Salvation History in the Old Testament 1 = Test question on Diocesan Religion Test I. General Introduction: Ignorance of Scripture is Ignorance of Christ (St. Jerome). A. God 1. In Himself a. Identify God as three Divine Persons (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit) in one Being (Creed 1) b. Qualities of God (fully revealed in Jesus Christ) 1) Truth 2) Love 3) Fullness of Mercy 2. In His Activities: a. Creator of all that is: God creates and sustains everything (see Genesis) b. Author of Divine Revelation; the Holy Spirit s role in guiding the Church throughout the ages (from Pentecost to present; from Peter to present; from the disciples then, to the disciples now) c. Redemption: Source of Salvation; as offered by the Father, through the sacrifice of the Son, and the guidance of the Holy Spirit in the sacraments B. Divine Revelation 1. The learner will develop an understanding that God is the author of, and inspiration for the Bible (Scripture 3) a. Inerrancy b. Inspiration God guided and shaped the authors message 2. Scripture and Tradition are the two sources of divine revelation a. Studying scripture is essential to becoming a better Christian b. But scripture does not contain all church teachings, must be combined with tradition 3. The learner will apply specific terms connected with Sacred Scripture. (Scripture 5) a. Sacred Scripture b. Sacred Tradition c. Magisterium; authority to interpret the bible d. Old Testament: the history of God s salvation of Mankind e. Infallibility f. Testaments g. Gospels h. Parable i. Covenant (Sacred agreement where both sides accept an obligation from each other) 1) Covenant (between persons) vs. contract (exchange of goods) 2) Ritual words and ritual actions 3) As a central theme throughout Scripture j. Deposit of Faith k. Foreshadowing / Typology l. Salvation History tells the story of God s saving actions with His People as recounted in the Old and New Testament 4. The learner will trace the origins of the Bible, including its original languages and translation history. (Scripture 7) a. Stages of Development 1) Role of Oral Tradition 2) Development of Written Books 3) Development of Canon b. Original languages (Hebrew, Aramaic, Greek) c. Translation History 1) Septuagint (Greek)
Salvation History in the Old Testament 2 = Test question on Diocesan Religion Test 2) Vulgate (Latin) 3) King James (Protestant, English) 4) The New American Bible (English) 5. The learner will demonstrate knowledge of various Church writings regarding the Bible. (Scripture 8) a. Dei Verbum 1) Definition 2) Importance b. Catechism of the Catholic Church: a reference while studying the Bible. (Scripture 9) 6. The learner will identify the structure of the Bible. (see Dei Verbum) (Scripture 1) a. The Bible as God s revelation of Himself to us b. The Bible as Covenant 1) God s faithfulness to man and revealed to be merciful 2) Relevance to today s life 3) Jesus Christ, the first and the last, the definitive Word of Revelation, the one to whom all Scripture bears witness (Creed B2) c. Navigating the Bible 1) Definition of Canon 2) The Division of the Bible/Chapter and Verse a) Be able to use the table of contents to locate books in the Bible b) Know whether a book is in the Old Testament or New Testament c) Know how to correctly cite chapter and verse 3) Define and identify deutero-canonical books 4) Define apocryphal books /pseudepigrapha 5) Catholic and Protestant understanding of the term apocrypha 6) The learner will be familiar with the geographical locations of the main biblical events. (Scripture 11) a) Fertile Crescent the path of Abraham b) Promised Land Country of Israel c) Holy Land cities: Hebron, Jerusalem, Bethlehem d) Egypt/Sinai peninsula/red Sea the path of the Exodus e) Babylon d. Christian understanding of the relationship between Old Testament and New Testament e. Old Testament literary divisions (be able to categorize major books into 4 categories) 1) Torah /Pentateuch (first five books of the bible) 2) Historic books: (know: 1 Samuel, 2 Samuel, 1 Kings, 2 Kings, Ezra, Nehemiah, 1 Maccabees, 2 Maccabees) 3) Prophetic books : (know 4 major ones: Jeremiah, Isaiah, Daniel, Ezekiel) 4) Wisdom books: (know: Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Wisdom) f. Basic rules for interpreting Sacred Scripture 1) Biblical inspiration (The same Holy Spirit who inspires the Bible guides its interpretation) 2) Sacred writer s background and culture 3) Sacred writer s intended meaning 4) Literary forms or genre a) History b) Prophecy c) Psalm/poetry d) Parable
Salvation History in the Old Testament 3 = Test question on Diocesan Religion Test 5) Content and unity of the whole Scripture 6) God s personal communication with the reader of Scripture 7) Submission to the judgment of the Church 8) Senses of Scripture (CCC 115-119) a) Literal Sense (all other senses based on this): What the Sacred writer intended to convey b) Spiritual Senses i) Allegorical - story or event symbolically used to explain a fundamental truth, like Tower of Babel and Noah s Ark ii) Moral iii) Anagogical 7. The learner will identify and apply the content of specific books and other important concepts contained in Holy Scripture. (Scripture 2) a. Books to be covered: 1) Pentateuch/Torah a) Genesis b) Exodus c) Leviticus (minimal) d) Numbers e) Deuteronomy 2) Joshua 3) Judges 4) Historical Books a) 1 and 2 Samuel b) 1 and 2 Kings c) Ezra d) Nehemiah e) 1 and 2 Maccabees 5) Wisdom Books a) Job b) Psalms c) Proverbs 6) Prophets a) Isaiah b) Jeremiah/Lamentations c) Daniel d) Ezekiel e) Jonah b. Messianic Prophecies 1) Gen. 3:15 Protoevangelium 2) Gen 49:10 3) Dt. 18:15 4) 2 Sam 7:8-16 5) Ps 22 6) Ps 110 7) Is. 7:14 8) Is. 42, 49, 52, 53 9) Dn. 7:13-14 10) Mic. 5:1-2 c. Mandatory Types to be covered
