“Since therefore all that the inspired authors or sacred writers affirm should be regarded as affirmed by the Holy Spirit, we must acknowledge that the books of Scripture firmly, faithfully, and without error teach that truth which God, for the sake of our salvation, wished to see confided to the Sacred Scriptures.”

Catechism of the Catholic Church no. 107, which quotes Dei Verbum 11

Human authors of Scripture wrote using different writing styles and tried to communicate different ideas with their writing. Sometimes they wrote intending for every last detail to be as accurate as possible. Other times, they did not, intending to use poetic language. Also, they wrote using their own powers and abilities, which means that they did not have perfect knowledge about everything. This is especially important to remember because sometimes, when we read Scripture, especially today with our modern sensibilities and knowledge, we notice small details in Scripture that may not seem accurate. For example, the book of Genesis tells us that the universe was created in six days and God rested on the seventh. Modern science has revealed to us that the universe is actually billions of years old and took much longer to be made. Some people consider this “proof” that the Bible is wrong or untrue. But, in reality, when we encounter a situation like this in the Bible, our first instinct should not be to question the accuracy of the Bible. Instead, we should pause and ask a basic question: “What is the truth the God wanted to communicate to us?”, or, put another way, “What do we need to know from this story for the sake of our salvation?” In the story of creation from Genesis, we can be certain that the human author was not trying to write a scientific account of how the universe came to be. Rather, he was writing, in a style common in his time, about certain fundamental truths about God, human beings, and our relationship with God. This does not mean that the story is untrue. In fact, it means that it tells us different kinds of truths than we were initially looking for, deeper, more important truths! Further, we have to remember that the Bible is not our only source of truth. We must always consider what the Bible has to tell us within the context of Sacred Tradition, which may clarify some misunderstandings we may have.

In fact truth refers to something that exists regardless of whether a person knows it, believes it, has an opinion about it, or even fully understands it. A truth is something that we can come to know with certainty through the use of human reason, through observation of nature, or through divine revelation. There are many sources of truth, but if something is true, it is always and absolutely true. Something that is true is true in all situations and circumstances; something cannot be both true and untrue at the same time. And therefore, two truths cannot contradict each other. Regarding the truth of salvation, God has revealed to us what we need to know for the sake of salvation. We know this to be absolutely true and can be confident in our knowledge of it. Our very salvation depends upon it and our loving God has given all that we need in order to be saved from our sins and attain eternal life.