Few Protestants raise an eyebrow over the fact that there is a 2,000-year lacuna between the Scripture’s inspiration and their personal copy of sacred Scripture. For them, what transpired in…
Few Protestants raise an eyebrow over the fact that there is a 2,000-year lacuna between the Scripture’s inspiration and their personal copy of sacred Scripture.
For them, what transpired in those intervening years really isn’t very important. What really matters is that they have a Bible and that they can use it to confirm doctrine. As long as we end up with a Bible, what harm is done? But it still begs the larger question: Where did the Bible come from?
The Bible is the product of those missing 2,000 years, and when it is divorced from the Catholic Church from which it came, Scripture’s authority is undermined. The fact is that the Bible is a Catholic book. It was written, authenticated and passed on to us today through the Church. In many ways, the Church is the Bible’s custodian and interpreter. Without the Church, we really have no rational basis to believe with certainty that the Bible we possess is the Bible and that it is capable of confirming doctrine.
“Not Done in a Corner”
Let’s consider this last statement from the perspective of the first Christians. The words and deeds of Christ and His inspired apostles were not done in secret, or, as Paul told King Agrippa, they were “not done in a corner” (Acts 26:26); they were done publicly. The writings of the New Testament were composed by members of the same community that heard, saw and were taught by Jesus and/or His apostles and disciples. Therefore, this first Christian community functioned as a guarantor of the truthfulness or veracity of the Gospels and the rest of Scripture. After all, who would risk their lives, fortunes and honor to promote spurious and inaccurate documents? If the Scriptures simply parachuted into existence, there would be no witness from the early Church. How then would we know whether the Gospels and other books were telling the truth, much less that they are capable of confirming doctrine?
Someone could argue that since the Scriptures are inspired by God, who cannot deceive nor be deceived, they must be trustworthy. But this response misses the point. It’s not a question of whether inspiration conveys truth. It is a question of what basis is there for knowing whether a given document is inspired and truthful. It is similar to the question, “How do you know Matthew wrote the Gospel of Matthew?” Most Bible Christians would point to the fact that Matthew’s name appears on the book’s cover page. The title, however, was not part of the inspired original. It was added later by Catholics who knew that the Gospel was traced back to Matthew. Without these Catholic witnesses, how would one know the Gospel’s authorship? We can’t. Without the Church, we really can’t establish the veracity of the Gospels or the rest of the contents of the New Testament.
Inspired, Not Spurious
How do we know that the writings of Scripture are from inspired sources and not spurious? The Church had to deal with this difficulty early on. In 2 Thessalonians 2:2, we learn that the Thessalonians were upset by “a ‘spirit,’ or by an oral statement, or by a letter allegedly from us [the apostles] to the effect that the day of the Lord is at hand.” How did the Thessalonians determine whether or not this letter was spurious? Paul gives them the means to authenticate his letter in 2 Thessalonians 3:17: “This greeting is in my own hand, Paul’s. This is the sign in every letter; this is how I write.” Paul knew that the recipients of his letter would recognize his signature and handwriting based on their own personal knowledge of Paul. By using this knowledge, the Thessalonians were able to confirm the Second Epistle to be authentic. Without the Catholic community’s witness to its authenticity, how would we know whether or not Paul wrote this letter? The original inspired autograph no longer exists, and even if it did exist we no longer have access to the knowledge that the Thessalonians had concerning Paul’s handwriting. Scripture, when removed from the context of the Catholic Church, loses an objective basis for demonstrating the New Testament’s authenticity.
The Canon
There is also the problem of the canon. The New Testament began as separate documents. Who gathered these documents together and placed them into a single volume? A generic answer like “the early Christians did” is simply inadequate. Early on there were several different groups who held to different “canons” of Scripture. For example, one group, called the Marcionites, only accepted the letters of Paul and an adulterated version of Luke as Scripture. On the other hand, the Ebionites rejected Paul’s letters and accepted an altered form of the Gospel According to Matthew. Even among the Jews there was disagreement over the Old Testament. The schools of Shammai and Hallel were split over Ecclesiastes’ sacred status. The Essenes seem to have rejected Esther, but accepted Tobit, Sirach and some of their own writings as sacred. Which one was right? Or, were any of them right? Without a single, authoritative, identifiable Church — that is, the Catholic Church — to show us what was the true canon, there is no adequate way to answer this question.
