THE BIBLE AS SCRIPTURE
10th
October, 2008
F
What is
Scripture?
·
The
Scripture is a body works, written or oral.
·
The
Scripture is inspired or revealed by a deity
·
The
Scripture functions authoritatively within a belief system
·
The
Scripture functions as the point of reference for matters relating to faith,
morals and life. As such the Bible is sacred scripture
F
What is the Bible?
The
term Bible is derived through Latin from the Greek biblia, or “books”, the
diminutive form of Byblos , the word for
“papyrus” or “paper”, which was exported from the ancient Phoenician port city
of Biblos
F
Order of the books
The
order as well as the number of books differs between the Jewish Bible and the
Protestant and Roman Catholic versions of the Bible. The Bible of Judaism is in
three distinct parts: the Torah, or Law, also called the books of Moses; the
Nebiim, or Prophets, divided into the Earlier and Latter Prophets; and the
Ketubim, or Writings, including Psalms, wisdom books, and other diverse
literature.
The
Christian Old Testament organizes the books according to their type of
literature: the Pentateuch, corresponding to the Torah; historical books;
poetical or wisdom books; and prophetical books. Some have perceived in this
table of contents a sensitivity to the historical perspective of the books:
first those that concern the past; then the present; and then the future. The
Protestant and Roman Catholic versions of the Old Testament place the books in
the same sequence, but the Protestant version includes only those books found
in the Bible of Judaism.
F
Classification of the Old
Testament.
I.
Pentateuch (Torah, Law):
Genesis,
Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy.
II.
The Prophets (Nebi’im):
This
is subdivided into earlier prophets: Joshua, Judges, Samuel (1 and 2) Kings (1
and 2).
III.
The later prophets:
Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel (The three major
prophets)
Then the twelve minor prophets:
1.
Hosea
2.
Joel
3.
Amos
4.
Obadiah
5.
Jonah
6.
Micah
7.
Nahum
8.
Habakkuk
9.
Haggai
10.
Zechariah
11.
Zephaniah
12.
Malachi,
The
Writings (Ketubim): Wisdom Literature
1.
Psalm
2.
Proverbs
3.
Job
4.
Ruth
5.
Song of Songs
6.
Qoheleth (Ecclesiastes)
7.
Lamentation
8.
Esther (the last five, read on Jewish feast days, are known as the ‘five
scroll’,
9.
Daniel
10.
Ezra
11.
Nehemiah.
The
Greek Bible, the ‘Septuagint was for the use of the Jews of the Diaspora. It
includes in addition to the text of the Hebrew Bible:
I.
Judith, Tobit, 1 and 2 Maccabees, Wisdom, Sirach (Ecclesiasticus), Baruch
(Baruch chapter 6 is printed under the separate heading of the ‘Letter to Jeremiah’).
In Daniel the following parts exist only in Greek: Daniel 3:24-90; Daniel 13
(Susanna); Daniel 14 (‘Bel and the Dragon’). These books, commonly referred to
as deuteron-canonical, are generally regarded as part of the Christian canon.
In
the Catholic Old Testament we have 46 books. In the Protestant Bible we have
39. In the Hebrew version we have 24. The New Testament has 27 books.
·
The
first five books of the Bible together constitutes a unite in themselves, and
the group was known to the Jews as the torah or the ‘Law’. The
need to have manageable copies of this vast collection of material dictated the
division of its text into five scrolls of approximately equal length. Hence the
name given to it among speakers of Greek: pentateuchos
(biblos understood), the ‘Book in Five Volumes’, transcribed in Latin as Pentateuchus, whence the English Pentateuch. Hebrew speaking Jews
however, called it ‘The Five Fifths of the Law’.
The
Greek version Hebrew Old Testament designated the books according to its contents,
and the Church adopted its terminology. Thus the book which opens with the
story of the beginning of the world is called Genesis; the second starts with
the departure of Israel from Egypt, is named Exodus; Leviticus contains the law
of the priests of the tribe of Levi; the first four chapters of Numbers deal
with the census; Deuteronomy is so styled from the Septuagint rendering of Dt
17:18: ‘the second law’.
