Beruflich Dokumente
Kultur Dokumente
1. What does the word "Bible" mean? The word "Bible" means "book." 2. From what language is the word derived? (Etymological definition) From the Latin "Biblia," which in turn comes from the Greek. 3. Is the Greek word for what we call the "Bible" in the singular or in the plural? In the plural, which means that it should be translated "the books". 4. Why did the Greeks use the plural form? They used the plural form because the Bible is not one book but a collection of books. 5. Is the Latin word for what we call the Bible in the singular or in the plural? It is in the singular and, therefore, should be translated "the book". 6. Why does the Latin use the singular form? Because the Bible is the most important book there is, since it is the Word of God. 7. What does the Bible contain? The Bible contains chiefly a history of God's Revelation to mankind. 8. What does the Bible give us in addition to the history of God's dealings with mankind? In addition, the Bible gives us instructions in faith and morals. 9. Does the Bible give other instructions? Certain books give detailed instructions for the carrying out of religious worship in the Old Law. 10. Did the Bible, as some seem to think, fall from heaven? No; the Bible was written by man. 11. If the Bible was written by man, why do we say it is the written word of God? Though written by man, we can truly say it is the written word of God, because it was written under the inspiration of God.
They were written mainly by the Apostles. 4. Why do we say "mainly"? We say "mainly" because some books of the New Testament were written by men who were not the Apostles, i.e., St. Mark and St. Luke. 5. How may the books of the New Testament be classified? Like those of the Old Testament, the books of the New may be grouped into three classes. 6. Name these three classes. They are the same classes as with the Old Testament: Historical, Didactic, and Prophetical. 7. Name the Historical Books. The Historical Books are the four Gospels and the Acts of the Apostles. 8. Name the Didactic Books. The Didactic Books are all the Epistles. 9. Name the Prophetical Books. There is only one Prophetical Book i? the New Testament, namely, the Apocalypse of St. John. 10. What do we learn from the New Testament? From the New Testament we learn the principal events in the Life of Christ, many Christian beliefs and practices, as well as much history of the early Catholic Church. 11. Was the New Testament written primarily to convert people? No, conversion was done by preaching. The New Testament was written to strengthen the Faith of the people already converted. 12. Can we prove it? Yes: "It seems good to me also, ... to write to thee in order, most excellent Theophilus, that thou mayest know the verity of those words in which thou hast been instructed" (Lc. I, 3-4).
They are so called because their recognition as Scriptural came "afterwards"; the Greek word "Deutero" used as a prefix has the signification of "second" or "later." 13. Name the Deutero-Canonical Books. Tobias, Wisdom, Baruch, Ecclesiasticus, Machabees (I & II), Judith, Esther (Ch X. v. 4 to end), Daniel (Ch. III, vs. 5293). The Protestants call them "Apocryphal" Books. 14. Why did the Hebrews not admit these books as part of the Bible? As a whole, the Hebrews stopped admitting these books after the second Century A.D., because they were written in languages other than Hebrew, or were of uncertain authorship. 15. Did the Hebrews ever formally rejected these books? On the contrary, even if they did not accept these books as part of the Bible, they were always held in the greatest reverence by the Hebrews. 16. Under what guidance does the Church declare which books are canonical and which are not? Under the guidance of the Holy Ghost. 17. How do we know that she has this guidance? We know that she has this guidance because Christ promised assistance to His Church until the end of times [Matthew 28:20]. 18. Has the Church made use of human means in drawing up the Canon of Scriptures? Yes; she investigated carefully whether the doctrine taught in the book was in harmony with Tradition and whether the book was of apostolic origin.
There is the fact that Christ commissioned His Apostles to "Preach and teach" (Mt. 28, 19), whereas no mention of "Writing" is found; furthermore, the Gospel was widely spread before a single word of the New Testament was ever written. 13. What further Scriptural proof have we that the Bible does not contain the complete Deposit of Faith? The words of St. John that conclude his Gospel, "But there are also many other things which Jesus did; which if they were written every one, the world itself, I think, would not be able to contain the books that should be written" (Jn. 21, 25). 14. What view do Protestants hold about the Deposit of Faith? Protestants hold that all things necessary for salvation are found in the Bible. To quote Luther: "The Bible and the Bible only." 15. Do Protestants ignore Tradition? Totally, and in this t?ey are illogical, for it is by Tradition that we know what the Bible contains. 16. What is the Catholic view of the Bible and Tradition? That, while the Bible is the chief source, it is neither the only nor the original source of our knowledge of Revelation. 17. To what may we compare the relation between the Bible and Tradition? We may compare it to a professor's textbooks and his lectures; as a professor's lectures in the classroom, and his textbooks clarify each other, so does the Bible clarify Tradition and is clarified by it in turn. 18. Has Tradition aided the Bible in other ways? Yes, it has preserved the Bible and has helped the Church to sift the true from the false, and has kept us from false interpretation.
