In Catholic theology, “Sacred Scripture” refers to the spoken Word of God written under the breath of the Holy Spirit. “Sacred Tradition” encompasses the teachings, practices, and beliefs entrusted to and passed down by the apostles who received them directly from Jesus Christ.
Complementary: Scripture and Tradition are complementary sources of God’s revelation, working together to reveal God’s humanity.
Interdependent: Tradition helps to interpret Scripture, and Scripture provides the foundation for Tradition.
One Deposit: Scripture and Tradition are considered to form one sacred deposit of the Word of God entrusted to the Church.
Recommended Books:
The Decline and Fall of Sacred Scripture, Scott Hahn and Ben Wiker, Emmaus Road Publishers, 2021
If you want to know how biblical scholarship has become so problematic in the Catholic Church, this is the book to read by two trusted authors and recommended by Jeff Cavins, Ralph Martin and Tim Staples. Though Hahn and Wiker wrote a book on the subject that is about five times as long, this is a concise summary of that work. As one reviewer put it, “Hahn and Wiker have written a very readable explanation of what has gone wrong with modern biblical scholarship. How did it get to be such an incoherent mess? Surprisingly, as they answer this question, they end up explaining a great deal of what has gone wrong with the entire modern world.”
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A Catholic Guide to the Old Testament, Jeff Cavins, et al, Ascension Press, 2023
This is a walk through the Old Testament history and books. Each book of the Old Testament is addressed in a concise way.
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The Book of Destiny, Fr. Bernard Kramer, Tan Publishers, 1955
Fr. Kramer spent 30 years researching the Book of Revelations (BOR) before publishing this book in 1955. The Catholic Church has no official position on the BOR and there are a variety of points of view, some telling us that it is a dead book because it simply applied to the Christian struggle with the Romans. But this is an in-depth analysis of the BOR that really makes sense. Kramer proves it is a prophetic history of the Catholic Church. We can find therein the persecution by the Romans, the Western and Eastern schisms, Luther and the protestant revolt, and the Woman clothed with the Sun. After the first 50 pages, the book explodes with true history. “Proceeds chapter by chapter and verse by verse, explaining everything in terms of the language and symbolic meaning of Scripture itself. Gives the keys to understanding the BOR. Shows we are on the verge of dramatic events! A masterpiece!”
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The Harvest Handbook of Bible Lands, Steven Collins, Joseph M. Holden, Harvest House Publishers, 2019
This is a trustworthy book that walks through the history of the holy lands while being true to the Bible in the process. It is recommended by Jeff Cavins when you join him for a holy land tour.
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The Essential Archaeological Guide to Bible Lands, Titus Kennedy, Harvest House Publishers, 2023
While the historical accuracy of the Bible has long been a topic of debate and has fallen under increased scrutiny in recent decades, new archaeological discoveries from an expanding host of ancient sites found in Bible lands continue to provide evidence pertinent to questions of reliability. The Essential Archaeological Guide to Bible Lands offers the most geographically extensive overview of archaeological sites from all of the regions relevant to the biblical narratives.
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