THE HOLY BIBLE
Vatican Site: Chinese, English, Italian, Latin, Port/ Spanish
http://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0839/INDEX.HTM/
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TEXTO PORTUGUÊS ENGLISH TEXT TEXTE FRANÇAIS
(From the Book: "If it wasn't God, who was?" - Chapter II)
The Bible is the main foundation of the Christian religion, having been through the Prophets that God manifested Himself to Israel and, through Jesus Christ, to all humanity. The Bible is the set of revelation, written during 1600 years, by forty men, forming 73 books, divided in Old and New Testaments. The primitive Jewish Law (Torah), embracing the first five books of the Bible (Pentateuch), was written by Moses, when Israel wandered forty years in the Sinai desert, returning from Egypt. The New Testament, containing the revelation after Christ, elaborated throughout the century I, includes the four Gospels, whose Greek term means good news (eu-good, angelion-message). The Gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke are called synoptic, because of their similarity, allowing them to be arranged in three parallel columns and to obtain a joint vision (Greek, synopsis). They were the first to circulate, with the Gospel of John having a later wording and a different structure. The Old Testament was written in Hebrew (10 century aC. - 1st century aC.), with the exception of the books in Aramaic (Tobiah, Judith, Maccabees 1 and 2, Wisdom, Ben Sirah, Baruch) and the New Testament, written in Greek, the language spoken in the Roman provinces, with the exception of the Gospel of Matthew, also written in Hebrew.
THE 73 BOOKS OF THE BIBLE (46+27)
Etymologically, the word Bible derives from the Greek (biblion, book) meaning in the plural (biblia), a set of books. The first translation was carried out by Saint Jerome (400) at the request of Pope Damasus I, after Christianity was proclaimed the religion of the Roman Empire by Constantine (391), translating the New Testament from Greek and the Old Testament from Hebrew. The Vulgate (in Vulgar Latin) has been considered the official Catholic version of the Bible from the Council of Trent (1563) to the present day; after the Second Vatican Council (1965) Pope Paul VI determined its revision, concluded in 1975 and promulgated on April 25, 1979, by John Paul II, under the name of Nova Vulgata. Tradition also refers to another Greek translation of Bible, the Version of the Seventy (Septuaginta), made by seventy-two rabbis of Alexandria, at request of King Ptolemy II (II century aC.), for the use of local Jews; its original has never been found, but it was from it that translations were made into Armenian, Georgian and Coptic languages (Greek dialect of Egypt), its name being referred to by Philo of Alexandria (50), by the Roman Flavius Josephus (100) and by the Greek Origen (253).
In the Middle Ages, the dissemination of the Bible was restricted, as it was manually copied for use in convents and cathedrals, being divided into several written volumes and weighing up to five kg, due to used materials. Its dissemination became widespread after the invention of the printing press, by Gutenberg, to whom the publication of the first Bible (1455) is due, and the translations of the Bible were stimulated by the leaders of the Protestant Reformation: German Luther (1522), French Jacques Lefèvre (1528), Spanish Casidoro de Reina (1569) and British King James (1611). One of the greatest biblical scholars was Erasmus of Rotterdam, a Catholic Renaissance, author of the first annotated version of the New Testament (1516), in Latin. However, the enumeration of Bible verses (1551) is due to the Frenchman Robert Estienne, a custom later extended to other editions. The Bible is one of the most illustrated books, highlighting the illustration of the Apocalypse (1498) by Albrecht Dürer and the complete illustration of the Bible (1865) by Gustave Doré.
