has solemnly recognized asinspired.

The name is derived from the Greek expressionbiblia (the books), which came into use in the early centuries ofChristianity to designate the whole sacred volume. In the Latin of theMiddle Ages, the neuter plural forBiblia (gen.bibliorum) gradually came to be regarded as a feminine singular noun (biblia, gen.bibliae, in which singular form the word has passed into the languages of the Western world. It means "The Book", by way of eminence, and therefore well sets forth the sacred character of our inspired literature. Its most important equivalents are: "The Divine Library" (Bibliotheca Divina), which was employed bySt. Jerome in the fourth century; "the Scriptures", "theHoly Scripture" — terms which are derived from expressions found in theBible itself; and "the Old and New Testament", in which collective title, "theOld Testament" designates the sacred books written before the coming ofOur Lord, and "theNew Testament" denotes the inspired writings composed since the coming of Christ.

It is a fact of history that in the time of Christ theJews were in possession of sacred books, which differed widely from one another in subject, style, origin and scope, and it is also a fact that they regarded all such writings as invested with a character which distinguished them from all other books. This was the Divine authority of every one of these books and of every part of each book. Thisbelief of theJews was confirmed byOur Lord and HisApostles; for they supposed itstruth in their teaching, used it as a foundation of theirdoctrine, and intimately connected with it the religious system of which they were the founders. The books thus approved were handed down to theChristian Church as the written record ofDivine revelation before the coming of Christ. Thetruths ofChristian revelation were made known to the Apostles either byChrist Himself or by theHoly Ghost. They constitute what is called the Deposit of Faith, to which nothing has been added since theApostolic Age. Some of thetruths were committed to writing under the inspiration of the Holy Ghost and have been handed down to us in the books of theNew Testament. Written originally to individual Churches orpersons, to meet particular necessities, and accommodated as they all were to particular and existing circumstances, these books were gradually received by the universal Church as inspired, and with the sacred books of theJews constitute theBible.

In one respect, therefore, theBible is a twofold literature, made up of two distinct collections which correspond with two successive and unequal periods of time in the history of man. The older of these collection, mostly written in Hebrew, corresponds with the many centuries during which the Jewish people enjoyed a national existence, and forms the Hebrew, orOld Testament, literature; the more recent collection, begun not long afterOur Lord's ascension, and made up of Greek writings, is the EarlyChristian, orNew Testament, literature. Yet, in another and deeper respect, the Biblical literature is pre-eminently one. Its two sets of writings are most closely connected with regard to doctrines revealed, facts recorded, customs described, and even expressions used. Above all, both collection have one and the same religious purpose, one and the same inspired character. They form the two parts of a great organic whole the centre of which is theperson and mission ofChrist. The same Spirit exercised His mysterious hidden influence on the writings of both Testaments, and made of the works of those who lived beforeOur Lord an active and steady preparation for theNew Testamentdispensation which he was to introduce, and of the works of those who wrote after Him a real continuation and striking fulfilment of the old Covenant.

TheBible, as the inspired recorded of revelation, contains the word ofGod; that is, it contains thoserevealedtruths which the Holy Ghost wishes to be transmitted in writing. However, allrevealedtruths are not contained in theBible (see TRADITION); neither is everytruth in theBible revealed, if by revelation is meant the manifestation of hiddentruths which could not other beknown. Much of the Scripture came to its writers through the channels of ordinaryknowledge, but its sacred character and Divine authority are not limited to those parts which contain revelation strictly so termed. The Bible not only contains the word ofGod; it is the word ofGod. The primary author is the Holy Ghost, or, as it is commonly expressed, the human authors wrote under the influence ofDivine inspiration. It was declared by theVatican Council (Sess. III, c. ii) that the sacred and canonical character of Scripture would not be sufficiently explained by saying that the books were composed by human diligence and then approved by theChurch, or that they contained revelation withouterror. They are sacred and canonical "because, having been written by inspiration of the Holy Ghost, that haveGod for their author, and as such have been handed down to theChurch". The inerrancy of theBible follows as a consequence of this Divine authorship. Wherever the sacred writer makes a statement as his own, that statement is the word ofGod andinfalliblytrue, whatever be the subject-matter of the statement.

It will be seen, therefore, that though the inspiration of any writer and the sacred character of his work be antecedent to its recognition by theChurch yet we are dependent upon theChurch for ourknowledge of the existence of this inspiration. She is the appointed witness and guardian of revelation. From her alone weknow what books belong to theBible. At theCouncil of Trent she enumerated the books which must be considered "as sacred and canonical". They are the seventy-two books found inCatholic editions, forty-five in theOld Testament and twenty-seven in the New.Protestant copies usually lack the seven books (viz:Tobit,Judith,Wisdom,Sirach,Baruch, andFirst andSecond Maccabees) and parts of books (viz:Esther 10:4-16:24, andDaniel 3:24-90;13:1-14:42) which are not found in the Jewish editions of theOld Testament.

TheBible is plainly a literature, that is, an important collection of writings which were not composed at once and did not proceed from one hand, but rather were spread over a considerable period oftime and are traceable to different authors of varying literary excellence. As a literature, too, theBible bears throughout the distinct impress of the circumstances of place and time, methods of composition, etc., in which its various parts came into existence, and of these circumstances careful account must be taken, in the interests of accurate scriptural interpretation. As a literature, our sacred books have been transcribed during many centuries by all manner of copyists to theignorance and carelessness of many of whom they still bear witness in the shape of numerous textualerrors, which, however, but seldom interfere seriously with the primitive reading of any important dogmatic or moral passage ofHoly Writ.

In respect of antiquity, the Biblical literature belongs to the same group of ancient literature as the literary collections of Greece,Rome,China,Persia, andIndia. Its second part, theNew Testament, completed about A.D. 100, is indeed far more recent than the four last named literature, and is somewhat posterior to the Augustan age of the Latin language, but it is older by ten centuries than our earliest modern literature. As regards theOld Testament, most of its contents were gradually written within the nine centuries which preceded theChristian era, so that its composition is generally regarded as contemporary with that of the great literary works ofGreece,China,Persia, andIndia. The Bible resembles these various ancient literatures in another respect. Like them it is fragmentary, i.e. made up of the remains of a larger literature. Of this we have abundantproofs concerning the books of theOld Testament, since the Hebrew Scriptures themselves repeatedly refer us to more ancient and complete works as composed by Jewishannalists,prophets, wise men, poets, and so on (cf.Numbers 21:15;Joshua 10:13;2 Samuel 1:18;1 Chronicles 29:29;1 Maccabees 16:24; etc.). Statements tending to prove the same fragmentary character of theearly Christian literature which has come down to us are indeed much less numerous, but not altogether wanting (cf.Luke 1:1-3;Colossians 4:16;1 Corinthians 5:9). But, however ancient and fragmentary, it is not to be supposed that the Biblical literature contains only few, and these rather imperfect, literary forms. In point of fact its contents exhibit nearly all the literary forms met with in our Western literatures together with other peculiarly Eastern, but none the less beautiful. It is also a well-known fact that theBible is so replete with pieces of transcendent literary beauty that the greatest orators and writers of the last four centuries have most willingly turned to our sacred books as pre-eminently worthy of admiration, study, and imitation. Of course the widest and deepest influence that has ever been, and ever will be, exercised upon the minds and hearts of men remains due to the fact that, while all the other literatures are but man's productions, theBible is indeed "inspired ofGod" and, as such, especially "profitable to teach, to reprove, to correct, to instruct injustice" (2 Timothy 3:16).

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