“This is the Word of the Lord” or “The Word of the Lord” is a phrase that the Catholic Church and the mainline Christian churches most frequently use following a reading from the Holy Bible in their liturgical services. Then, the congregation responds reverently saying, “Thanks be to God!” Hence, we do believe that the Holy Scriptures of the Hebrews (Old Testament) and Christians (New Testament) as the Word of God.
The Holy Bible as the greatest sourcebook of Christians speaks about how people have often stumbled their way through history through the care and concern of God. It tells the story of the loving relationship between God and humankind. The more we read and reflect on the messages of the Bible; it brings us to a deep relationship with God. The Bible contains many things that are necessary for our salvation. It also offers guidance, consolation, encouragement, and hope. The word, “Bible” comes from the Medieval Latin, “biblia.” It is a singular word that derived from the Greek term, “biblia,” meaning “books.” The whole Bible is not a single book, but an anthology, a collection of many individual books and not a product of a single author. It was written by a diverse group of writers who represent a broad side of humanity. These Hebrew and Christian Scriptures were composed by them over a period of approximately 1400 years (roughly 1300 B.C. to A.D. 100). The whole Bible was written in three different languages: Hebrew, Greek, and Aramaic.
The Bible does not reflect simply the experiences of one single person about God. God inspired over 40 different human writers to write down the things that He wanted us to know. However, through these diverse human authors, God gives us a unified message. That is the story of God’s loving plan of redemption and how it was fulfilled in Christ, His only begotten Son.
It is always good to offer a prayer to the Holy Spirit for guidance before we begin to read the Bible and to make interpretations of a given text. It is also important to learn more about interpretations of the learned persons who have explored the Bible in great detail, like the Biblical Scholars, rather than interpreting our own ways that may not be quite accurate. We also need to have an open mind and heart to understand the interpretations of prominent Biblical Scholars.
Then, once we have attained some degree of openness, it is good to try to move to a position of detachment from our own self-centered or ego-centered approaches. Without such freedom from our own need to control, we will invariably make a text of the Bible to say what we want to hear and know, rather than what it really communicates according to the will of God. Our hearts and minds need to be opened to listen for a deeper voice than our own, the voice of God that whispers to us in these sacred Scriptures. One of the greatest philosophers in history, Immanuel Kant (who sought a compromise between rationalism and empiricism) stated, “a single line in the Bible has consoled me more than all the books I have ever read.”
— Fr. Niranjan Rodrigo, Ph.D
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