STRUCTURE OF CATHOLIC BIBLE

2. THE
BIBLE
(Definition & History)
LESSON
1

3. What is
Bible?

4. THE BIBLE
•The word “Bible” comes from a Greek plural
noun, ta biblia, meaning the books.
•The Bible is not just a book; it is rather a
collection of 73 books.
•Is the word of God written down in the
words of men.

5. HOW WAS THE BIBLE
FORMED?
ACTUAL
EVENTS
ORAL
TRADITION
WRITTEN
SCRIPTURES
This refers to the actual experiences of God’s
people which they interpreted as God’s
intervention in their history.
So that the people will forever remember these
important events, they are handed on to
succeeding generations through storytelling.
These stories were sorted, edited, and
eventually put into to serve as norms against
which other stories and traditions will be
verified; and to more effectively preserve
tradition.

6. THE BIBLE
•The Bible is a Book of Remembrance
•The Bible is a Faith-Record
•The Bible contains a Religious
Interpretation of History

7. THE BIBLE
The Bible is a collection of sacred
writings which the Church solemnly
recognized as the:
“Word of God written by men
through the inspiration of the
Holy Spirit.”

8. THE BIBLE
THE BIBLE IS THE WORD OF GOD.
The word “OF” tells us three things about the BIBLE:
1. It is WORD ABOUT GOD – We learn about God
through the Bible
2. It is the SPOKEN WORD OF GOD – Sacred
Scripture contains God’s revelation of Himself
3. It is WORD THAT BELONGS TO GOD – God is the
Bible’s author, custodian, interpreter, and teacher.

9. WRITTEN BY MEN THROUGH THE
INSPIRATION OF THE HOLY SPIRIT
The Bible did not fall from heaven. When God gave us his
word, he inspired some men to put in into writing. The
Bible was written by persons who lived in a particular
context, using the means available to them as they went
through the natural process of data gathering, selection,
and finally writing down scriptures.
"All scripture, inspired of God, is
profitable to teach, to reprove, to
correct to instruct in justice" 2

10. INSPIRATION
Providentissimus Deus, Pope Leo XIII
“Inspiration is the special influence of the holy spirit on the
human authors, such that they were able to write down what
god wanted them to write.”
INSPIRATION IS NOT:
•DICTATION – God did not dictate the words to the human authors.
As stated earlier, the human authors had to go through all the
processes involved in coming up with a written work.
•POSSESSION – The human authors were not coerced by God to
write. They did not lose their free will when they put God’s Word into
writing. On their end, they had to cooperate with inspiration.

11. HOW THE BIBLE SPEAKS TO
CATHOLICS
Catholics believe that there are different ways to understand
the Bible:
• Literal sense: the meaning of Scripture is conveyed by the
words and discovered by critical explanation or
interpretation of a text, following the rules of sound
interpretation. All other senses of Sacred Scripture are based
on the literal.
• Moral sense: the events we read in Scripture should lead us
to act justly and fairly to live morally.

12. HOW THE BIBLE SPEAKS TO
CATHOLICS
• Allegorical sense: we can find a more profound
understanding of events by seeing their significance in
Christ. An example of this would be the crossing of the
Red Sea – seen as a sign of Christ’s victory and of
Christian baptism.
• Anagogical sense (Greek: anagoge, “leading”): the
realities and events in the Bible, in terms of their
eternal significance, lead us home to God. So the
Church on earth is a sign of the heavenly Jerusalem.

13. LESSON 2
STRUCTURE
OF BIBLE

14. DIVISION OF BIBLE
The Bible is arranged into two main sections:
•Old Testament (46 books)
About God’s relationship with the people of
Israel.
•New Testament (27 books)
About Jesus and the church that He established.

