HANDOUT#1
GOD'S REVELATION
In Creation
¨The
first way God reveals Himself to us is through creation. “The heavens declare
the glory of God, and the firmament proclaims His handiwork” (Ps 19:1). In
creation, man holds a special place. God said: “Let us make man in our image,
after our likeness” (Gn 1:26).
¨In
Scripture, through Salvation History
¨The
Bible records God’s entering into a special covenant relationship with His
chosen people, the race of Abraham, the people of Israel. “I will dwell in the
midst of the Israelites and will be their God” (Ex 29:45).
¨In
the Church
¨But
God’s definitive revelation in Jesus Christ did not stop with Christ’s
ascension to his Father. Jesus himself had gathered around him a group of
disciples who would form the nucleus of his Church. In this Church, the “Good
News” of Jesus Christ would be proclaimed and spread to the ends of the earth
by the power of the Holy Spirit, sent down upon the apostles at Pentecost
(cf. Acts 1:8).
HANDOUT#2
¨•Introduction
to the Holy Bible
•Theology
•Number of books
•The Holy Bible contains 1189 chapters
(929 OT and 260 NT)
•Psalms is the OT longest book
•Obadiah is the OT shortest book (21
verse)
•Acts is the NT longest book
•The
Bible
•The Bible contains a variety of writings,
stories, tales, biographies, poems and proverbs, but as a whole it concentrates
on one message from the beginning till the end and it is:
the
message of salvation,
carried
out by our Lord Jesus Christ.
•We find the crimson line clear in all its
books and we notice clearly how the wonderful Divine plan in the
Old Testament prepared humanity for salvation and how the events and topics
were symbols of the Lord and His work of expiation.
•
•The
Bible is a collection of sacred books, which where composed under the positive
influence of the Holy Spirit by men chosen by God, and which have been accepted
by the Church.
•The
Bible is composed of many books, (it is really a “library" of books), some
by unknown authors, written over the course more than a thousand years – from
about 950 B.C. to 100 A.D.
•
•The
principal author of the Bible is God. God revealed himself in time and
intervened in history and communicated to humans. The Bible is the record of
self-revelation of God. He spoke and acted – word and event went together.
•
•
•Other
names of the Bible: Holy Scripture, Sacred Scripture, Holy Writ, Sacred
Writings, the Good Book and Word of God.
•The
word Bible comes from the Greek term “Biblia”
means books
•There
are Seventy-three books in the Bible: Forty-six in the Old Testament and
Twenty-seven in the New Testament.
(Catholic)
•What
are the Two Main Parts of the Bible?
•Old
Testament
•New
Testament
•The
word “testament” means covenant or agreement.
•
•The
Old Testament
•The Old Testament is a record of the old
agreement between God (Yahweh) and his chosen people, the Hebrews. It describes
the remote preparation for the coming of the Messiah.
•The Old Testament is divided into 3.
–The
Historical Books
–The
Didactic (Wisdom or Sapiential)
Books
–The
Prophetic Books
•The
Old Testament
†The Old Testament was originally written
in Hebrew. It was commonly used in the scriptures.
•
•The
Old Testament
•The
Pentateuch is the name given to the first five books of the Bible.
–Genesis
–Exodus
–Leviticus
–Numbers
–Deuteronomy
•The
Old Testament
•Historical
Books
–Joshua
–Judges
–Ruth
–1 and 2 Samuel
–1 and 2 Kings
–1 and 2 Chronicles
•The
Old Testament
•The
Seven Wisdom Books
–Job
–Psalms
–Proverbs
–Ecclesiastes
–Song of Songs
–Wisdom
–Sirach
•The
Old Testament
•The
Prophetic Books (Major)
–Isaiah
–Jeremiah
–Lamentations
–Baruch
–Ezekiel
–Daniel
•The
Old Testament
•The
Prophetic Books (Minor)
–Hosea
–Joel
–Amos
–Obadiah
–Jonah
–Micah
•Historical
books
•21
books
–Pentateuch
–Pre-exile (before Babylonian conquest)
–Post-exile (after return from Babylon)
HANDOUT#3
The Development of the Bible
BIBLE- a collection of sacred books which have
been accepted by the Church as inspired. It is the only “divine book” the word
of God in the language of man.
