Theology Chapter 1 Miss McCann 2013-2014. Scripture Luke 4:14-22a: Jesus returned to Galilee in the...

TheologyTheologyChapter 1Chapter 1

Miss McCann

2013-2014

Scripture

Luke 4:14-22a:

Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit, and news of him spread throughout the whole region. He taught in their synagogues and was praised by all. He came to Nazareth, where he had grown up, and went according to his custom into the synagogue on the sabbath day. He stood up to read and was handed a scroll of the prophet Isaiah. He unrolled the scroll and found the passage where it was written:

Scripture

"The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring glad tidings to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, and to proclaim a year acceptable to the Lord."

Scripture

Rolling up the scroll, he handed it back to the attendant and sat down, and the eyes of all in the synagogue looked intently at him. He said to them, "Today this scripture passage is fulfilled in your hearing."

God listens to usWe listen to God

In prayer, we talk to God - but we should also let God talk to us - both in prayer and in other ways. We should remember to "be still" and listen from time to time - but sometimes that can be difficult to do.

God reveals Himself to us in many ways -- indirectly, through the natural world of space and time, through the prophets of the Old Testament, and

Directly, through the Incarnation of His Son, the incarnate inspired Word, and through the New Testament, which is His record.

Scripture

The basic idea is that for us, today, God reveals himself to us through the writings of inspired human authors in Scripture

Remember that even His disciples often had difficulty understanding what He was trying to tell them - so it's understandable that we might not always understand.

But don't be overwhelmed by Scripture

Scripture

In some ways, it's pretty simple Perhaps the Bible can be summarized in 50

words:

Scripture

“God made, Adam bit, Noah arked, Abraham split, Joseph ruled, Jacob fooled, Bush talked, Moses balked; Pharaoh plagued, people walked. Sea divided, tablets guided, Promise landed. Saul freaked, David peeked, prophets warned, Jesus born. God walked, love talked, anger crucified, hope died. Love rose, Spirit flamed, Word spread, God remained.“

By Rev. Dana Livesay, Wanganui, New Zealand. Source: "Top of the Morning" Book of Incredibly Short Stories, selected by Brian Edwards, 1997, Tandem Press, Aukland, New Zealand, p. 41

Scripture

God created the universe from nothing, created human beings and gave them free will

They exercised their free will and chose to do wrong He chose the Hebrew people to be uniquely His own,

and made a Covenant with them, but they constantly disobeyed Him

He sent them prophet after prophet, but every time He turned His back on them (so to speak) they made a golden calf or did something else equally obnoxious

Scripture

Even so, He miraculously intervened throughout their history to save them from almost certain destruction and extinction

He promised to send them a Messiah, and did But they rejected him. He was crucified, died and was

buried, but rose from the dead as he had said he would The principal purpose of the Covenant was to prepare

for the coming of Christ, to announce his coming by prophecy, and to indicate its meaning through various "types." We see these in Scripture.

Inspiration

We often hear the words inspiration, aspiration, perspiration, respiration, . . . Spirit

They're all related to the Latin word spiritus - soul, courage, vigor, breath - which is also related to the Latin word spirare, to breathe

We often speak of artists, writers, composers, as "inspired" - maybe even philosophers and scientists too

We sometimes hear people say "I had a sudden inspiration and the solution to the problem came to me."

Inspiration

In every society, in every time, there are probably certain individuals who are just a little more perceptive or sensitive than others

Perhaps they're the ones who are chosen by God to be inspired

Inspiration

To say that they were inspired does not mean that God simply dictated to them word for word what he wanted them to say

It means that He guided them to compose in their own language and in their own literary form a composition which would reveal some aspect of Himself.

Scripture – Literary Forms

Parable: a short fictitious story that illustrates a moral attitude or religious principle or spiritual truth. The point is not the details of the story but the message. E.g., the parable of the sower - if the story is just about a man who went out to sow some seed (What man? Where? What kind of seed?), there's not much point to the story. The point is not whether or not the story is "true" - it's a message presented in imagery familiar to the hearers. We'll talk more about inerrancy in a moment.

