Posted on 05/15/2014 8:22:18 AM PDT by Salvation
Featured Term (selected at random: BIBLE
The collection of books accepted by Christian churches as the authentic, inspired record of the revelations made to mankind by God about himself and his will for men. It is divided into the Old Testament and the New Testament to distinguish between the Jewish tradition and the Christian. In the New Testament, the Old is generally spoken of as "the Scriptures" or "the sacred writings" (Matthew 21:42). Gradually the word has been used in the singular and "Scripture" has become a synonym for the Bible (Acts 8:32). "Testament" has the meaning of "covenant" with reference to the two covenants God established with his people in each period of human history.
BOOKS OF THE BIBLE
Texts, Translation, and Authenticity
The Catholic Church has more than once taught what books are to be regarded as inspired and therefore belong to the Bible. At the Council of Trent, in 1546, the biblical canon was solemnly defined and the Vulgate declared to be authentic:
"The council follows the example of the orthodox Fathers and with the same sense of devotion and reverence with which it accepts and venerates all the books both of the Old and the New Testament, since one God is the author of both, it also accepts and venerates traditions concerned with faith and morals as having been received orally from Christ or inspired by the Holy Spirit and continuously preserved in the Catholic Church. It judged, however, that a list of the Sacred Books should be written into this decree so that no one may doubt which books the council accepts. The list is here given.
"The Old Testament: five books of Moses, that is, Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy; Joshua, Judges, Ruth, four books of Kings, two of Paralipomenon; the first book of Esdras and the second, which is called Nehemias; Tobias, Judith, Esther, Job, Davis's Plaster of one hundred and fifty psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, the Canticle of Canticles, Wisdom, Ecclesiasticus, Isaias, Jeremias with Baruch, Ezekiel, Daniel; the twelve minor prophets, that is Osee, Joel, Amos, Abdias, Jonas, Micheas, Nahum, Habacuc, Sophonias, Aggeus, Zacharias, Malachias; two books of Machabees, the first and the second.
"The New Testament: the four Gospels, according to Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John; the Acts of the Apostles, written by the Evangelist Luke; fourteen epistles of the Apostle Paul: to the Romans, two to the Corinthians, to the Galatians, to the Ephesians, to the Philippians, to the Colossians, two to the Thessalonians, two to Timothy, to Titus, to Philemon, to the Hebrews; two epistles of the Apostle Peter, three of the Apostle John, one of the Apostle James, on of the Apostle Jude; and the Apocalypse of the Apostle John. Moreover, if anyone does not accept these books as sacred and canonical in their entirety, with all their parts, according to the text usually read in the Catholic Church and as they are in the ancient Latin Vulgate, but knowingly and willfully contemns the traditions previously mentioned: let him be anathema.
"Moreover, since the same sacred council has thought that it would be very useful for the Church of God if it were known which one of all the Latin editions that are in circulation is the authentic edition, it determines and decrees that the ancient Vulgate, which has been approved in the church by the use of many centuries, should be considered the authentic edition in public readings, disputations, preaching, and explanations; and that no one should presume or dare to reject it under any pretext whatever" (Denzinger 1501-6).
Almost four centuries later (1943), Pope Pius XII in the encyclical Divino Afflante Spiritu, reconfirmed the biblical canon and the authenticity of the Vulgate. But he made some important declarations that gave the primary impetus to the publication of totally new editions of the Bible. They are new because they are based on Hebrew and Greek manuscripts beyond the Vulgate, and because new translations into the vernacular were made from the original languages and not merely from the Latin Vulgate.
According to Pius XII, "the Vulgate, as the Church has understood and does now understand, is free from all error in matters of faith and morals. Consequently, as the Church herself testifies, it can be safely quoted, without the least fear of erring, in disputations, public readings, and sermons. Its authenticity should not be called critical, but juridical. The authority the Vulgate enjoys in doctrinal matters does not by any means proscribe -- and in modern times it fairly demands -- that this same doctrine be corroborated by the original texts. Nor does it mean that the original texts cannot be continually used to help clarify and explain more and more the proper meaning of Sacred Scripture. Nor does the decree of the Council of Trent forbid that translations be made into the vernacular so that the faithful may use them and profit by them and understand more readily the meaning of the divine message. These translations may be made from the original texts" (Denzinger 3825).
