第二章

天主來與人相遇

50. 人藉著自然的理智，能從天主的工程確實地認識天主。然而有另一種知識領域，人只憑己力是絕不能達到的，那就是天主的啟示。天主藉著完全自由的決定，把自己啟示並賞賜給人，透露祂的奧秘和祂自太初就在基督內預定的造福人類的慈愛計劃。祂派遣了祂的愛子、我們的主耶穌基督和聖神，把祂的計劃完全啟示出來。

CHAPTER TWO

GOD COMES TO MEET MAN

50 By natural reason man can know God with certainty, on the basis of his works. But there is another order of knowledge, which man cannot possibly arrive at by his own powers: the order of divine Revelation.¹ Through an utterly free decision, God has revealed himself and given himself to man. This he does by revealing the mystery, his plan of loving goodness, formed from all eternity in Christ, for the benefit of all men. God has fully revealed this plan by sending us his beloved Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit.

第一條 天主的啟示

一、天主啟示祂「慈愛的計劃」

51. 「天主因著祂的仁愛和智慧，將自己啟示給人，為使人認識祂旨意的奧秘。 於是，人類藉著降生成人的聖言基督，在聖神內達到天父，分享天主的本性」 。

52. 「住在不可接近的光中」的天主(弟前 6:16)，願意通傳祂的神性生命給祂自由創造的人，使他們在祂唯一的聖子內，成為義子 。天主把自己啟示出來，是為使人有能力去回應、認識、和愛慕祂，遠勝過他們本身所能做到的。

53. 天主的啟示計劃，是透過「彼此密切聯繫」和互相彰顯的「行動和言語 」來實現的。此啟示含有一個特殊的「神性教育法」：天主逐步地與人溝通，分段地準備人接受有關祂自己的超性啟示，這啟示在降生成人的聖言、耶穌基督身上和其使命上達到高峰。

聖依勒內‧里昂多次以天主與人彼此相互適應的圖象，來談論這神性教育法 ：「天主聖言在人間定居並成了人子，為使人習慣了解天主，並使天主依照父的旨意習慣在人間設置寓所」 。

Article 1

THE REVELATION OF GOD

I. God Reveals His "Plan of Loving Goodness"

51 "It pleased God, in his goodness and wisdom, to reveal himself and to make known the mystery of his will. His will was that men should have access to the Father, through Christ, the Word made flesh, in the Holy Spirit, and thus become sharers in the divine nature."

52 God, who "dwells in unapproachable light", wants to communicate his own divine life to the men he freely created, in order to adopt them as his sons in his only-begotten Son. By revealing himself God wishes to make them capable of responding to him, and of knowing him and of loving him far beyond their own natural capacity.

53 The divine plan of Revelation is realized simultaneously "by deeds and words which are intrinsically bound up with each other" and shed light on each another. It involves a specific divine pedagogy: God communicates himself to man gradually. He prepares him to welcome by stages the supernatural Revelation that is to culminate in the person and mission of the incarnate Word, Jesus Christ.

St. Irenaeus of Lyons repeatedly speaks of this divine pedagogy using the image of God and man becoming accustomed to one another: the Word of God dwelt in man and became the Son of man in order to accustom man to perceive God and to accustom God to dwell in man, according to the Father's pleasure.

二、啟示的步驟

天主從太初使人認識祂

54. 「藉著聖言創造並保存萬物的天主，透過受造物，給人提供有關自己的恆久見証。此外，為了打開一條天主的救恩之路，天主從太初就把自己顯示給原祖父母」。祂邀請他們與祂親密交往，並給他們披上恩寵與義德的光輝。

55. 這種啟示並沒有因我們原祖的罪而中斷。事實上，天主「自他們墮落之後， 給他們許下救贖，重振他們對於得救的希望。同時，祂不斷地照顧人類，賜永生給所有恆心向善、尋求救恩的人」。

《羅馬彌撒經書》，「感恩經第四式」118：當人類因抗命而失去祢的友誼時，祢並沒有把他們棄置於死亡的權下…… 卻多次與他們訂立盟約。

與諾厄的盟約

56. 當人類的一體性因罪惡而破碎後，天主首先設法逐一拯救分散的人類。洪水後與諾厄所訂的盟約，表現出天主開始向各「民族」，即是向那些「按語言、宗族和國籍」(創 10:5)而群居的人展開救恩計劃。

57. 由多元民族所組成的宇宙、社會及宗教秩序，目的是在抑制墮落的人類的驕傲，他們同謀作惡，一如在巴貝爾塔那樣，想由自己建立其一體性。但由於罪惡，無論是多神論或是民族及其元首的偶像崇拜，都對這臨時的救恩計劃，不斷構成無法無天、為所欲為的威脅。

58. 與諾厄所訂的盟約為地上各民族都有效，直到福音在普世獲得宣揚為止。聖經尊崇「各民族」中若干偉大人物，如：「義人亞伯爾」、預象基督君王兼司祭的默基瑟德、以及義人「諾厄、達尼爾、和約伯」(則 14:14)。聖經藉此顯示，那些按諾厄盟約生活，期待基督「把四散的兒女都聚集歸一的人」(若 11:52)，能達到多麼高超的聖德。

天主簡選亞巴郎

59. 為聚集四散的人類，天主揀選了亞巴郎 (Abram)，召叫他離開自己的故鄉、自己的家族和自己的父家，為使他成為亞巴辣罕(Abraham)，即是「萬民之父」(創 17:5)：「地上萬民都要因他獲得祝福」(創 12:3 LXX)。

60. 由亞巴郎所生的民族，將是一特選民族，是天主對聖祖許諾的受託者，這民族蒙召準備把所有的天主兒女，有朝一日都聚集在一個教會內；這個民族將是那樹根，一旦外教人成為信友，都被接枝上去

61. 舊約的聖祖、先知及其他人物，無論過去或將來，在教會的所有禮儀傳統中，常被尊奉為聖人。

天主立以色列為其子民

62. 在古聖祖後，天主立以色列為自己的子民，把他們從埃及的奴役中拯救出來。祂與他們訂立西乃山盟約，並透過梅瑟給他們頒布自己的法律，好使他們明認及事奉祂為唯一真實及生活的天主、眷顧一切的父親和正義的判官，並叫他們期待預許的救主

63. 以色列是「屬於上主名下」(申 28:10)的司祭民族。他們是「天主首先向他們說話的民族」，也是在亞巴郎信德內的「長兄」民族。

64. 天主透過先知們培養自己的子民去渴望救恩，期待那賦予眾人及刻在人內心的新而永久的盟約。先知們宣布天主子民的徹底救贖，宣布它的一切不忠行為將被洗淨，並宣布一個將包括所有國家的救恩。上主的窮人和卑微者尤其懷有此種希望。聖賢的婦女們如撒辣、黎貝加、辣黑耳、米黎盎、德波辣、亞納、友弟德和艾斯德，都對以色列的得救保持了熱切的希望。在這方面最輝煌的肖象是瑪利亞。

II. The Stages of Revelation

In the beginning God makes himself known

54 "God, who creates and conserves all things by his Word, provides men with constant evidence of himself in created realities. and furthermore, wishing to open up the way to heavenly salvation - he manifested himself to our first parents from the very beginning." He invited them to intimate communion with himself and clothed them with resplendent grace and justice.