But couldn’t someone say that these groups do not pose a problem because they were heretical? For example, one could say that post-Christian Judaism can be eliminated because they rejected Jesus as the Messiah? Likewise, the Ebionites can be scratched off because they denied justification by grace. The Marcionites could be eliminated because they were Gnostics and believed in two gods, and so on.
After all these heresies are eliminated, the true Christians would be left and with them we would find the correct canon. Unfortunately, the objection above fails because it begs the question. The objector begins with a specific canon of Scripture in mind (which is presumed to be true) and then de-duces from his canon a set of doctrines (which is also assumed to be true) as the standard to judge other groups. Once all challengers are eliminated by the objector’s set of doctrine, his canon is “proved.” In other words, the objector uses a scriptural canon to form a set of doctrines, then uses the set of doctrines to prove his scriptural canon.
The true canon of Scripture is something more to be discovered than determined. The Church received its sacred writings from the apostles, and the Catholic Church manifests the true canon of Scripture by its continuous use of certain books as sacred Scripture in its liturgies. Without the Catholic Church, the canon cannot be made manifest, and if the canon is not made manifest then it is up to each individual Christian to determine which books should or should not be included in Scripture.
The Bible, therefore, is really a Catholic book in that it came from the very heart of the Catholic Church. Its authenticity, veracity, canon and proper interpretation all depend upon the witness of the Church. When the Bible is taken out of its Catholic context, the very foundation upon which we can know that the Scripture is inspired, true, authentic, complete and properly understood is undermined. Without the Church, the Scripture is no more defensible than if it had one day fallen out of the sky.
The Catholic Context
In regards to the proper understanding of the Bible, Scripture is most properly understood within the context of the Catholic faith. Apart from this faith, Scripture can be distorted and misunderstood, as 2 Peter 3:16 tells us when he warns that “the ignorant and the unstable distort [the Scriptures] to their own destruction.” The words translated “ignorant” (Greek oi amatheis) and “unstable” (Greek astriktos) do not convey their full meaning in English. These words really mean “the undiscipled” and “those who do not remain in the apostolic teaching.” In other words, the people who distort the meaning of Scripture are those who are not discipled by the Church and do not remain in the Church’s teaching. Notice how Peter’s words presumes that there exists a master/disciple succession that comes from the apostles and a rule of faith (regula fidei) that must be continuously held. Without these two factors, the proper meaning of the Scriptures is in peril.
The Task of Interpretation
“The task of giving an authentic interpretation of the Word of God, whether in its written form or in the form of Tradition, has been entrusted to the living teaching office of the Church alone. Its authority in this matter is exercised in the name of Jesus Christ.” This means that the task of interpretation has been entrusted to the bishops in communion with the successor of Peter, the Bishop of Rome.
— Catechism of the Catholic Church, No. 85
Gary G. Michuta is an author, speaker and teacher on Catholic apologetics and evangelism.
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Looking to purchase a Bible? The search for a good translation can be daunting. There are dozens of different translations available on the market, but which one should a Catholic…
Looking to purchase a Bible? The search for a good translation can be daunting. There are dozens of different translations available on the market, but which one should a Catholic choose? Are all Bibles the same? Here are a few important points to keep in mind when you are looking for a good translation of Sacred Scripture.
First thing, make sure that you purchase a complete Bible, especially if it will be the only copy of Scripture that you own. Many Catholics are surprised to learn that most Protestant Bibles are incomplete; they omit seven Old Testament books called the Deuterocanon. The Dueterocanon is comprised of the books of Wisdom, Sirach (sometimes called Ecclesiasticus), Baruch, Tobit, Judith, and First and Second Maccabees. In addition to these missing books, Protestant Bibles also omit the last two chapters of the Book of Daniel (called Bel and the Dragon and Susanna) and several sections from the book of Esther.
