(ii) Explain, from either Catholic Christianity and Judaism or two Christian traditions, how the Bible is interpreted.

Question 1

 Catholics read the Bible as an inspired text which means that God
worked through human authors to be revealed to human beings.
 They also believe that these authors were of course fully human
and therefore limited in their understanding and living in a
particular time and place.
 For Catholics, the truth revealed in the Bible needs to be carefully
and authoritatively interpreted by the Church/Magisterium
For other Christian approaches, candidates could include some or all
of the following, but other relevant points should be credited:
 Some Christians read the Bible as an inspired text which means
that God gave some human beings the special gift of being able to
write down exactly what God intended.
 Therefore, they might believe that every word of the Bible is
literally true.
 They might reject any scientific or historical claims that seem to be
in disagreement with the plain meaning of scripture.
For Jewish teachings, candidates could include some or all of the
following, but other relevant points should be credited:
 The Torah is the first five books of the Tenakh and is believed to
be the holiest and most authoritative scripture for Jews.
 Some Jews believe the Torah was given by God to Moses and as
such must be taken literally and not changed.
 For Reform and Liberal Jews many believe it is not necessary to
take the scriptures literally and that sometimes they have to be
adapted for modern day life.
Relevant reference to sources mentioned in the spec could include:  Augustine’s Confessions, Pope John Paul II’s Message To The
Pontifical Academy Of Sciences, Genesis 1&2.