We'll talk more about inerrancy in a moment


Allegory: a "figure story" (an expression by means of symbolic figures and actions) with a veiled meaning, e.g., the creation stories of Genesis. Again, the point is not the details but the message


Fable: A story, usually a legendary story of supernatural happenings, intended to enforce a useful truth or moral lesson. Many of these may be what is called "Beast Fables" in the model of Aesop, e.g., the Balaam and his talking ass in Numbers 22:22-35. Again, the point is the message, not the story itself.


Short Story or Historical Novel: the core of the story may be historical, but the author did not intend to write history in the same sense that we understand history today. Rather, the intent is to interpret the past in an edifying way as a religious lesson.


Problem Story: A story which illustrates a general solution to a general problem - e.g., the Book of Ruth as a study of the problem of foreigners, intermarriage, tolerance, etc.


Speech: some of the speeches of Solomon, or some of the speeches of Paul (e.g., Acts 17:22-31) may not be exactly word for word what was said on a single particular occasion. As a literary device, the point of a speech may be to invoke the authority of a person who has authority, for the purpose of illustrating a spiritual or moral truth.


Poems, Songs and Prayers are also literary forms used in Scripture

Inerrancy

It is important to remember that to suggest that a particular story is an allegory or a fable, or to suggest that a particular account is not historically or scientifically accurate is NOT to suggest that Scripture is in error in any way

Since everything in Scripture is inspired by the Holy Spirit, it must be without error in teaching the truth that God wishes us to learn from it

Inerrancy

But this is not the same thing as saying that Scripture is "literally true" in the sense of presenting accurate historical accounts or teaching scientific principles

That is not what it was intended to do.

A Tentative Chronology of ScriptureNOTE: virtually all dates are subject to dispute

14,000,00,000,000 BC Universe created


3500-3200 BC Beginning of the Bronze Age

c. 1800-1700 BC Time of the Patriarchs; Abraham; general migration of

people in the Middle East draws the descendants of Jacob into Egypt; Joseph

c. 1792 BC Hammurabi in Babylonia, early lawgiver


c. 1560-1250 BC Silence in the Bible for five centuries, the period

between Joseph and Moses

c. 1347-1338 BC Tutankhamun in Egypt

c. 1301-1234 BC Ramesses II ("The Great") reigns in Egypt, believe by

some to be the Pharaoh of Moses' time


c. 1250-1225 BC Deliverance from Egypt, Exodus through Sinai into a semi-

sedentary life near Kadesh; Moses

c. 1200 BC Hebrew tribes have arrived in Canaan by this date; beginning of

the Iron Age

c. 1200-1025 BC Installation of Hebrews in Canaan under the Judges; semi-

nomadic royalty, no capital, no administration, no professional army


c. 1043 BC United Kingdom, Samuel anoints Saul

c. 1043-1010 BC Saul

c. 1000 BC Capture of Jerusalem, establishment of a fixed

capital, mercenary army


c. 1000-950 BC Yahwist (J) tradition written down, southern

kingdom

c. 1010-976 BC Unified monarchy; north (Israel) and south

(Judah) united under King David; Nathan the Prophet ("You are the man.")


c. 970-931 BC Solomon; construction of the First Temple, built

after the death of David and dedicated by his son Solomon (1 Kgs 8:1ff); this Temple was destroyed approximately 364 years later, c. 586 BC, by the Babylonians; collection of Yahwist traditions, beginning of wisdom literature; splendor, royal administration, high taxes, signs of decadence


c. 931 BC Schism between Judah and Israel; divided

kingdom, Judah (southern kingdom) under Rehoboam I and Israel (northern kingdom) under Jeroboam I

c. 922 BC Elohist (E) tradition of Torah written down,

northern kingdom


c. 874-853 Ahab and Jezebel

c. 860-840 BC Elijah, Elisha

c. 786-746 BC Reign of Jeroboam II; Hosea's prophetic

career; Amos' prophetic career


c. 742 BC Death of King Uzziah

c. 740 BC Isaiah receives his call to prophecy

c. 735 -700 BC Hosea's prophetic career begins


c. 721 BC Fall of Samaria, capital of Israel (northern kingdom):

captured by Assyrian King Sargon II; captives deported to Ninevah, never to return; these are the "lost tribes.“

c. 701 BC Jerusalem besieged by Sennacherib

c. 700-650 BC Deuteronomic (D) tradition of Torah written down


c. 690 BC Micah's prophetical career

c. 687-680 BC End of Isaiah's prophetic career

c. 650 BC Jeremiah born


c. 640-609 BC King Josiah's reign; Zephaniah's prophetical career;

urged reform

c. 629 BC King Josiah begins his reforms

c. 628 BC Zoroaster founds Zoroastrianism in Persia; Ahura

Mazda, the Lord of Wisdom, dualism of good and evil, people judged by their actions


c. 627-580 BC Jeremiah's prophetic career

c. 615 BC Nahum's prophetical career

c. 612 BC Babylon conquers Assyria; Ninevah (in

Assyria) falls


c. 609 BC King Josiah killed at battlefield of Megiddo

c. 605 BC Babylon defeats Egypt at the Battle of Carchemish.

