La Sagrada Escritura No. 101-141 Catecismo de la Iglesia Católica

Be attentive to "the analogy of faith" (cf. Rom 12:6). By "analogy of faith" we understand the cohesion of the truths of faith among themselves and in the total plan of Revelation. The Sense of Scripture 116 The literal sense. This is the sense signified by the words of Scripture and discovered by exegesis that follows the rules of correct interpretation. Omnes sensus (Sc. sacrae Scripturae) fundentur super unum litteralem sensum (St. Thomas Aquinas, S.Th., 1, q.1, a. 10, ad 1). All the senses of Sacred Scripture are founded on the literal sense. 117 The spiritual sense. Thanks to the unity of God's plan, not only the text of Scripture, but also the realities and events of which it speaks, can be signs. The allegorical sense. We can gain a deeper understanding of events by recognizing their significance in Christ; thus, the crossing of the Red Sea is a sign of Christ's victory and therefore of Baptism (cf. 1 Cor 10:2). The moral sense. The events narrated in Scripture can guide us to righteous action. They were written "for our instruction" (1 Cor 10:11; cf. Heb 3-4:11). The anagogical sense. We can see realities and events in their eternal significance, which leads us (in Greek: "anagoge") toward our homeland. Thus, the Church on earth is a sign of the heavenly Jerusalem (cf. Rev 21:1-22:5). 118 A medieval couplet summarizes the significance of the four senses: The letter teaches the facts, the allegory what you must believe, the moral sense what you must do, and the anagogy where you must strive. (Augustine of Dacia, Rotulus pugillaris, I: ed. A. Walz: Angelicum 6 (1929), 256) 119 "It is up to exegetes to apply these norms in their work in order to penetrate and expound the meaning of Sacred Scripture, so that through careful study the judgment of the Church may mature. Everything said about the interpretation of Scripture is subject to the definitive judgment of the Church, which has received from God the commission and office of preserving and interpreting the word of God" (DV 12,3): I would not believe in the Gospel if I were not moved to do so by the authority of the Catholic Church (Saint Augustine, Contra epistulam Manichaei quam vocant fundamenti, 5,6). IV The Canon of Scripture 120 Apostolic Tradition led the Church to discern which writings constitute the list of the Holy Books (cf. DV 8,3). This comprehensive list is called the “canon” of Scripture. It comprises 46 writings for the Old Testament (45 if we count Jeremiah and Lamentations as one), and 27 for the New (cf. Decretum Damasi: DS 179; Council of Florence, 1442: ibid., 1334-1336; Council of Trent: ibid., 1501-1504): Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy, Joshua, Judges, Ruth, the two books of Samuel, the two books of Kings, the two books of Chronicles, Ezra and Nehemiah, Tobit, Judith, Esther, the two books of Maccabees, Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, the Song of Songs, Wisdom, Sirach, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Lamentations, Baruch, Ezekiel, Daniel, Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi for the Old Testament; the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John; the Acts of the Apostles; Paul's letters to the Romans, First and Second Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, First and Second Thessalonians, First and Second Timothy, Titus, Philemon, Hebrews, James, First and Second Peter, the three letters of John, Jude, and Revelation for the New Testament. Summary 134 "All divine Scripture is one book, and this book is Christ, because all divine Scripture speaks of Christ, and all divine Scripture is fulfilled in Christ" (Hugo of Saint Victor, De arca Noe 2,8: PL 176, 642C; cf. ibid., 2,9: PL 176, 642-643). 135 "Sacred Scripture contains the Word of God and, because it is inspired, it is truly the Word of God" (DV 24). 136 God is the author of Sacred Scripture because he inspires its human authors: he acts in them and through them. He thus assures that his writings teach saving truth without error (cf. DV 11). 138 The Church receives and venerates as inspired the forty-six books of the Old Testament and the twenty-seven of the New. 140 The unity of the two Testaments derives from the unity of God's plan and his Revelation. The Old Testament prepares for the New, while the latter fulfills the Old; the two shed light on each other; both are the true Word of God.