Wednesday, July 28, 2010
Tobit
As much as I appreciate the metaphors that fill the pages of scripture and the purpose they serve, I am more fond of the literal texts, even if those texts are only accepted by Catholics as divinely inspired. I believe the King James Bible that Protestants are familiar with was written entirely in Hebrew initially, where some other texts were found to be written in Greek. After prayer and deliberation on both sides, certain Hebrew texts were accepted by Catholics and Protestants to constitute the Bible as Protestants know it. None of the Greek texts were accepted by the Protestants. Those that were accepted by Catholics were included along side the same Hebrew texts as equally divinely inspired. This is the Bible that Catholics are familiar with. Tobit is one of those books and one of my favorites because it addresses issues common to every life. Tobit 4:15a, 16a, 18a, 19: "Do to no one what you yourself dislike. Give to the hungry some of your bread, and to the naked some of your clothing. Seek counsel from every wise man. At all times bless the Lord God, and ask him to make all your paths straight and to grant success to all your endeavors and plans."
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ReplyDeleteA good friend of mine asked a question of me privately related to this post and others, so I thought I'd include an edited version of that in case others had similar questions or more that they could add to my answers. It's basically the same as the comment that got deleted as I tried to edit a typo.
ReplyDeleteQ1. Where in the bible does it say that Mary has never sinned? Why is this a belief for you or the church?
A1. The basic belief that Mary never sinned is originally based on St. Gabriel at the Annunciation in the phrase "full of grace" which we believe to have meant that she was preserved from sin, so she would be a worthy vessel of Christ.
Q2. I was a little confused on your post about the Tobit. Is this different from the Bible that I read? Is it only a book Catholics believe in? We have the NIV (New International Version) and ESV (English Standard Version)...do you not think these are accurate Bibles?
A2. Catholics believe everything in the NIV Bibles. We also believe in a few other books found in versions like the New American Bible, but nothing in these other books contradicts anything in the NIV books.
The first question relates to the post from July 26.
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