55 This revelation was not broken off by our first parents' sin. "After the fall, (God) buoyed them up with the hope of salvation, by promising redemption; and he has never ceased to show his solicitude for the human race. For he wishes to give eternal life to all those who seek salvation by patience in well-doing."

Even when he disobeyed you and lost your friendship you did not abandon him to the power of death. . . Again and again you offered a covenant to man^.

The covenant with Noah

56 After the unity of the human race was shattered by sin God at once sought to save humanity part by part. the covenant with Noah after the flood gives expression to the principle of the divine economy toward the "nations", in other words, towards men grouped "in their lands, each with (its) own language, by their families, in their nations".

57 This state of division into many nations, each entrusted by divine providence to the guardianship of angels, is at once cosmic, social and religious. It is intended to limit the pride of fallen humanity united only in its perverse ambition to forge its own unity as at Babel. But, because of sin, both polytheism and the idolatry of the nation and of its rulers constantly threaten this provisional economy with the perversion of paganism.

58 The covenant with Noah remains in force during the times of the Gentiles, until the universal proclamation of the Gospel.¹³ The Bible venerates several great figures among the Gentiles: Abel the just, the king-priest Melchisedek - a figure of Christ - and the upright "Noah, Daniel, and Job".¹⁴ Scripture thus expresses the heights of sanctity that can be reached by those who live according to the covenant of Noah, waiting for Christ to "gather into one the children of God who are scattered abroad".

God chooses Abraham

59 In order to gather together scattered humanity God calls Abram from his country, his kindred and his father's house,¹⁶ and makes him Abraham, that is, "the father of a multitude of nations". "In you all the nations of the earth shall be blessed."

60 The people descended from Abraham would be the trustee of the promise made to the patriarchs, the chosen people, called to prepare for that day when God would gather all his children into the unity of the Church. They would be the root on to which the Gentiles would be grafted, once they came to believe.

61 The patriarchs, prophets and certain other Old Testament figures have been and always will be honoured as saints in all the Church's liturgical traditions.

God forms his people Israel

62 After the patriarchs, God formed Israel as his people by freeing them from slavery in Egypt. He established with them the covenant of Mount Sinai and, through Moses, gave them his law so that they would recognize him and serve him as the one living and true God, the provident Father and just judge, and so that they would look for the promised Saviour.²⁰

63 Israel is the priestly people of God, "called by the name of the LORD", and "the first to hear the word of God", The people of "elder brethren" in the faith of Abraham.

64 Through the prophets, God forms his people in the hope of salvation, in the expectation of a new and everlasting Covenant intended for all, to be written on their hearts. The prophets proclaim a radical redemption of the People of God, purification from all their infidelities, a salvation which will include all the nations. Above all, the poor and humble of the Lord will bear this hope. Such holy women as Sarah, Rebecca, Rachel, Miriam, Deborah, Hannah, Judith and Esther kept alive the hope of Israel's salvation. the purest figure among them is Mary.

三、 耶穌基督 ──「整個啟示的中保和圓滿」

天主藉祂的聖言說了一切

65. 「天主在古時，曾多次並以多種方式，藉著先知對我們的祖先說過話；但在這末期內，祂藉著自己的兒子對我們說了話」 (希 1:1-2)。降生成人的天主子基督，是聖父的唯一、完美及決定性的聖言，天父藉祂說了一切，除祂以外將不再有其他的話。十字聖若望，步武許多人的後塵，以卓越的方式解釋希伯來書第一章一至二節：

不再有其他啟示

66. 「基督的救贖工程，由於是新而永久的盟約，將永不會消逝；而且在我們的主耶穌基督光榮的顯現之前，也沒有甚麼新的公開啟示可期待了」。不過，即使啟示已告完成，卻並未完全闡明；這就有待基督徒的信仰，隨著年代逐步去吸取它整個的內涵了。

67. 在過去的世代中，曾有一些所謂「私下」的啟示，其中有些曾被教會當局所承認。然而它們並不屬於信仰的寶庫。它們的任務並非「改善」或「補充」基督決定性的啟示，而是在某個特定的歷史時代中，協助人們更圓滿地去履行基督的啟示。在教會訓導當局的指引下，信友們的意識應能辨認及接納，在這些私下的啟示中，那些是基督或聖人們向教會所作的真正呼籲。

基督徒信仰不能接納那些企圖超越或修正基督所完成的啟示的所謂「啟示」，例如：某些非基督宗教和若干近代教派即奠基於此類「啟示」。

III. Christ Jesus -- "Mediator and Fullness of All Revelation"

God has said everything in his Word

65 "In many and various ways God spoke of old to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by a Son." Christ, the Son of God made man, is the Father's one, perfect and unsurpassable Word. In him he has said everything; there will be no other word than this one. St. John of the Cross, among others, commented strikingly on Hebrews 1:1-2:

In giving us his Son, his only Word (for he possesses no other), he spoke everything to us at once in this sole Word - and he has no more to say. . . because what he spoke before to the prophets in parts, he has now spoken all at once by giving us the All Who is His Son. Any person questioning God or desiring some vision or revelation would be guilty not only of foolish behaviour but also of offending him, by not fixing his eyes entirely upon Christ and by living with the desire for some other novelty.

There will be no further Revelation

66 "The Christian economy, therefore, since it is the new and definitive Covenant, will never pass away; and no new public revelation is to be expected before the glorious manifestation of our Lord Jesus Christ."²⁸ Yet even if Revelation is already complete, it has not been made completely explicit; it remains for Christian faith gradually to grasp its full significance over the course of the centuries.

67 Throughout the ages, there have been so-called "private" revelations, some of which have been recognized by the authority of the Church. They do not belong, however, to the deposit of faith. It is not their role to improve or complete Christ's definitive Revelation, but to help live more fully by it in a certain period of history. Guided by the Magisterium of the Church, the sensus fidelium knows how to discern and welcome in these revelations whatever constitutes an authentic call of Christ or his saints to the Church.

Christian faith cannot accept "revelations" that claim to surpass or correct the Revelation of which Christ is the fulfilment, as is the case in certain nonChristian religions and also in certain recent sects which base themselves on such "revelations".

撮要

68. 天主由於愛，將自己啟示並賞賜給人。這樣，祂對人類有關人生意義和終向的問題，提供了決定性和極其豐富的答案。

69. 天主藉著行動和言語，把自己的奧跡逐步通傳給人而啟示了自己。

70. 天主在受造物中賦予有關自己的的見証，此外，還親自顯現給我們的原祖。祂與他們談話，並在他們犯罪墮落以後，給他們許下救恩並賜予祂的盟約。

71. 天主跟諾厄訂立了一個在祂與一切生靈之間的永久盟約，直到世界的終結。

72. 天主簡選了亞巴郎，並同他和他的後裔訂立了盟約。祂把他們作為自己的人民，並透過梅瑟把自己的誡命啟示給他們。祂又藉著先知們準備這人民領受那為整個人類預定的救恩。

73. 天主派遣了自己的聖子把自己圓滿地啟示出來，並在祂身上建立了永久的盟約。祂是天父決定性的聖言，以致在祂以後，再沒有其他的啟示了

IN BRIEF

68 By love, God has revealed himself and given himself to man. He has thus provided the definitive, superabundant answer to the questions that man asks himself about the meaning and purpose of his life.