The first Portuguese translation of the New Testament was made by João Ferreira de Almeida (1628 91), pastor of the Dutch Reformist Church, from existing Protestant translations, being published in Amsterdam (1681) and soon destroyed, due to multiple semantic errors, requiring its review. This first translation is shrouded in a troubled history, having been made by João Ferreira de Almeida (1628-91), a Portuguese from Viseu (Mangualde), orphaned since childhood and educated in Lisbon by an uncle, a member of a religious order. Due to unknown events, at just 14 years old, he ended up in Holland, then embarked for the colony of Indonesia, where he met the Dutch Reform Church and converted to Protestantism, at the age of 16. Ordained pastor of this Church, he was sent as a missionary to the Portuguese communities of India (1656), where he was considered an apostate and sentenced to death by the Court of the Inquisition of Goa, being forced to take refuge in Jakarta (1661). Then, for a few years, he dedicated himself to the translation of the New Testament, completed in 1676. The semantic errors detected by the proofreaders prevented its printing in Jakarta (Batávia), and João Almeida sent the text to Amsterdam where it was printed (1681). But the life of this first edition would be troubled, as there were still so many errors (more than a thousand, according to some sources) that the Dutch authorities ordered its destruction. A new revision of the text was necessary, and the final version was published in Batavia in 1693, after his death. He also began the translation of the Old Testament, dying without having completed the task (he reached the Book of Ezekiel), later completed by his friend Jacobus Akker and published in two volumes, in the years 1748 and 1753. Throughout the 19th century, the João Almeida's translation was widely disseminated in Brazil and Portugal, continuing to be used among evangelical Protestants.
The second translation is due to António Pereira de Figueiredo (1725-97), priest of the Congregation of the Oratory, a Latinist of European renown (author of the New Method of Latin Grammar), who translated the Vulgate for eighteen years; the New Testament would be published in six volumes (1778) and the Old in seventeen (1782), the two versions being brought together in one volume (1821) after his death. From the 19th century onwards, the invention of bible paper facilitated its printing, being the most translated book, in a total of 2.450 languages. During the 20th century, in Portugal, the translations of the Capuchin Missionaries (Difusora Bíblica), the Jerusalem Bible (Edições Paulistas) and the Inter-confessional Bible, a joint edition of Catholics and Protestants. Its dissemination also reached the Internet, through online editions, where it can be consulted in several languages…
Although we can reach God in different ways, only the reading of the sacred texts makes us true disciples of Christ, as He had said: “If anyone loves me, he will keep my word; my Father will love him and we will come to him and make our abode with him” (Jn.14,23). Therefore, no one can claim to have authentic faith if he does not know the Bible and, in particular, the Gospels, remarkable summaries of the life of Christ, written by ordinary men who had a living experience of Christ, because “they saw Him with their eyes, heard him with their ears, touched him with their hands” (John Paul II). Thus, the Bible should become the basic catechism of all Christians, with the Second Vatican Council (1966) calling for its assiduous reading and John Paul II insisting on its dissemination: “A new apostolic impetus is needed, lived as a daily commitment of the Christian communities and groups; that this be done, however, with due respect for each person's own path and with attention to the different cultures in which the Christian message must be sown, so that the specific values of each people are not denied, but purified and brought to their fullness.” (Novo Millennio Ineunte). Now, this appeal also demands greater openness on the part of the Church to individual charisms, for the spirit of God blows as He wants and where He wants, acting in each one, as he pleases (1Cor.12,4-11), being the same diversity highlighted by Thomas de Kempis (1471), when referring to Christ these words: “I do not communicate equally to all: to some I speak common things; to others I teach particular things... distributing my gifts among men, as I please... I am the one who, in a quick moment, listens to the humble spirit and makes it understand the divine reasons of eternal truths, better than those who were instructed in schools for space of ten years; my way of teaching is not mixed with the noise of words nor with the confusion that produces the diversity of opinions” (The Imitation of Christ). If God communicates to everyone in his own way, the Church must respect this diversity, implementing mechanisms of participation, never preventing the Spirit of God from manifesting himself in a plural form, an ancestral tendency already condemned by Moses (Nm.11,25-29) and also by Christ (Mk.9, 38-40), as described by St. Paul: “There are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit; there are diversities of services, but the same Lord; there are different ways of acting, but it is the same God who works everything in everyone. To one is given, by the action of the Spirit, a word of wisdom; to another, a word of science…; to another, faith…; to another, the gift of cures…; to another, the power to make miracles; to another, prophecy... All this, however, is accomplished by the one and the same Spirit, distributing to each one, as He pleases” (1Cor.12,4-11). However, the acceptance of diversity requires solving some basic problems of interpretation of sacred texts, resolving scientific and literary divergences, such as the already mentioned polemic between the heliocentric theory and the affirmation of the Book of Joshua (10,12-13) of that "the sun stood still in the midst of heaven" until the Israelites had just vanquished the Amorites. As says Anselmo Borges, about this passage, the reading of the sacred books cannot be literal, because they are not divine dictates, nor scientific information, but only a religious message written in the language of common sense, existing, therefore, in the Bible, several scientific errors…
