The Biblical doctrine is systematic, consistently stated teaching about the fundamental truths of the Christian faith and the Holy Scriptures, which are necessary for fulfillment in life. One of the Christian truths is thoroughly and systematically stated in the doctrine. For example, there is the doctrine of the Bible, the doctrine of God, the principle of man, the doctrine of salvation, the doctrine of the Church, etc. The biblical doctrine comes from the Holy Scriptures, so no book in the Bible fully reflects the entire doctrine. For this, it is required to use all the books of the Bible. The fullness of a particular truth can be learned from the Word of God, in which different sides of the truth are set out in other places as if scattered with grains of gold, from which it is necessary to put one whole ingot.
The main formulas of the doctrine, the truth of which is considered indisputable, constitute Catholic dogmatic. According to Catholic doctrine, the truths of faith are established by God and recorded in the Holy Scriptures (Farkasfalvy, 2015). Divine Revelation is transmitted to subsequent generations of believers through Tradition, through Sacred Tradition, under the guidance of the Church’s teaching (White, 2017). Like its head, the Pope, the Church has the gift of infallibility in matters of faith and morality. The Holy Scripture in both confessions is considered inspired by God. However, in Catholicism, unlike Orthodoxy, the Holy Scripture is recognized only in the form of a legalized Latin translation of the Bible, the so-called Vulgate. The Catholic Church now recognizes the entire text of the Vulgate, including 72 books, as inspired by God.
The peculiarity of the Catholic doctrine of Holy Scripture is that it considers the Bible to be inspired by God but does not consider God to be the direct author of the Bible. The Catholic doctrine believes that God does not put a ready-made holy book into the consciousness of an inspired person. The Catholic Church’s view of biblical inspiration comes from a belief in the historical authenticity of the foundation of the inviolable Catholic Church (Farkasfalvy, 2015). Another critical component of this point of view is the authority granted by Jesus to the teaching of this Church through his apostles. Since the Church has defined the canon through its Tradition, its right to determine inspired books is considered inviolable and just.
It should be noted that in Islam, there is a concept of Ilham, which is an analog of inspiration. There is a widespread opinion that Ilham is a different type of revelation, an order of magnitude lower than prophetic revelation. The main difference between the two types of revelation, which are types of divine communication, is that in Ilham, God addresses only one person. In Revelation, God communicates with several or all people. The process of Ilham can be compared to a letter that, being covered with dust, becomes visible again after cleaning.
Catholics recognize the Holy Scriptures and the Holy Tradition as the source of the creed. Catholic Sacred Tradition includes the decisions of the Catholic Church’s ecumenical councils and the popes’ judgments (Farkasfalvy, 2015). A unique feature of Catholicism is the veneration of the Mother of God, the recognition of the dogmas about her immaculate conception and bodily ascension, and the addition of the philosophy about purgatory. Moreover, the Holy Tradition of Catholics includes decisions taken after the seven Ecumenical Councils and Papal epistles (Levering, 2014). Thus, the Catholic doctrine of the Holy Scriptures has characteristic features unique to this particular religious direction.
Reference
Farkasfalvy, D. (2015). Inspiration and incarnation in Verbum Domini and the complementarity of exegesis and theology. (C. Scott, Ed.). Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans.
Levering, M. (2014). Engaging the doctrine of a revelation: The mediation of the Gospel through church and Scripture. Baker Academic.
White, T. J. (2017). The light of Christ: An introduction to Catholicism. The Catholic University of America Press.