69 God has revealed himself to man by gradually communicating his own mystery in deeds and in words.

70 Beyond the witness to himself that God gives in created things, he manifested himself to our first parents, spoke to them and, after the fall, promised them salvation (cf ⇒ Gen 3:15) and offered them his covenant.

71 God made an everlasting covenant with Noah and with all living beings (cf ⇒ Gen 9:16). It will remain in force as long as the world lasts.

72 God chose Abraham and made a covenant with him and his descendants. By the covenant God formed his people and revealed his law to them through Moses. Through the prophets, he prepared them to accept the salvation destined for all humanity.

73 God has revealed himself fully by sending his own Son, in whom he has established his covenant for ever. the Son is his Father's definitive Word; so there will be no further Revelation after him.

第二條 天主啟示的傳遞

74. 天主「願意所有的人都得救，並得以認識真理」(弟前 2:4)、即耶穌基督。 因此，必須向所有的民族和所有的人宣講基督，從而使啟示達於地極：

因著祂仁慈的安排，天主使祂為萬民的得救所啟示的一切，能時常保持完整 ，並傳授給世世代代的人。

Article 2

THE TRANSMISSION OF DIVINE REVELATION

74 God "desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth": that is, of Christ Jesus. Christ must be proclaimed to all nations and individuals, so that this revelation may reach to the ends of the earth:

God graciously arranged that the things he had once revealed for the salvation of all peoples should remain in their entirety, throughout the ages, and be transmitted to all generations.

一、宗徒聖傳

75. 「主基督、至高天主的全部啟示之完成者，命宗徒們把那曾藉先知們預許、由祂本人實現及親口宣布的福音，向一切人宣講，藉此，而把天主的恩惠，通傳給他們，並以福音作為一切得救的真理和道德規範的根源」。

宗徒的宣講

76. 福音的傳遞，依照上主的命令，是以兩種方式進行：

口傳：「宗徒們以口頭的宣講、以榜樣和制度，將他們從基督的口授、生活和行事上所承受的，或他們從聖神的提示所學來的傳授給人」；

筆錄：「宗徒及他們的弟子們，在聖神的默感下，把救恩的喜訊輯錄成書」。

藉宗徒繼承 (apostolic succession)而延續

77. 「為使福音在教會內時常保持完整與生生不息，宗徒們立了主教們作為繼承者，並把自己的訓導職務交給他們」。因為，「以特殊方式寫在默感書上的宗徒們的宣講，必須以不間斷的繼承予以保存，直到時期的圓滿」 。

78. 這種在聖神內完成的活生生的傳遞，稱為聖傳，因為它有別於聖經，縱使跟聖經有密切的關連。透過聖傳，「教會在它的教義、生活和敬禮中，把本身所是以及所信的一切，都傳諸萬世，永垂不朽」。「教父們的言論証明了聖傳確實活生生地存在著，聖傳的豐富內涵滲透在教會實際生活的信仰和祈禱中」。

79. 就這樣，聖父透過聖子，在聖神內所作的自我通傳，不斷在教會內臨現和進行：「過去曾說過話的天主，仍不斷地與祂愛子的淨配交談；而福音的充滿生命的聲音，藉聖神而響遍教會，藉教會而響遍全世界。聖神引領信友走向一切真理， 並使基督的話洋溢於他們心中」。

I. The Apostolic Tradition

75 "Christ the Lord, in whom the entire Revelation of the most high God is summed up, commanded the apostles to preach the Gospel, which had been promised beforehand by the prophets, and which he fulfilled in his own person and promulgated with his own lips. In preaching the Gospel, they were to communicate the gifts of God to all men. This Gospel was to be the source of all saving truth and moral discipline."

In the apostolic preaching. . .

76 In keeping with the Lord's command, the Gospel was handed on in two ways:
- orally "by the apostles who handed on, by the spoken word of their preaching, by the example they gave, by the institutions they established, what they themselves had received - whether from the lips of Christ, from his way of life and his works, or whether they had learned it at the prompting of the Holy Spirit";
- in writing "by those apostles and other men associated with the apostles who, under the inspiration of the same Holy Spirit, committed the message of salvation to writing".³⁴

. . . continued in apostolic succession

77 "In order that the full and living Gospel might always be preserved in the Church the apostles left bishops as their successors. They gave them their own position of teaching authority." Indeed, "the apostolic preaching, which is expressed in a special way in the inspired books, was to be preserved in a continuous line of succession until the end of time."

78 This living transmission, accomplished in the Holy Spirit, is called Tradition, since it is distinct from Sacred Scripture, though closely connected to it. Through Tradition, "the Church, in her doctrine, life and worship, perpetuates and transmits to every generation all that she herself is, all that she believes." "The sayings of the holy Fathers are a witness to the life-giving presence of this Tradition, showing how its riches are poured out in the practice and life of the Church, in her belief and her prayer."

79 The Father's self-communication made through his Word in the Holy Spirit, remains present and active in the Church: "God, who spoke in the past, continues to converse with the Spouse of his beloved Son. and the Holy Spirit, through whom the living voice of the Gospel rings out in the Church - and through her in the world - leads believers to the full truth, and makes the Word of Christ dwell in them in all its richness."

二、聖傳與聖經的關係

一個共同的泉源

80. 「聖傳與聖經彼此緊緊相連並相通，因為兩者都發自同一的神聖泉源，在某種情況下形成了同一事物，趨向同一目標」。兩者都使基督的奧跡在教會內臨在並使人受益，基督曾許下要與自己的門徒們「天天在一起，直到今世的終結」 (瑪 28:20)。

兩種不同的傳遞方式

81.「聖經是天主的話，因為是在聖神的默感下寫成的 」。

「至於聖傳，則保存了主基督及聖神託付給宗徒們的天主聖言」，並把它「完整地傳授給他們的繼承者，俾在真理之神的光照下，他們能以自己的宣講，把天主的話忠實地保存、陳述及傳揚」。

82. 於是，教會受託傳遞及解釋啟示，「並不單從聖經取得一切有關啟示之事的確實性。因此，兩者都該以同等的熱忱和敬意去接受和尊重」。

宗徒聖傳與教會傳統

83. 我們所說的聖傳是來自宗徒，是他們從耶穌的言行舉止所接受、及從聖神那裡所學到而傳授的事。事實上，第一代的基督徒還沒有寫下新約，而新約本身也証實了聖傳是一個活生生的傳授過程。

與此不同的，是地方教會歷來所產生的神學、紀律、禮儀或敬禮方面的「傳統」。它們構成了具體的模式，透過這些模式，偉大的聖傳就能以適當的方式在不同的地區和不同的時代表達。在宗徒聖傳的光照下，這些傳統可被保存、修改，甚或依照教會訓導的指示予以放棄。

II. The Relationship Between Tradition and Sacred Scripture

One common source. . .

