MAJOR CHURCH PRONOUNCEMENTS ON THE BIBLE

Ancient Bible Manuscripts in Greek

Major Church Pronouncements on the Bible

Pentecost (30/33AD)

The beginning of the Church; the Church exists before a determination of a canon or a definitive list of books of what was later called the Bible. The NT was not even written yet. The Bible is the book of the Church, we are not a church of the Bible.

Melito, Bishop of Sardis (c. 170)

Produced the first known Christian attempt at an Old Testament canon. His list maintains the Septuagint order of books but contains only the Old Testament protocanonicals minus the Book of Esther.

Council of Laodicea (c. 360)

A local council of the church in union with Rome produced a list of books of the Bible similar to the Council of Trent's canon. This was one of the Church's earliest decisions on a canon.

Council of Rome (382)

Local church council under the authority of Pope Damasus, (366-384) gave a complete list of canonical books of the OT and NT which is identical with the list later approved by the Council of Trent.

Council of Hippo (393)

Local North African Church council in union with and under the authority of the Bishop of Rome approved a list of OT and NT canon (same as later approved by the Council of Trent)

Council of Carthage (397)

Local North African Church council in union with and under the authority of the Bishop of Rome approved a list of OT and NT canon (same as later approved by the Council of Trent)

Pope Innocent I, Bishop of Rome, 401-417 (405)

Responded to a request by Exuperius, Bishop of Toulouse, with a list of canonical books of Scripture; this list was the same as later approved by the Council of Trent.

Council of Carthage (419)

Local North African Church council in union with and under the authority of the Bishop of Rome approved a list of OT and NT canon (same as later approved by the Council of Trent)

Council of Florence, an ecumenical council (1441)

Complete list of OT and NT canon was drawn up; this list later adopted by the Fathers of the Council of Trent

Council of Trent, an ecumenical council called to respond to the heresy of the Reformers (1545-1563)

The canon of OT and NT received final definitions: 46 books in the OT; 27 in the NT; "Henceforth the books of the OT and the NT, protocanonical and deuterocanonical alike, in their entirety and with all their parts, comprise the canon and are held to be of equal authority." The ancient Vulgate edition of the Bible was called the authoritative edition of the Bible.

Vatican I Council (1869-1870)

Reaffirmed the decree of Trent. The Church holds the books of Holy Scripture as sacred and canonical, not because she subsequently approved them, nor because they contain revelation without error, but precisely because "having been written by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, they have God as their author and, as such, they have been handed down to the Church itself."

Providentissimus Deus (1893), Pope Leo XIII, Bishop of Rome, 1878-1903

Inaugurated a new era in Roman Catholic biblical studies. Presented a plan for biblical study; Defined inspiration: "By supernatural power God so moved and impelled the human authors to write - he so assisted them in writing - that the things he ordered and those only they first rightly understood, then willed faithfully to write and finally expressed in apt words and with infallible truth."

Pascendi Dominica Gregis (1907), Pope Pius X, Bishop of Rome, 1903-1914

Refuted the errors of the Modernists; Scored erroneous teaching on the origin and nature of the Sacred Books, on inspiration; on the distinction between the purely human Christ of history and the divine Christ of faith; on the origin and growth of the Scriptures.

Spiritus Paraclitus (1920), Pope Benedict XV, Bishop of Rome, 1914-1922

Commends modern critical methods in biblical studies. All biblical interpretation rests upon the literal sense. Goal of biblical studies is to learn spiritual perfection, to arm oneself to defend the faith, to preach the word of God fruitfully.

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Divino Afflante Spiritus (1943), Pope Pius XII, Bishop of Rome, 1939-1958

Permitted scholars to use original text of Scriptures. No claim was made that the Vulgate is always an accurate translation, but that it is free from any errors in faith or morals. The scholar must be principally concerned with the literal sense of the Scriptures; search out and expound the spiritual sense; avoid other figurative senses. Literary criticism should be employed. Stated that there are but few texts whose sense was determined by the authority of the Church (only seven biblical passages have been definitively interpreted in defending traditional doctrine and morals--Jn 3:5, Lk 22:19, 1 Cor 11:24, Jn 20:22, Jn 20:23, Rom 5:12, Ja 5: 14); this counteracts the frequent misunderstanding that Catholics have no freedom interpreting the Scriptures.