Egypt is destroyed as a power in the Middle East, Babylon is now the dominant power

c. 605-597 BC Habakkuk's prophetical career


c. 600 BC JED (Yahwist-Elohist-Deuteronomic) sources of Torah

probably conflated by this time

c. 593-559 BC Ezekiel's prophetical career in Babylon

c. 598-587 BC Jeremiah attempts to counsel Zedekiah in the face of

bitter opposition


c. 587 BC Babylonian Empire conquers and destroys Jerusalem

(capital of Judah, southern kingdom) under King Nebuchadnezzar; beginning of the Exile; deportation of King Jehoiachin and the elite of the Jewish population to Babylon with only the "inferior classes" remaining in Palestine; the Diaspora; destruction of the First Temple (which had been built c. 950 BC by Solomon); Ark of the Covenant lost; sacrificial worship replaced by prayer meetings (beginning of synagogal worship); Jeremiah's "New Covenant;" Temple lies in ruins until c. 522 BC


c. 586 Priestly (P) tradition of Torah written down

c. 585 BC Ezekiel

c. 563-483 BC Buddhism founded by Siddarta Gautama (the

Buddha) in India


c. 561 BC Jehoiachin released from Babylonian prison

c. 551-479 BC Confucius active in China; Sun Tzu

c. 538 BC Jews return to Palestine from Exile (decree/edict of

Cyrus, King of Persia); limited self-government as a province of the Persian Empire, but united; religious community directed by the priests; Samaritan factions block the rebuilding of the Temple until c. 522 BC


c. 522 BC Reign of Darius (Persia) begins; Darius gives

permission to rebuild the Temple, and rebuilding begins; completed c. 516 BC; stands until c. 70 AD, approximately 592 years

c. 520 BC Haggai's prophetical career begins;

Zechariah's initial prophecy


c. 516 BC Rebuilding of the Second ("Zerubbabel's") Temple

completed, Temple dedicated; First Temple had been destroyed 70 years earlier; Second Temple will be destroyed 70 AD by the Romans; since the Ark of the Covenant was lost when the First Temple was destroyed by the Babylonians, the Holy of Holies is now an empty room inhabited only by the presence of God. Some say the Ark was hidden under the Temple Mount, where it still remains


c. 508 BC Book of Haggai written

c. 485-464 BC Xerxes (in the Deuterocanonical Book of

Judith, called Ahasuerus) king of Persia

c. 470 BC Birth of Socrates


c. 460 -400 BC Book of Malachi (pseudonym) written

c. 455 BC Nehemiah arrives in Jerusalem

c. 438 BC Parthenon built in Athens; Birth of Plato


c. 420 BC Ezra

c. 400 BC Books of Joel, 1 Chronicles written; Torah

(Pentateuch) edited in final form ("JEDP")

c. 399 BC Death of Socrates


c. 384 BC Birth of Aristotle

c. 347 BC Death of Plato

c. 335 BC Alexander the Great becomes king


c. 331 BC Defeat of Darius III, end of Persian Empire

c. 323 BC Death of Alexander the Great

c. 322 BC Death of Aristotle


c. 287-212 BC Archimedes in Greece

c. 270-260 BC Old Testament translated from Hebrew into Greek

(Septuagint) for Greek-speaking Jews of the Diaspora

c. 261 BC Punic Wars begin (Rome)


c. 200-175 BC Book of Sirach (Deuterocanonical) written

c. 169 BC Second ("Zerubbabel's") Temple desecrated by

Antiochus Epiphanes

c. 168-142 BC Jewish kingdom revived under the Hasmoneans


c. 167-164 BC Persecution of Antiochus IV Epiphanes; Book of Daniel

written

c. 165 BC Judas Maccabeus

c. 100 BC 1st Book of Maccabees (Deuterocanonical) written


c. 63 BC Jerusalem captured by the Romans

c. 44 BC Julius Caesar assassinated in Rome on March 15

c. 19 BC Restoration of Second ("Zerubbabel's") Temple begun

by Herod the Great; renovated and enlarged, almost completed ("Herod's" Temple) when it was destroyed by the Romans c. 70 AD. The "46 years" of Jn 2:20 begin here.