80 "Sacred Tradition and Sacred Scripture, then, are bound closely together, and communicate one with the other. For both of them, flowing out from the same divine well-spring, come together in some fashion to form one thing, and move towards the same goal."⁴⁰ Each of them makes present and fruitful in the Church the mystery of Christ, who promised to remain with his own "always, to the close of the age".

. . . two distinct modes of transmission

81 "Sacred Scripture is the speech of God as it is put down in writing under the breath of the Holy Spirit."

"and [Holy] Tradition transmits in its entirety the Word of God which has been entrusted to the apostles by Christ the Lord and the Holy Spirit. It transmits it to the successors of the apostles so that, enlightened by the Spirit of truth, they may faithfully preserve, expound and spread it abroad by their preaching."

82 As a result the Church, to whom the transmission and interpretation of Revelation is entrusted, "does not derive her certainty about all revealed truths from the holy Scriptures alone. Both Scripture and Tradition must be accepted and honoured with equal sentiments of devotion and reverence."

Apostolic Tradition and ecclesial traditions

83 The Tradition here in question comes from the apostles and hands on what they received from Jesus' teaching and example and what they learned from the Holy Spirit. the first generation of Christians did not yet have a written New Testament, and the New Testament itself demonstrates the process of living Tradition.

Tradition is to be distinguished from the various theological, disciplinary, liturgical or devotional traditions, born in the local churches over time. These are the particular forms, adapted to different places and times, in which the great Tradition is expressed. In the light of Tradition, these traditions can be retained, modified or even abandoned under the guidance of the Church's Magisterium.

三、信仰寶庫的詮釋

信仰寶庫交託給整體的教會

84. 蘊藏在聖傳和聖經裡的「信仰寶庫」 (弟前 6:20)，是宗徒們委託給整個教會的。「當全體子民依恃著它，並與自己的司牧團結一致，在宗徒的訓誨、共融、擘餅及祈禱上持之以恆，即堅守、實踐及宣認所傳授的信仰時，主教與信徒間建立一種特殊的精神團結」。

教會的訓導當局

85. 「正確地解釋書寫的或傳授的天主聖言的職務，只委託給教會內活生生的訓導當局，」即是與伯多祿的繼承者——羅馬教宗共融的主教們，「他們以耶穌基督的名義行使這權力」。

86.「但教會的訓導職務並非在天主的言語之上，而是為它服務，這職務只教導所傳授下來的真理。因為，訓導當局因天主的命令和聖神的助佑，虔敬地聆聽天主聖言，聖善地予以保管並忠信地加以陳述。訓導當局提出為天主啟示的一切當信之道，乃取自唯一的信仰寶庫」。

87. 信友們由於追憶基督向宗徒們所說：「聽從你們的，就是聽從我」(路 10:16)這句話，應順服地接納牧者們以各種方式所給予他們的訓誨和指示。

信條

88. 當教會訓導當局欽定信條時，亦即當它提出蘊藏在天主啟示內的真理，或以確定方式提出的其他與這些真理有必然關連的真理，而要求基督子民以堅定不移的信德同意予以接納時，都是完全憑靠受自基督的權力。

89. 在信條與我們的靈修生活之間有一種極密切的關連。信條是我們信仰道路上的明燈，它們照耀這道路，使之安全。反過來說，如果我們的生活是正直的，我們的理智和心靈將會敞開去接納信條的光照 。

90. 信條間彼此的關係與協和，可從基督奧跡的整體啟示內浮現出來 。應記得「由於天主教教義中的諸真理與基督信仰基礎的關係有差別，所以它們之間有一個秩序或『等級』」。

信仰的超性意識

91. 所有信徒都須了解和傳遞啟示的真理。他們接受了聖神的傅油，而聖神教導他們一切並把他們「引入一切真理 」(若 16:13)。

93. 「事實上，天主的子民，藉著這種由真理之神所激發和支持的信仰意識，在神聖訓導當局的領導下……完整地持守那一次而永遠地傳給聖徒的信仰，以正確的判斷力更深入地加以體會，並在生活上更完美地付諸實行」。

在信仰的理解中成長

94. 賴聖神的助佑，對信仰遺傳下來的事跡和言語的領悟，能在教會的生活中增進：

——「藉著信徒們的反省和研究，他們把這些事放在心中默想」；尤其是「神學的探討……不斷地對啟示的真理作深入的認識」。

——「藉著信徒們對精神事物所體驗到的深切領悟」；「天主聖言跟閱讀它的人一起成長」。

——「藉著主教們的宣講，他們因所繼承的主教職位，接受正確闡釋真理的神恩」。

95. 「因此，很明顯地，由於天主極明智的安排，聖傳、聖經及教會的訓導當局，彼此相輔相成，缺一不可，且各按自己的方式，在唯一聖神的推動下，共同有效地促進人靈的得救」。

III. The Interpretation of the Heritage of Faith

The heritage of faith entrusted to the whole of the Church

84 The apostles entrusted the "Sacred deposit" of the faith (the depositum fidei), contained in Sacred Scripture and Tradition, to the whole of the Church. "By adhering to [this heritage] the entire holy people, united to its pastors, remains always faithful to the teaching of the apostles, to the brotherhood, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. So, in maintaining, practising and professing the faith that has been handed on, there should be a remarkable harmony between the bishops and the faithful."

The Magisterium of the Church

85 "The task of giving an authentic interpretation of the Word of God, whether in its written form or in the form of Tradition, has been entrusted to the living teaching office of the Church alone. Its authority in this matter is exercised in the name of Jesus Christ." This means that the task of interpretation has been entrusted to the bishops in communion with the successor of Peter, the Bishop of Rome.

86 "Yet this Magisterium is not superior to the Word of God, but is its servant. It teaches only what has been handed on to it. At the divine command and with the help of the Holy Spirit, it listens to this devotedly, guards it with dedication and expounds it faithfully. All that it proposes for belief as being divinely revealed is drawn from this single deposit of faith."

87 Mindful of Christ's words to his apostles: "He who hears you, hears me", The faithful receive with docility the teachings and directives that their pastors give them in different forms.

The dogmas of the faith

88 The Church's Magisterium exercises the authority it holds from Christ to the fullest extent when it defines dogmas, that is, when it proposes truths contained in divine Revelation or also when it proposes in a definitive way truths having a necessary connection with them.

89 There is an organic connection between our spiritual life and the dogmas. Dogmas are lights along the path of faith; they illuminate it and make it secure. Conversely, if our life is upright, our intellect and heart will be open to welcome the light shed by the dogmas of faith.

90 The mutual connections between dogmas, and their coherence, can be found in the whole of the Revelation of the mystery of Christ. "In Catholic doctrine there exists an order or hierarchy 234 of truths, since they vary in their relation to the foundation of the Christian faith."

The supernatural sense of faith

91 All the faithful share in understanding and handing on revealed truth. They have received the anointing of the Holy Spirit, who instructs them and guides them into all truth.

92 "The whole body of the faithful. . . cannot err in matters of belief. This characteristic is shown in the supernatural appreciation of faith (sensus fidei) on the part of the whole people, when, from the bishops to the last of the faithful, they manifest a universal consent in matters of faith and morals."

