Institute for Leadership in Ministry Diocese of San Jose Introduction to the Old Testament Class Schedule CLASS ONE 1 Raymond O Connor, D.Min. ray.oconnor@sacredsf.org (415) 345-5817 work DATE: YEAR 2015 TOPIC Introduction, Readings, Tels, City Gates, Wednesday 9/16/2015 Standing Stones Read Ch. 5-7: Boadt, Introduction to the Old Article: Interpreting the Bible: The Right & Testament The Responsibility. Sandra Schneiders TWO Wednesday 9/23/2015 Read Ch. 8 & 9 Introduction to the OT THREE Wednesday 9/30/2015 Read Ch. 12 & 15 Introduction to the OT Genesis: Creation & Other Stories Exodus, The Monarchy & Divided Kingdom Wednesday 10/7/2015 NO CLASS SPECIAL PROGRAM FOUR Wednesday 10/14/2015 Read Ch. 16-19 Introduction to the OT Rabbi Shelley Waldenberg (Guest) The Master Story FIVE Wednesday 10/21/2015 Final Class - Finish other chapters! The Pre & Post Exilic Prophets Written Work: Guidelines 2 1. Write a 1 to 1.5 page typed single-spaced paper that connects the class readings AND lecture material to any ONE of the following topics: 1.1. Choose a short story or part of longer story found in the Hebrew Scriptures that interests you. Be sure your biblical story is found in the Boadt text. 1.1.1. What is the meaning of the story? Here you want to be sure to use information from Boadt and our lecture notes to support what you write. 1.1.2. You may also consult the Jerome Biblical Commentary (JBC) if available to you. Please do not do any research beyond these sources. 1.2. ONE important truth conveyed in any ONE of the stories of Genesis 1-11. 1.3. The role of covenant in the story of Abraham OR Moses. 1.3.1. Focus on ONE scripture passage. 1.4.The function of City Gates in ancient times OR Standing Stones. Include ONE actual biblical references. 1.5.The role of women in the Hebrew Scriptures. You may focus on Sarah, Rebecca, Ruth, Judith, Ester, Deborah etc. There are many women. Choose ONE. Read their story and reflect on their role in salvation history. 2. You may choose another topic, but please let me know what you re choosing.
Written Work: Guidelines Continued 3 1. Email the completed essay to ray.oconnor@sacredsf.org 1.1. Send the document as WORD or PAGES or PDF attachment to your email, OR 1.2. Share the document via Google Drive 2.Be sure to include different references/citations: 2.1. ONE from the class readings, 2.2.ONE from the class notes, and ONE from the Bible that supports what you write. 2.3.DO NOT USE OTHER SOURCES - books, Internet, articles, etc. 3.Finally, APPLY what you write to a pastoral situation in your church community in which you are currently engaged or may be engaged at some point. 4.Not all the essays will be due on the same day. Some papers will be due on Wed. 9/30; ALL by Wed 10/14 [Email papers]. This gives me time to read your papers and get them back to you before our FINAL classes on 10/21. Opening Prayer 4 1. Prayer: Micah 6:1-8 (A contemporary of Isaiah, ca. 750 BC) 2. The salvation of this human world lies nowhere else than in the human heart, in the human power to reflect, in human meekness and in human responsibility. Without a global revolution in the sphere of human consciousness, nothing will change for the better in the sphere of our Being as humans, and the catastrophe towards which this world is headed, whether it be ecological, social, demographic or a general breakdown of civilization, will be unavoidable. If we are no longer threatened by world war, or by the danger that the absurd mountains of accumulated nuclear weapons might blow up the world, this does not mean that we have definitively won. We are in fact far from definitive victory. ~ Václav Havel, Address to US Congress, February 21, 1990.
