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11. Those divinely revealed realities which are contained and
presented in Sacred Scripture have been committed to writing under the
inspiration of the Holy Spirit. For holy mother Church, relying on
the belief of the Apostles (see John 20:31; 2 Tim.
3:16; 2 Peter 1:19-20, 3:15-16), holds that the
books of both the Old and New Testaments in their entirety, with all
their parts, are sacred and canonical because written under the
inspiration of the Holy Spirit, they have God as their author and
have been handed on as such to the Church herself.[17] In composing
the sacred books, God chose men and while employed by Him [18] they
made use of their powers and abilities, so that with Him acting in
them and through them, [19] they, as true authors, consigned to
writing everything and only those things which He wanted. [20]
Therefore, since everything asserted by the inspired authors or sacred
writers must be held to be asserted by the Holy Spirit, it follows
that the books of Scripture must be acknowledged as teaching solidly,
faithfully and without error that truth which God wanted put into
sacred writings [21] for the sake of salvation. Therefore "all
Scripture is divinely inspired and has its use for teaching the truth
and refuting error, for reformation of manners and discipline in right
living, so that the man who belongs to God may be efficient and
equipped for good work of every kind" (2 Tim. 3:16-17,
Greek text).
12. However, since God speaks in Sacred Scripture through men in
human fashion, [22] the interpreter of Sacred Scripture, in order
to see clearly what God wanted to communicate to us, should carefully
investigate what meaning the sacred writers really intended, and what
God wanted to manifest by means of their words.
To search out the intention of the sacred writers, attention should be
given, among other things, to "literary forms." For truth is set
forth and expressed differently in texts which are variously
historical, prophetic, poetic, or of other forms of discourse. The
interpreter must investigate what meaning the sacred writer intended to
express and actually expressed in particular circumstances by using
contemporary literary forms in accordance with the situation of his own
time and culture. [23] For the correct understanding of what the
sacred author wanted to assert, due attention must be paid to the
customary and characteristic styles of feeling, speaking and narrating
which prevailed at the time of the sacred writer, and to the patterns
men normally employed at that period in their everyday dealings with one
another. [24]
But, since Holy Scripture must be read and interpreted in the sacred
spirit in which it was written, [25] no less serious attention must
be given to the content and unity of the whole of Scripture if the
meaning of the sacred texts is to be correctly worked out. The living
tradition of the whole Church must be taken into account along with the
harmony which exists between elements of the faith. It is the task of
exegetes to work according to these rules toward a better understanding
and explanation of the meaning of Sacred Scripture, so that through
preparatory study the judgment of the Church may mature. For all of
what has been said about the way of interpreting Scripture is subject
finally to the judgment of the Church, which carries out the divine
commission and ministry of guarding and interpreting the word of God.
[26]
13. In Sacred Scripture, therefore, while the truth and holiness
of God always remains intact, the marvelous "condescension" of
eternal wisdom is clearly shown, "that we may learn the gentle
kindness of God, which words cannot express, and how far He has gone
in adapting His language with thoughtful concern for our weak human
nature." [27] For the words of God, expressed in human
language, have been made like human discourse, just as the word of the
eternal Father, when He took to Himself the flesh of human
weakness, was in every way made like men.
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