The Breath of God in the Bible

The Bible Enthroned in a Chapel

In Sunday's liturgy of the word, the apostle Paul reminds the Thessalonians that God speaks to them in the Bible. Yes, God speaks to us especially through the Bible, a privileged form of conversation between God and us, a two-way conversation. We should be ever attentive to the word of God, especially in the liturgy. God authored the Bible in the sense that the Bible includes what God wants us to know about God, the universe and ourselves.

But the human authors of the Bible were real authors. They employed the language, images, literary genres, and worldviews they knew to communicate religious truths, not scientific truths. Moreover, the Bible is not one book but a library of many: prose and poetry, fiction and history, myths and legends, historical narratives and short stories, genealogies and sermons, and so on. In fact, the Bible was written over 1500 years by at least 40 authors. They are not always easily understandable. That why we have Bible study.

St. Paul describes all scripture as “inspired by God.” (2 Tim 3:16) Not just inspired the way artists, poets, composers and musical performers do. It actually has God’s breath, his Spirit. Yes, through the Bible, God speaks to us.

The Bible ultimately is about Jesus. Paul informed Timothy that the sacred scriptures are “capable of giving you wisdom for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.” (2 Tim 3:.15)

Jesus loves us unconditionally, and asks that we not only hear God's word but put it into practice. Our spiritual appetite can only be satisfied in a relationship with God. That's what Jesus made a reality through his death and resurrection: a relationship with God.

Our global Catholic Church is a biblical community of disciples in the sense that it acknowledges and proclaims the bible as the word of God in human form. In particular, the scriptures identify Jesus as the unique definitive revelation of God to us.

In this sense, there will be no new revelation. However, the Church universal as a community of disciples is the instrument of the Spirit who guides us along the journey to eternal life in the light of new problems in new generations and in new cultures.

I conclude with a story about Fyodor Dostoyevsky, the great 19th century Russian novelist.  Caught up in a movement for political and social reform, he and comrades were condemned to be executed. As the prison guards raised their muskets and took aim at the lineup, a white flag was raised to announce that the Tsar had commuted their sentence to life imprisonment in Siberia.

While in prison, Dostoyevsky read the New Testament from cover to cover and learned much of it by heart. He wrote, “I believe that there is no one...else like Jesus.” Yes, through the Bible, Dostoyevsky encountered the living Christ.  May we also encounter the living Christ in the word of God.