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Catholic Bible Study

Bible Translations
The Bible has many translations. But for Catholic bible study purposes, these
are the ones used by theology schools: the Revised Standard Version (RSV) bible,
the New American Bible (NAB), and the Jerusalem Bible (JB). For those who want
to go into really serious bible study, these three versions are standard in any
study being done on the bible.

What are the distinct differences between these three translations of the bible?
The RSV bible is almost a literal translation from the original text in Hebrew and
Greek. Thus the English of the RSV bible is not good but the words and the text
are excellent for exegetical purposes. (Exegesis is a scientific way of studying
the bible.)
The NAB bible has good English and is usually used for liturgical purposes such
as in the Mass. This is easier to understand.
The JB bible is a combination of the translated features of both the RSV bible
and the NAB bible. It is considered the best translation among the three versions
of the bible. Also it has a lot of notes at the bottom for reference purposes.

For one starting a Catholic bible study, the best choice would be the New American
Bible. As you learn more about the techniques needed in studying the bible, then
you can get the other two translations.

References and Sources in Bible Study
A Concordance would be helpful in your bible study. A Concordance is a reference
whereby when you find a particular word in the bible and when you consult the
the bible concordance it will give you the other places in the bible where the word
can be found. This is good because it helps you see how the word is used in
differenct contexts.

Commentaries are also very helpful in bible study. Commentaries are the result
of exegesis or exegetical studies on the texts of the bible. These exegetical
studies are put in the commentaries. The Jerome bible commentary is a very
comprehensive commentary and it gives commentaries on all the books of the bible,
both old and new Testament. Other commentaries are more specific. Like there
are commentaries only for the gospels and there are commentaries only for the
prophetic books. For one going into bible study for the first time, a good way
to start in your study of the bible is to get a commentary on the gospels.

Bible dictionaries are also very helpful in bible study. A bible dictionary
contains many facts about the bible. Some even have maps of the different time
eras that gives the early missionary journeys of Paul up to the time of the height
of Christianity when it spanned the whole area of the Roman empire. Also to be
found in these Bible dictionaries are terms you want to know about but where
unable to understand when you encountered at first glance when reading the
bible.

The Formation of the Bible
The bible came to us from the Jewish tradition and from the original Greek texts
that compose the New Testament. One common misconception about the bible is
that "God wrote the Bible". There is a truth spiritually to this, but historically
speaking, the bible was written by holy people who were inspired by the Holy Spirit
to record the history of the people of Israel and the record of Jesus birth,
ministry, passion, death and resurrection. If you check the link, On the Torah,
there is a brief outline there about the formation of the Torah into the five books
we presently see in the bible. Also in that page is a brief glossary of terms
in the bible found in the Old Testament.

As regards the New Testament found our bible, there is a theory presented as
to how the gospels were formed to what we presently see in the bible translations.
This theory presents three stages in the formation of the bible. It was the late
Fr. Herman Hendrickx, cicm, who taught this in our Scriptures classes. He also
wrote a book about this.

These are the three stages in the formation of the Gospels:
1. the first stage is the life and ministry of Jesus Himself; this is the stage
where Jesus actually was the bible in the flesh
2. the second stage is the formation of the Christian communities and the handing
down of the oral traditions (unwritten accounts of Jesus' life, ministry, passion
death and resurrection) from the apostles to the second generation of Christians.
3. the third stage is the collation of the oral traditions and bringing them into
the written form of the gospels that we now have in the bible.

The books of the bible were not written all at the same time. Both in the old
and in the new Testaments, all the books of the bible came to be formed in
different time frames. As an example, in the new Testament of the bible, the first
to be written and formed were the letters of St. Paul, with the letter to the
Thessalonians as the earliest written. Then the gospel of Mark was written next.
Since Mark was written first of all the gospels in the bible, the gospel of Matthew
and Luke borrowed a few oral traditions from Mark and edited them to suit the needs
of the audience they were addressing their gospel to. After Matthew and Luke,
John was the last gospel to be written.

Catholic Bible Study
The best way to study the bible is through seminars or through parish programs
which help people understand the bible and apply what they learned to their Catholic
life. There are even theological schools were you can take bible courses for audit.
These are more formal and you will indeed derive great fruit from this way of studying
the bible. Another way is to go through courses online. There are many bible courses
also being made online. Other means are through bible study software and some CDs
which give primers on the bible.

If the above would not fit your working schedule, a simple method of studying the
bible which you can do is the following:
1. get the gospel passage for the Mass of the day
2. read it more than a few times to understand it well
3. then note the author and look for a reference on him in the Bible dictionary
4. whenever you encounter a term you do not know, check again the bible dictionary
5. check the passage reference, for example, today, December 30, the gospel for
the day is Luke 2:36-40, and go to a commentary of Luke to see what this passage
means
6. if you have all three translations of the bible, you can check on the differences
in the translations of this particular passage; you will be amazed to see the
different nuances of meaning the different translations give.
7. if you encounter a particular word or word phrase that strikes your attention
you can also seek reference in the Concordance and see how that word or word phrase
is used in other bible passages; you will also see the different meaning it has in
the different contexts it is used in the bible
8. for highly technical or more specific issues on the passage which you may not be
able to resolve yourself, you can check other resources online through the search
engines, or you can consult your friendly neighborhood parish priest for this.
I am sure that when he finds out you are doing bible study, he will be overjoyed.
Seasoned Catholics who were used to just depend on the homilies and sermons of the
priests for spiritual nourishment and for understanding of the bible, are now taking
the initiative to learn more and understand in greater depth the truths of the bible.

The Bible is a Very Good Guide in our Christian Life
Aside from bible study which helps us understand the bible in a scientific way or
with a more objective point of view, there is also a way to study the bible which
will help us grow deeper into our relationship with God. This is through lectio
divina. To know more about this, you can check the article I have written about
this method at Lectio Divina.
Lectio divina is also a methodical way of knowing the bible. The method though is
spiritual and a more personal involvement is required.

Dennis-Emmanuel Cabrera
December 30, 2004