Roman Catholic Theology - Scriptures

Scriptures

Christianity regards the Bible, a collection of canonical books in two parts (the Old Testament and the New Testament), as authoritative. It is believed by Christians to have been written by human authors under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, and therefore for many it is held to be the inerrant Word of God. Protestant Christians believe that the Bible contains all revealed truth necessary for salvation. This concept is known as Sola scriptura. The books that are considered canon in the Bible vary depending upon the denomination using or defining it. These variations are a reflection of the range of traditions and councils that have convened on the subject. The Bible always includes books of the Jewish scriptures, the Tanakh, and includes additional books and reorganizes them into two parts: the books of the Old Testament primarily sourced from the Tanakh (with some variations), and the 27 books of the New Testament containing books originally written primarily in Greek. The Roman Catholic and Orthodox canons include other books from the Septuagint Greek Jewish canon which Roman Catholics call Deuterocanonical. Protestants consider these books apocryphal. Some versions of the Christian Bible have a separate Apocrypha section for the books not considered canonical by the publisher.

Roman Catholic theology distinguishes two senses of scripture: the literal and the spiritual.

The literal sense of understanding scripture is the meaning conveyed by the words of Scripture and discovered by exegesis, following the rules of sound interpretation. It has three subdivisions: the allegorical, moral, and anagogical (meaning mystical or spiritual) senses.

• The allegorical sense includes typology. An example would be the parting of the Red Sea being understood as a "type" (sign) of baptism.
• The moral sense understands the scripture to contain some ethical teaching.
• The anagogical interpretation includes eschatology and applies to eternity and the consummation of the world.

Roman Catholic theology adds other rules of interpretation which include:

• the injunction that all other senses of sacred scripture are based on the literal;
• that the historicity of the Gospels must be absolutely and constantly held;
• that scripture must be read within the "living Tradition of the whole Church"; and
• that "the task of interpretation has been entrusted to the bishops in communion with the successor of Peter, the Bishop of Rome".