·
Genesis
falls into two parts. Chapter 1-11 deal with primordial history; they introduce
us to the story of salvation, the theme that runs through the whole Bible. They
go back to the beginning of the world and survey the whole human race. They
tell of the creation of the universe and humanity, of the Fall and its
consequences, of the increasing human wickedness which earned the punishment of
the Flood.
The
repopulation of the earth starts with Noah but our attention is directed
ultimately to Abraham, father of the chosen people, by way of narrowing
genealogical tables. Chapter 12 – 50 deal with the patriarchal history; they
portray the great ancestors of Israel Holy Land .
Jacob
is the man of guile, who supplanted his brother Esau, tricks his father Isaac
into giving him his blessing and outwits his uncle Laban. But all his cunning
would have been useless if God had not preferred him to Esau before his birth
or renewed the promise and covenant granted to Abraham (25:19 to Chapter 36).
The
career of Isaac, Abraham’s son and Jacob’s father, is described more in
relation to these two than for its own sake; he is a relatively colourless
figure. The twelve sons of Jacob represent the ancestors of the Twelve Tribes of
Israel. The concluding chapters of Genesis (37 – 50, except 38 and 40) are
entirely devoted to one of them Joseph, the man of wisdom. The Joseph-cycle, in
contrast to the foregoing stories, unfolds without visible intervention on the
part of God and without any revelation; it nonetheless has a lesson to teach,
that the virtue of the wise is rewarded and that Providence
Genesis
is complete in itself, the history of ancestors. The three books that follow
have their common framework the life of Moses. They recount the formation of
the chosen people and show how its social and religious law was constituted
·
Exodus
is concerned with two main themes: the deliverance from Egypt mountain of God
·
Leviticus
taken up almost entirely with legislation breaks the thread of the narrative.
Its content is as follows: Sacrificial ritual, Chapter 1-7; ceremony of
priestly investiture described in terms of the consecration of Aaron and his
sons, chapter 8-10; ordinances relating to things clean and unclean, chapter
11-15, concluding with the ritual for the Day of Expiation, chapter 16; the
‘Holiness Code’, chapter 17-26, a section which includes a liturgical calendar,
chapter 23, and which closes with blessings and curses, chapter 26. By way of
appendix, chapter 27 lays down the conditions for redeeming persons and animals
and goods vowed to Yahweh.
·
Numbers
resume the account of the desert journey. A census of the people, chapter 1-4,
and the offering of gifts on the occasion of the dedication of the dwelling,
chapter 7, forms a prelude to the departure from Sinai. The second Passover is
celebrated and, leaving the holy mountain, chapter 9-10, the people reach
Kadesh after various halts on the way. From here an unsuccessful attempt is
made to infiltrate Canaan from the south,
chapter 11-14. After a long stay at Kadesh, the people resume their journey,
until they reach the Plain of Moab, opposite Jericho Transjordan ,
chapter 31-32. Chapter 33 lists the encampments on the way from Egypt to Moab Canaan :
chapter 5-6; 8; 15-19; 26-30; 34-36.
·
Deuteronomy
has a distinct structure of its own. It is a code of civil and religious laws,
chapter 12-26: 15, framed within a long discourse of Moses, chapter 5-11 and
26:16-28. All this material is itself preceded by a first Mosaic discourse,
chapter 1-4, and followed by a third, chapter 29-30, followed in its turn by
sections dealing with the last days of Moses; the commissioning of Joshua,, the
canticle and blessings of Moses, his death, chapter 31-34. The deuteronomic
code is a partial restatement of the laws promulgated in the desert. The
discourse commemorates the great events of the Exodus, of Sinai and of the
beginning of the conquest, explaining the religious significance of these, emphasising
the importance of the Law and exhorting the chosen people to be faithful to
Yahweh.
F
Canon of the Old Testament.
The
word canon means rule or measurement or standard. Biblical canon refers to the
authoritatively accepted lists of books of the Bible.
v
Categories
of the Old Testament.
v
The
story of creation – 2 chapters – primeval history.
That
God created all things is indisputable but the detail of how God created is
just a religious myth used to convey the truth. The message of Genesis chapters
1-11 is that God made human beings and initiated relationship. God wanted the
human beings to be like God, but man failed. In the call of Abraham, God
re-initiated this relationship. Chapters 12-50 are called the story of Israel
F
Classification of the New
Testament.
v
What is a testament?
