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July 25, 2005
Ch.III. Q.14. Biblical Inspiration
THE Bible is a series of "Sacred Scriptures," written by holy men of old, as they were moved by the Holy Ghost; which has been compiled and preserved by the Church for the edification of the faithful, as "the Word of God," and a means by which every doctrine can be proved which she requires to be believed as necessary for salvation.1
2. The Scriptures were written under diverse circumstances, by different writers, in different ages, and for a variety of immediate purposes.2 But a Divine unity of purpose governs the whole series. "The Old Testament is not contrary to the New . . . everlasting life is offered to mankind by Christ," in both.3
3. The Church declares in the Nicene Creed that the Holy Ghost "spake by the prophets." This is the Catholic doctrine of Inspiration. In other words, the Scriptures not only contain but are the Word of God, and for the purposes of their inspiration have Divine authority throughout.4 How they came to possess this authority, i.e., the method of their inspiration, the Church does not define; but what the Church means by teaching that the Bible is divinely inspired is perfectly clear — that they have Divine authority. Such authority, if present at all, is absolute; and biblical inspiration does not admit of degrees.
4. But the amount of spiritual teaching contained in the various portions of Scripture varies widely, and this has led writers to speak of different degrees or amounts of inspiration.5 In doing so they confuse inspiration with spiritual illumination or with revelation.6 We must distinguish between inspiration, or the authority possessed by the Scriptures, and the immediate purposes which the several parts of Scripture were inspired to fulfil.7 If one Scripture is inspired in order to record in God's way a dark passage in Israel's history, and another in order to make known heavenly mysteries, both are none the less equally inspired — i.e., have equally real Divine authority for their diverse ends. But they have unequal values, if both are viewed as sources of spiritual edification; and if spiritual edification were the invariable mark of Divine inspiration, we should have to deny the place of some parts of the Bible in inspired Scripture.
5. Plenary inspiration, or the equal inspiration of every part of the Bible, is taught by the Catholic Church. But when interpreting the several Scriptures we must bear in mind the limitations of Divine purpose in each, and the organic place of each Scripture in the whole. The biblical meaning, as distinguished from that of the human writer must be ascertained. The two meanings do not invariably coincide. The biblical meaning or purport is Divine and therefore inerrant, as far as it goes, however defective it may appear when compared with that of later Scriptures.
6. That a Scripture is divinely inspired is made known to us primarily by the Church, although the fitness of the Bible as a whole for the general purpose which it is designed to fulfil affords constant verification of the Church's testimony.8 Without ecclesiastical attestation we could not distinguish the Sacred Scriptures with certainty from other holy writings; nor, in view of the inevitable mistakes of copyists, could the Scriptures be preserved from doctrinal corruption except by the Spirit-guided Church. The Church is both the witness and the keeper of Holy Writ.9
7. The Sacred Scriptures were written from the point of view of God’s Kingdom, and for the members of it; and their general purpose is to establish and strengthen them in the doctrine which they have learned or are able to learn in that Kingdom.10 The Bible is not the source of truth for God's Kingdom, for the Church’s possession of it is more ancient than the Bible, and was derived from direct revelation. Yet the Bible contains all saving doctrine, and must be found to prove what the Church teaches. It is often the means, also, by which individuals discover the true religion. The Church and the Bible are both necessary. Both are Divine and we may not separate or mutually oppose them in our study of Theology.11
1 Arts. of Religion, vi. vii.; Forbes, XXXIX. Arts., vi., vii.; Hooker, Eccles. Polity, I., xii.-xv.; Richey, What is the Bible; Mortimer, Cath. Faith, Vol. I., pp. 220-231; Lee, Inspiration; Wordsworth, Inspiration of the Bible; Blunt, Dic. of Theol., "Inspiration."
2 Heb. i. 1.
3 Arts. of Religion , vii.; Lee, pp. 24-32; also Lec. iii. and App. B.; Forbes, in Art. vii.
4 Gen. Convention Digest, Constitution, Art. viii.; De¬claration of 11,000 Clergy, quoted in Liddon, Life of Pusey , Vol. IV., p. 54; St. Thos., Summa, I., i. 10 Conclusio; Stone, Outlines, note 38, p. 310 and pp. 124-126. cf. I. Cor. ii. 13; II. Tim. iii. 15-17; Heb. i. 1; II. Pet. i. 21; Luke i. 70.
5 e.g. Gore, in Lux Mundi, 8th Essay; Sanday, Inspira¬tion, Lec. viii. Cf. Lee, pp. 401-405.
6 Cf. Q. xvii.
7 Bonney, Old Truths, pp. 146, 147; Pusey, Un-Science, pp. 6, 7.
8 Wordsworth, pp. 32-69; Stanton, Place of Authority, pp. 74-80, 138-139, 160-162; Hooker, III., viii. 13, 14; Blunt, Dic. of Theol., p. 350; Ewer, Holy Spirit, pp. 57-62; Moberly, Holy Spirit, pp. 73-90; Lacey, Elem. of Doctrine, pp. 23-26. Cf. Arts. of Religion, vi.
9 Arts. of Religion, xx.
10 Tertullian, De Prescrip. Her., ch. 19 et seq. ; Gore, Rom. Cath. Claims, pp. 57, 58; Ewer, pp. 52-58; Gore, Creed of a Christian, pp. 61-66. Cf. Luke i. 4; I. Cor. xi. 2, 23; xv. 1-4; Gal. i. 8; Heb. v. 11-vi. 3; I. John ii. 21; Jude 3.
11 Forbes, XXXIX Arts., pp. 93-95; Gore, Rom. Cath. Claims, pp. 60-64; Hutchings, Holy Spirit, pp. 154-157; Pusey, Church of Eng. a Portion of Christ's Cath. Church, pp. 336-351 (for patristic passages); Lacey, pp. 20-22; Mortimer, Vol. I., pp. 106-107. Cf. Acts xvii. 11. Palmer, The Church, Vol. II., pp. 5-25; Church Hist. Soc. Lecs., 2nd Series, 1st Paper, pp. 10-12.
Posted by Debra Bullock at July 25, 2005 07:09 PM
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