15. OLD TESTAMENT (46)
•The Old Testament was written in Hebrew.
•It was divided into 4 sections
• The Pentateuch or Torah
• The Historical Books
• The Wisdom and Poetry Books
• The Book of Prophets

16. NEW TESTAMENT (27)
• The New Testament was written in Greek.
• It was divided into 4 sections
• The Gospels
• The Acts of the Apostles
• The Epistles (Letters)
• The Book of Revelation

17. THE BIBLE
• The Catholic Christian Bible contains 73* "Books (as
opposed to 66 in the Christian Bible)."
• There are 7 books that are in the Old Testament that
have always been part of the Cannon of Scripture.
• Protestant reformers removed these books but the
Council of Trent in 1546 declared that they are indeed
part of our scriptures.

18. THE BIBLE
•These books contain stories of God’s work in the
lives of heroic individuals.
•The Books of the Bible are divided into
Chapters.
•The Chapters are divided into Verses.
Example:
• John 3:16

19. OLD TESTAMENT
THE PENTATEUCH
OR TORAH
HISTORICAL BOOKS WISDOM AND
POETRY
PROPHETIC BOOKS
Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy.
• These 5 books were written perhaps as long ago as 3400 years
ago, traditionally they are attributed to Moses.
• These five books are sometimes called the Law Books and contain
stories of humanity’s origins, the patriarchs, Israel’s escape from
slavery, and their journey to the promised land. It contains the
social, moral, and religious guidelines for living in response to
God’s love.

20. OLD TESTAMENT
THE PENTATEUCH
OR TORAH
HISTORICAL BOOKS WISDOM AND
POETRY
PROPHETIC BOOKS
Joshua, Judges, Ruth, 1 Samuel, 2 Samuel, 1 King, 2
Kings, 1 Chronicle, 2 Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah,
Ester.
• These include the stories of Israel’s conquest of the
Promised Land, their growth as a nation, their exile in a
foreign land, and their return from exile to a land occupied
by a foreign government.

21. OLD TESTAMENT
THE PENTATEUCH
OR TORAH
HISTORICAL BOOKS WISDOM AND
POETRY
PROPHETIC BOOKS
Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of
Songs.
• These books are sometimes called the books of Writings, or
the books of Poetry, or the books of Wisdom. These books
contain ancient hymns of personal struggles and national
pride as well as lessons about suffering, finding meaning
in everyday life, and love.

22. OLD TESTAMENT
THE PENTATEUCH
OR TORAH
HISTORICAL BOOKS WISDOM AND
POETRY
PROPHETIC BOOKS
Jeremiah, Lamentations, Isaiah, Ezekiel and Daniel, Hosea,
Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk,
Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi.
• Prophets reveal God’s message calling us back to hope, forgiveness,
and justice. These books teach us how to treat one another and
remain faithful to God. The references of major and minor prophets
refer to the length of the respective compositions not any prophetic
distinction among the writers.

23. DEUTEROCANONICAL BOOKS
(SECOND CANON)
Baruch, Sirach (Ecclesiates), Judith, Tobit, Wisdom, 1
Macabees, 2 Maccabees.
• These texts are all contained in Catholic Bibles but not Jewish or
Protestant.
• The Jewish scholars took them out about 250 years after Jesus’s
Passion because the followers of Jesus, Christians, looked to them
to give evidence of the existence of heaven, and life after death. The
Protestant reformers removed them from the Christian scriptures
in the 16th century because the Jews didn’t use them any longer.

24. NEW
TESTAMENT
THE GOSPEL ACTS OF THE
APOSTLE
THE EPISTLES BOOK OF
REVELATION
Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John
• Each Gospel is an account of the life, teachings, suffering, death,
and resurrection of Jesus Christ written for different audiences.
• The gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke together are referred to as
the synoptic gospels. "Synoptic" is derived from a Greek word
meaning "one eye,' since these gospels look alike in structure and
content. The Gospel of John differs in structure and contains some
stories and sayings of Jesus that are not found in the synoptic
gospels.