c. 19 BC Death of Virgil

C. 8 BC Death of Horace

c. 7-4 BC Birth of Jesus


c. 4 BC Death of Herod

c. 30 AD Crucifixion, Death and Resurrection of Jesus

c. 35 AD Martyrdom of Stephen, Deacon and first

Christian Martyr


c. 36 AD Death of Pontius Pilate

c. 50 AD Earliest oral traditions of the Gospel written

down

c. 51-52 AD Paul's Letters to the Thessalonians


c. 50-55 AD Early Aramaic version of Matthew probably

written

c. 50-60 AD Letter of James

c. 54 AD Paul's Letter to the Galatians


c. 56-67 Other Letters of Paul written

c. 64-70 AD Gospel of Mark written

c. 64 AD 1 Peter written


c. 67 AD Paul writes 2 Timothy; later beheaded

c. 70 AD Jewish Revolt, capture of Jerusalem and

destruction of Second Temple by the Romans

c. 67-70 AD Gospel of Luke written


c. 68-70 AD Gospel of Matthew written

c. 75 AD Acts of the Apostles written

c. 70 AD Letter of Jude written


c. 95-98 AD Book of Revelation, Gospel of John written

c. 99 AD 2 Peter written – New Testament complete

c. 131-135 AD Second Jewish Rebellion


c. 130 AD Irenaeus lists New Testament canon; omits Hebrews,

James, 2 Peter, 2 John, 3 John, Jude

c. 185 AD Origen lists New Testament canon, omits James, 2

Peter, 2 John, 3 John, Jude

c. 134 AD Capture of Jerusalem by the Romans


c. 135 AD Sanctuary of Zeus and Hadrian established on the site of

the Temple

c. 296 AD Athanaeus lists New Testament canon we have today

312 AD Battle of Malvian Bridge (October 23), Emperor

Constantine victorious after seeing a vision of the cross (or Chi-Rho) ("In hoc signo vinces"), Christianity becomes the established religion of the Roman Empire


c. 306-337 AD Reign of Constantine

325 AD Council of Nicaea

382 AD Pope Damasus defines canon of Scripture in

Roman Code


383 AD Council of Hippo (non-ecumenical) defines canon of

Scripture

397 AD Council of Carthage (non-ecumenical) defines canon of

Scripture

c. 400 AD St. Jerome's translation of the Bible into the Latin

Vulgate, based on Septuagint version


c. 500 AD Unified Roman Empire has ended by this date

c. 529 AD Plato's Academy closed by Byzantine Emperor

Justinian I

c. 611 AD Muhammad


787 AD Second Council of Nicaea (ecumenical) ratifies canon of

Scripture as defined by the African councils (Hippo and Carthage)

1054 AD Schism between Orthodox (Eastern) and Catholic (Western)

churches

1206 AD Chapter divisions of Scripture introduced by Stephen Langton,

professor at University of Paris, later Archbishop of Canterbury and Cardinal


1335 AD Council of Florence reiterates ratification of canon of

Scripture

1370 AD John Wycliffe, "Morningstar of the Reformation“

1409 AD Council of Pisa; attempt at reform of the Church


1454-1455 AD Gutenberg Bible printed; Septuagint/Latin

Vulgate canon

1517 AD Martin Luther, 95 Theses

1522 AD Ulrich Zwingli


1533-1534 AD Henry VIII breaks with Rome; Church of England

established

1536 AD John Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion

1545 AD Council of Trent convenes; Septuagint/Latin Vulgate

canon again confirmed


1551 AD Verse divisions of Scripture introduced by

Robert Estienne (AKA Robert Stephanus)

