ARK Sacred Scripture and Biblical Interpretation 1 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: What term describes the Catholic Church's teaching that the Bible was written by human authors under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit?
- Divine Authorship
- Biblical Inerrancy
- Sacred Inspiration (Correct answer)
- Apostolic Tradition
Correct answer: Sacred Inspiration
Sacred Inspiration refers to the Catholic doctrine that human authors wrote Scripture under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, making God the principal author.
Question 2: Which of the following best describes the Catholic principle of the 'literal sense' of Scripture?
- The meaning intended by the human author as conveyed through words and literary forms (Correct answer)
- A word-for-word reading that ignores historical context
- The allegorical meaning hidden beneath the surface text
- The moral application drawn from a biblical passage
Correct answer: The meaning intended by the human author as conveyed through words and literary forms
The literal sense refers to the meaning directly intended by the author using the particular literary form (poetry, history, prophecy, etc.).
Question 3: The Catholic canon of the Old Testament includes how many books that Protestant Bibles generally omit?
- 3
- 5
- 7 (Correct answer)
- 9
Correct answer: 7
The Catholic Old Testament includes 7 deuterocanonical books (Tobit, Judith, 1 & 2 Maccabees, Wisdom, Sirach, Baruch) not found in most Protestant Bibles.
Question 4: In Catholic teaching, what is the relationship between Sacred Scripture and Sacred Tradition?
- Scripture is superior and corrects Tradition when they conflict
- Tradition is superior because it predates Scripture
- Both flow from the same divine source and together form one sacred deposit of the Word of God (Correct answer)
- They are independent and address separate areas of faith
Correct answer: Both flow from the same divine source and together form one sacred deposit of the Word of God
The Catechism teaches that Scripture and Tradition together make up the single sacred deposit of the Word of God, entrusted to the Church.
Question 5: Which Vatican II document addressed divine revelation and the proper interpretation of Scripture?
- Lumen Gentium
- Gaudium et Spes
- Dei Verbum (Correct answer)
- Sacrosanctum Concilium
Correct answer: Dei Verbum
Dei Verbum (Dogmatic Constitution on Divine Revelation, 1965) is the key Vatican II document on Scripture, Tradition, and biblical interpretation.
Question 6: What does the 'allegorical sense' of Scripture reveal according to Catholic hermeneutics?
- The historical accuracy of biblical events
- How biblical events signify deeper realities, especially Christ (Correct answer)
- The moral lessons applicable to daily life
- The eschatological fulfillment of prophecy
Correct answer: How biblical events signify deeper realities, especially Christ
The allegorical sense shows how people, events, and institutions in Scripture can signify Christ or the realities of the New Covenant.
ARK Sacred Scripture and Biblical Interpretation 1
What term describes the Catholic Church's teaching that the Bible was written by human authors under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit?