Religion Notes

Chapter 1
8/30
Errors Regarding the Existence of God
 Scientism: belief that the only things that exist are those that can be proven by
science
 Atheism: the denial of the existence of God
 Agnosticism: the belief that we can know anything beyond the human senses.
This means we can never know for sure that god exists
 Rationalism: the belief that only philosophical and scientific reason are valid
for discerning truth. Rationalism denies the acceptance of faith
 Fideism: accepting religion beliefs without referencing intellectual or scientific
information

God Makes Himself Known to Man

 God desires for us to be in a personal relationship with Him
 Because of this he not only makes himself known rationally, but he also reveals
himself to us in time and space
 Reason alone is not enough to fully come to know God
 The human person experiences relationship in both a material and spiritual
way
 It is only through faith that we can understand God’s revelation to us
 Because of our fallen nature, we can never fully understand what it means to
be in perfect communion with God
 Through our faith, we can receive grace which allows us to grow deeper in
relationship with God
 Grace: the free and underserved gift that God gives us to respond to our
vocation of becoming his adopted children

8/31
Necessity of Faith in Knowing God
 Faith: a deep disposition that assents to the truths that God proposes to us
 Because of the fallen nature of our reason God must reach our intellect
through his divine reasonings
 The assent to those teachings is what we know as faith
 The assent to God’s teachings is never forced on the human person
 Faith cannot be reached through reason alone

Faith Seeking Understanding

 All religion begins with faith trying to understand God. “Faith seeking
Understanding.” St. Thomas Aquinas
 A relationship of prayer with God reinforces faith
 The personal conversation and consolations and desolations inform faith and
deepen understanding of who God is
 Reason, Faith, and Science all work together to inform us who God is

9/1

The Bible
The Church Transmits the Truth of Jesus
 When Jesus came to Earth, he established the foundations of the Church
through the gathering of the 12 Apostles and other disciples
 These followers were with Jesus constantly, learning everything He taught and
following His example
 After Jesus died, He continued to appear to His disciples to reassure them and
continue teaching them
 After the Ascension, Jesus sent the Holy Spirit to the Apostles at Pentecost to
begin the mission of the Church
 He does all this so that the entirety of the human race can receive salvation
after His death
 The Apostles began by preaching and teaching of the Good News that Jesus
has taught
 They spread out through all the world to spread this message. The story is found
is Acts of the Apostles
 Along with their preaching, the Apostle’s authority was confirmed by their
ability to perform signs and miracles
 The Good News of Jesus was spread from person to person
 Over time, the communities of the Church grew so numerous that not all of
them could be attended to by an original Apostle or disciple of Christ
 They began writing letters to encourage the different communities. They also
began to write down accounts of Jesus’ life
 These various accounts that were handed down verbally and orally are known
as Sacred Scripture
 Tradition was first passed down orally, then it was written down
 3 sources of Sacred Tradition
 Liturgy: The Church expressed many teachings through prayers, hymns, and
sacramental rites
 Events prompted by the Holy Spirit: In events such as the Ecumenical Councils,
the Holy Spirit works through the members of the Church to clarify teachings
without error
 The Writings of the Church Fathers: Words of the early saints who were able to
give us living testimony of the living Tradition of the Gospel

9/7

Scared Scripture
 Sacred Scripture is the part of Sacred Tradition that was written down through
the promptings of the Holy Spirit
 Through Sacred Scripture, God speaks His Word to us in which He expresses
Himself completely
 The Word of God speaks in time, revealed to us a timeless reality and
relationship
 Because of the perfection of God’s Word, there is no need to correct, add on,
or revise the Bible

Scared Scripture: Authorship

 We believe that God is the Author of the Bible
 The Holy Spirit does this through the inspiration of human authors
-Not an assistant
-The human writers completely write the Bible through their own free will
-Yet, God remains the sole author of the Bible
 The human writers did not have their role diminished, because the Holy Spirit’s
inspiration enabled the writers to truthfully write God’s Word
 The Holy Spirit’s inspiration is what prevented the human authors from error
 Both the Holy Spirit and the human writers are considered authors, but God is
the Primary Author because it is His Word
 The primary authorship of God is intentionally affirmed by the human writers.
This means they understood what they were writing, meant to write it, and
believed it to be true
 All that these human authors wrote pointed to their understanding of
supernatural signs, realities, and mysteries