25. NEW
TESTAMENT
THE GOSPEL ACTS OF THE
APOSTLE
THE EPISTLES BOOK OF
REVELATION
ACTS OF THE APOSTLES
• It is written by Luke as a sequel to his gospel account. It
describes the faith, growth, and way of life of early
Christianity. The story of the Ascension of Jesus into
heaven, the coming of the Holy Spirit to the church at
Pentecost, the martyrdom of St. Stephen, and the
conversion of St. Paul can all be found in this book.

26. NEW
TESTAMENT
THE GOSPEL ACTS OF THE
APOSTLE
THE EPISTLES BOOK OF
REVELATION
The Epistles or Letters make up the largest part of the New
Testament.
They are divided into two categories:
1. Pauline Letters
2. Apostolic Letters.
Each letter usually begins with a greeting and an identification of the
sender and the recipients. This is followed by a prayer, usually in the
form of thanksgiving. The body of the letter is an exposition of
Christian teaching.

27. NEW
TESTAMENT
THE GOSPEL ACTS OF THE
APOSTLE
THE EPISTLES BOOK OF
REVELATION
The Pauline Letters
Romans, 1 & 2 Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians,
Philippians, Colossians, 1 & 2 Thessalonians, 1 & 2 Timothy,
Titus, Philemon, & Hebrews.
• These were written by St. Paul or one of his disciples; not long after
the death and resurrection of Jesus, between 54 A.D. and 80 A.D.
They indicate early developments of Christian theology and
practice.

28. NEW
TESTAMENT
THE GOSPEL ACTS OF THE
APOSTLE
THE EPISTLES BOOK OF
REVELATION
Apostolic Letters
James, 1 & 2 Peter, Jude
• The Apostolic Letters are thought to be addressed, not so
much to a particular community or individual, but to a
more universal audience. They were written by various
authors between 65 A.D. and 95 A.D

29. NEW
TESTAMENT
THE GOSPEL ACTS OF THE
APOSTLE
THE EPISTLES BOOK OF
REVELATION
John’s Letters 1 John, 2 John, 3 John.
• This book was written by John about 1900 years ago. He was
shown visions of the future by Jesus. This book contains many
prophecies about the End Times or the Apocalypse. Biblical
scholars have concluded that the Gospel of John and the Letters of
John were written by the same author. The letters were probably
composed at the end of the first century.

30. NEW
TESTAMENT
THE GOSPEL ACTS OF THE
APOSTLE
THE EPISTLES BOOK OF
REVELATION
The last book contained in Christian scripture, Revelation is
perhaps the most misinterpreted and problematic. The book is an
example of apocalyptic literature popular from 200 B.C. to 200 A.D.
This literary form included the use of symbolic numbers, colors,
animals, and cosmic images. All of these devices and their meaning
would have been familiar to the original audience, but have proven
a puzzlement to succeeding generations.

31. HOW TO START READING THE BIBLE?
John 1:3
Genesis 1: 3-7
Isaiah 2:6-9
Galatians 4: 4-10
1 Timothy 3:6-13
A reading from the holy gospel according to John, chapter
1 verse 3.
A reading from the book of Genesis, chapter 1 verses
3 to 7.
A reading from the book of Prophet Isaiah, chapter 2
verses 6 to 9.
A reading from the letter of Paul to the
Galatians, chapter 4 verses 4 to 10.
A reading from the first letter of Paul to
Timothy, chapter 3 verses 6 to 13.

32. WHAT IS THE
IMPORTANCE OF
BIBLE TO YOU?

33. LESSON 3
CATHOLIC
PRAYERS

34. PRAYER

35. PRAYER
• Prayer is communication with God.
• Christians can pray anywhere at anytime. It can be
asking God for something, thanking God or just
asking Him a question. Prayer does not need to be
formal, it can be like chatting to a friend.
• For Christians, praying is very important, they believe
it helps them to become better people and makes the
world a better place for all.