1560 AD Geneva Bible published

1609 AD Douay-Rheims version of the Bible published


1611 AD King James Version of the Bible published


But in the midst of all this, something else happened that is important to our understanding of Scripture

c. 587 BC The Babylonian Empire conquers and destroys

Jerusalem; this is the beginning of the Exile, the Diaspora


King Jehoiachin and the elite of the Jewish population to deported to Babylon with only the "inferior classes“ remaining in Palestine

Solomon's Temple is destroyed and the Ark of the Covenant is lost

The Jews were allowed to return to Palestine some time later, the Temple was rebuilt, etc.

but many of them never returned, and some were "dispersed" (hence Diaspora) in the Greek-speaking world


Over time, they were assimilated and Hebrew was no longer their vernacular language. But they were still Jews and read the Scriptures - so . . .

c. 270-100 BC Translation of Septuagint (Old Testament

translated from Hebrew into Greek), including some books written after the Exile, outside Palestine, in languages other than Hebrew


So, the Old Testament was "complete" at this point, but there was not a "list" of books that everyone agreed on

It remained for Pope Damasus, the Councils of Hippo and Carthage, and the Second Council of Nicaea to arrive at the "standard" canon we have today

Tradition

So . . . Where did the Bible come from?

Revelation was objectively closed with the death of the last Apostle, c. 98-99 AD

Although all of the New Testament had essentially been written down by that time, it had not yet been collected into the definitive collection called the New Testament that we have today

Tradition

The first generation or two of Christians didn't have a Bible

From c. 33 AD until c. 50 AD, nothing (or at least nothing we have today) was written down

The New Testament as we know it was not all written down until perhaps as late as c. 98 AD

It was probably not collected into the "New Testament" (in the sense of including certain books and excluding others) as we have it now until almost 200 AD

Tradition

How did the early Christians know what to believe?

There wasn't a "Bible," but there was a "Church" - a group (maybe several groups) of people who were taught by the apostles, or (then) by people who were taught by the apostles

Tradition

This is essentially the basis for what we call Tradition (as distinguished from “traditions”)

The living transmission, through the Holy Spirit, of the Truth, of all that we are and believe, the Word of God transmitted from Jesus to His apostles, and from them to their successors.

Tradition

The apostles entrusted the sacred deposit of faith (Scripture and Tradition) to the whole Church, to be transmitted through its teachings

Tradition may be defined as the way the Church understands the teachings of Jesus at any particular moment in time

Tradition and Scripture form the one deposit of the Word of God - it is important to remember that Scripture and Tradition NEVER contradict each other

Tradition

We must distinguish between Tradition (articles of faith) and traditions (rules of fast and abstinence, when to kneel and when to stand, calendar issues, etc.)

True Tradition is that which has been held always, everywhere and by all

Magisterium

The other source of what we believe is the Magisterium

The teaching authority (Magisterium) of the Church

The Catechism of the Catholic Church Councils, encyclicals, etc.

The Canon of Scripture

A “canon” is a “measuring stick” How do we know which books are in the Bible? If it says everything in the Bible, where (in the

Bible) does it say that it says everything in the Bible?

If it says everything in the Bible, where (in the Bible) does it say which books are in the Bible?


HINT: it's NOT 2 Tim 3:16 "All scripture is inspired by God and is useful

for teaching, for refutation, for correction, and for training in righteousness,“

It says "all," not "only,“ Although 2 Tim was written fairly late, it was

before several other NT books were written - the "Scripture" to which Paul refers was (in a general sense) the OT


Without the Church, there would be no Scripture

St. Augustine said that without the Church, he would not believe in Scripture


The Old Testament (OT) canon At the time of Jesus, there was no canon

(definitive list of books) as we would understand it today

There was a collection of books that were accepted and understood, but there was no list


In fact, there were at least two collections, probably more

Remember that the Jews had been dispersed c. 587 BC, and not all of them came back to Palestine

Those who did live in Palestine generally used a collection of works in Hebrew


But the Jews of the Diaspora (those who lived in the Greek-speaking world) used an expanded collection

This is now called the Septuagint It had been translated into Greek by about 100

BC


The Septuagint contained 46 books It included 7 books and parts of 2 others which

were not found in the Hebrew Scriptures (Old Testament) used in Palestine


Tobit Wisdom Judith Sirach Baruch Parts of Esther Parts of Daniel 1 Maccabees 2 Maccabees


These books and parts of books are what we Catholics call the Deuterocanonical books

Others sometimes call them the Apocrypha All are Old Testament books


In the early days of the Church, there was not general agreement on which books should be "in" and which books should be "out.“

There are various lists - Bishop Melito of Sardis (quoted in Eusebius), the Muratorian Fragment, etc.