Humani Generis (1950), Pope Pius XII, Bishop of Rome, 1939 - 1958

Instructs scholars on evolution, polygenism and OT historical narratives

Vatican II Council (1962-1965)

The decree, On Divine Revelation, declares that there is one source of Divine Revelation, Jesus Christ; that there are two modes of handing on revelation: Sacred Scripture and Sacred Tradition : "in a certain way merge into a unity and tend toward the same end," and "it is not from sacred Scripture alone that the Church draws her certainty about everything that has been revealed." Concerning Inerrancy of Scripture: "The Books of Scripture must be acknowledged as teaching firmly, faithfully, and without error that truth which God wanted put into the sacred writings for the sake of our salvation. "Emphasized that "in order to see what God wanted to communicate in Scripture, we must investigate the intention of the sacred author, and one way to do this is by paying attention to the literary form employed by the sacred writer."

http://www.facebook.com/l/9c9c1;www.catholicapologetics.org/ap031100.htm

Source:
http://thesplendorofthechurch.blogspot.com/search/label/Apologetics

The Indestructible Truth of the Catholic Faith

St. Peter gloriously holding the Keys of Heaven given by the Lord Jesus... while the Church preserves the True Faith on earth under the leadership of the Pope the successor of Peter.

Ross Earl Hoffman sent a message to the members of The Lion's Training Ground: Catholic Apologetics.

Ross Earl Hoffman June 13, 2010 at 12:25am

Subject: This is Powerful!!!

This is a great post, I picked up from a super strong defender, named Lou...please all of you tuck this away, and keep it for defensive purposes. When you have someone, in our separated Christian camp...go after you, this is a great reply. Thought it was worthy of sharing....

Consider the following

Christ said... "I will never leave you nor forsake you" and promised that the Gates of Hell would not prevail against the Church.

If the truth that Jesus taught was not spread, was not taught for a period of time, then how can it be said the the Gates of Hell did not prevail.

That being the case, can you demonstrate that the Gospel, as you understand it, has been preached continuously since the time of Christ? If you cannot demonstrate a line of teachers who taught what you believe was taught by Christ, then the Gospel, as you understand it, was lost. If the Gospel of your Christ was lost, then your Christ is a loser. Who would want to believe in such a weak God? I certainly wouldn't.

But, you see, I can point to a succession of teachers, starting with the disciples of the apostles, who have taught Catholic Dogma. The Gospel as Catholics understand it has continuously been taught. That is the Christ who has remained with his Church.

When He said to the apostles, "I will send you the Holy Spirit and he will lead you into all truth", he wasn't saying that the Holy Spirit would lead each of them individually into all truth, but that he would lead them COLLECTIVELY into all truth.

As Paul says, the Church is the pillar of the Truth. He didn't say scripture - because scripture is, after all, a record, but the Church is a living being, the Body and Bride of Christ. And in rejecting the Church, you've cut yourself off from the living Body of Christ and substituted a delusion of spirit filling for the true Filling of the Spirit.

You can never be led into all truth because you reject the "Church, the pillar and foundation of the Truth".

"As Vincent of Lérins wrote in The Commonitory, "Moreover, in the Catholic Church itself, all possible care must be taken, that we hold that faith which has been believed everywhere, always, by all."

And, that is exactly what we believe. We can point to teachers at the end of the First Century and the beginning of the Second who were teaching the same doctrines we believe. You cannot do that, because the interpretation you preach is a novelty, something which was not "believed everywhere, always, by all".

One other thought. You answered "What is Truth". Aren't those exactly the same words Pilate said to Jesus?"


Source:
http://thesplendorofthechurch.blogspot.com/search/label/Apologetics