93 "By this appreciation of the faith, aroused and sustained by the Spirit of truth, the People of God, guided by the sacred teaching authority (Magisterium),. . . receives. . . the faith, once for all delivered to the saints. . . the People unfailingly adheres to this faith, penetrates it more deeply with right judgment, and applies it more fully in daily life."

Growth in understanding the faith

94 Thanks to the assistance of the Holy Spirit, the understanding of both the realities and the words of the heritage of faith is able to grow in the life of the Church:
- "through the contemplation and study of believers who ponder these things in their hearts"; it is in particular "theological research [which] deepens knowledge of revealed truth".
- "from the intimate sense of spiritual realities which [believers] experience", The sacred Scriptures "grow with the one who reads them."
- "from the preaching of those who have received, along with their right of succession in the episcopate, the sure charism of truth".

95 "It is clear therefore that, in the supremely wise arrangement of God, sacred Tradition, Sacred Scripture and the Magisterium of the Church are so connected and associated that one of them cannot stand without the others. Working together, each in its own way, under the action of the one Holy Spirit, they all contribute effectively to the salvation of souls."

撮要

96. 宗徒們把基督委託給他們的一切，在聖神的默感下，用宣講，也用著作，傳授給世世代代的人，直到基督光榮地再來。

97. 「聖傳及聖經組成一個天主聖言的神聖寶庫」，旅途教會在這寶庫前，像對著一面鏡子，默觀萬有真源的天主。

98. 「教會在它的教義、生活和敬禮中，把本身所是以及所信的一切，都傳諸萬世，永垂不朽」。

99. 整個天主子民，藉著信仰的超性意識，不斷地領受天主啟示的恩賜，日益深入地加以研究和更圓滿地去生活。

100. 正確地解釋天主聖言的責任，只委託給教會的訓導職務，就是教宗以及與教宗共融的主教們。

IN BRIEF

96 What Christ entrusted to the apostles, they in turn handed on by their preaching and writing, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, to all generations, until Christ returns in glory.

97 "Sacred Tradition and Sacred Scripture make up a single sacred deposit of the Word of God" (DV 10) in which, as in a mirror, the pilgrim Church contemplates God, the source of all her riches.

98 "The Church, in her doctrine, life and worship, perpetuates and transmits to every generation all that she herself is, all that she believes" (DV 8 # 1).

99 Thanks to its supernatural sense of faith, the People of God as a whole never ceases to welcome, to penetrate more deeply and to live more fully from the gift of divine Revelation.

100 The task of interpreting the Word of God authentically has been entrusted solely to the Magisterium of the Church, that is, to the Pope and to the bishops in communion with him.

第三條 聖經

一、基督──聖經的獨一無二的聖言

101. 天主為把自己啟示給人，慈愛地俯就人，用人類的言語向他們說話：「因為天主的話，用人的語言表達後，就相似人類的語言；有如永生之父的聖言，取了軟弱的人性後，與人相似一般」。

102. 天主透過聖經的所有言語，只說一句話，就是祂的唯一聖言，在這聖言內天主把自己完全說了出來。

聖奧思定，《聖詠漫談》：要記得在整部聖經內是同一個天主聖言，在所有聖經作者口中迴響的，也是同一個聖言。這聖言從起初就與天主同在，故不需要發音，因為祂是在時間之外。

103. 為此，教會時常尊重聖經，如同尊重主的聖體一樣。她不停地從天主聖言及基督聖體的筵席中，給信友們提供生命之糧。

104. 教會從聖經中，不斷地取得她的滋養與活力；因為透過聖經，她不只接受人的言語，實在而論，接受的是天主的言語。「因為在聖經裡，天父慈祥地來與祂的子女相會，並同他們談話」。

Article 3

SACRED SCRIPTURE

I. Christ - The Unique Word of Sacred Scripture

101 In order to reveal himself to men, in the condescension of his goodness God speaks to them in human words: "Indeed the words of God, expressed in the words of men, are in every way like human language, just as the Word of the eternal Father, when he took on himself the flesh of human weakness, became like men."⁶³

102 Through all the words of Sacred Scripture, God speaks only one single Word, his one Utterance in whom he expresses himself completely:⁶⁴

You recall that one and the same Word of God extends throughout Scripture, that it is one and the same Utterance that resounds in the mouths of all the sacred writers, since he who was in the beginning God with God has no need of separate syllables; for he is not subject to time.⁶⁵

103 For this reason, the Church has always venerated the Scriptures as she venerates the Lord's Body. She never ceases to present to the faithful the bread of life, taken from the one table of God's Word and Christ's Body.⁶⁶

104 In Sacred Scripture, the Church constantly finds her nourishment and her strength, for she welcomes it not as a human word, "but as what it really is, the word of God".⁶⁷ "In the sacred books, the Father who is in heaven comes lovingly to meet his children, and talks with them."⁶⁸

二、聖經的默感和真理

105.天主是聖經的作者。「在聖經各書卷中所包含和陳述的天主啟示的真理，是在聖神的默感下而寫在其中的。

慈母教會基於宗徒的信仰，把舊約與新約的全部書卷，及其所有部份，都奉為聖經和正典，因為是在聖神的默感下寫成的，有天主為其作者，並這樣地交給了教會」。

106. 天主默感了聖經的人間作者。「在撰寫聖經時，天主簡選了人，利用他們的才幹和能力來替祂服務，為能藉著他們並在他們內工作；他們是真正的作者，只寫下天主要他們寫下的一切」。

107. 受默感的書教導真理。「由於受默感的聖經作者所宣稱的一切，應被視為聖神所宣稱的，故此應該聲明聖經各書，堅定地、忠實地、無錯誤地教導真理，這真理是天主為我們的得救，而願意寫在聖經裡的」。

108. 可是，基督徒的信仰並不是一個「書卷的宗教」。基督教會是一個天主「聖言」的宗教，這聖言「不是一個筆錄下來沉默的文字，而是降生成人的生活聖言」。 為使聖經上的話不要變成死板的文字，生活的天主的永遠聖言——基督，必須透過聖神，「開啟我們的理智，使我們理解聖經」(路 24:45)。

II. Inspiration and Truth of Sacred Scripture

105 God is the author of Sacred Scripture. "The divinely revealed realities, which are contained and presented in the text of Sacred Scripture, have been written down under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit."⁶⁹

"For Holy Mother Church, relying on the faith of the apostolic age, accepts as sacred and canonical the books of the Old and the New Testaments, whole and entire, with all their parts, on the grounds that, written under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, they have God as their author, and have been handed on as such to the Church herself."⁷⁰

106 God inspired the human authors of the sacred books. "To compose the sacred books, God chose certain men who, all the while he employed them in this task, made full use of their own faculties and powers so that, though he acted in them and by them, it was as true authors that they consigned to writing whatever he wanted written, and no more."⁷¹

107 The inspired books teach the truth. "Since therefore all that the inspired authors or sacred writers affirm should be regarded as affirmed by the Holy Spirit, we must acknowledge that the books of Scripture firmly, faithfully, and without error teach that truth which God, for the sake of our salvation, wished to see confided to the Sacred Scriptures."⁷²

