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Get ready to learn about the Bible. Discover what books it includes, where it came from, and how the Bible fits into your life.
Click on link to play video:
https://www.dynamiccatholic.com/plus/decision-point/confirmation-5-3.html
The Our Father reminds us that we are God’s children. Dive into the biblical world with Ben and Sarah as Jesus teaches us how to pray this great prayer.
Click on link to watch:
https://www.dynamiccatholic.com/plus/blessed/first-reconciliation-4-5.html
Have you ever read the Bible and thought to yourself, “wait… what?”
Oftentimes in Christian media we see what Fr. Mike dubs a “Hallmark” version of following Christ. There’s struggle and hardship, but then God’s grace comes in and cures everything, making everything nearly perfect for the characters in the story. While these types of stories make you feel all warm and fuzzy inside, they’re not very realistic. And while God’s grace is essential, it’s not a magic wand that makes everything bad go away.
There are some stories in the Bible that at first glance appear dark, difficult, or just don’t make sense. Even some of the things Christ says to his followers can sound harsh or even scandalous at times. But it’s in these moments of confusion and concern that God wants to teach us something.
This was something that St. Augustine struggled with before his conversion. It wasn’t until after he had accepted the faith and began to intentionally practice it that he realized it’s not God’s word that’s wrong, it’s our interpretation of it. He gives us 7 things to do when trying to understand a passage we’re unsure of:
1. Read the text in the original language. Or, if you’re not a scholar of Greek or Latin (more than likely), at least realize that a lot can be lost in translation, like idioms and turns of phrase, or context and foreign references.
2. Try different biblical translations and see how they compare.
3. Weigh what you’re reading with all of scripture (it’s ALL connected!)
4. Be humble and accept that you don’t know everything needed to fully understand God’s word (and that’s okay).
5. Sacred tradition always trumps our own interpretations.
6. Don’t take figurative language literally.
7. Don’t universalize a parable to be relevant for all situations in life.
The Bible wasn’t written by Hallmark. It was inspired by God. Hallmark is meant to help you escape reality. The Bible is meant to help you get back in touch with reality. There’s going to be brokenness, and sin, and unhappy endings, but there will also be real grace that transforms those hardships into strength, and it has the power to change your life.
God, as a great novelist, has written into creation His plan from all eternity: communion with humanity. It is through the Eucharist—in His Parousia, His presence—that He remains with His people. When we “take and eat” of the Lamb of God in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, we partake of the worship of Heaven and Earth.
//Saint Paul Center//
Have you noticed that the Catholic Bible has more books than the Protestant version?
It’s true. We do have a longer Bible, with seven more books, because we use a different translation. While our Protestant brothers and sisters’ Bible is based on the Hebrew translation, we use the Greek translation, known as the Septuagint, which includes more books.
Many Protestants say that their version is the correct one and is not “missing books.” They have several arguments for this. One of the arguments claims that there were “400 Silent Years” between the time of Malachi (their last book) and the time of Jesus. In other words, they say that there were no divinely-inspired prophetic utterances during this period.
In his book, The Bible Is A Catholic Book, Catholic Answers apologist Jimmy Akin explains what’s wrong with this argument. First, he says, there’s no evidence that all of the books of the Old Testament were written before 400 B.C. Jimmy also says that, while each book of the Bible is divinely inspired, a writer did not have to be an official prophet to pen a divinely-inspired book:
While all of the biblical authors were divinely inspired, this didn’t mean that they functioned in society as prophets. Psalms and Proverbs attribute many passages to David and Solomon, but they were kings, not prophets. The truth is, we don’t know who wrote many Old Testament books, including all the historical ones (Joshua to 2 Chronicles), and it’s just supposition to claim that they were written by prophets. We also have no evidence that New Testament authors like Mark and Luke ever received prophetic revelations.
While there may not have been any prophets between the time of Malachi and Jesus, that doesn’t mean that God didn’t give any revelations to the writers of the remaining books in the Old Testament, which is just one of the reasons why the Catholic Church recognizes that these additional books are also divinely inspired.
//The Catholic Company//
