Today we celebrate the feast of St Jerome.
He translated the Scriptures from Hebrew and Greek into Latin.
Latin was the language commonly used in Western European countries for many centuries.
The Scriptures used in the Christian Church have two parts: the books that came directly from the Jewish people and those that came from the Christian era.
The books that came from the Jewish people, the Old Testament, were written mostly in Hebrew, with some others in Greek.
Then there are the Christian books of the New Testament, written mostly in Greek.
There are 73 books in the Bible.
In the Catholic Bible, there are 46 books in the Old Testament and 27 books in the New Testament.
It was the Church that determined which books were included in the Bible, using the authority given to it by Jesus to teach in his name.
The Scriptures have human authors who wrote from within the culture of their time, using the images and literary styles of their time.
However, there is also the Divine Author.
The human authors were inspired by God to write the Word of God.
We can truly say that God is the author of the message of Scripture.
For Christians, the message of Christ guides us in interpreting the Scriptures.
A proper understanding of the Scriptures needs an understanding of the time and context in which the human authors lived.
A simple literal interpretation of Scripture, without knowledge of the above, is not a good or proper way to understand the message of Scripture.
Proper understanding needs guidance from those who have studied the Scriptures properly.
However, this does not mean that we should be scared or hesitant about reading the Bible. Far from it.
The Church encourages us to pray and read the Bible regularly.
It is God’s Word to guide, teach and inspire us.
It is also wise to have some guidance in using it, to avoid fundamentalist and simplistic interpretations.