Sacred Scriptures- are
the inspired record of how God dealt with His people, and how they responded
to, remembered, an interpreted that experience.
By virtue of divine
condescension,
things are presented to us in the Bible in a manner that is in common use among
human beings.
Early Translations of the Bible
•Targums- These were translations made in the
synagogue services from Hebrew into Aramaic so that the people could understand
what had just been read. In this way, the entire Old testament was translated
into Aramaic.
•The Septuagint- A
translation into Greek of the Hebrew and Aramaic Old Testament (including the Deuterocanonical
books) made in Egypt by various authors during the period between 250 B.C. and
100 B.C. This was the version used by the Hebrews in Christ’s time, by the
Apostles and New Testament writers, and by the Greek Fathers of the Church; and
is still the official text of the Greek Church.
•The Vulgate- The
official Latin translation of the Bible, which was prepared entirely by St.
Jerome from 382 to 405 A.D. The council of Trent declared the Vulgate to be
“authentic in public readings, disputations, preaching, and exposition” because
it conforms to the original texts and contains no error in faith and moral.
Stages of How the Gospels were
Formed
1.The Life and Teaching of Jesus- what
Jesus really did and taught (while he lived among us) for out eternal
salvation, until he was taken up.
2.Oral Tradition- The Apostles handed on to
their hearers what Jesus had said and done.
3.The Written Gospels- The sacred authors,
in writing the four Gospels, selected certain elements that had been handed an
Oral tradition(or already in written form), others they synthesized or
explained in view of the situation of their churches, while preserving the form
of proclamation. But always in such a way that they have told us the honest
truth about Jesus.
Apostolic
Tradition- the
way the Church understood and lived the teachings of Jesus up to the death of
the last Apostle. Apostolic Tradition and Sacred Scripture form one deposit of
the Word of God. Thus, Scripture, Apostolic Tradition, and the Magisterium
guided by the Holy Spirit combine to bring us God’s revelation at any
particular moment of time.
The
Bible was written by persons from the people of God, for the people of God,
about the God-experience of the people of God”. The Scriptures, then, are never
to be separated from the people of God whose life and history (Tradition)
formed the context of their writing and development.
BIBLICAL INSPIRATION
is
a charism
referring to the special divine activity, communicated to Divine authors, and
compilers belonging to the community, for the sake of the community.
The Sacred and canonical books of Old and
New Testaments, whole and entire, were written under the inspiration of the
Holy Spirit, so that we can call God their “author” and the Bible “the Word of
God” (DV 11)
God chose certain human authors, who as
true authors made full use of their human powers and faculties, yet were so
guided by the Holy Spirit who so enlightened their minds and moved their wills,
that they put down in writing what God wanted written.
•THE CANON OF THE SCRIPTURES
The
Canon of the Bible is the list of books that the Church has declared to be
inspired by God and that she regards as the Rule(Canon) of Truth, Faith and
Life by reason of their Divine origin.
Divisions of the Old Testament Books
1.Pentateuch(5)
2.Historical Books(16)
3.Didactic (Wisdom or Sapiential)
(7)
4.Prophetic books(18)
Division of the New Testament Books
1.Historical Books ( 4 Gospels and Acts
of the Apostles)
2.Didactic Books ( 13 letters of Paul,
Hebrews, Seven Catholic Letters)
3.Prophetic Book (Revelation)
•
INTERPRETING SCRIPTURES
We
must recognize that the Bible also is a collection of historical accounts,
doctrinal teachings, poems, parables, ethical exhortations, apocalyptic
visions, and many other forms. It was written over a period of more than a thousand years,
separated from us by almost twenty centuries. Therefore, it is not easy to
determine precisely what is the “saving truth” which God wills to impart to us
through a particular book or text of
Scripture.
“All
Scripture is inspired by God and is useful for teaching – for reproof,
correction, and training in holiness so that the man of God may be fully
competent and equipped for every good work” 2 Tim 3:16-17
•
Four Senses of Scriptures
1.Literal or Grammatical Sense- the meaning
conveyed directly and immediately by the words of the text when they are
interpreted in accord with the ordinary rules of language. It is also called
historical sense.
2.Allegorical- a point by point
interpretation of the text’s series of actions as symbolic of a meaning
metaphorically implied but not expressly stated.