REVIEW OF PRE-ASSIGNED ARTICLE 5 1. Interpreting The Bible: The Right and the Responsibility by Sandra Schneiders, I.H.M. 1.1. In the wake of the Second Vatican Council many Catholics began to discover the Bible. With this renewed interest in the Scriptures have come many questions on how to interpret the Bible. 1.2. A brief history of biblical interpretations, advises Catholics to avoid extremes in interpreting the Bible and offers simple and practical guidelines 2. What insights did you gain from reading this article? The Bible The study of the Bible is the soul of theology (Dei Verbum, #24). 6 1. What is the Bible? 1.1. First and foremost it is a collection of ancient writings reflecting the human desire and struggle to understand the Sacred. 1.2. If God were to read the Bible, God would probably learn more about humanity than about God. In other words, the Bible is more an anthropology (study of humans) than it is a theology (study of God). 1.3. Besides, If God were writing the Bible do you think God would make himself look so bad? Yet, we trust that through our limited expression, God s Spirit does communicate truth to us! 2. Divisions of the Bible: Old Testament/Hebrew Scriptures New Testament/Christian Scriptures Torah/Pentateuch Gospels Historical Books Acts of the Apostles Wisdom Books Pauline Letters Prophetic Books Catholic Letters Revelation
The Magisterium 7 1. The bishops of the Catholic Church: Pope & Cardinals 2. Magister = Teacher 3. They are the authentic teachers in the Catholic Church because they stand in direct succession of the Apostles (Apostolic Succession). The Magisterium Structure Prior to Vatican Council II Magisterium Theologians Priests/Deacon Laity Tended to be strictly hierarchical 8 Structure After Vatican Council II Magisterium Theologians Priests/Deacons Laity Still hierarchical but tending towards collaboration
Different Kinds of TRUTH in the Bible 9 1. What kind of book is the Bible? 1.1.Ancient! Written in Hebrew and Greek; not English. 1.2.From a different time and culture. To read the Bible out of its context is dangerous. This also makes reading the Bible very difficult. But we must read and try to understand the culturally conditioned experiences of God that the writers convey. There is a Truth to be shared, understood, interpreted, applied, and passed onto a contemporary people of faith. 1.3.Abraham, Moses, Joseph, and Jesus although historical figures DID NOT write anything in the Bible. They were written about. 1.4.Contains many books (46 in Hebrew Scriptures; 27 in the Christian Scriptures) 1.5.Different styles of writing: Myths, Letters, Testimonies, Laws, Histories, Love Songs, Hymns, Wisdom Sayings, etc. Religious TRUTH in the Bible 10 1. Fact versus Truth? 1.1.The Bible contains both FACT & TRUTH. 1.2.Some historical facts are accurate: David was king ca. 1,000 B.C.; Assyria destroyed Israel ca. 722 B.C.; Pompey, one of Rome s greatest generals, in 64 B.C. entered Damascus and annexed the province of Syria to the Roman Empire. 1.3.Some things are not fact but convey religious truth: The Genesis stories of creation; 600,000 men leaving Egypt not counting children! (Exodus 12:37) 1.4. Religious truth - the truth of God s love an care for humanity - is preserved in the Bible, whether buried beneath factual inaccuracies or not (Gustin 12).
Some Quotes on Scripture... 11 Raymond Brown on the encyclical letter, Divino Afflante Spiritu (1943): For some fifty years since Pope Pius XII the Catholic Church has taught firmly and clearly that the Bible is a library handed down to us by Israel and the early church. In that collection of inspired books there are many different types of literature, including poetry, drama, history, and fiction. Indeed, between history and fiction there is a whole range of possibilities covering imaginative retellings that have a core of fact (Brown, A Coming Christ in Advent, 9). Vatican Council II, Dei Verbum #12 (Dogmatic Constitution on Divine Revelation, 1965): In determining the intention of the sacred writers, attention must be paid, inter alia, to literary forms for the fact is that truth is differently presented and expressed in the various types of historical writing, in prophetical and poetical texts, and in other forms of literary expression. Hence the exegete must look for that meaning which the sacred writer, in a determined situation and given the circumstances of his time and culture, intended to express and did in fact express, through the medium of a contemporary literary form. Catechism of the Catholic Church #110 (1994): In order to discover the sacred authors intention [those who wrote the books of the Bible], the reader must take into account the conditions of their time and culture, the literary genres in use at the time, and the modes of feeling, speaking, and narrating then current... 23 The Catholic Bible has seven books not found in Protestant Bibles or the Hebrew Scriptures. This stems from the Greek translation, known as the Septuagint. This translation had more books than were accepted by the Hebrew/Aramaic speaking Jews in Palestine. Christians used the Septuagint at the time of Christ/ Early Church. Deuterocanoncial books or second canon of inspired books outside of the Hebrew ones. Septuagint (LXX): Jewish colony in Alexandria Egypt needed a Greek translation of the Law. Produced by 70 scholars working independently and came up with 70 identical translations. 300-200 B.C.
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31 Map of Israel in Geographical Parts 32 Map of Israel with major cities
The Gate to a city played an important role in biblical times. They were heavily fortified in order to protect the most vulnerable place in the fortress. Archeologist often find remains of city gates due to their massive size. Not only soldiers but also the city s officials would use the gate for daily business of the city. Subsequently the city gate became the city hall of the community. The biblical phrase to sit in the gate indicates a ruler, judge, or city official. 34 EXERCISE: For each to the following passages, summarize the story and then note the function that takes place at the gate: Genesis 19 (note verse 1) Deuteronomy 21:18-21 Ruth 4 (note verses 1-11) 1 Samuel 4 (note verse 18) 2 Samuel 15 (note verse 2) 2 Samuel 19:1-8 Ester 2 (note verses 19 and 21) Luke 16:19-31 (note verse 20) Jeremiah 17:19-23 Conclusion: Class One 36 1 Peter 2:4-9 1. Come to him, a living stone, rejected by human beings but chosen and precious in the sight of God, and, like living stones, let yourselves be built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. For it says in scripture: "Behold, I am laying a stone in Zion, a cornerstone, chosen and precious, and whoever believes in it shall not be put to shame. Therefore, its value is for you who have faith, but for those without faith: "The stone which the builders rejected has become the cornerstone," and "A stone that will make people stumble, and a rock that will make them fall." They stumble by disobeying the word, as is their destiny. But you are "a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people of his own, so that you may announce the praises" of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.