Scared Scripture: Source of Truth

 The books of the Bible were written to reveal truth about God’s action in
human history
 These actions tell us about who He is, what He wants, and how He offers us His
wisdom and mercy
 These truths reflect the realities of the two types of authors
-God = Supernatural Truth
-Human = Natural Truth
 Supernatural Truth: Through Revelation, God has made his intimate life and
eternal decrees concerning human salvation known to us
 Natural Truths: Through Revelation, God also shows fundamental truths that are
necessary for salvation humankind. These natural truths could be figured out
by human intelligence, but through revelation, humans can know these truths
easily, with absolute certainty, and without error
 Both of these types of truths are interconnected, but it is natural truths that are
ordered and pointing to supernatural truths
 Because the Bible is the inspired Word of God, we can be assured that what is
taught in the Bible is Truth
 We also accept that the Truth of God has been relayed to us without error
 Inerrancy of scripture and the Divine Inspiration of the authors by God go hand
in hand
 This did not occur by chance. It was God’s intention for the scriptures to reveal
his Truth without any error

The Sanctity of Scared Scripture

 The Sanctity of Scripture means that we believe that the Bible has moral
perfection in its doctrine
 There are three different aspects of the Bible that work together to relay
moral perfection to us
-The Divine Origin
o The Bible does not always speak of good things
 o The Bible gives us the commands of God that help us avoid moral
error
o In order to do so, the Bible may narrate evil deeds, but they all are
eventually condemned implicitly or explicitly
o While both the Old and New Testament are free of moral error, the
New Testament is a completion of the Old and possesses greater
moral perfection
-The Purpose of the Bible
o The Purpose of the Bible is to allow for everyone to have the tools that
will help them get to heaven
o Each of the Testaments have their own specific purpose but work
together for the greater purpose of salvation for all
o OT: Tells the story of how God lays the foundation for saving grace to
enter the world through the nation of Israel
o NT: Reveals explicit moral truths through the person of Jesus Christ
and the Church he institutes
-The Precepts of the Bible
o Natural human reason was impaired by Original Sin
o God institutes moral precepts in both the OT and NT in order to give
us the moral clarity that was lost through Original Sin
o He began setting up moral truths that had been lost in the OT
o He finishes in the NT by perfecting these truths through Jesus
declaring their true meaning, and showing us the best way to live
them out

9/11

Vocabulary
 Bible: the compilation of 73 books that make up the inspired Word of God
 Scared Tradition: The compilation liturgy, scriptures, and events inspired by the
Holy Spirit that hold the Truth of the Catholic Church passed down to us from
Jesus through the Apostles
 Magisterium: The official teaching office of the Church
 Dogma: Official Church teachings regarding faith and morals
 Ecumenical Council: A formal meeting of Bishops to define doctrine, regulate
Christian life, or apply discipline to liturgy
9/12

Interpreting Scripture
 Because of the Divine authorship, interpretation of scripture must be done with
the whole of scripture in mind
 The interpretation of scripture must also be done with the whole of the Scared
Tradition of the Church in mind as well
 We must understand that God does not contradict Himself. If we find
contradiction in scripture, then we are interpreting it incorrectly
 This means that we cannot get hung up on individual passages that may
contradict each other out of context. Rather, we focus on the context in
which the scriptures were written
 Scripture is to be interpreted in the same “Spirit” in which it was written
 We must attempt to understand scripture from the authors point of view
 The Church is charged with the duty of promoting, teaching, and protecting
the true interpretation of scripture just as God intended it
 When reading scripture, there is an official revelation that is supported by the
Church, and there is a personal revelation that is individual to each reader
 While these revelations may have different meanings, they are never to
contradict

Chapter 2
9/18

An Overview of the Bible

Who Wrote the Bible?