Protestants began to disparage the Deuterocanon because it affirms doctrines that are at odds with Protestant theology. As time went on, the desire to remove it altogether grew, and Protestant printers began to produce Bibles without the books they did not like. It wasn’t until the 19th century, however, that these incomplete Bibles became the norm within Protestantism. Today, outside of a few specialty Bibles, nearly all modern Protestant Bibles omit the Deuterocanon. Catholic Bibles, on the other hand, continued the practice of including all the books of the Old Testament just as it had done for centuries prior to the Reformation. Therefore, if you would like to own a complete Bible, you need to purchase a Catholic edition.
Theological Outlook
Catholic Bibles also provide the added benefit of being less susceptible to theological bias than their non-Catholic counterparts. History is packed with examples of where the word of God has been used to promote the translator’s theology. Perhaps the most famous example of theological bias can be found in Martin Luther’s German translation where he added the word “alone” to St. Paul’s statement in Romans 3:28: “For we consider that a person is justified by faith apart from works of the law.” Luther believed that Scripture taught we are justified by faith alone, apart from anything that we do. He therefore felt obliged to amend Paul’s words to bring this teaching out, even though the word “alone” is nowhere found in the Greek original.
One of the most popular modern Protestant translations, the New International Version (NIV), like Luther, adds a theologically packed word to Scripture. The translator’s belief that righteousness is a legal status comes out in the rendering of Romans 2:13 and 3:20, where they translate “righteous” as “declared righteous.”
Catholic Bibles can also exhibit theological bias. However, Catholic translators hold an important advantage over their non-Catholic counterparts in that they have access to Sacred Tradition, which better aligns their theology to that of inspired Scripture. The reason for this alignment comes from the close relationship between Sacred Tradition and Sacred Scripture. The Second Vatican Council’s Dogmatic Constitution on Divine Revelation (Dei Verbum) states: “There exists a close connection and communication between sacred tradition and Sacred Scripture. For both of them, flowing from the same divine wellspring, in a certain way merge into a unity and tend toward the same end” (No. 9). As long as a Catholic translator is faithful to Sacred Tradition, the theological bias of the translator will be more complimentary to the theological perspective of the inspired text than a translator who either ignores or opposes Sacred Tradition. Catholic editions of Scripture will also have an imprimatur officially included on the back of the title page. An imprimatur is an indication that the book in question has been examined by proper Church authorities and has been judged to be free of errors in Catholic doctrine.
Formal or Dynamic Equivalence?
In the attempt to minimize theological bias, some translations stick very closely to the original text, which is sometimes called a “formal equivalent,” or a “word-for-word,” translation. While the word-for-word approach may avoid a certain amount of bias, it doesn’t always produce a clear and intelligible translation.
Take, for example, Our Lord’s words at the wedding of Cana (see Jn 2:1-11). Mary informed Jesus that the wedding feast was without wine. Jesus answered, in Greek, “Ti emoi kai soi, gunai,” which a literal word-for-word translation would render, “What to me and to you, woman?” (v. 4). Words need to be added to make this into a proper English sentence. However, even when this is done, “What [is this] to me and to you, woman?” the passage is only marginally more intelligible. What does Jesus mean by saying this? The reason for the lack of clarity is that Jesus was using a common idiom (see Jgs 11:12; 2 Sm 19:23, for example) that John expects his readers to know and understand. But we do not use this idiom today! Therefore, the translator needs to fill out the meaning or give what is called a dynamic equivalent to what Jesus said and explain that Jesus and Mary are essentially in agreement except for a potential obstacle.
Most translations fall between the two extremes of word-for-word literalism and dynamic equiva-lency. How you intend to use your Bible will determine what type of translation is best for you.
There is a wide variety of Bibles from which to choose. With these suggestions in mind, take the time to read a few short passages from a variety of Catholic Bibles to see which translation best suits your needs. Check to see if the annotation or lack of annotation is right for you. Read a couple of footnotes and/or inserts as well. Take your time, and by applying these suggestions you are sure to find the right Catholic translation for you and your loved ones.
Regardless of which version is best for you, the important thing is for you to own the Sacred Scriptures — and read them!
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