THE MYTHICAL LANGUAGE OF THE BIBLE
“This is the famous step that gave rise to the opposition of Church representatives to Galileo and the science. How could the Earth turn, if the Bible says the sun has stopped? But even then Galileo was more aware than his opponents, when he countered that the Bible does not tell us what heaven is like, but how to get to heaven. That the reading of the sacred books cannot be literal is also shown by the fact that they contain scientific errors in the field of physics, astronomy and history. Think, for example, of all the blind debates around Genesis and specifically the creation myth, when one does not realize that it is not scientific information on physics or biology, but a religious message in mythical language: James Usher, Archbishop of Armag and Primate of All Ireland (1581-1656) claimed to know the date of the Earth's creation: October 23, 4004 aC., with Bertrand Russell corrosively remarking that day fell on a Friday, since God rested on Saturday! There is also the laughable case of a theologian from Münster who, in the 19th century, tried to present scientific proof of the existence of hell inside the Earth, arguing with volcanoes! It is clear that ridiculous theologies such as these can only contribute to the increase in the number of atheists... It is therefore clear that the sacred books (the Bible, the Koran and all the others) are not divine dictates and therefore need mediation hermeneutics, and cannot in any way (respect for God himself demands) be swallowed in their entirety and in an uncritical way” (A. Borges, Window of Infinity, 2008).
The Bible is not just a historical account of the presence of God among men or a narrative of extraordinary facts; it is also a code of faith, hiding eternal truths, an invitation to discovery, because, according to Isaiah, all revelation is like a secret book, inaccessible to the common reader: “Any vision will be like a sealed book to you. When they give it to someone who can read, asking him to please read this – he replies: I can't, the book is sealed. If they give it to someone who doesn't know how to read, asking him: please read this, he replies: I don't know how to read” (Is.29,11). The book of Proverbs considers revelation as a treasure to be sought by anyone who wants to know God and understand “the fear of the Lord” (Prov.2, 1-5). But God only proposes his truth, the image of the sower who sows the seed on the ground (Mt.13, 3-8), one falling by the wayside and being eaten by birds, another on stony ground and not germinating for lack of water, another in the midst of thorns where it is choked, only some falling on good soil where it will bear fruit: “And he that received seed on good ground is he that heareth the word, and understandeth it; it bears fruit and produces now a hundred, now sixty, now thirty” (Mt.13,23). Thus, the Word of God is offered indiscriminately to believers and unbelievers, in total respect for human freedom, only germinating in virtuous hearts that do not let themselves be suffocated by the riches and pleasures of life. As an extraordinary sign of God's presence in the world, the Bible should constitute the main objective of study for all believers and even for all men, demanding not only an attentive reading and deep reflection, but also a leap to the "other side", in an invitation to courage and a challenge to reason itself. Since it is a project of eternal salvation, no one should be oblivious to this definitive bet, to lose or win everything and where, in Pascal's words, there is no possible comparison between what can be lost and gained: eternal death or eternal life! On the other hand, biblical interpretation requires a high intellectual rigor, due to the proliferation of religious sects, having Christ already warned the apostles of the danger of false prophets, who speak in their own name, deceiving many and spreading false revelations. Numerous sects have been present since the beginning of Christianity (2Pe.2,1-3; 1Jo.4,1-3), sowing confusion and leaving wounds, such as those already extinct: Gnosticism (2th century), Manichaeism (3th century), Arianism (4th century), Nestorianism (5th century), Albigensians (11th century), Jansenism (17th century). Today, other sects have emerged, supported by new technologies (radio, television, internet) and endowed with great power of seduction (ANNEX). For this reason, Christ calls for the disciples to be vigilant, so as not to be naive: “Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inside they are ravenous wolves. You will know them by their fruits… Every good tree bears good fruit and every bad tree bears bad fruit” (Mt.7,15-19). The Bible mentions some criteria to identify false prophets: use of wonders to divert the less attentive (Dt.13,1), non-fulfillment of prophecies on the foreseen date (Dt.18,20), observation of inconsistencies in the personal lives of these prophets (Mt.7,15; Lc.6,26), practice of fraud and exploitation (2Pe.2,1), and finally, denial of Jesus Christ as Son of God (1Jo.4,1).