The
word testament means covenant.
F
New
Testament Division: (27 books)
|
Gospels
|
Early Church History
|
Epistles
or Letters
|
Apocalypse
|
|
Mark
-65/67 Ad
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Acts
(A continuation of the Gospel of Luke)
|
|
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Matthew
|
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1.
Romans
|
Revelation
|
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Luke
|
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2.
1 and 2
|
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John
|
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3.
Galatians
|
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4.
Ephesians
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5.
Colossians
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6.
Philippians
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7.1
Thess
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8. 2 Thess.
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9.
Philemon
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10.
1 Timothy
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11.
2 Timothy
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13.
Titus
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Hebrews
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John
– 1, 2 and 3
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James
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Peter
– 1 and 2
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Jude
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NB.
The first Pauline letter is 1 and 2 Thessalonians, written about
50-51 A.D and his last letter was Romans, written about 57-58 A.D.
F Works of the New Testament – approximate date of
composition.
·
Early letter:
1
Thessalonians 51 A.D
2
Thessalonians 51 or 90
·
Great letters:
Galatians
– 54-57
Philippians
56-57
1
Corinthians 57
2
Corinthians 57
Romans
57/58
·
Captivity letters
Philemon
56-57 or 61-63
Colossians
61-63 or 70-80
Ephesians
61-63 or 90-100
·
Pastoral letters
Titus
65 or 90-100
1
Timothy 65 or 95-100
2
Timothy 66- 67 or 95-100
·
Gospels
Mark
65-70
Matthew
70s – 80s
Luke
70s -80s
John
90s
·
Catholic Epistles
1st
Peter 64 or 70s-80s
James
62 or 70s-80s
Jude
70s-90s
1,
2, and 3 John 90s
2nd
Peter 100-150
·
Other writings
Acts
70s-80
Hebrews
60s or 70s-80
Revelation
90s
F
Authorship
There are two types of authorship
in the Bible.
·
Direct
authorship: This is when the author is himself the writer of the work like St. Paul
·
Virtual
authorship: Example of this is when someone has been teacher and has lectured
for many years. After his death, his student now decide to put all his teaching
together and produce it in a print, and then puts the name of their teacher as
its author.
Nb.
An Apostle: etymologically is one who is called directly by Christ himself and
sent like the twelve apostles. A disciple on the other hand is a follower of
Christ. Every Christian therefore is disciple but not every Christian is an
apostle.
Ø
Out line - 20/11/08 – Rev. Fr.
Patrick Feyistan
F
General
Introduction
F
Division
of the Bible
F
Formation
of the Bible
F
Inspiration
F
Revelation
F
Canonisation
of the Bible
F
Inerrancy
of the Bible
F
Principles
of interpretation
·
General Introduction
v
Old
Testament
v
New
Testament
F
Under Old Testament
v
Hebrew
Bible (Palestinian Bible)
v
Greek
Bible (Alexandrian Bible)
F
The Hebrew Bible is divided into
three.
·
Torah
·
Nebi’im
·
Ketubim
F
Under the Torah we have the first
five books of the Bible
·
Genesis
·
Exodus
·
Leviticus
·
Number
·
Deuteronomy
Nb:
These books are ascribed to Moses (Virtual or ascribed authorship).
F
The
Prophets (Nebi’im):
This
is subdivided into earlier prophets: Joshua, Judges, Samuel (1 and 2) Kings (1
and 2).
III.
The later prophets:
Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel and Daniel (The four
major prophets)
Then the twelve minor prophets:
1.
Hosea
2.
Joel
3.
Amos
4.
Obadiah
5.
Jonah
6.
Micah
7.
Nahum
8.
Habakkuk
9.
Haggai
10.
Zechariah
11.
Zephaniah
12.
Malachi,
The
Writings (Ketubim): Wisdom Literature
1.
Psalm
2.
Proverbs
3.
Job
4.
Ruth
5.
Song of Songs
6.
Qoheleth (Ecclesiastes)
7.
Lamentation
8.
Esther (the last five, read on Jewish feast days, are known as the ‘five
scroll’,
9.
Daniel
10.
Ezra
11.
Nehemiah.
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