 The Bible was written over a span of 1500 years, by 40 writers

 Using the writers’ own styles and personalities, God shows us who He is and
what it’s like to know Him
 The Bible reads as a factual news account of real events, places, people, and
dialogue. Historians and archaeologists have repeatedly confirmed its
authenticity
 There is one central message consistently carried by all 40 writers of the Bible:
God who created us all, desires a relationship with us. He calls us to know Him
and trust Him

Old Testament
 The Old Testament is comprised of the Jewish Sacred Scriptures
 With 46 books in all, the Old Testament is compromised of the Jewish Law,
History, and Prophesies
 While we know there were multiple authors of the Old Testament, we do not
know the specific names or number of the authors, or what specific time
period they were written in
 We do know that the Jewish scriptures were compiled in a series of four stages
of development
Four stages of development
1. Speeches and sayings:
o These are speeches and sayings by Israelite leaders (Moses, Ezra, etc.)
and God that were brought together by the early Israelites
2. Individual Books
o Over time, the speeches and sayings began to form into certain books
based off the subject matter and the time period they pertain to
o Sometimes books were later expanded by new utterances or writing-
the obituary of Moses was certainly added to Deuteronomy, for instance
o Because of these additions, some books have come down to us in two
forms. There is, for instance, both a short form of Jeremiah, preserved in
the Greek translation, the Septuagint, and a long form, preserved in the
received Hebrew text
3. Collection of Books
o The books of the OT began to be grouped by the subject matter of their
books
o The books were separated into three different groupings: The Law, the
Prophets, and the Psalms
o This all happened around the end of the Babylonian captivity
4. The Fixed Canon
o Around 160 BC, Judas Maccabeus complies the fixed cannon for the
Jewish scriptures
o These are comprised of the Law, the Prophets, and the Writings
o This is the same Canon that is used in the OT today

73 VS 66 Books

 In the Jewish tradition, there were some members of the Pharisees who did not
believe that the Greek Septuagint (had 7 books) was divinely inspired
 There was even council of Judaism that rejected these books as their sacred
scriptures
 However, there were Jews from who had been separated from the rest of
Judaism during the Babylonian Captivity who did believe in these books were
inspired
 Jesus Himself quotes the book of Tobit (one of seven) in the Gospels
 Whenever the first list of Scared Scripture was compiled in the Catholic Church,
the 7 were present
 Luther agreed with Jewish council that said the seven books were not divinely
inspired
 The seven books are Tobit, Judith, 1 & 2 Maccabees, Wisdom, Sirach, and
Baruch
 There are also additions to the books of Esther and Daniel that are rejected by
Luther
 These books are called Deuterocanonical by Catholics and Orthodox and
Apocryphal by Jews and Protestants
 These books were rejected because they were not written in Hebrew (70 AD)
 The early Church did not require all Scripture to be written in Hebrew, and the
New Testament books were written in Greek
 There is not a Church council that states anything less than a 73 book Bible
 In fact, throughout the history of the Church, the 73 book Bible is reinforced
through the teachings of the Church through the power of the Holy Spirit
 In the 16th century, Martin Luther adopted the Jewish list, putting the
Deuterocanonical books in an appendix
 He also ended up putting different books in the New Testament as well.
(Letters of James and John and Paul’s letter to the Hebrews)
 He did this because the teachings of these books disagreed with his own
personal theology

The New Testament

 The early church accepted the NT books almost as soon as they were written
 This because the writers of the NT had close personal contact with Jesus or the
Apostles
 In addition, the reports in the NT books lined up with what thousands of
eyewitnesses had seen for themselves
 When other books were written hundreds of year later, it wasn’t difficult for the
church to spot them as forgeries
 For example, the Gospel of Judas was written by Gnostic sect, around 130-170
A.D.
 o Gnostic sects were groups that claimed that God revealed more
information to them privately
 These and other Gnostic gospels conflicted with the known teachings of Jesus
and the Old Testament, and often contained numerous historical and
geographical errors
 In A.D. 367, St. Athanasius formally listed the 27 NT books (the same list that we
have today)
 Soon after, St. Jerome and St. Augustine circulated the same list
 These lists, however, were necessary for the majority of Christians. By and large
the whole church had recognized and used the same list of books since the
first century after Christ
 These lists are necessary for those people who were not Christian or those who
were trying to add books of their own in a heretical manner
 As Christianity grew outside the Greek speaking countries, more sects wanted
to add their own books to sacred scripture
 This list (OT and NT) was approved by Pope Damasus I in 382 A.D., and was
formally approved the Church Council of Rome in that same year