Salvation History in the Old Testament 4 = Test question on Diocesan Religion Test 1) Adam 2) Eve 3) Noah, Flood and Ark 4) Melchizedek (type of priesthood) 5) Abraham 6) Sacrifice of Isaac 7) Jacob s Ladder 8) Joseph (as type of Jesus being betrayed by his apostles) 9) Moses a) Passover b) Crossing of Red Sea c) Manna d) Ark of the Covenant e) Bronze Serpent (prefigures Jesus dying on the cross) 10) Joshua 11) David 12) Solomon 13) Temple a) rites of worship b) types of sacrifices offer sacrifice for the atonement of sins c) feasts 14) Elijah 15) Jonah 16) Job II. Pentateuch A. Genesis 1. Genesis 1-11: the first eleven chapters of Genesis, although properly speaking not conforming to the historical method used by competent authors of our time, do nevertheless pertain to history in a true sense... (Humani Generis 38, Pope Pius XII). 2. Creation stories (Gen 1-2) a. Original Justice b. Stewardship c. Theology of the Body 3. Man s Fall/Forbidden fruit, (Gen 3): Original Sin: we all have the capacity to sin 4. Promise of a savior (Gen 3) 5. Protoevangelium (Gen. 3:15) 6. Cain and Abel, (Gen 4) 7. Noah and the Flood, (Gen 6) 8. Tower of Babel, (Gen 11) 9. Melchizedek as priest of God, (Gen 14:18) type of the priesthood 10. Period of the Patriarchs, (Gen 11-36) a. Abraham father of God s Chosen people 1) Covenant with God I will be your God. You will be my people 2) Importance of Abraham and Sarah/ descendants as numerous as the stars (Gen 17) 3) Sodom and Gomorrah, (Gen 19) b. Isaac as suffering servant and type of Christ (Gen 24) c. Jacob as father of twelve tribes of Israel (Gen 27-36) d. Joseph as type of Christ, betrayal of apostles (Gen 37-50) 11. Key doctrinal points covered throughout Genesis (Creed 2.2) a. Creation out of nothing, CCC 296
Salvation History in the Old Testament 5 = Test question on Diocesan Religion Test b. Inherent truth-creation is good, CCC 299 c. God as Father of all the baptized d. God upholds and sustains creation, CCC 301 e. Created Man in the Image of God, CCC 355 f. Created Man with a body and soul, CCC 362 g. Created Man and Woman for each other, CCC 369, 371 12. The student will study angels. (Saints 1) a. Define angel b. Kinds of angels mentioned in the Old Testament 1) Cherubim 2) Seraphim 3) Archangels 4) Guardian c. Fallen Angels (Genesis 3) B. Exodus 1. Outline a. Jacob s descendants in Egypt. (Ex 1) b. Hebrews (Jews/Israelites) as chosen people led by Moses, (Ex 2-11) c. Burning Bush: Yahweh as God s name, (Ex 3) d. Ten Plagues (Ex 4-12) e. Passover and its comparison to the Last Supper/ importance of sparing first born son (Ex 12) f. Exodus of Hebrews going from slavery to freedom, (Ex 14) 1) Crossing of the Red Sea 2) Manna 3) Water from the Rock g. Sinai Covenant: moral code given to Moses through the 10 Commandments, (Ex 20-24), CCC 2055-2074 h. The Ark of the Covenant, (Ex 25) i. Great Commandments: Dt. 6:5, Lv. 19:18 2. Typological significance of the Passover: role of the sacrificial lamb as applied to Jesus III. Israelite Settlement of the Promised Land: Joshua and Judges A. Joshua led Hebrews to the Promised Land/Fall of Jericho, (Jos 1-6) B. The cycle of the Judges, as the cycle of God s mercy and man s infidelity (Jgs 13-16) C. Judges were the military leaders who helped settle Israelites in the Promised Land D. Promised Land is known today as the country of Israel IV. The United Kingdom of Israel (1 and 2 Sam to 1 Kg. 12) A. The story of Eli and Samuel, (1 Sam 1-4) B. Saul as first king, (1 Sam 10-15) C. David (1 Sam 17, 2 Sam 24) 1. Goliath (1 Sam 17) 2. Messianic Promise (2 Sam 7:8-16) 3. Writer of the Psalms (stress the importance of Psalms as Old Testament prayer) 4. Breaking of the Covenant (2 Sam 11-12) D. Solomon and the building of the Temple, (1 Kings 1-11) E. Christ- Messiah in Hebrew-means anointed one 1. Compare to anointing of David as king 2. Review that Jesus was born into the lineage of David F. Christ as the fulfillment of all the promises of Old and New Testament V. Divided Kingdoms, Prophets, Babylonian Exile and the Second Temple Period
Salvation History in the Old Testament 6 = Test question on Diocesan Religion Test A. The story of Elijah and the Prophets of Baal, (1 Kings 18) B. Assyria and the destruction of the Northern Kingdom (Israel) C. Isaiah and Babylonian Captivity lasted 70 years D. Isaiah and the Suffering Servant (Is. 42, 49, 52, 53) E. Four major Prophets: Jeremiah, Isaiah, Daniel, Ezekiel 1. Role of prophets 2. Called Israel to be faithful F. Maccabean Revolt (1Mc-2Mc) 1. Bodily resurrection (2 Mc 7) 2. Purgatory: 2 Mc 12:38+