3.Moral- the meaning for our instruction ,
“as a lesson to us”
4.Anagogic- the mystical meaning,
interpreted in the light of its eternal significance.
•
Factors in Interpreting Scriptures
1.Human Author
2.Literary Form
3.The Readers/Hearers
4.The Teaching of the Church
References:
CCC115-119
CFC 81-89
Introduction to the Bible (The New
American Bible, 1992)
•The
Old Testament
•The
Pentateuch is the name given to the first five books of the Bible.
–Genesis
–Exodus
–Leviticus
–Numbers
–Deuteronomy
•The
Old Testament
•Historical
Books
–Joshua
–Judges
–Ruth
–1
and 2 Samuel
–1
and 2 Kings
–1
and 2 Chronicles
–
–
•The
Old Testament
•The
Seven Wisdom Books
–Job
–Psalms
–Proverbs
–Ecclesiastes
–Song
of Songs
–Wisdom
–Sirach
–
•The
Old Testament
•The
Prophetic Books (Minor)
–Hosea
–Joel
–Amos
–Obadiah
–Jonah
–Micah
–
•The
Old Testament
•The
Prophetic Books (Major)
–Isaiah
–Jeremiah
–Lamentations
–Baruch
–Ezekiel
–Daniel
–
•The
New Testament
•The Four Gospels:
–Matthew
–Mark
–Luke
–John
•History:
–Acts
of the Apostles
•The
New Testament
•Paul’s Letters (Didactic Books)
–Romans
–1 and
2 Corinthians
–Galatians
–Ephesians
–Philippians
–Colossians
•The
New Testament
•Other Letters (Didactic Books):
–James
–1 and
2 Peter
–1
John
–2
John
–3
John
–Jude
•The
New Testament
•Prophecy:
–Revelation
HANDOUT#4
•Biblical Tools
•Commentary
•Concordance
•Dictionary
•Atlas
•Handbook
on the bible
•Task:
•Scan your Bible
•Write or note down important findings and get ready for recitation.
••Bible
–
Ta Biblia/Biblion
2 Divisions of the bible
Old
Testament
New
Testament
•Important things to notice
•Nihil obstat
•Imprimatur
•Canon
•Chapters and verses
•How to study it
•Appendices
•Diagrams and Charts
•
•Question
When you were reading the passages
of the bible, are they easy to understand?
What factors contributed to your
claim?
•
1.Different
versions/translations
2.Different
authors who have their own frame of mind (divine inspiration of each
book/author)
3.Different
literary forms contained in 1 book
4.Our
cultural background is very different from that of the bible – Hebrew, Jews
5.Integration
of many books – Ta Biblia
(Hebrew), Biblion
(Greek), OT(46) & NT(27)
•Common literary forms:
1.Parallelism and balance in 3
different ways: synonymous (Ps 51:4), antithetic (Ps 1:6), cumulative or
staircase (Ps 29:1-2)
2.Hymns/canticles and laments esp.
found in Psalms
3.Narrative and direct address
4.History, Covenant formulary and
Myth
5.Gospel, Tradition and Midrash
•
•What
can you say now about your Bible after encountering these parts that are
exclusively for Bible alone?
•
a. Psalm 23:1
b. Ephesians 3:17
c. 2 Timothy 3:16-17
d. Matthew 6:1
e. Mark 12:30
f. Deuteronomy 6:4-5
g. Leviticus 19:18
•ACTIVITY
Family 1 – Commentaries
Family 2 – Concordance
Family 3 – Bible Dictionary
Family 4 – Biblical Atlas
Family 5/6 - Handbook of the
bible
•Task:
a. Describe the biblical tool.
b. How are the contents
presented?
c. How do we use the biblical
tool?
d. Demonstrate its use relating
it to the manifestation of God’s love to us.
e. Use an ipad app to present
your report. (powerpoint)
•Identify the appropriate biblical
tool for the following task:
•
a. creation
b. Garden of Eden
c. Faith travel of Abraham
d. Woman as created from the rib
of a man
e. Reading the book of Daniel
f. Parable of the Mustard seed
•Reflection
Reflect
on the uses of each biblical tool and write a reflection on how they affect
your biblical studies.
write
your prayer of petition for help in understating the message of God.
•