Affirmation of the Books

 Later Councils at Hippo (393 A.D.) and Carthage (3987 A.D.) ratified this list of
73 books
 In 405 A.D., Pope Innocent I wrote a letter to the Bishop of Toulouse reaffirming
the canon of 73 books
 In 419 A.D., the Council of Carthage reaffirmed this list, which Pope Boniface
agreed to
 The Council of Trent, in 1546, in response to the Reformation removing 7 books
from the canon (canon is a Greek word meaning “standard”), reaffirmed the
original St. Athanasius list of 73 books

Archaeology Supports the Bible

 Archaeologists have consistently discovered the names of government
officials, kings, cities, and festivals mentioned in the Bible; even when historians
didn’t think such people or places existed
 The Bible has a tremendous amount of historical detail, so not everything
mentioned in it has yet been found through archaeology
 However, not one archaeological find has conflicted with what the Bible
records
 Many of the ancient locations mentioned by Luke, in the Book of Acts in the
NT, have been identified through archaeology. Luke names 32 countries, 54
cities and 9 islands with an error
 Archaeology not only supports the Bible, it also refutes claims about the Bible
that try to disprove it
 Claim that Moses could not have written the Pentateuch because it was
before writing
o Writing was found from Hammurabi who lived centuries before Moses
and even Abraham
 Historians claimed that Abraham’s home city of Ur never existed
o Archaeology found Ur and even “Abram” written on one of its columns
 Historians claimed that the city of Jericho never existed
o Jericho was found with crumbled walls just as the Bible says

The Accuracy of Translations

 Some people have the idea that the Bible has been translated “so many
times” that is has become corrupted through stages of translating
 Translations are actually made directly from the original Greek, Hebrew, and
Aramaic source texts based on thousands of ancient manuscripts
 The accuracy of today’s OT was confirmed in 1947 when archaeologists found
“The Dead Sea Scrolls” along today’s West Bank of Israel
 When comparing the manuscripts at hand with these, from 1,000 years earlier,
we find agreement 99.5% of the time. The .5% differences are minor spelling
variances and sentence structure that doesn’t change the meaning of the
sentence
 Few people doubt Plato’s writing of “The Republic.” It’s a classic, written by
Plato around 380 B.C. The earliest copies we have of it are dated 900 A.D.,
which is a 1,300-year time lag from when he wrote it. There are only 7 copies
in existence
 Caesar’s “Gallic Wars” were written around 100-44 B.C. The copies we have
today are dated 1,00 years after he wrote it. We have 10 copies
 When it comes to the NT, written between 50-100 A.D., there are more than
5,000 copies. All are within 50-225 years of their original writing
 With this information, it is safe to say that the NT is humanity’s most reliable
ancient document
 When it came to Scripture, scribes (monks) were meticulous in their copying of
the original manuscripts
 They checked and rechecked their work, to make sure it perfectly matched.
What the NT writers originally wrote is preserved better than any other ancient
manuscript
 They did this not only for their credibility, but also, they believed that is was the
Divine Word of God and had no desire to be changed
 We can be more certain of what we read about Jesus’ life and words, than
we are certain of the writings of Caesar, Plato, Aristotle and Homer

Accuracy of the Gospels

 The Gospels are 4 separate biographical accounts which support and agree
with each other about the life of Jesus
 Not only do we have well-preserved copies of these original manuscripts, we
also have testimony from both Jewish and Roman historians
 The gospels report that Jesus or Nazareth preformed many miracles, was
executed by the Romans, and rose from the dead
 Numerous ancient historians back the Bible’s account of life of Jesus

