INTRODUCTION

HOLY SCRIPTURE

BY THE AUTHOR

FERDINAND KOPF

PART ONE

COMPRISING

GENERAL PRELIMINARY MATTERS.

FIRST LECTURE

REGARDING HOLY SCRIPTURE ITSELF.

If it were enough to explain what Holy Scripture is through a metaphor, I would say it is a well of living waters, the depth of which is inexhaustible. From this well all have drawn—as many as have until now spoken appropriately from the sacred pulpits—and yet they have not exhausted it. Indeed, among other properties that Holy Scripture is known to possess, this is one of the most prominent: that it is rich in meaning, and in a few words encompasses so much that one must cry out with the Apostle: O the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! original: "O altitudo divitiarum sapientiæ & scientiæ Dei!" But because it is necessary to provide a formal definition, I say: Holy Scripture is the Word of God, written by men through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, proposed by the certain judgment of the Church, containing the primary rule of things to be believed and things to be done. We recognize and venerate this written Word of God in those Books which, for this reason, are called "Scripture," or "Bible" by antonomasia Antonomasia is a rhetorical term for substituting a title or epithet for a proper name—in this case, calling it "The Book" because it is the most excellent of all books., but most often "Sacred Letters," because they are like so many Epistles which our most loving and provident Creator has sent to us through men inspired by the Holy Spirit for our instruction and salvation.

Augustine, Commentary 2 on Psalm 90.

"From that city from which we are pilgrims," says Saint Augustine, "these letters have come to us: these are the scriptures themselves, which exhort us to live well." And Saint Gregory the Great urged his friend Theodore the physician to the

reading of the divine Volume with these words:

Book IV, Epistle 84.

The Emperor of heaven, the Lord of men and
angels, has sent his letters to you for the
sake of your life, and yet you neglect to
read them with ardor. For what is Holy
Scripture but a certain letter of Almighty
God to his creature? Therefore, I pray,
study and meditate daily upon the words
of your Creator.

The names Law and Testament, which are also frequently attributed to the Sacred Books, have an equally clear reasoning; for God, in establishing his law, wished to enter into a certain testamentary pact with us, by virtue of which we were adopted as children of God and instituted as heirs of eternal life. This was done, however, under this condition: that, complying with the Divine law, we most humbly submit and devote our intellect and will regarding supernatural things—which surpass all the capacity of our minds—and that we prefer nothing to the happiness of divine friendship in any turn of human events. This can only be achieved by a "living faith" which works through love, and which, according to the witness of the Apostle,

Hebrews 11:1.

is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. original: "sperandarum substantia rerum, argumentum non apparentium" All of Holy Scripture tends toward this; this is the sum of the whole Testament.

The Canonical Books are seventy-two in total: 45 of the Old Testament, and 27 of the New Testament—that is, written after the Son of the eternal Father was seen on earth and lived among men. Anyone wishing to commit these to memory in the order they occur in the Bible may do so easily by learning them through verses (though they are hardly strictly governed by the rules of meter) in this or a similar manner.