Bible Catechism - Lesson 2

Lesson 2: 

Inspiration Of The Bible

1. Must we believe in the inspiration of the Bible?

Yes, the inspiration of the Bible is an article of Faith which cannot be denied without sin.

2. What is meant by inspiration of the Bible?

Inspiration of the Bible means, in the first place, that those who wrote the Bible were impelled to do so by God.

3. What else is meant by inspiration of the Bible?

Principally that those who wrote the Bible were protected from error while writing what God impelled them to write.

4. Is there a special name for that protection of the writer from error?

Yes, it is called "biblical inerrancy." It means that there are no errors in the Bible.

5. What proof have we that the Bible is inspired?

The Catholic Church, which is infallible, teaches us so.

6. Does not the Church itself rely on the Bible for proofs of its infallibility?

Besides those found in the Bible, the Church has many other proofs for its infallibility.

7. What general proof have we for the inspiration of the Bible?

Besides many others, we have Our Lord's constant references to the Old Testament as the word of God, while the early Christian Church testifies to the inspiration of the New Testament.

8. Are all the parts of the Bible inspired?

"For all the books which the Church receives as sacred and canonical are written wholly and entirely, with all their parts, at the dictation of the Holy Ghost ..." (Leo the XIII in Providentissimus Deus, E.B. 124, 127)

9. Does the inspiration apply to the originals only, or to the translations also?

Both: It applies absolutely to the originals, and to the translations insofar as they are faithful to the originals.