Other Historians of the Bible

 Cornelius Tacitus (A.D. 55-120), a historian of first-century Rome, is considered

one of the most accurate historians of the ancient world
 An excerpt from Tacitus tells us that the Roman emperor Nero “inflicted the
most exquisite tortures on a class…called Christians”
 “…Christus (Christ), from whom the name had its origin, suffered the extreme
penalty during the reign of Tiberius at the hands of one of our procurators,
Pontius Pilatus…”
 Tacitus confirms that Jesus did in fact live and that he suffered crucifixion. And
he supports that the Christians continued to exist and spread to the chagrin of
the Roman Empire
 Flavius Josephus, a Jewish historian (A.D. 38-100), wrote about Jesus in his
Jewish Antiquities
 From Josephus, “we learn that Jesus was a wise man who did surprising feats,
taught many, won over followers from among Jews and Greeks, was believed
to be the Messiah, was accused by the Jewish leaders, was condemned to be
crucified by Pilate, and was considered to be resurrected.”
 We have proof from a different tradition than the Romans that Jesus did exist
and die. It even reaffirms the claim that Jesus resurrects
 Suetonius, Pliny the Younger, and Thallus also wrote about Christian worship
and persecution that is consistent with the NT accounts
 Even the Jewish Talmud, certainly not biased toward Jesus, concurs about the
major event of his life
 From the Talmud, “we learn that Jesus was conceived out of wedlock,
gathered disciples, made blasphemous claims about himself, and worked
miracles, but these miracles are attributed to sorcery and not to God
 This is impressive considering that most ancient historians focused on political
and military leaders, not on obscure rabbis from distant provinces of the
Roman Empire

Literary Forms in Scripture

 In order to interpret something that is human, we need to analyze letters,

words, and sentences, to discover their literal meaning
 God uses these human instruments to convey the meaning of the Bible to us
 We must not read the Bible as a novel, but rather as a whole with salvation
history in mind and that God has a personal message to each one of us
 The Bible is inerrant, but that does not mean that every interpretation of the
Bible is without error
 This is why we must be careful as to the method that we apply interpretation
to the Bible
 In order to understand the Bible fully, we need to take into account both the
intentions of God and the man authors
 In order to understand the human intentions, we must take into account the
time, culture, and literary forms that were used at that time
 We also must be aware of the customary and characteristic patterns of
perception, speech and narrative that prevailed at the time that the sacred
writer wrote
 Literary forms: ways of writing that have their own rules and are often used in
a given historical period to express different thoughts
 We find the following literary forms in the Scared Scripture: historical, juridical,
prophetic, apocalyptic, wisdom literature, poetry, and epistle
 Most of the Bible is written in simple language and is easy to understand,
however, there are parts that have immense depth and require some literary
background to understand fully
 To help understand the Bible, it is easier to break it down into books, chapters,
and verses in order to pinpoint the literary genre in each section
o This is the first instance that we see literary form used to convey truths
 o In order to access these truths, we must understand the literary forms
being used
 The best way to read the Bible is to understand the literal sense first
 The literal sense is the way that the original readers understood the message
of the text
o Who is in the story? What happens?
 The literal reading of the Bible does not mean that every wood should be taken
as fact. Rather, it makes us sensitive to details that are being used as symbols
and metaphors
 We are to avoid being literalistic, which only examines the words of what is
being said without the proper literary and historical context

Senses of the Bible

Literal

 The literal sense of the Bible is everything that the Holy Spirit intends to express
with words
o Jesus, “Everything written about me in the Law of Moses and the
prophets and the psalms must be fulfilled...that the Christ would suffer
and on the 3rd day rise from the dead.”
 Proper Literal Sense: Words taken in their ordinary meaning
 Improper Literal Sense: Words are take in a figurative or metaphorical meaning
o These literary devices include metaphors, similes, hyperboles, parables,
allegories, and fables
 Both senses are used to reveal the same amount of truth