108 Still, the Christian faith is not a "religion of the book". Christianity is the religion of the "Word" of God, "not a written and mute word, but incarnate and living".⁷³ If the Scriptures are not to remain a dead letter, Christ, the eternal Word of the living God, must, through the Holy Spirit, "open (our) minds to understand the Scriptures."⁷⁴

三、聖神聖神──聖經的解釋者

109. 在聖經裡，天主是以人的方式向人說話。因此為正確地解釋聖經，必須留心探討甚麼是聖經作者真正要肯定的，以及甚麼是天主藉他們的話要表達的。

110. 為明白聖經作者的用意，應留意當時的環境和文化，留意當時所用的「文學類型」，留意當時所慣用的感受、表達和敘述的方式。「因為在聖經中，真理是以各種不同形式，即以歷史、先知、詩歌或其他文學類型來陳述和表達的」。

111. 不過，由於聖經是受默感的，有另一個同樣重要的正確解釋原則，沒有這個原則，聖經將變成死的文字：「聖經既由聖神寫成，就該藉同一聖神的助佑去閱讀和解釋」。

為隨從默感聖經的聖神去解釋聖經，梵二大公會議給我們指出了三項標準：

112. 一、小心留意「整部聖經的內容和統一性」。因為 ，儘管組成聖經的各書互不相同，但由於天主計劃的一致，聖經是一個整體，而耶穌基督就是它的樞紐和心臟，這心是在祂的逾越節後敞開的。

聖多瑪斯，《聖詠闡釋》：基督的心是指聖經，正因聖經顯露了基督的心。這心在受難前是關閉著的，因為那時聖經是隱晦的。但在受難後聖經變得明朗，為使那些從中獲得領悟的人，懂得詳查和辨別如何去解釋先知的話。

113. 二、在「整個教會的生活聖傳」中閱讀聖經。根據教父們的格言：「與其說聖經寫在書卷上，毋寧說首先寫在教會的心頭上 (Sacra Scriptura principalius est in corde Ecclesiae quam in materialibus instrumentis scripta)」。因為教會在她的聖傳中，將天主的聖言存留在她活生生的紀念中，而聖神則按照屬神的意義將聖言的解釋賜給她。

114. 三、留意「信德的相符」。所謂「信德的相符」，是指信仰中的真理彼此相符，以及與啟示的整體計劃相符。

聖經中不同層次的意義

115. 依照古老的傳統，聖經的意義可分為兩種 ：即字面的意義和屬靈的意義 ，後者又分為寓意、倫理及末世的意義。四種意義彼此深深地相協調，可確保教會活生生的讀經，產生豐富的內涵。

116. 字面的意義。就是那來自聖經言詞所表達、透過釋經學的正確解釋規則所發掘的意義。「聖經的所有意義都以字面的意義為基礎」 。

117. 屬靈的意義。基於天主計劃的一致性，不但聖經的文字，連它所敘述的事實和事件也可成為標記。

一、寓意。如果我們在基督身上認出事件的意義，就能對事件有更深入的了解；例如經過紅海是基督勝利的象徵，因此也是洗禮的寓意 。

二、倫理。聖經所記載的事跡能引導我們正直地行事。它們是為「勸戒我們而記載下來的」(格前 10:11)。

三、末世。同樣，我們可看到事實和事件的永恆意義，讓它們引領 (希臘語 anagoge) 我們邁向天鄉。這樣，塵世的教會是天上耶路撒冷的標記。

118. 中古時代的一首短詩巧妙地總結了上述四種義意：

文字，事之所載；寓義，信之所賴；

倫理，行之所依；末世，心之所望。

(Littera gesta docet, quid credas allegoria,

Moralis quid agas, quo tendas anagogia)

119. 「釋經者的任務是依照這些規則，助人更深入了解和闡明聖經的意義，俾能透過一些預先準備性的研究，使教會的審斷得以成熟。因為，有關如何解釋聖經的一切，最後都應聽取教會的裁決，她負有保管和解釋天主聖言的神聖使命和職務」。

聖奧思定，《駁斥摩尼派人的所謂基本書信》：如果大公教會的權威不推動我，我就連福音也不會信。

III. The Holy Spirit, Interpreter of Scripture

109 In Sacred Scripture, God speaks to man in a human way. To interpret Scripture correctly, the reader must be attentive to what the human authors truly wanted to affirm, and to what God wanted to reveal to us by their words.⁷⁵

110 In order to discover the sacred authors' intention, the reader must take into account the conditions of their time and culture, the literary genres in use at that time, and the modes of feeling, speaking and narrating then current. "For the fact is that truth is differently presented and expressed in the various types of historical writing, in prophetical and poetical texts, and in other forms of literary expression."⁷⁶

111 But since Sacred Scripture is inspired, there is another and no less important principle of correct interpretation, without which Scripture would remain a dead letter. "Sacred Scripture must be read and interpreted in the light of the same Spirit by whom it was written."⁷⁷

The Second Vatican Council indicates three criteria for interpreting Scripture in accordance with the Spirit who inspired it.⁷⁸

112 Be especially attentive "to the content and unity of the whole Scripture". Different as the books which compose it may be, Scripture is a unity by reason of the unity of God's plan, of which Christ Jesus is the center and heart, open since his Passover.⁷⁹

The phrase "heart of Christ" can refer to Sacred Scripture, which makes known his heart, closed before the Passion, as the Scripture was obscure. But the Scripture has been opened since the Passion; since those who from then on have understood it, consider and discern in what way the prophecies must be interpreted.⁸⁰

113 2. Read the Scripture within "the living Tradition of the whole Church". According to a saying of the Fathers, Sacred Scripture is written principally in the Church's heart rather than in documents and records, for the Church carries in her Tradition the living memorial of God's Word, and it is the Holy Spirit who gives her the spiritual interpretation of the Scripture (". . . according to the spiritual meaning which the Spirit grants to the Church"⁸¹).

114 3. Be attentive to the analogy of faith.⁸² By "analogy of faith" we mean the coherence of the truths of faith among themselves and within the whole plan of Revelation.

The senses of Scripture

115 According to an ancient tradition, one can distinguish between two senses of Scripture: the literal and the spiritual, the latter being subdivided into the allegorical, moral and anagogical senses. the profound concordance of the four senses guarantees all its richness to the living reading of Scripture in the Church.

