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
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. He testifies to what he has seen and heard, but no one accepts his testimony. Whoever does accept his testimony certifies that God is trustworthy. For the one whom God sent speaks the words of God. He does not ration his gift of the Spirit. The Father loves the Son and has given everything over to him. 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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