A standard listing of the books of the Bible, according to the directives of Pope Pius XII, shows a number of variants in the titles of the books, their division and sequence, as follows:
BOOKS OF THE BIBLE IN BIBLICAL ORDER
Old Testament
Genesis (Gn)
Exodus (Ex)
Leviticus (Lv)
Numbers (Nb)
Deuteronomy (Dt)
Joshua (Jos)
Judges (Jg)
Ruth (Rt)
1 Samuel (1 S)
2 Samuel (2 S)
1 Kings (1 K)
2 Kings (2 K)
1 Chronicles (1 Ch)
2 Chronicles (2 Ch)
Ezra (Ezr)
Nehemiah (Ne)
Tobit (Tb)
Judith (Jdt)
Esther (Est)
1 Macabees (1 M)
2 Macabees (2 M)
Job (Jb)
Psalms (Ps)
Proverbs (Pr)
Ecclesiastes (Qo)
Song of Songs (Sg)
Wisdom (Ws)
Ecclesiasticus (Sirach) (Si)
Isaiah (Is)
Jeremiah (Jr)
Lamentations (Lm)
Baruch (Ba)
Ezekiel (Ezk)
Daniel (Dn)
Hosea (Ho)
Joel (Jl)
Amos (Am)
Obadiah (Ob)
Jonah (Jon)
Micah (Mi)
Nahum (Na)
Habakkuk (Hab)
Zephaniah (Zp)
Haggai (Hg)
Zechariah (Zc)
Malachi (Ml)
New Testament
Matthew (Mt)
Mark (Mk)
Luke (Lk)
John (Jn)
Acts (Ac)
Romans (Rm)
1 Corinthians (1 Co)
2 Corinthians (1 Co)
Galatians (Ga)
Ephesians (Ep)
Philippians (Ph)
Colossians (Col)
1 Thessalonians (1 Th)
2 Thessalonians (2 Th)
1 Timothy (1 Tm)
2 Timothy (2 Tm)
Titus (Tt)
Philemon (Phm)
Hebrews (Heb)
James (Jm)
1 Peter (1 P)
2 Peter (2 P)
1 John (1 Jn)
2 John (2 Jn)
3 John (3 Jn)
Jude (Jude)
Revelation (Rv)
BOOKS OF THE BIBLE IN ALPHABETICAL ORDER
Old Testament
Amos Am
Baruch Ba
1 Chronicles 1 Ch
2 Chronicles 2 Ch
Daniel Dn
Deuteronomy Dt
Ecclesiastes Qo
Ecclesiasticus (Sirach) Si
Esther Est
Exodus Ex
Ezekiel Ezk
Ezra Ezr
Genesis Gn
Habakkuk Hab
Haggai Hg
Hosea Ho
Isaiah Is
Jeremiah Jr
Job Jb
Joel Jl
Jonah Jon
Joshua Jos
Judges Jg
Judith Jdt
1 Kings 1 K
2 Kings 2 K
Lamentations Lm
Leviticus Lv
1 Maccabees 1 M
2 Maccabees 2 M
Malachi Ml
Micah Mi
Nahum Na
Nehemiah Ne
Numbers Nb
Obadiah Ob
Proverbs Pr
Psalms Ps
Ruth Rt
1 Samuel 1 S
2 Samuel 2 S
Song of Songs Sg
Tobit Tb
Wisdom Ws
Zechariah Zc
Zephaniah Zp
New Testament
Acts Ac
Colossians Col
1 Corinthians 1 Co
2 Corinthians 2 Co
Ephesians Ep
Galatians Ga
Hebrews Heb
James Jm
John Jn
1 John 1 Jn
2 John 2 Jn
3 John 3 Jn
Jude Jude
Luke Lk
Mark Mk
Matthew MT
1 Peter 1 P
2 Peter 2 P
Philemon Phm
Philippians Ph
Revelation Rv
Romans Rm
1 Thessalonians 1 Th
2 Thessalonians 2 Th
1 Timothy 1 Tm
2 Timothy 2 Tm
Titus Tt
The books of the Bible in Alphabetical order of abbreviations
Ac Acts
Am Amos
Ba Baruch
1 Ch 1 Chronicles
2 Ch 2 Chronicles
1 Co 1 Corinthians
2 Co 2 Corinthians
Col Colossians
Dn Daniel
Dt Deuteronomy
Ep Ephesians
Est Esther
Ex Exodus
Ezk Ezekiel
Ezr Ezra
Ga Galatians
Gn Genesis
Hab Habakkuk
Heb Hebrews
Hg Haggai
Ho Hosea
Is Isaiah
Jb Job
Jdt Judith
Jg Judges
Jl Joel
Jm James
Jn John
1 Jn 1 John
2 Jn 2 John
3 Jn 3 John
Jon Jonah
Jos Joshua
Jr Jeremiah
Jude Jude
1 K 1 Kings
2 K 2 Kings
Lk Luke
Lm Lamentations
Lv Leviticus
1 M 1 Maccabees
2 M 2 Maccabees
Mi Micah
Mk Mark
Ml Malachi
Mt Matthew
Na Nahum
Nb Numbers
Ne Nehemiah
Ob Obadiah
1 P 1 Peter
2 P 2 Peter
Ph Philippians
Phm Philemon
Pr Proverbs
Ps Psalms
Qo Ecclesiastes
Rm Romans
Rt Ruth
Rv Revelation
1 S 1 Samuel
2 S 2 Samuel
Sg Song of Songs
Si Ecclesiasticus (Sirach)
Tb Tobit
1 Th 1 Thessalonians
2 Th 2 Thessalonians
1 Tm 1 Timothy
2 Tm 2 Timothy
Tt Titus
Ws Wisdom
Zc Zechariah
Zp Zephaniah
All items in this dictionary are from Fr. John Hardon's Modern Catholic Dictionary, © Eternal Life. Used with permission.
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Friends and family members who were alive for the pre-Vatican II Church tell me that Catholics were actively discouraged from reading the Bible.
You needed Clerical-types to interpret it for you. Or so I am told.
Certainly not the case in the Church today.
From the article:
**According to Pius XII, “the Vulgate, as the Church has understood and does now understand, is free from all error in matters of faith and morals. Consequently, as the Church herself testifies, it can be safely quoted, without the least fear of erring, in disputations, public readings, and sermons. Its authenticity should not be called critical, but juridical. **
You got it!
As a matter of fact, Catholics are ENCOURAGED to study the Holy Bible.
Catholics don’t do YOPIOS. Some attempt it, and I am guilty there too.
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