ANNEX - RELIGIOUS SECTS
Unification Church – Sun Myung Moon (South Korea, 1954), coming from a Presbyterian family, considering that Jesus failed to let himself die on a cross, founded the Unification Church, declaring himself the new Messiah and his wife the new mother of humanity. The sect promotes mass marriages, practices polygamy and founded the Washington Times in 1982...
Transcendental Meditation – Sect founded in 1953 by Maharishi Yogi (India), based on Hindu silence, seeks to free the mind from sensitive realities in order to achieve the peace. In the 60s, he had the sympathy of “The Beatles”. Yogi intended to build three thousand peace palaces around the world, where his faithful would meditate full-time, sending positive vibrations into space, in favor of peace; in 2001, after the September 11th attack on the twin towers of New York, he proposed, in exchange for a billion dollars, to put 40.000 yogis in meditation against terrorism, but no government accepted the proposal.
Universal Church of the Kingdom of God (IURD) – Founded in 1977, in Rio de Janeiro, by Edir Macedo, self-proclaimed bishop. He began preaching outdoors, later moving to movie theaters. Thanks to the offerings of the faithful, the sect acquired newspapers, radio and television stations, spreading in Portuguese-speaking countries and in the USA. The acts of worship are very successful shows, with exorcism sessions aimed at convincing those present. Its relative success is due to the use of popular language, centered on the fight against demons and the belief in economic prosperity.
Children of God – Founded in 1969 (USA), by evangelical pastor David Berg, known as Father Mo (Moses). They are apocalyptic and value sex as a gift from God. Berg began his preaching among California hippies, attracted to free sex and critical of organized society. The excesses of the sect (adultery, homosexuality, group sex, incest) gave rise to allegations of corruption of minors, leading to judicial intervention. In 1974, its leader prophesied the destruction of San Francisco and the return of Christ, but fled the USA, due to the failure of his prophecies.
Mormons – The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormons), created in the USA (1823) by Joseph Smith, claims to have received from an angel the history of God, written in the Book of Mormon. Practices polygamy and considers blacks an inferior race; fearing persecution, he migrated (1839) to the Utah desert, in the west of the USA. Its founder prophesied in 1835 that Christ would return within 56 years, but he died without that happening.
Jehovah's Witnesses – Founded in 1872 by Charles Russell, from the Adventist Church, characterized by the apocalyptic doctrine, having already announced the end of the world several times (1914, 1925, 1976, 1984); perhaps that is why it advises its members not to make plans for life, not to marry and not to have children. They reject the divinity of Jesus and the immortality of the soul, refusing military service and blood transfusions.
Other Sects: Seventh Day Adventism (1840), Spiritualism (1857), Legion of Good Will (1949), Church of Scientology (1950), Satanism (1966), Bhagwan (1974).
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JOSÉ LEMOS PINTO
http://www.facebook.com/jlemosp