The Power of the Word
by Pat Gohn in Faith on Thursday, December 10, 2009 6:00 AM
Human words can be powerful. Depending on the context, and who speaks them and with what authority they are uttered, you know the truth when you hear it. It is trustworthy, reasonable, and unchanging, regardless how you feel about it.
A few words from my personal history that fall into that powerful truth category:
“I, Robert, take you, Patricia, to be my wife… all the days of my life.”
“It’s a boy!”
“I’m sorry, it’s breast cancer.”
In each of these circumstances, the speakers communicated undeniable truths to me. In each case, the integrity of the message was backed up by a reliable source.
Now apply these ideas to Sacred Scripture. It is sacred for one reason alone: “God is the author of Sacred Scripture” as the Catechism of the Catholic Church succinctly states in CCC 105.
And yet, here’s a curious thing … the sacred books of the Bible were penned by human hands. You might then ask: which is it, then? Are the words of the Bible the words of God or the words of its human authors?
Were the human writers functioning as mere dictation machines for God? Were they androids or automatons conveying God’s word?
Indeed not. The truth about God is that he never forces his will upon a person. He respects the human freedom he created.
The Catholic Church teaches the books of the Bible were written under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. CCC 106 explains their unique character and authorship:
God chose certain men who, all the while he employed them in this task, made full use of their own faculties and powers so that, though he acted in them and by them, it was as true authors that they consigned to writing whatever he wanted written, and no more.
Even so, a skeptical question may still linger: Could these human authors have made a few mistakes? After all, they were only human.
Let me answer that by first asking another question that relates to the idea of the context of what the Bible truly is: Have you ever heard that God’s Word is a “living” word? Just what does that mean? Recall Hebrews 4: 12: “For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword …”
God, in the Holy Spirit, is united to his Word. He is in the Word, inhabiting it. Thus, it is alive not dead. After all, God is the Original Word: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God” (John 1:1).
Like the human examples from my own life that opened this article, we must consider the source from which the words flow. My cancer diagnosis years back came from my doctor who relied upon a pathology report. It was undeniable – trustworthy, reasonable and unchanging.
In the case of Scripture, we have another undeniable source: God himself as both author and the authority that guarantees the truth of the text.
Therefore, we can confidently accept that the inspired books of Scripture teach the truth we need without error, even though God uses human words written down by human authors.
CCC 107 continues:
Since therefore all that the inspired authors or sacred writers affirm should be regarded as affirmed by the Holy Spirit, we must acknowledge that the books of Scripture firmly, faithfully, and without error teach that truth which God, for the sake of our salvation, wished to see confided to the Sacred Scriptures.
God who spoke his Word and created the universe out of nothing – delivered his words using human authors – so we might begin to comprehend his truth and know his plan of salvation for us. God could have used other miraculous means to communicate his truth, but he chose to inspire and guide human persons to bring his message to the world.
The Bible reveals Who God is, who we are, why we were made, and what our true destiny is in God. (Just for fun, some people call the Bible “the owner’s manual.” In other words, our Creator, God, has the best maintenance plan and troubleshooting guide for getting the most “mileage” out of life. B-I-B-L-E = Basic Instructions Before Leaving Earth.)
Finally, God’s truth can only be understood and received if the hearer or reader acknowledges its author and authority.
God’s divine words in human language are backed up the Holy Spirit himself. It is trustworthy, reasonable, and unchanging.
Want to read more?
CCC 108:
The Christian faith is not a “religion of the book.” Christianity is the religion of the “Word” of God… “not a written and mute word, but the Word which is incarnate and living” [—St. Bernard]. If the Scriptures are not to remain a dead letter, Christ, the eternal Word of the living God, must, through the Holy Spirit, “open [our] minds to understand the Scriptures. [Luke 24:45]”
—Pat Gohn is a wife & mother celebrating 27 years of Catholic family life. Her Catholic writing, podcasting, and ministry life are found at PatGohn.com.
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