Spiritual

 We use the spiritual sense of the Bible to find connections between passages
in the Bible that reveal God’s consistency in his actions toward us
 We also use the spiritual sense to gain an understanding of how God wants us
to act in our life based on different figures of the Bible
 God uses the spiritual sense to reveal to his people what words alone cannot
 The spiritual sense must be understood in faith
 Jesus Himself used the spiritual sense when he teaches us morals, talk about
the Kingdom of Heaven, and references the OT to explain his teachings
 Allegorical Sense: Shows us how people and events in salvation history point
forward to other time
o i.e. The story of Abraham and his sacrifice of Isaac prefigures the
sacrifice of God’s only son Jesus on the cross
 Moral Sense: Shows us how we can use what the heroes of scripture did as a
pattern for our own lives
o i.e. The story of David’s adultery shows us no matter what we do, we can
still be forgiven
 Anagogical Sense: Shows us how the events we see in scripture points upward
to what we will know in heaven
o i.e. The story of the Israelites entering the promise land shows us that only
some go to heaven
 When we read in the spiritual sense, we must not forget about the literal sense
of the Bible
 In fact, all spiritual sense is rooted in the literal sense so the two must work
together to reveal everything that God wants us to understand
 Not all senses are present in every passage of scripture
 Many senses may be present in certain scriptures at the same time
o i.e. The Israelites entering the promise land

How to Read the Bible

 Where do you start?: The beginning of either Testament. Know, Genesis and
Exodus and the Gospels
 Look to the Church for guidance: The Bible was assembled by the Church and
has been used for hundreds of years for the purpose of transmitting God’s word
to all
 Pray: Because the Bible is the living Word of God, when we read it, we are
entering into a relationship with it. This is a perfect opportunity to enter into
prayer
 Faith: Just like anything else in Christianity, faith is needed to receive the fullness
of God’s revelation to us. The Bible acts in the same way

9/25
Vocab
 Moral Sense: the spiritual interpretation of scripture that shows the saints of the
Bible as the pattern of Christian living
 Spiritual Sense: the interpretation of the Bible that focuses on the spiritual signs
and symbols of the Bible which relate to its real events
 Literary Forms: the different styles of writing used to communicate a certain
message in writing
 Veracity: reliability in communicating truth
 Inerrancy: having no mistakes or errors

Chapter 3
The Old Testament
What is the OT?

 The OT is made up of books that were written before the time of Christ
 Together, the books of the OT tell the story of the journey towards salvation.
This story leads right to Jesus and the entirety of the NT
 The OT tells us of the promises that God gives His people that He eventually
fulfills in the NT
 The OT outlines the History of God’s Chosen people (Israelites), and shows us
how we now able to become that chosen people
 The NT COMPLETES the OT. It does not abolish it or make it obsolete

What does the OT tell us?

 The OT begins as an origin story for the human race

o We learn that we are created in the image and likeness of God
o We are created perfect
o We were in perfect communion with God
o We sinned and became imperfect
o We lost our perfect communion with God
 The Church permits us to believe in a literal translation of the creation story.
However, she encourages us to look at science and literary advancements to
understand what the true meaning of the Beginning of Genesis is
 After the first sin, God could have left us to live in our sin and ultimately go to
Hell because of imperfection
 However, due to his infinite Love for us, He decided to work in human history
so that we could become perfect again
 Perfection is the key to full communion with God
 In order for God’s love to be received properly, God knew that He would need
to reintroduce Himself to the Human Race, and allow us to encounter Him in
human form
 There also needed to be a sacrifice that would justify us for the sins that we
committed
 Jesus is the way he chooses to do this
 The OT tells the story of how God reintroduces himself to the human race
 He begins by forming a nation for his Son to be born into.
o Noah: family
o Abraham: Tribe
o Moses: Nation
o David: Empire
 To begin the process of perfecting the human race, God gives His people the
10 commandments
 There are the “do nots” in a relationship with God, but is not all that needs to
be done for perfection
 We can see from the example of the Israelites, that human race could not stay
faithful to God on their own
 There were many times where the Israelites would turn away from God, fail to
follow His commandments, and worship other Gods
 Each time this happened, God would allow the Israelites to experience the
consequences of their actions. This would lead to plague, disease, and even
loss of their homeland
 This would give rise to the Prophets
 It was the Prophet’s job to be the communication between God and Israel.
They would call them out of their sin and warn of the consequences that would
come from their sin. Finally, their prophesies would ultimately point to the
coming of Jesus