36. BENEFITS OF
PRAYER
• Contributes to our sense of self-worth
• Leads to happiness
• Changes us
• Nourishes us in virtues
• Energizes, calms, and renews
• Heals
• Helps relieve anxiety
• Deepens our relationship with the Triune God

37. HOW TO PRAY
Prayer is an act of love that can be enhanced by following “6 Ps”:
• place: find a place where you can be in God’s presence
• period of time: set aside a designated time for prayer
• posture: assume a posture that helps you be alert and
relaxed
• presence: remember that you are in God’s presence so that
you can be present to God
• passage: one common way to enter into prayer is to be
begin with Scripture
• persistence: strive to focus on prayer in spite of distractions

38. EXPRESSIONS OF PRAYER
Mental Prayer:
conversing with or
reflecting on God,
sometimes
leading into
contemplation
(a form of silent,
wordless prayer
where we rest in
God’s presence)
Vocal Prayer:
prayer expressed
in words, we do
as Jesus taught in
the Our Father
Meditation:
prayerful
reflection,
especially on the
Word of God in
Scripture, using
our thoughts,
emotions,
imaginations, and
desires to “tune
into God.”

39. BASIC CATHOLIC
PRAYERS

40. THE LORD’S PRAYER
(OUR PRAYER)
The Lord’s Prayer is the prayer that Jesus taught
to his disciples. Quoting Tertullian, the Catechism
says that it is “truly a summary of the whole
Gospel” and the foundation of all further prayer.

41. THE LORD’S PRAYER
(OUR PRAYER)
Our Father who art in
heaven,
Hallowed be thy name.
Thy kingdom come,
Thy will be done on earth
As it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily
bread,
And forgive us our
trespasses,
As we forgive those
Who trespass against us,
And lead us not into
temptation,
But deliver us from evil.
AMEN

42. HAIL MARY
The Hail Mary is based on the greeting of Mary by the
angel Gabriel (Luke 1:28) and by Elizabeth (Luke
1:42). The prayer then affirms Mary as the “mother of
God”, and asks her to pray to her Son on our behalf.
We pray for her to watch over us at the hour of our
death just as she watched over her Son at the hour of
his death.

43. HAIL MARY
Hail Mary, full of grace,
the Lord is with thee;
blessed art thou among women,
and blessed is the fruit of they womb, Jesus.
Holy Mary, Mother of God,
pray for us sinners,
now and at the hour of our death.
Amen.

44. GLORY BE TO THE
FATHER
A doxology is a short verse praising God. The “Glory
Be” is often used in conjunction with other prayers,
especially in the Liturgy of the Hours and the Rosary.

45. GLORY BE TO THE
FATHER
Glory to the Father,
and to the Son,
and to the Holy Spirit:
as it was in the beginning,
is now, and ever shall be, world without end.
Amen.

46. ANGELUS
The Angelus commemorates the Incarnation ,
and is traditionally prayed at 6 a.m, noon, and 6
pm. During the Easter season, it is replaced by
the Regina Caeli.

47. ANGELUS
Leader: The angel of the Lord declared unto
Mary.
Response: As she conceived of the Holy Spirit.
Hail Mary, full of grace,
the Lord is with thee:
blessed art thou among women,
and blessed is the fruit of thy womb Jesus.

48. ANGELUS
Holy Mary, Mother of God
pray for us sinners,
now and at the hour of our death.
Leader: Behold the handmaid of the Lord
Response: Be it done unto me according to thy
Word.
(Hail Mary)

49. ANGELUS
Leader: And the Word was made flesh.
Response: And dwelt amongst us.
(Hail Mary)
Leader: Pray for us, O Holy Mother of God.
Response: That we may be made worthy of the
promises of Christ.

