Have you ever experienced being threatened? Just like Peter
we should not give in but persevere to follow God rather than succumb to our
fear. For as long as we've got God on our side and leaning on the promises of
God our Savior then we're standing on solid immovable ground. Day in and day
out we are confronted with choices, big or small, all they ever amount to and
what this is all about is just one important thing. Nothing should ever stop us
from following their example of faith. It should inspire us to know that it was
God who chose us first even before we ever came to be. His choice comes first
even before we make a choice. He chose to love us first. If we believe that God
loves us then we are confident in the fact that we must obey God above all. We
must follow the example of obedience that Jesus showed us. It was one born out
of inspiration rather than obligation. St. Thomas Aquinas said God the Father
did it by inspiring the Son with so much love that Jesus did it. The obedience
of Jesus to the point of death on the cross should not be seen as a rejection
but the giving up of His Son for this great love of God for us who chose us
first. Jesus deserves our total obedience. We should stop living in sin, live
faithfully and be not afraid to embrace the light. What we see Jesus is doing
is what the Father is doing. Having come into the world, some believe and some
disobey. During the Easter vigil we have witnessed the entire kingdom of God St. Paul
says, all things were created for Him. He has the primacy in everything. Our
relationship with Him is primary before all other relationships. Whatever
relationship we have, that of Jesus is above all. In the light of the readings
today I am inspired to share the things we studied under Atty. Jess Moya in our
Catholicism study which is about the bible.
I. The Bible is a unique book
-most popular book ever; in fact it has made a lot of people
very rich due to the several movies and books shown and written based on the
bible.
-It greatly influenced civilization, a source of Western
culture. A treasure chest of wisdom and inspiration, contains some of the most
profound insights on life and has changed many lives.
-All scripture is inspired by God and is useful for
teaching, for refutation, for correction and for training in righteousness so
that one who belongs to God may be competent, equipped for every good work- 2
Tim 3:16-17
-Indeed the Word of God is living and effective, sharper
than any 2 edged sword, penetrating even between soul and spirit, joints and
marrow, and able to discern reflections and thoughts of the heart - Heb.
4:12
-A library/ collection of Old Testament (OT) and New
Testament (NT) books mysteriously woven into
a single theme and written in thousands of years with various authors of
different background.
II. Original and manuscripts (copies) of the bible
- original writings were either destroyed or perished
through wear and tear since it was in papyrus material.
-Manuscripts or copies of the bible are authenticated
through “Textual Criticism” The object
of textual criticism is to restore as nearly as possible the original text of a
work the autograph of which has been lost. The manuscripts date way back 100
BC.
III. Classes of Sacred Writings:
1. Protocanonical (universally accepted) – There are 46
books in the OT and 27 in the NT. It is not true that the OT is obsolete and is
not important. The writings in the OT foreshadows the scriptures in the NT. An
example cited was the Passover in Egypt found in the OT where the
angel of death spared the Israelites who have placed the blood of the lamb on
their doors. In the NT , it was the blood of Jesus shed on the cross that
spared us all from the angel of death which is sin.
2. Deuterocanonical (disputed writing such as the so-called
“7 added books of the OT” and the books of James, Jude, 2 Peter, 2nd and 3rd
letters of John, Hebrews and Revelation of the NT)
3. Apocryphal (writings which are not considered inspired
such as the gospel of Peter, the gospel of Thomas, the letters of Barnabas and
Clement, etc.) It was through these apocryphal writings that Dan Brown came up
with the heretical source that brought about
“The Da Vinci Code.”
IV. Origin of the
Bible
- Putting together in writing, the experiences of God’s
people, the warning of their prophets and the beliefs they developed.
-The authors were divinely inspired (Theopneustos or
God-breathed) The bible is an inspired interpretation of God’s deeds and self
revelation, the Word of God in the words of humans.”
-Writings were canonized by the Catholic Church (Councils of
Rome, Hippo, Carthage
and Trent) The Church authority was universally recognized. The bible was put
together as early as the 4th century (397AD) and Protestantism only started in
1517 so it was the Catholic Church who canonized these writings.
- The Palestinian/Hebrew Canon rejected “seven books” in the
Council of Jamnia. One of these books is Maccabees which mentions about praying
for the dead or souls in purgatory.
-Protestant Canon adopted the Palestinian/Hebrew Canon. It
is very ironical that Martin Luther who used to be Catholic but became a
protestant even once said that, “We are obliged to the Catholic Church for the
bible which we received from them.” Meaning he recognizes it as the one who put
together the bible.
V. Translations of the Bible
- The OT was originally written in the Hebrew language and
then translated into Greek (Septuagint) by about 70 translators around 285-246
BC.
Legend says that these scholars who translated the bible
were separated from each other but amazingly came up with the same translation.
During the time of Alexander the Great some scriptures were translated from
Hebrew to Greek.
-The NT was originally written in the Greek language and
later translated to Latin (Vulgate) It has 350 quotations coming from the
Deuterocanonical books. St. Jerome
translated the scriptures to Latin. Martin Luther translated the bible from Latin
and Greek to German and the controversial verse from Rom 3:28 which he
allegedly added the word “alone” in the text which says “Man is saved by faith
alone”. From then on Pope Pius XIII decreed that all translations be from the
original language (Greek or Hebrew) to English to avoid distorting the real
meaning of the word of God and must have the Nihil Obstat and Imprimatur marks
.
