The Word of the Lord: 7 Essential Principles for Catholic Scripture Study Book

Foreword Scott Hahn 9

Acknowledgments 11

Introduction: Seven Indispensable Principles for the Study of Scripture 13

Chapter 1 Principle 1: God's Word: Divine Words in Human Language 17

Chapter 2 Inspiration and the Truth of Scripture: Questions and Answers 35

Chapter 3 Principle 2: God's Word Is Revealed in History 61

Chapter 4 Principle 3: God's Word: Sacred Tradition and Sacred Scripture 85

Chapter 5 The Canon of Sacred Scripture 99

Chapter 6 Principle 4: God's Word: Revealed in the Unity of the Old and New Testaments 109

Chapter 7 Scripture's Unitive Pattern: The Theme of Covenant 123

Chapter 8 The Threefold Pattern of the Covenant 131

Chapter 9 Biblical Typology and Recapitulation 145

Chapter 10 Principle 5: God's Word Has Meaning(s) 161

Chapter 11 Modern Biblical Interpretation 183

Chapter 12 Principle 6: God's Word Requires Sound, Balanced, Methodological Analysis 199

Chapter 13 Principle 7: God's Word Is Life-giving and Active! 215

Appendices

Appendix A The 7 Principles of Catholic Biblical Interpretation in Summary Form 237

Appendix B Modern Biblical Scholars 239

Part I Meet the Rationalists: Six Influential Academic/Secular Biblical Scholars 239

Part II Ten Significant Catholic/Christian Scholars of the Modern Era 240

Appendix C Biblical Resources 243

Selecting Biblical Software 243

Selecting Biblical Commentaries 244

Other Recommended Commentaries 245

An Indexed Bibliography 248

About the Author 256

List of Tables and Figures

Tables

Table 1 Relative Roles of the Divine and Human Author(s) in the Inspiration Process 40

Table 2 Ancient Manuscripts: The Bible and Other Texts 54

Table 3 Textual Variants in the New Testament 55

Table 4 Three Periods of Response of the Church to the Historical-Critical Method 72

Table 5 The Canon of the Old Testament 100-101

Table 6 The Threefold Pattern of the Covenant 140

Figures

Figure 1 The Documentary Hypothesis 183

Figure 2 The Two-Source Hypothesis 184

Figure 3 Ten Key Elements in Narrative Criticism 190

Figure 4 Hierarchy of Needs ("Self-Actualization") 218