116 The literal sense is the meaning conveyed by the words of Scripture and discovered by exegesis, following the rules of sound interpretation: "All other senses of Sacred Scripture are based on the literal."⁸³

117 The spiritual sense. Thanks to the unity of God's plan, not only the text of Scripture but also the realities and events about which it speaks can be signs.
1. the allegorical sense. We can acquire a more profound understanding of events by recognizing their significance in Christ; thus the crossing of the Red Sea is a sign or type of Christ's victory and also of Christian Baptism.⁸⁴
2. the moral sense. the events reported in Scripture ought to lead us to act justly. As St. Paul says, they were written "for our instruction".⁸⁵
3. the anagogical sense (Greek: anagoge, "leading"). We can view realities and events in terms of their eternal significance, leading us toward our true homeland: thus the Church on earth is a sign of the heavenly Jerusalem.⁸⁶

118 A medieval couplet summarizes the significance of the four senses:

The Letter speaks of deeds; Allegory to faith;
The Moral how to act; Anagogy our destiny.⁸⁷

119 "It is the task of exegetes to work, according to these rules, towards a better understanding and explanation of the meaning of Sacred Scripture in order that their research may help the Church to form a firmer judgement. For, of course, all that has been said about the manner of interpreting Scripture is ultimately subject to the judgement of the Church which exercises the divinely conferred commission and ministry of watching over and interpreting the Word of God."⁸⁸

But I would not believe in the Gospel, had not the authority of the Catholic Church already moved me.⁸⁹

四、聖經正典

120. 宗徒的聖傳使教會辨認出，哪些著作應該包括在聖經的綱目裡。這完整的綱目稱為聖經「正典」，包括舊約四十六卷 (若把耶肋米亞及哀歌視作一書 則為四十五卷)和新約二十七卷：

舊約四十六卷為：創世紀、出谷紀、肋未紀、戶籍紀、申命紀、若蘇厄書 、民長紀、盧德傳、撒慕爾紀上、撒慕爾紀下、列王紀上、列王紀下、編年紀上、編年紀下、厄斯德拉上、厄斯德拉下、多俾亞傳、友弟德傳、艾斯德爾傳、瑪加伯上、瑪加伯下、約伯傳、聖詠集、箴言、訓道篇、雅歌、智慧篇、德訓篇、依撒意亞、耶肋米亞、哀歌、巴路克、厄則克耳、達尼爾、歐瑟亞、岳厄爾、亞毛斯、亞北底亞、約納、米該亞、納鴻、哈巴谷、索福尼亞、哈蓋、匝加利亞、瑪拉基亞。

新約二十七卷為：瑪竇福音、馬爾谷福音、路加福音、若望福音、宗徒大事錄、 羅馬書、格林多前書、格林多後書、迦拉達書、厄弗所書、斐理伯書、哥羅森書、得撒洛尼前書、得撒洛尼後書、弟茂德前書、弟茂德後書、弟鐸書、費肋孟書、希伯來書、雅各伯書、伯多祿前書、伯多祿後書、若望一書、若望二書、若望三書、猶達書、默示錄。

舊約

121. 舊約是聖經不可或缺的一部分，它的經書是天主所默感的，具有永久的價值，因為舊的盟約從未被廢除過。

122. 原來，「舊約的救世工程主要是為準備……普世救主基督的來臨」。舊約諸書「雖然含有一些短暫和不完美的事」，卻也顯示出天主救恩之愛的整個神性教育法。它們「表現了生活的天主意識、對人生有益的智慧以及祈禱的奇妙寶庫」；最後，在這些書中「蘊藏著我們得救的奧跡」 。

123. 基督徒尊崇舊約為真正的天主聖言。對那些拒絕舊約、藉口說它已被新約所取代的思想 (馬西翁主義 Marcionism)，教會常堅決地否定。

新約

124. 「天主聖言乃天主的德能，為使一切信奉的人獲得救恩，在新約的經書中，它以卓越的姿態出現，並顯示它的能力」。這些經書傳給我們天主啟示 的明確真理，它們的主要對象是耶穌基督、降生成人的天主子、祂的事業、祂的教訓、祂的苦難和光榮以及祂的教會如何在聖神的推動下開展。

125. 福音是整部聖經的中心，「因為它是有關降生成人的聖言、我們救主的生活和道理的主要見証」。

126. 福音書的形成可分為三個階段：

127. 四部福音在教會內佔有獨一無二的地位；禮儀對它的尊崇，它對世世代代聖賢們所發出的無可比擬的吸引力，足可証明此點。

聖女凱撒里 ，《致聖女里克爾德和聖女拉德貢德書》：沒有甚麼道理比福音的文字更為美好、寶貴和燦爛的了。你們要思量我們的主和導師、基督以自己的言行所教導和實踐的一切，並把它默存在心中 。

聖女小德蘭 ，《自傳手稿》：當我祈禱時，我特別在福音上稍作停留：我可找到為我可憐的靈魂所需要的一切。我時常能從福音中發現新的神光、發現隱密和奧妙的意義。

新舊約的一體性

128. 教會遠自宗徒時代及其後在聖傳中，就不斷地透過預象法，強調新、舊兩約在上主計劃中的一體性。在舊約的天主工程中，這預象法使人認出時期圓滿時，天主在其降生成人的聖子身上所完成的一切。

129. 因此，基督徒要在死而復活的基督光照下去閱讀舊約。預象法的閱讀披露了舊約的無窮內涵。然而不應忘記，它保持著吾主親自重新肯定的啟示的固有價值。因此，也要在舊約的光照下去閱讀新約。初期的基督徒教理講授經常都是這樣作的 。根據一個古老的說法：「新約隱藏在舊約中，而舊約則顯露在新約中」。

130. 預象法指出邁向天主之計劃完成時的那種動力，那時「天主將成為萬物之中的萬有」(格前 15:28)，例如聖祖們的蒙召及出離埃及，並不失落他們在天主計劃中的本身價值，因為他們同時是該計劃的中途站。

IV. The Canon of Scripture

120 It was by the apostolic Tradition that the Church discerned which writings are to be included in the list of the sacred books.⁹⁰

This complete list is called the canon of Scripture. It includes 46 books for the Old Testament (45 if we count Jeremiah and Lamentations as one) and 27 for the New.⁹¹

The Old Testament: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy, Joshua, Judges, Ruth, 1 and 2 Samuel, 1 and 2 Kings, 1 and 2 Chronicles, Ezra and Nehemiah, Tobit, Judith, Esther, 1 and 2 Maccabees, Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, the Song of Songs, the Wisdom of Solomon, Sirach (Ecclesiasticus), Isaiah, Jeremiah, Lamentations, Baruch, Ezekiel, Daniel, Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zachariah and Malachi.

The New Testament: the Gospels according to Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, the Acts of the Apostles, the Letters of St. Paul to the Romans, 1 and 2 Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, 1 and 2 Thessalonians, 1 and 2 Timothy, Titus, Philemon, the Letter to the Hebrews, the Letters of James, 1 and 2 Peter, 1, 2 and 3 John, and Jude, and Revelation (the Apocalypse).

The Old Testament

121 The Old Testament is an indispensable part of Sacred Scripture. Its books are divinely inspired and retain a permanent value,⁹² for the Old Covenant has never been revoked.

122 Indeed, "the economy of the Old Testament was deliberately SO oriented that it should prepare for and declare in prophecy the coming of Christ, redeemer of all men."⁹³ "Even though they contain matters imperfect and provisional,⁹⁴ The books of the OldTestament bear witness to the whole divine pedagogy of God's saving love: these writings "are a storehouse of sublime teaching on God and of sound wisdom on human life, as well as a wonderful treasury of prayers; in them, too, the mystery of our salvation is present in a hidden way."⁹⁵

123 Christians venerate the Old Testament as true Word of God. the Church has always vigorously opposed the idea of rejecting the Old Testament under the pretext that the New has rendered it void (Marcionism).