Divisions of the OT

 The Divisions of the OT: Pentateuch (five scrolls)

 The first five books of the Bible: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and
Deuteronomy (5)
 The Pentateuch was the first collection of literature acknowledged as Scripture
by the Hebrew community
 The writing of these books has been ascribed to Moses. It holds supreme rank
in the OT canon in respect and holiness
 The Hebrew-speaking Jewish community referred to these five books as “The
Law,” “Torah,” or “The Law of Moses.”
 The Divisions of the OT: The Historical Books
 Joshua, Judges, Ruth, 1st and 2nd Samuel, 1st and 2nd Kings, 1st and 2nd
Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther, 1st and 2nd Maccabees (14)
 These books continue to tell the history of Israel in a time period closer to our
current one
 These books deal with Israel’s inconsistent relationship with God
 They tell the story of how Israel gets it homeland, has leaders called judges,
and then kings. They also tell the story of how Israel grows from a tribe, to a
nation, and then to an empire
 We also see how Israel disobeys God and lose their homeland
 The Poetic and Wisdom Writings:
 These include: Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Wisdom, Sirach, Baurch, and
Song of Solomon (8)
 Unlike classical and modern poetry, ancient Hebrew poetry has no distinctive
scheme of accentuation, meter, rhythm to differentiate it from prose. It is
noted for its parallelism, or the counterbalancing of ideas in phrases (meant to
be read not spoken)
 To the Hebrews, wisdom included skill in living and the powers of observation.
It also included the capacity of human intellect and the application of
knowledge and experience to daily life
 All of this came from a viewpoint that was firmly rooted in “the fear of the Lord,”
which is the beginning of wisdom
 The Major Prophets:
 These include: Isaiah, Jeremiah, Lamentations, Ezekiel, and Daniel (5)
 These books were declared “major” because of the amount of text, and not
because they were considered more important that the “minor” prophetic
books
 God used the prophets to provide direction and wisdom during time of crisis
 God used the prophets to provide direction and wisdom during times of crisis
 They were also used God to remind the people of their covenantal promises
 Prophecy in the Bible is part of God’s self-revelation, by which we come to
know God through what he has done in the past and what He plans to do in
the future
 The Minor Prophets:
 These include: Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk,
Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah. And Malachi
 The books of the major and minor prophets were considered to be part of the
“classical prophecy” era of the OT
 The classical prophecy era began in the 8th century during the reign of
Jeroboam II in the northern kingdom of Israel. Amos and Hosea were the
earliest examples in the north, while Micah and Isaiah were the first known
classical prophets in the southern kingdom of Judah
 These prophets addressed both the kind and the people and became social-
spiritual commentators for the Jewish people

The Pentateuch

 In the 1800s, scholars studying the Pentateuch tries to figure out the original
sources of the final versions of the five books
 They gave each source a name which is usually known by their initial
 J, the Yahwist: This source frequently uses the name Yahweh (I am who am) in
its passages. It is thought to represent the perspective of the Jews in Judah
(south) in the 9th or 10th century BC
 E, the Elohist: This source frequently uses the name Elohim (god(s)) in its
passages. It is thought to represent the view of the Jews in the northern
kingdom in the 8th or 9th century BC
 D, the Deuteronomistic: Is believed to be the Author of the book of
Deuteronomy. This is believed to be written in the 7th century BC
 P, the Priestly: It is thought to be a later editor who revised all five books to
reflect the concerns of the Jewish priesthood after the return from the
Babylonian captivity
 Genesis:
 Comes from the Greek word for “origins”
 Tells the story of the creation of the world
 Gives us the history of the beginning of Israel and their culture
 Some of most famous Bible stories are found in Genesis: Adam and Eve, Noah
and the flood, Abraham and Isaac, etc.
 The book ends with Joseph and his brother thriving in the land of Egypt
 Exodus:
 Comes from the Greek word for “going out”
 Tells the story of the Israelites escape from Egypt
 Shows us how the Israelites wandered throughout the desert on their way to
Canaan, the promised land
 It also contains the most important laws of the OT, the Ten Commandments,
which God gives to Moses on Mt. Sinai
 We also learn about the fickle nature of the Israelite people and how they
relate to God
 Leviticus:
 Named after the Levitical (from the tribe of Levi) priests of Israel
 This is a book of laws that explain religious worship of the Israelite people. Every
detail is explicit since the Israelite people were known for breaking their
covenants with God
 Numbers:
 Gives us a census of all the tribes of Israel
 Tells us the story of the 40 years in the desert and the Israelites’ rebellion against
God
 Deuteronomy:

