As previously noted, I'm enrolled in Notre Dame's STEP program and currently taking the Core Course: Introduction to the Catholic Faith. This week's assignment contained a number of readings on catholic understanding of Scripture and Tradition and then tasked us to answer the question "What is meant by the term, 'Inspiration'? Would you say that everything in the Bible is true?" in 150-200 words. I managed to stop myself at 197.
As I understand the term, “inspired” does not even remotely mean “dictated.” Instead, it means that the Holy Spirit brought concepts and ideas to the minds of the authors (illuminating revelation), prodded the author to write, and helped call to mind felicitous phrasing.
As Catholics, we believe that inerrancy follows inevitably from inspiration. The Catechism says “The inspired books teach the truth.” (¶ 107)
But there are many kinds of truth. In the parable of the mustard seed, Jesus compares the Kingdom of God to a “mustard seed,” which He said was “the smallest of all the seeds, yet when full-grown it is the largest of plants.” (Matt. 13:31-32) A botanist would tell us that there are smaller seeds and larger plants, so the statement is not literally true in the scientific sense.
But the mustard seed was the smallest seed of which 1st century Jews in Israel knew, so the analogy aided them in understanding that the Kingdom of God starts very small and becomes very large. In that sense, the parable is morally true.
Discerning the genre of the specific passage is thus the first step in discerning the way in which it is true.
This week's online class discussion raised some interesting issues:
My class on Catholic doctrine is having an interesting discussion of whether the Biblical canon is fixed for all time. @wrdcsc @FrMatthewLC
— Professor Bainbridge (@ProfBainbridge) January 24, 2017
@wrdcsc @FrMatthewLC some of the class contend an ecumenical council could add new books. I thought Trent said the canon was permanent.
— Professor Bainbridge (@ProfBainbridge) January 24, 2017
@wrdcsc @FrMatthewLC And now we're on to whether there are really just 2 infallible teachings. Status of Magisterium?
— Professor Bainbridge (@ProfBainbridge) January 24, 2017