But they don't agree with each other, and sometimes list deuterocanonical books while omitting protocanonical books


So, how did books get into (or out of) the Bible?

Just because a book SAYS it's inspired doesn't mean it is

Answer: the Church decided


The Old Testament canon was drawn up by the Council of Rome (382) under Pope Damasus

The Councils of Hippo (393) and Carthage (397, 419) also dealt with issues of the canon

When St. Jerome translated the Septuagint from Greek into Latin about 400 AD, he included the Deuterocanonical books


The Deuterocanonical books were included in the Gutenberg Bible (1455)

They were even included in the original 1611 King James Version

Although there had been some disputes about the Old Testament canon in the early church, they had been pretty much settled

There really wasn't much controversy about it until the Reformation


There has never been much controversy about the canon of the New Testament (at least since the late 2nd century AD)

Virtually all Bibles have the same New Testament

There are many other books which various people have claimed “should have” been in the Bible over the centuries

Trivia

The Hebrew version of Esther does not mention God

The "Samaritans" had a different canon (just the Torah)

There are other canons still in use today among the Jews of the Diaspora in certain places

Trivia

Stephen Langton, professor at University of Paris, later Archbishop of Canterbury and Cardinal, divided the Bible into Chapters in 1206

Robert Estienne (AKA Robert Stephanus) divided the Bible into verses in 1551 AD

Translations

Since the earliest days, there have been Bibles in languages other than the languages in which they were written

The Septuagint is one example There were translations of parts of Scripture into

English as early as the 6th Century, although it would not be what we today would recognize as English

If you've ever read Beowulf in the original Middle English, you have some idea what it looks like

Translations

Even as late as Wycliffe's version (1382), we'd hardly recognize it

Matthew. 2:16: "Thanne Eroude seynge that he has dusseyued of the astomynes, was full wrooth; and he sent and slewe alle the children that weren in Bethlehem."

Translating the Bible

There are two basic methods of translating the Bible (or anything else, for that matter):


Formal Equivalence: form-centered, word-for-word, literal translation, in which the original word meanings, word order and sentence structure are preserved as much as possible. This usually results in fairly "traditional" non-idiomatic language and possibly convoluted sentence structure


Dynamic Equivalence: (AKA Functional Equivalence) content-centered, thought-for-thought translation into idiomatic English, which (the translator hopes) is exegetically accurate but adjusted to contemporary language usage. The translator hopes to have the same effect on the readers today that the original had on the readers then.


TRANSLATIONS


Wycliff (1382): John Wycliff was an ex-priest, sometimes called the Morningstar of the Reformation, involved with the Lollards, a sect that held many positions not supported by Scripture and Tradition. He translated the Bible into English and was burned at the stake, though probably less for translating the Bible than for other reasons.

Tyndale (1525): also burned at the stake


Coverdale (1537): sanctioned by Henry VIII, the first English Bible not to be suppressed

Geneva Bible (1560): contained a footnote at Revelation 9:11 which indicated that the Pope was the angel of the bottomless pit of hell

Douay-Rheims (1609): also had a footnote on the '"two masters" passage that indicated the two masters might be God and Baal, Christ and Calvin, the Catholic Church and Heretical Conventicles


Douay-Rheims (1609): the first "Catholic" translation, long the "official" translation, still used by some "traditional" Catholics today. It was a "formal equivalence" translation from the Latin Vulgate of St. Jerome

It has some of the same stately, majestic tone of the KJV done about the same time. The intent was to make a translation for Catholics which was not "subversive" to their faith


King James Version (1611): a "formal-equivalence" literal translation from the original languages (to the extent that they were available at the time)

One of the most popular and enduring, but some words and expressions are less familiar to us today and may even have different meanings to us than they would have had to 1611 readers

The language of the KJV can be archaic and confusing


For example:

"For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way." (1 Thes. 2:7)


Revised Standard Version (1952): a "formal equivalence" literal translation, an attempt to improve on the KJV while preserving the style, taking into account the changes in the English language and advances in textual scholarship

The 1973 edition includes the Deuterocanonical books and tried to avoid sectarian problems