50. ANGELUS
Let us pray.
Pour forth, we beseech thee, O Lord, they grace
into our hearts, that we to whom the incarnation
if Christ thy Son was made known by the
message of an angel, may by his passion and
cross be brought to the glory of his resurrection;
through the same Christ our Lord.
Amen,

51. THE HOLY
ROSARY

52. HISTORY OF ROSARY
The traditional story of the rosary was
that the Virgin Mary herself appeared
to St. Dominic de Guzman in the
twelfth century. At that time, tradition
says she gave him the rosary and
promised Dominic that if he spread
the devotion to the rosary, heresies
would be defeated and his religious
order would flourish.

53. HISTORY OF ROSARY
Originally the rosary had 150 beads, the same
number of psalms in the Bible. In the twelfth
century, Religious orders recited together the 150
psalms as a way to mark the hours of the day and
the days of the week. Those people who don’t know
how to read wanted to share in this practice, so
praying on a string of 150 beads began as a
parallel to praying the psalms.

54. HOW DO WE PRAY THE ROSARY
Each day people pray 5 decades of the rosary and each decade
represents an event in the life of Jesus and his mother. The five
decades prayed each day make up a mystery. There are four sets
of mysteries on the rosary
• On Monday and Saturday, meditate on the “Joyful Mysteries”
• On Thursday, meditate on the “Luminous Mysteries”
• On Tuesday and Friday, meditate on the “Sorrowful Mysteries”
• On Wednesday and Sunday, meditate on the “Glorious
Mysteries”

60. THE APOSTLE’S
AND NICENE
CREED

61. WHAT IS THE APOSTLE’S
CREED?
The Apostle’s Creed dates back to about 400 AD. It was
traditionally ascribed to Jesus Christ’s apostles even
though there exists no truth that it was written by them.
A deeper history of the Creed’s coming into being might
shed more light on this.
The Apostle’s Creed has widespread acceptance in the
Christian church. Also called the Apostolicum, it is a
statement of faith that is nowadays used by the Anglican,
Roman Catholic, and many Protestant churches.

62. HISTORY OF THE APOSTLE’S
CREED?
The present text and context of the creed have similarities to the
baptismal creed that was used in the church around the 3rd and
4th centuries in Rome. In the late 6th and 7th centuries, it reached its
final form in the Southwest region of France.
The creed gradually replaced the existing baptismal creeds and got an
acknowledgment as an official statement of faith by the entire Catholic
church in the West. As of today, many Protestant churches widely
accept the creed. The churches use it in worship although some, for
example, the United Methodist Church deletes the line indicating that
Jesus Christ, upon His death, descended to the dead.

63. WHAT IS THE NICENE
CREED?
The Nicene Creed is a widely used statement of
belief, commonly associated with Christian liturgy.
The term ‘Nicene’ was adopted as the creed was
originally adopted in the city called Nicaea in
Turkey. It is the present day Iznik.

64. HISTORY OF THE NICENE
CREED?
The creed was adopted mainly to resolve what is known as the Arian
controversy. The controversy, led by one clergyman of Alexandria, Arius,
objected Alexander’s, the bishop of the time, apparent carelessness to blur
the distinction existing between the nature of God the Father and the Son.
When the controversy arose, Alexander accused Arius of openly denying the
divinity of God the Son. He also accused him of being too “Greek” and
“Jewish” in his thoughts. It was after this that Alexander and his supporters
went ahead to craft the Nicene Creed to bring out clarity in the key tenets of
the Christian faith. This was in response to the widespread adoption of
Arian’s doctrines. The doctrines were henceforth marked as heresy.

65. SIMILARITIES OF APOSTLE’S
AND NICENE CREED
The two creeds have some similarities:
• They are both statements of a belief.
• Both are crafted with the Latin word “creed”
which means “I Believe”.
• Both creeds are used to pray as well as connect
with God.

66. DIFFERENCES OF
APOSTLE’S AND NICENE
CREED

67. LUKE 2:13-19
EXODUS 6:11-17
ISAIAH 5:9-13
2 TIMOTHY 1:11-17
THESSALONIANS 1:11-
17