God himself is the author of Sacred Scripture (CCC 105), and because of that the Word of God as transmitted to us in the Bible is to be accepted as inspired and true. We accept it, as we do the Doctrine of the Faith in general, not because it sounds plausible to us, but because of the One who has given it to us--God, who is Truth itself; the One who can neither deceive nor be deceived (VATICAN I, Dei Filius, 3, Denzinger Schînmetzer 3008).

God, the Author of Sacred Scripture, transmitted his Word to us by inspiring the human authors of Scripture (CCC 106; cf. VATICAN II, Dei Verbum 11). The Catechism asserts what Vatican II asserted, which is what the Church has always asserted: that Sacred Scripture teaches the truth. We are obliged to accept as true all that the inspired authors affirm, for through them it is the Holy Spirit who is affirming this truth, thus, We must acknowledge that the books of Sacred Scripture firmly, faithfully, and without error teach that truth which God, for the sake of our salvation, wished to see confided to the Sacred Scriptures (CCC 107; cf. VATICAN II, Dei Verbum 11).

As is the case when trying to understand and properly construe anything transmitted by language--whether written or spoken--certain principles have to be followed. Through Sacred Scripture God in his great love for us speaks to us in a human way. Therefore, in order to interpret Scripture correctly the reader must be attentive to trying to understand what the human authors were really trying to say. It is the Church, our holy Mother and Teacher, who shows us how to do this. We are to pay attention to such things as the language, culture, modes of feeling and narrating current at the time of the human authors writing (Cf. CCC 109-110).

But, since Sacred Scripture is inspired, there is another and no less important principle of correct interpretation, without which Scripture would remain a dead letter. "Sacred Scripture must be read and interpreted in the light of the same Spirit by whom it was written"(CCC 111; cf. Dei Verbum 12). The greatest gifts of intellect, expertise in biblical languages, etc., although of great value, account for nothing ultimately if the person is not filled with the same Holy Spirit who inspired Sacred Scripture in the first place.

The acid test of whether or not a person in fact is operating in the Holy Spirit is humility. If one is humble one has the desire and the true freedom of will to obey legitimate Church authority. One who does not have this essential virtue of humility will ultimately rebel against the authentic and authoritative teaching of the Magisterium of the Church--the only legitimate interpreter ultimately of God's Word, whether written or passed on in the oral form of Sacred Tradition.

The Catechism (#113) reminds us of the three criteria which the Second Vatican Council (Dei Verbum 12) lays down for us to insure that we interpret Sacred Scripture in accordance with the same Spirit who inspired it in the first place:

1) Be especially attentive "to the content and unity of the whole of Scripture."

2) Read the Scripture within "the living Tradition of the whole Church." According to a saying of the Fathers, Sacred Scripture is written principally in the Church's heart rather than in documents and records, for the Church carries in her Tradition the living memorial of God's Word, and it is the Holy Spirit who gives her the spiritual interpretation of the Scripture.

3) Be attentive to the analogy of faith (Cf. Rom 12:6). By analogy of faith we mean the coherence of the truths of faith among themselves and within the whole plan of Revelation.

The very commendable growth in interest in the study of Sacred Scripture which often manifests itself in Bible study groups must take the teaching of Vatican II into account. These three principles must be used in order to insure that what we are really doing is interpreting the written Word of God in accordance with the Spirit who inspired it in the first place.

On a practical note, I highly recommend The Navarre Bible, a unique set of commentaries on the New Testament books published by Four Courts Press and distributed in the United States by Scepter Press. It is available from most good Catholic book stores, as well as direct from Scepter Press. This set, prepared by the Ecclesiastical Faculty of Theology of the University of Navarre, beautifully incorporates all of the principles above stated in a very simple, readable, and spiritually enriching presentation. It can be a great help to Scripture study groups or to individuals who desire to read the Bible as the Catholic Church does.

As we know, the Bible did not somehow merely drop out of the sky; it came to us through the Church. It was by the apostolic Tradition that the Church through her Magisterium discerned which writings were inspired and should be included in what we call the Canon of Sacred Scripture. There are 46 books that comprise the Old Testament and 27 the New Testament. Sacred Tradition and the Magisterium of the Church set before us what we today call the Bible (CCC 120).

The Old and New Testaments constitute one-only written Word of God. The New Testament did not revoke the Old Covenant (CCC 121). The Old Testament is the true Word of God and sheds light on the New, prefiguring and preparing for the full manifestation of the eternal Word spoken of in the New Testament--Jesus, the Christ. It is only in the full light of the New Testament that we can properly understand the Old Testament. Hence, the New Testament did not do away with the Ten Commandments of the Mosaic Law, the admonitions of the prophets, or the wisdom and counsel of the Wisdom Books; it fulfilled and consummated them.

The Gospels are the heart of all the Scriptures "because they are our principal source for the life and teaching of the Incarnate Word, our Savior (CCC 125; Dei Verbum 18). The Catechism, as always, adhering to the teaching of the Second Vatican Council, distinguishes three stages in the formation of the Gospels (CCC 126; cf. Dei Verbum 19):

1) The life and teaching of Jesus. The Church holds firmly that the four Gospels, whose historicity she unhesitatingly affirms, faithfully hand on what Jesus, the Son of God, while he lived among men, really did and taught for their eternal salvation, until the day when he was taken up.

2) The oral tradition. For, after the ascension of the Lord, the apostles handed on to their hearers what he had said and done, but with that fuller understanding which they, instructed by the glorious events of Christ and enlightened by the Spirit of Truth, now enjoyed.

3) The written Gospels. The sacred authors, in writing the four Gospels, selected certain of the many elements which had been handed on, either orally or already in written form; others they synthesized or explained with an eye to the situation of the churches, while sustaining the form of preaching, but always in such a fashion that they have told us the honest truth about Jesus.

The Sacred Scriptures, quite simply, tell us the honest truth about Jesus--the eternal Word. Hence, our good and holy Mother, the Catholic Church, forcefully and specifically exhorts all the Christian faithful...to learn "the surpassing knowledge of Jesus Christ" by frequent reading of the divine Scriptures. Ignorance of the Scriptures is ignorance of Christ" (CCC 133; cf. Dei Verbum 25).