Here is a brief refresher on basic Christian doctrine that will benefit every Christian.

Christians believe that the Bible is the divinely inspired Word of God. They believe that though the Bible was written by men, that they were guided by the Holy Spirit, and that the resulting document is a revelation of divine thoughts and plans; not the opinions of the author.

We learn this from Scripture itself where St. Peter writes, "For no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit." (2 Peter 1:21)

And St. Paul writes this to the Christians in Thessalonica, "And we also thank God constantly for this, that when you received the word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men but as what it really is, the word of God, which is at work in you believers." (1 Thess. 2:13)

This puts Scripture is a class all its own.

Many Bible scholars like to say that "Scripture is literature," and as such it is subject to the same analysis as might be applied to any literature be it Homer, Shakespeare or Steven King.

But we must object on these grounds: Literature finds it source in the mind of man, Scripture in the mind of God. While we might legitimately analyze, test, challenge, manipulate, doubt, question and judge literature, Scripture is judged by no one, but judges all things.

To assert that Scripture is literature is not only a theological fallacy, but a logical fallacy as well. It is the "fallacy of composition" which ascribes a quality of the parts to the whole. For example if a tractor is made of lightweight parts, then the tractor must be light. Or if hydrogen is dry, and oxygen is dry, then water must be dry.

What does this mean?

It means that when we hear Scripture we should bow down in deepest reverence, and count ourselves exceedingly blessed, for we are hearing the very voice of God! That is how we should receive Sacred Scripture, the Bible.

God grant it. Amen.