Salvation of souls

CCC 101–108

101 — God speaks in human words
God reveals himself by speaking to human beings using human language; the divine Word condescends to our limited, historical modes of expression so that we can hear and understand revelation. This affirms that Scripture is genuinely human language while at the same time carrying God’s communication to us.

102 — Scripture expresses one single Word
All the diverse books and authors of Sacred Scripture transmit one single divine Word: the one Utterance of God that finds its fullness in Christ. Although Scripture was written by many human authors in different times and styles, its ultimate unity comes from the one Logos who is the source and content of revelation.

103 — Veneration of Scripture in the Church
The Church honors the Scriptures as she honors the Body of the Lord. Sacred Scripture is not treated as a mere human product but as the privileged place where Christ himself continues to speak to his Bride, the Church; it is central to the Church’s worship, teaching, and life.

104 — Scripture as nourishment for the Church
The faithful receive from Scripture spiritual food and strength. The Church continually draws her teaching, formation, and liturgical life from the “one table” of God’s Word and Christ’s Body, because Scripture is the living encounter between the heavenly Father and his children.

105 — God is the author of Sacred Scripture
The books of the Old and New Testaments are “inspired”: they contain divine revelation because God, by the Holy Spirit, is their ultimate author. The Church therefore recognizes the canonical books as those written under divine inspiration and entrusted to the Church.

106 — The role of human authors
God chose and used real human authors, with their own styles, vocabularies, historical settings, and literary forms, to compose Scripture. The divine action does not abolish human freedom or authorship; rather, God worked through those human capacities so that what they wrote is truly the word God intended to be recorded.

107 — The inspired books teach truth
Because they are inspired by God, the sacred books teach the truth. Their message is reliable and trustworthy for communicating God’s revelation; they convey truth about God, humanity, and the way of salvation.

108 — The truth taught is the truth necessary for salvation
The truth of Scripture is taught “firmly, faithfully, and without error” in what God intended to reveal for the sake of our salvation. The proper object of Biblical inerrancy is the saving truth God wished to communicate, rather than every incidental scientific or historical detail expressed in the human authors’ cultural perspective.

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