-Catholic English translations were the Douay-Rheims (1st
translation to English), NAB, etc. )
-Protestant English translations: Tyndale, King James, RSV,
etc. The King James version was rejected by the Church due to so many
typographical errors made such as The Parable of the Vineyard in Matthew
written as Vinegar and the ”Thou shall not commit adultery” in Deuteronomy
wherein the “not” has been omitted.
VI. Interpretation of the Bible
-There are so many science theories or the so called
evolution theory that questions the accuracy of the data in the bible
especially that of creation in 7 days. Even the Book of Revelation has become
so controversial. Bear in mind that the bible is not a science treatise or just
a series of predictions nor intended to be a history book. Some are not
literally true, but are vehicles to convey the truth. A very good example of
this is a glass of water, when we drink water it has to be placed in a
container but you only drink the water and not the glass.
-Be attentive to what the human authors wanted to affirm and
to what God wanted to reveal to us by their words (CCC109) Consider the literary
genre and forms of literary expression
-Take into account the conditions of the authors’ time and
culture and the various forms of expressions used (CCC110). The writers during
the OT, the Israelites were very primitive and picture God as some kind of
warrior. It is a product of their imagination. The heresy of Marcion says that
the God of the OT is evil while the God of the NT is good. The bible should be
studied always with reference to Jesus in the NT to better understand who God
really is and learn about Jesus.
-Read and interpret it in the light of the same Spirit who
inspired it (CCC111). God is a respecter of free will. God always speak to us
with love.
-Be especially attentive to the content and unity of the
whole scripture and the coherence of the truths of faith among themselves (CCC
112 and 114)
-Read it within the “living tradition of the whole Church”
(CCC113); Accept the core teachings of the Church like a child- example is the
dogma on the Immaculate Conception, it has been questioned long before for
years already and had been resolved.
-Interpreting Scripture is ultimately subject to the
judgment of the Church (CCC 119) Jesus left us the Church to guard and
interpret it. It should be guided by the core teachings of the Church enclosed
in the Apostle’s Creed.
The bible is made available to all regardless of race and
religion. In fact there are stories about conversions of a lot of people just
by reading the bible. Nothing should ever stop us from spreading the Word of
God and dispelling all the heretical information being perpetrated in the whole
world no matter what the cost. We should come after the example of the apostles
who bravely displayed their faith and belief in Jesus as evidenced in the 1st
reading. Amen. Hallelujah!
Acts of the Apostles 5,27-33.
..."We gave you strict orders (did we not?) to stop
teaching in that name. Yet you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching and want to
bring this man's blood upon us."
But Peter and the apostles said in reply, "We must obey
God rather than men...
We’ve got to have the right heart, mind and attitude as
conveyed in the psalm reading today. Be poor in spirit and receptive to the
Word of God. It doesn't make sense that despite these truths that are ever
before us we still reject Jesus. Let's admit it, we do it one way or another,
knowingly or unknowingly. The Light of the World already came and judgment day
is coming soon. In fact, judgment is happening even now. In Deuteronomy 30:15
"Here, then, I have today set before you life and prosperity, death and
doom..." God asked us to choose. It's got to be one way or another. There
should be no mingling or ambiguity. It is all up to us. We can be assured that
if we take God’s side then we’ll definitely taste and see His goodness. Amen.
Hallelujah!
Psalm 34:2, 9, 17-18, 19-20
R: The Lord hears the cry of the poor.
1 [2] I will bless the LORD at all times; his praise shall
be ever in my mouth. 8 [9] Taste and see how good the LORD is; blessed the man
who takes refuge in him.(R) 16 [17] The LORD confronts the evildoers, to
destroy remembrance of them from the earth. 17 [18] When the just cry out, the
LORD hears them, and from all their distress he rescues them. (R) 18 [19] The
LORD is close to the broken-hearted; and those who are crushed in spirit he
saves. 19 [20] Many are the troubles of the just man, but out of them all the
LORD delivers him.
Let us always be cautious of the things we say and do so
that we reflect the values and principles that Jesus himself showed to us when
He obeyed to the end. We've got to make a choice and the best one there is.
Sometimes we do things that don't make sense. We prefer to stay in the dark and
make a lousy choice. We think that it is better to stay in the dark rather than
embrace the truth. That happens when we refuse to bring out in the light the
things that we do in the dark. We prefer to remain in the darkness. There are a
lot of things we can find out about what God says in the bible. In Genesis we
can immediately find the 4 actions of God. In the 1st book of the bible in the
first 4 verses we can find that God 1. creates 2. moves 3.speaks 4. separates
The 4th and final action is needed because God loves us so much He just can't
leave us the way we are. We've got to make a stand on which side we are. But
according to Pope John Paul II in his book entitled, "Evangelium
Vitae" the biggest problem of people nowadays is that we are no longer
capable of distinguishing good from evil. We've got to have the courage to look
straight in the eyes, stand up in the light and be faithful to God. Judgment is
unfolding every single day. We have to make sure we are on the right side when
it finally comes. Amen. Hallelujah!
John 3:31-36
31 The one who comes from above is above all. The one who is
of the earth is earthly and speaks of earthly things. But the one who comes
from heaven is above all. 32 He testifies to what he has seen and heard, but no
one accepts his testimony. 33 Whoever does accept his testimony certifies that
God is trustworthy. 34 For the one whom God sent speaks the words of God. He
does not ration his gift of the Spirit. 35 The Father loves the Son and has
given everything over to him. 36 Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life,
but whoever disobeys the Son will not see life, but the wrath of God remains
upon him.
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