Catholic Beliefs about the Bible

Many of the Catholic Church’s teachings about the Bible were summarized in Divino Afflante Spiritu. It was written by Pope Pius XII in 1943.

Three Main Beliefs that Catholics are taught by Divino Afflante Spiritu are… 1. The Bible is revelation. The Bible is a primary way in which God reveals God’s self and God’s truth to us. 2. The Bible is inspired. The Bible was written through Inspiration. The Bible has many authors but all were inspired by God to reveal truths about God. 3. The Bible is Inerrant. There may be scientific and historical inaccuracies in the Bible but there are no errors in what it teaches about the nature of God and human relationship to God. This is called inerrancy.

REVELATION Who is God? Who is God? What does God want? What does God want? When did God first exist? When did God first exist? Where does God live? Where does God live? How did God save humanity? How did God save humanity?

The writers of the Bible were guided by the Holy Spirit in the truths about faith contained in the Bible. Catholics believe the Bible is the inspired word of God but not the literal word of God. Catholics believe the Bible is the inspired word of God but not the literal word of God. The Holy Spirit inspired the writers of scripture but the writers told the stories in their own words, their own style and used their own knowledge. The Holy Spirit inspired the writers of scripture but the writers told the stories in their own words, their own style and used their own knowledge.

This document also teaches that all historical and scientific statements in the Bible are not necessarily true. The writers of the Bible were human and were responsible for grammar and scientific/historical accuracy.

Genesis:1-2.4a Genesis:2.4b-25

What was intended? Catholics are encouraged to study a scriptural passage in light of Catholics are encouraged to study a scriptural passage in light of 1. The historical setting of the writing 1. The historical setting of the writing 2. The cultural setting of the writing 2. The cultural setting of the writing 3. The author’s literary style 3. The author’s literary style

Other ancient people had stories about the creation of the world. This is a Native American creation story. Other ancient people had stories about the creation of the world. This is a Native American creation story. “…. the earth began to grow after the muskrat brought mud from the bottom of the sea and placed it on the back of the turtle. Life was created from the earth. The earth is a representation of what we refer to as the world and the turtle has the earth on its back. The turtle has all the responsibility of the shifting of the earth and the cycles of the moon. “ answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid= AAB48fS

The scientific viewpoint on the Earth’s Creation

There can be no genuine conflict between the deliverances of faith and the deliverances of reason, which separates reason from faith and gives exclusive preference to reason, and anti-secularism, which separates reason from faith and gives exclusive preference to faith. Saint Thomas Aquinas

A Light Hearted Look at Creation

What were the first people like? Who were Adam and Eve? _man1.shtml

Chimp cousins Chimpanzees are our closest relatives. Genetic studies show humans and chimpanzees shared a common ancestor that lived in the African rainforest 7-8 million years ago. The descendants of this common ancestor split into two lineages - one that led to chimps and another that led to us. It is thought that the human lineage developed routine bipedalism as a strategy for living on the ground when climate change decimated the forest, leaving wide belts of open terrain with no trees. Crompton believes the forest canopy bipedalism shown by orangutans provided the kick-start for routine bipedalism when our ancestors came down from the trees and began living on the ground. oric_life/human/human_evolutio n/mother_of_man1.shtml

Could God have used evolution in the creation of the Earth? Does belief in evolution mean that you don’t believe in God? What are the stories about creation in the Bible really telling us?