OTHCC Chapter 11: items 201 - 220

The Old Testament in the Heart of the Catholic Church < > All Chapters

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Human words can only be ''about'' something. For instance, a book on the solar system

a.   can literally be the solar system, and not just human words ''about'' the solar system.
b.   can not literally be the solar system, but only human words ''about'' the solar system.
c.   can partly be the solar system, and partly can be human words ''about'' the solar system.

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The Bible was written by human authors who were inspired by the Holy Spirit. Through those human authors, God himself speaks ''one single Word'' - his only-begotten Son, Christ. [CCC 102] Thus, when a believer reads the Bible, he receives

a.   God's ''one single Word,'' Christ himself.
b.   words ''about'' God, but not God himself.
c.   words that remind us of God himself.

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The Bible is

a.   just like any other book, because it is merely our words ''about'' something.
b.   not like any other book, because it is really our words ''about'' God.
c.   not like any other book, because it is not merely our words ''about'' God.

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When a believer reads the Bible, he receives

a.   God's ''one single Word.''
b.   only concepts and ''ideas.''
c.   words ''about'' God.

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The Christ you receive in fullness when you receive the Eucharist

a.   is a reminder of Jesus Christ who died on the Cross.
b.   is the same Jesus Christ who died on the Cross.
c.   is not the same Jesus Christ who died on the Cross.

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The Christ you receive in fullness when you receive the Eucharist

a.   is a reminder of the Christ you receive from hearing or reading the Bible.
b.   is the same Christ you receive from hearing or reading the Bible.
c.   is not the same Christ you receive from hearing or reading the Bible.

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The meaning of the Bible is

a.   a concept.
b.   an idea.
c.   Christ himself.

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The Bible is like no other book. It is not merely human words ''about'' something - not even human words ''about'' God. There are many books, from many religious traditions (including Catholic books), that are human words ''about'' God. Many of these have some value. Some of them, written by great Catholic saints, have great value, and can genuinely help us move closer to Christ. These spiritual and theological books have been publicly praised by popes and bishops, and read for hundreds of years both by other great saints and by ordinary sinners. The bishops even quote from many of these writings of the saints in the Catechism itself.

But nothing else ever written is, or can ever be, the Bible.

Among all religious or spiritual books ever written or ever to be written, only the Bible literally is God's Word - Christ himself.

This is why at Mass the Church does not read a single word from the writings of even the most holy and learned saints - but only the Bible.

At Mass, we receive the whole Christ, the bread of life, ''taken from the one table of God's Word and Christ's Body.'' [CCC 103] One table, one Word, one Body - one crucified and risen Lord. <<

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The Church firmly teaches that Jesus Christ is

a.   one person.
b.   two persons.
c.   partly one person and partly another.

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Some people have said that the man Jesus, the human being, is a different person from Christ, the Son of God. The Church firmly teaches that Jesus Christ is

a.   one person.
b.   two persons.
c.   partly one person and partly another.

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The Catholic Church teaches that Jesus Christ is truly God, and transcends any specific person and any specific time or place.

The Catholic Church also teaches that Jesus Christ is truly man, which means that he is a very specific person, who can be named and identified, and located in time and place.

Is this a different Christ? Jesus Christ is

a.   one person.
b.   two persons.
c.   partly one person and partly another.

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Jesus Christ is fully present under the appearances of the very specific host that you receive at Communion.

Jesus Christ died on the Cross at Calvary about two thousand years ago.

Is this a different Christ? Jesus Christ is

a.   one person.
b.   two persons.
c.   partly one person and partly another.

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Jesus Christ is the Word of God.

The Bible is the Word of God.

Is this a different Word of God? Jesus Christ is

a.   one person.
b.   two persons.
c.   partly one person and partly another.

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Unlike any other book, when you hear or read the Bible, you receive - in every word of both the Old and New Testaments - a person, Christ himself. That changes everything, of course.

But it also brings up a question: is Christ one single person? Is the Christ you receive in the Bible identical to the Christ you receive in the Holy Eucharist, is he truly the Son of God, and is he the exact same Jesus whose mother is Mary, who lived in Galilee, and who died on the Cross? The Catholic Church is very, very firm on this point: the answer is yes. Christ is one person - not two, not partly one person and partly another. He is one person. <<

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Calling the Bible ''inspired'' means that the human beings who wrote the words of the Bible

a.   had divine insight into human nature.
b.   were brilliant beyond the ability of other men.
c.   wrote whatever God wanted written, and no more.

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Calling the Bible ''inspired'' means that

a.   God is the Person who wrote the actual words in the Bible.
b.   the human authors of the Bible are not true authors of the Bible.
c.   the human authors of the Bible perfectly cooperated with God's intentions.

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When the Catholic Church says that the Bible is ''inspired,'' she does not mean that God simply dictated the words of the Bible to the human authors. The human authors of the Bible are ''true authors'' who used their own words and abilities, but perfectly cooperated with God's intentions by the power of the Holy Spirit. [CCC 106] When the Church calls the Bible inspired, she means that, by the power of the Holy Spirit, when we hear or read the Bible in faith, we with absolute certainty receive the person God intended us to receive - the real, true Word of God, Christ. <<

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If you looked really, really hard at a Host that had been consecrated at Holy Mass, you would see

a.   Christ, but only faintly.
b.   Christ himself.
c.   perfectly ordinary bread.

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If you looked really, really hard at the Holy Father, or at bishops united with him, at the exact moment when they made a judgment about what the Bible means, you would see

a.   Christ, but only faintly.
b.   Christ himself.
c.   perfectly ordinary men.

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If you looked really, really hard at the Bible, using every single scientific tool that scholars will ever have available, you would see

a.   Christ, but only faintly.
b.   Christ himself.
c.   perfectly ordinary words.

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