Because this translation was made in Alexandria, Egypt, which had the biggest and most vibrant Jewish community outside of Israel. 6. Is there any other difference between the Septuagint and the Palestinian version, besides their language? Several; The Septuagint contains more books than the Palestinian version and is about three hundred years older. The Palestinian Version originated approximately around 106 A.D. and is different from the Hebrew texts that were the basis for the Septuagint translation. 7. Why does the Septuagint have more books than the Palestinian version? The translators had a well-founded belief that these books were inspired. 8. Were these added books accepted by the Hebrews? Yes, but only up until 106 A.D., when the Palestinian, known also as the pharisaic version, became the norm. 9. Was the Septuagint Version much in use in Our Lord's time? It was used not only by the Greek-speaking Jews but also by the Palestinian Jews; Our Lord and the Apostles frequently quoted it. 10. Did this Greek translation of the Bible help to spread Christianity? It helped very much, because Gentiles, particularly the Greek philosophers, had ?ead it, and had knowledge of the prophecies referring to the Messiah, with the result that when St. Paul preached to them, many converts were made.
Yes, it is the translation known as the Douay-Rheims Version. It was translated from the Latin Vulgate. 2. Why is it called "Douay-Rheims"? Because it was begun at Rheims and finished at Douay in 1582-1609 by a group of English priests exiled in France. 3. What happened in the sixteenth century to cause the publication of a reliable and accurate translation? During the Protestant "Deformation" in England many false translations had been made, hence there was great necessity of placing in the hands of Catholics a reliable and accurate translation. 4. Is it true that the Bible was never translated into vernacular languages before the Protestant Deformation? It is not true; the first translation known in England was the translation into Anglo-Saxon made by Venerable Bede in the eighth century. There is a Gothic translation, made by a certain bishop Ulfilas around 1380. The first German translation predates Luther by a good fifty years. 5. Why do Protestants assert that the Bible was never translated before the Deformation? Through a mixture of ignorance and bad faith. 6. What is the most well known of the false?English Protestant translations? It is the version called the "King James," named after the King who commissioned it in 1604. It was finished in 1611. It is still the most popular of the Protestant Bibles in the English speaking world. 7. What is wrong with the "King James" version? Like all the Protestant Bibles, it is incomplete and poorly translated. It is a "Pick and choose" version. Such is the real lack of respect of the "Reformers" for the word of God!
Because the result of this belief has been that, as many interpretations exist as there are individual thinkers, and many of these interpretations contradict each other; since the Holy Ghost cannot contradict Himself, He cannot be the guide of these interpretations, and therefore, this belief of these Protestants is false. 9. How is it against Tradition? The constant Tradition of the Church since Apostolic times is that the proper interpretation of the Word of God belongs to the Church founded by Him, i.e., the Catholic Church; and as St Paul tells us, we have to: "... stand fast: and hold the traditions which you have learned, whether by word, or by our epistle. ..." (II Thes. II, 14). 10. How is it against the Bible? St. Peter warns us that in the Bi?le, there are: "... things hard to be understood, which the unlearned and the unstable wrest, as they do also the other scriptures, to their own destruction. ..." (II Pet. III,16). Now, if the Holy Ghost was inspiring personally, every individual reader of Scripture, what St Peter tells us would be impossible, because obviously, no one can read the Bible for their own destruction, and be inspired by the Holy Ghost at the same time. Since it is certain that St Peter was inspired by the Holy Ghost when he wrote that, it means that there is no personal inspiration from the Holy Ghost while reading the Bible; and that this Protestant belief cannot be true, since it contradicts the Bible. 11. Is the accusation that Catholics have no freedom of interpretation in biblical matters true? In a material or literal sense, it is true, exactly as in any well-regulated society, nobody has the "freedom" to kill, maim, and loot. In a spiritual sense, it is quite the opposite, for St. John reminds us that: "... the truth shall make you free ..." (Jn. VIII, 32), and thanks to the vigilance of the Church, Catholics do enjoy freedom from error, which cannot be the case with the Protestants.
Papyrus is the substance made from reeds of bull-rushes; a plant particularly abundant in the valley?of the Nile in Egypt. Two layers were placed at right angles to each other and glued together. It was used mainly before the Christian era. 7. What is parchment or vellum? The skin of animals, preferably goats and calves, especially prepared for writing. 8. What was used in lieu of a pen? For writing on papyrus, reeds were used, and for vellum, a stylus or metal pen. 9. Were the books of the Bible bound as are our books? No, they were rolled around a stick, hence we read of Our Lord rolling and unrolling the Scriptures in the Temple. When documents are in that form (rolled), they are usually called scrolls. 10. What style of writing was used? Up to around the third century A.D. only capital letters were used. There was no separation between words, no division between chapters, and no division between verses. This style was call the Uncial style. 11. What style was used after the third century A.D.? The style known as the Cursive style. There was still no spacing between words, but capitals were introduced at the beginning of sentences. 12. When were the books divided into chapters? This was done by Stephen Langton (+ 1228). Chancellor of the University of Paris until 1213, when he became Archbishop of Canterbury (England). 13. When were the chapters divided into verses? Even more recently; this was done by the French printer Robert Estienne (1503-1559). 14. What was the first book printed after the invention of the printing press? The first book printed around 1455 by Gutenberg, the inventor of the printing press, was the Catholic Bible in Latin (Vulgate). It has been a best-seller ever since.