Introduction to the Bible and Book of Romans

By Vic Scaravilli



Why is it necessary to read and study the Bible?

Part of mass – one-half of our mass is dedicated to reading from the Bible

Our faith is found in the Bible

God is the primary author of the Bible and He speaks directly to us

We have been commanded to become more literate with the Bible

CCC 133 – “The Church forcefully and specifically exhorts all the Christian faithful to learn the surpassing knowledge of Jesus Christ by FREQUENT reading of the divine Scriptures. Quoting Jerome, “Ignorance of Scripture is ignorance of Christ.”

Essential question EVERY must answer:

How do I know with absolute certainty the Bible really is inspired by God?

Jesus

(Gave His Church the)

Deposit of Faith (Divine Revelation, Word of God)

(Consists of the total revelation given by Christ)

Tradition

(Transmission of revelation over time)

Oral Written

(This revelation is preserved in two forms: Verbally and the Bible)

Magisterium

(The teaching office of the Church that formally defines what Christ taught)

Jesus gave His apostles the Deposit of Faith which is all of what He taught them about Himself and salvation. The Deposit of Faith is preserved in two forms: Oral Tradition and the Scriptures or the Bible. The Magisterium is the teaching authority of the Church that formally defines the Deposit of Faith.

The three sources of authority in the Catholic Church are:

MAGISTERIUM

APOSTOLIC TRADITION

SCRIPTURES

How Catholics know the Bible is inspired of God and it contains the correct books:

Christ is God and is the ultimate source of authority in matters of faith (Jn. 1:1)

Christ established a Church and gave authority to His apostles to speak in His name after His ascension (Mt. 28:18-20; Jn. 14:26)

Christ taught the apostles the fullness of truth or everything about Himself and salvation (Heb. 1:1-2; Mk. 3:14). The totality of this teaching is called the Deposit of Faith, Divine Revelation, or the Word of God

The apostles taught the Deposit of Faith verbally and this transmission of the Word of God is called Oral or Apostolic Tradition (1Cor. 11:2; 2Thes. 3:6; 1Thes. 2:13). Oral Tradition was also an authoritative source

The authoritative Catholic Church using authoritative Tradition, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, canonized the Bible which made it also authoritative

Only an authoritative source can declare something authoritative!

The Bible was canonized approximately at the end of the 4th century by the Catholic Church. She selected 27 books to make up the New Testament and re-ratified the 46 books from the Old Testament. The canonized Bible consisted of 73 books. As a result, the Catholic Bible contains 73 books. It was the Protestants who removed 7 books after the Reformation and their Bibles contain 66 books and NOT Catholic who added them.

Every time a person believes that the Bible is the Word of God, that person then automatically accepts the authority of the Catholic Church in canonizing it!!!

That is why we can say the Bible came from the Church and not the Church from the Bible.

THE CATHOLIC CHURCH HAS:

A. Written the New Testament.

B. Decided which books went into the Bible, i.e., decided what books are inspired and should make up the "Canon" of scripture.

C. Compiled those books into a collection which it named the "Bible."

D. Preserved the Bible, for the first 1500 years by hand writing each book over and over again on fresh papyrus, or on fresh skins of animals.

E. Preserved the Bible from destruction.

F. Preserved the Bible from error.

G. Defended the Bible through the last 1900 years.

H. Grounded her doctrines upon the Bible.

I. Held the Bible in highest veneration.

J. Interpreted the Bible for Her people.

K. The right to call the Bible Her Book.

"I would not believe the Gospel
unless moved thereto by the
authority of the Church."
St. Augustine