The New Testament

124 "The Word of God, which is the power of God for salvation to everyone who has faith, is set forth and displays its power in a most wonderful way in the writings of the New Testament"⁹⁶ which hand on the ultimate truth of God's Revelation. Their central object is Jesus Christ, God's incarnate Son: his acts, teachings, Passion and glorification, and his Church's beginnings under the Spirit's guidance.⁹⁷

125 The Gospels are the heart of all the Scriptures "because they are our principal source for the life and teaching of the Incarnate Word, our Saviour".⁹⁸

126 We can distinguish three stages in the formation of the Gospels:
1. the life and teaching of Jesus. the Church holds firmly that the four Gospels, "whose historicity she unhesitatingly affirms, faithfully hand on what Jesus, the Son of God, while he lived among men, really did and taught for their eternal salvation, until the day when he was taken up."⁹⁹
2. the oral tradition. "For, after the ascension of the Lord, the apostles handed on to their hearers what he had said and done, but with that fuller understanding which they, instructed by the glorious events of Christ and enlightened by the Spirit of truth, now enjoyed."¹⁰⁰
3. the written Gospels. "The sacred authors, in writing the four Gospels, selected certain of the many elements which had been handed on, either orally or already in written form; others they synthesized or explained with an eye to the situation of the churches, the while sustaining the form of preaching, but always in such a fashion that they have told us the honest truth about Jesus."¹⁰¹

127 The fourfold Gospel holds a unique place in the Church, as is evident both in the veneration which the liturgy accords it and in the surpassing attraction it has exercised on the saints at all times:

There is no doctrine which could be better, more precious and more splendid than the text of the Gospel. Behold and retain what our Lord and Master, Christ, has taught by his words and accomplished by his deeds.¹⁰²

But above all it's the gospels that occupy my mind when I'm at prayer; my poor soul has so many needs, and yet this is the one thing needful. I'm always finding fresh lights there; hidden meanings which had meant nothing to me hitherto.¹⁰³

The unity of the Old and New Testaments

128 The Church, as early as apostolic times,¹⁰⁴ and then constantly in her Tradition, has illuminated the unity of the divine plan in the two Testaments through typology, which discerns in God's works of the Old Covenant prefigurations of what he accomplished in the fullness of time in the person of his incarnate Son.

129 Christians therefore read the Old Testament in the light of Christ crucified and risen. Such typological reading discloses the inexhaustible content of the Old Testament; but it must not make us forget that the Old Testament retains its own intrinsic value as Revelation reaffirmed by our Lord himself.¹⁰⁵ Besides, the New Testament has to be read in the light of the Old. Early Christian catechesis made constant use of the Old Testament.¹⁰⁶ As an old saying put it, the New Testament lies hidden in the Old and the Old Testament is unveiled in the New.¹⁰⁷

130 Typology indicates the dynamic movement toward the fulfilment of the divine plan when "God [will] be everything to everyone."¹⁰⁸ Nor do the calling of the patriarchs and the exodus from Egypt, for example, lose their own value in God's plan, from the mere fact that they were intermediate stages.

五、聖經在教會的生活中

131. 「天主的話具有這麼大的效力和德能，以致成了教會的支柱和力量，鞏固教會子女們的信仰，成為他們靈魂的食糧及靈修生活永久和清澈的泉源」。必須「讓信友們廣泛地接觸聖經」。

132. 「所以聖經的研究應視作神學的靈魂。同樣，宣道的職務，即牧民的宣講、教理講授、及一切基督化的訓誨，其中禮儀的講道，應佔有特殊的地位，這些都該從聖經的話語取得滋養和活力」。

133. 教會「堅決而懇切地勸告所有信友……要藉著多閱讀聖經，去學習『耶穌基督的卓越知識』(斐 3:8)，『因為不認識聖經，即不認識基督』」 (聖熱羅尼莫)。

V. Sacred Scripture in the Life of the Church

131 "and such is the force and power of the Word of God that it can serve the Church as her support and vigour, and the children of the Church as strength for their faith, food for the soul, and a pure and lasting fount of spiritual life."¹⁰⁹ Hence "access to Sacred Scripture ought to be open wide to the Christian faithful."¹¹⁰

132 "Therefore, the study of the sacred page should be the very soul of sacred theology. the ministry of the Word, too - pastoral preaching, catechetics and all forms of Christian instruction, among which the liturgical homily should hold pride of place - is healthily nourished and thrives in holiness through the Word of Scripture."¹¹¹

133 The Church "forcefully and specifically exhorts all the Christian faithful... to learn the surpassing knowledge of Jesus Christ, by frequent reading of the divine Scriptures. Ignorance of the Scriptures is ignorance of Christ.¹¹²

撮要

134. 整個聖經是一本獨一無二的書，而這本書就是基督；「事實上整個聖經都在談論基督並在祂身上完成」。

135. 「聖經蘊藏天主的聖言，因為它是受默感的，故確實是天主的聖言」。

136. 天主是聖經的作者，因為是祂默感了一些人間作者。祂在他們內、並藉他們而工作。這樣就使我們確實肯定，他們所寫的絕無錯誤地教導得救的真理 。

137. 解釋受默感的聖經，首先必須留意，天主透過神聖的作者，有意啟示我們有關救恩的事。「凡由聖神所作的事，除非在聖神的推動下，將不能完全明瞭」。

138. 教會接受舊約四十六卷書及新約二十七卷書，並尊之為受默感的書。

139. 由於四部福音以基督為核心，故佔聖經的中心地位。

140. 新約和舊約的一體性源於天主計劃及其啟示的一體性：舊約準備新約，新約則完成舊約；兩者相得益彰，兩者都是真正的天主聖言。

141. 「教會一直尊重聖經，如同尊重主的身體一樣」；整個基督徒生活在這兩件事上找到了滋養和規則。「祢的語言是我步履前的明燈，是我路途上的光明」(詠 119:105)。

IN BRIEF

134 "All Sacred Scripture is but one book, and that one book is Christ, because all divine Scripture speaks of Christ, and all divine Scripture is fulfilled in Christ" (Hugh of St. Victor, De arca Noe 2, 8: PL 176, 642).

135 "The Sacred Scriptures contain the Word of God and, because they are inspired, they are truly the Word of God" (DV 24).

136 God is the author of Sacred Scripture because he inspired its human authors; he acts in them and by means of them. He thus gives assurance that their writings teach without error his saving truth (cf DV 11).

137 Interpretation of the inspired Scripture must be attentive above all to what God wants to reveal through the sacred authors for our salvation. What comes from the Spirit is not fully "understood except by the Spirit's action' (cf. Origen, Hom. in Ex. 4, 5: PG 12, 320).

138 The Church accepts and venerates as inspired the 46 books of the Old Testament and the 27 books of the New.

139 The four Gospels occupy a central place because Christ Jesus is their centre.

140 The unity of the two Testaments proceeds from the unity of God's plan and his Revelation. the Old Testament prepares for the New and the New Testament fulfils the Old; the two shed light on each other; both are true Word of God.

141 "The Church has always venerated the divine Scriptures as she venerated the Body of the Lord" (DV 21): both nourish and govern the whole Christian life. "Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path" (⇒ Ps 119:105; cf. ⇒ Is 50:4).