((c)2013) The Subcommittee on the Catechism, United States Catholic Bishops, has found that this catechetical high school text is in conformity with the Catechism of the Catholic Church and fulfills the requirements of Elective Course A of the Doctrinal Elements of a Curriculum Framework for the Development of the Catechetical Materials for Young People of High School Age.

Sacred Scripture: A Catholic Study of God's Word presents the Bible to students as a living source of God's Revelation to us. It gathers the two covenants of Scripture and the seventy-two books of the Bible under the umbrella of Church teaching, which holds that in Sacred Scripture, "God speaks only one single Word, his one Utterance in whom he expresses himself completely" (CCC, 102).

This introduction to the biblical texts is both a companion for prayerful study and a survey of the context, message, and authorship of each book. It also provides students with a plan for reading and studying the Bible in concert with the Holy Spirit and Church teaching.

The text provides historical context for biblical literature and its analysis is mindful that Scripture must be read within the living Tradition of the Church; in so doing, the text examines the relationship between Scripture and the doctrines of the Catholic faith. While modern historical-critical scholarship is not ignored, the text is balanced by emphasis on the multiple senses of Scripture: literal, spiritual, allegorical, moral, and anagogical.

Daniel Smith-Christopher is professor of theological studies and director of peace studies at Loyola Marymont University. He received his master of divinity degree from Associated Mennonite Seminary and his doctorate of philosophy from Oxford University, England. He is the author of several books and is the editor of and a contributor to Subverting Hatred: The Challenge of Religious Nonviolence. An active member of the Society of Friends (Quakers), he served for two years in volunteer peace research in Israel/Palestine from 1986 to 1988, and maintains an active interest in peace issues, particularly the Middle East. He has also consulted on many television and multi-media projects.

Rev. J. Patrick Mullen, a priest of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, received his doctorate in biblical studies (New Testament) from the Graduate Theological Union in 1999. He has served since then as professor of Scripture at St. John's Seminary in Camarillo, CA. Mullen is the author of Dining with Pharisees, a regular contributor to "Weekday Homily Helps," and a speaker for Now You Know Media. A yearly presenter at the Los Angeles Religious Education Congress--the nation's largest yearly catechetical gathering--Mullen has also lectured for the Little Rock Bible Study Summer Workshop, the Bible Institute for Everyday Living in Brisbane Australia, the Texas Catholic Conference, regional conferences in San Diego, Las Vegas, Reno, Boise, and Fresno, and to the priests of the dioceses of Phoenix, Utah, San Diego, Oakland, San Francisco, Santa Rosa, Sacramento, San Bernardino, and his own archdiocese. His great joy, which informs his teaching, speaking, and writing, is serving as pastor of Padre Junipero Serra Parish, also in Camarillo.