It is the most often used by scholars today


New Jerusalem Bible (1985): a thought-for-thought translation from the original languages into French, then from French into English

Has excellent explanatory notes, Catholic-oriented


New American Bible (1970): an entirely new translation not dependent on any earlier translation in any language

This is currently the "official" Catholic translation, but tries to avoid sectarian ax-grinding

Seeks clarity in English, not conformity to the idiom of the original

A literal translation, but with freedom to be idiomatic


You should have a copy of the New American Bible (preferably the Youth Edition)

You should bring it to class every day


New English Bible (1970): a "dynamic equivalence" translation based on the idea that words are socially agreed-upon symbols which mean that their users intend them to mean

This translation attempts to identify all facets of meaning intended by the original author and express them naturally in English


Living Bible (1971): a loose "dynamic equivalence" translation, really a paraphrase

It is the work of one man (Kenneth Taylor), who attempted to say as exactly as possible what the original writers meant at an 8th-grade reading level

It is translated from a "rigid ultraconservative evangelical" perspective


It sometimes imports things into the text that are not there because Taylor thinks they are "implied.“

It may even include deliberate mistranslations to support a particular position

NOT recommended by most Scripture scholars


Today's English Version (1976): AKA "Good News for Modern Man,“ a "dynamic equivalence" translation intended to sound well when read aloud

Intended to be easily understood by people unfamiliar with traditional "biblical" language


Somewhat independent of the sentence structure of the original

Some versions include the Deuterocanonical books

It is sometimes described as a good choice for "less-experienced" readers


New International Version (1978): a "formal equivalence" translation done by a group of scholars committed to "traditional Christian doctrines as expressed in the classical Protestant creeds.“

Some say that this translation was done so that the evangelical Protestants wouldn't have to use the RSV


No one translation is best for everyone A new translation is needed every 30 years or

so as language changes. We now have better knowledge of the original

scriptures and texts. A copy of Isaiah was found among the Dead Sea Scrolls at Qumran (after 1947) that was 1,000 years older than any copy of Isaiah we previously had


We now have better knowledge of the languages and vocabulary of the original writers

English has changed and continues to change

How to Read Scripture

It has often been said that ignorance of Scripture is ignorance of Christ

We do not "worship" the BibleBut it is critical to our faith and

understanding


Be attentive to the content and unity of the whole of Scripture

Look for the coherence of the truths of faith, the whole plan of salvation

Don’t look for just the parts that you're reading Especially don’t look for just the parts that

support your position, or sanction what you want to do or not do


Look for the Mind of ChristWWJD?Read Scripture within the living

Tradition of the Church


Read systematically in some way Genesis --> Revelation Genesis --> Malachi, PLUS Matthew --> John,

PLUS Epistles. Don't forget Acts and Revelation

Pick a book and do a study. Jonah and Ruth are recommended

Then do another one


Read the Lectionary - read the daily readings

If that's too ambitious, read the readings for the following Sunday

There's a list in the back of the Bible2012 is B-IIWhen Advent begins, it'll be C-I


Lectio DivinaWhen you come to a passage that

strikes you, stop and meditate on it at length

We’ll talk more about that later


How NOT to read ScriptureDon't ignore Scripture until you're in

dire straits and then turn to it in time of need and open it at random looking for an answer

The answer might be . . .


Matthew 27:5 " . . . he departed and went off and hanged himself.“

Luke 10:37: " . . . Go and do likewise.“

John 13:27 " . . . What you are going to do, do quickly."


However you read, LISTEN. If you have doubts about the meaning,

1. When in doubt, pray and read again 2. If still in doubt, read footnotes,

commentaries, etc. 3. If still in doubt, ask 4. If still in doubt, repeat 1-3 as needed.

What about “interpretation?”

All Scripture is in a sense "interpretation." It's an interpretation by those who wrote it -

inspired by God, written by the authors in their own words.

It's a translation (i.e., interpretation") from the original languages by whoever did the translation

Whoever did the translation chose one word over another, one way of expressing something over another

Theology Chapter 1 Miss McCann 2013-2014. Scripture Luke 4:14-22a: Jesus returned to Galilee in the...

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Transcript of Theology Chapter 1 Miss McCann 2013-2014. Scripture Luke 4:14-22a: Jesus returned to Galilee in the...