Chapter 4

Vocab 11/6 & 11/13

Exegesis: The critical explanation or interpretation of a text, especially of scripture

Genesis: the first book of the Bible that discusses the origin story of the human race
and of Israel

Protoevangelium: “first Gospel” which is the promise of Messiah in Genesis 3:15

Elohim: the Hebrew word for God

Yahweh: “I am who am,” the name God gives himself when speaking to Moses in
the burning bush

Abraham
Origins of Abraham

 Abram or Abraham is widely regarded as the first Hebrew

 We find in the Bible that Abraham is a direct descendant of Noah through his
son Shem
 It was through Abraham’s descendants
o That the Jewish nation would arise
o A people who would receive the covenant of the Lord
o One of those descendants would be the Savior, not only for the Jews
but for the whole world

History of Abraham

 Abraham lived in the city of Ur (capital of the ancient kingdom of Sumer)

 He lived sometime around 2,000 BC
 The Bible traces Abraham’s step from Ur to Haran (north of Canaan), through
the land of Canaan, into Egypt, and back into Canaan (which later became
Israel).
 The land of Canaan is the Promised Land that the Lord eventually gives the
Israelites after they leave Egypt under Moses

Era of the Patriarchs

 The histories of the pre-Egyptian Hebrews are generally called the age of the
patriarchs (patriarch means “father-ruler”)
 Abraham would be the first of 3 patriarchs for the Hebrew People
o Isaac and Jacob are the other two
 The patriarchs point to a period of tribal loving for the Hebrew people which
was made up of extended family and servants or slaves
 We can deduce three things from the Age of the Patriarchs
1. Yahweh’s People
 First, the history of the patriarchs indicates that the special election of the
Hebrews
 In Hebrew history, Abraham and his descendants are selected by Yahweh to
be his chosen people over all over peoples
 It is God who asks Abraham to move from his home country to various places
in the ancient world
 It is also God who changes Abram’s name to Abraham as a sign that he is now
one of God’s people
 God has entered a covenantal relationship with the Hebrews and the promises
to protect them as a lord protects his servants. As servants, then, the principle
duty that Abraham and his descendants own to God is obedience
2. Everything is based of Kinship
 We learn from the story of Abraham that the early Hebrews are nomads,
wandering tribal groups who are organized along classic tribal logic
 The Patriarchal society is principally organized around kinship with a rigid
kinship hierarchy
o Anybody outside the kinship structure (anybody who isn’t a descendant
of Abraham) is not included in the special relationship with God
 The Tribe would move according to God’s pleasing through the relationship
he has with Abraham
3. Nomadic People
 The third aspect that emerges is that these tribal groups of early Hebrews
wandered far and wide, that is, that they did not occupy the lands around
Palestine; this occupation would come considerably later
 They seem to freely move from Palestine, across the deserts, as far as Egypt
 At several points during the time of the Patriarch’s, Hebrew tribes move to
Egypt to find a better life
 It would not be unfair to imagine that the Hebrews were among the infinite
variety of foreigners who overwhelmed Egypt at the end of the Middle
Kingdom

Abraham

 In the story of Abraham:

o We find the introduction of mysterious figures
o The introduction of God and his angels
o An affair with a servant
o A sacrifice of a son
o A covenant with 3 promises
o A sign of the covenant that is interesting
 Abraham enters a covenant with God:
o 3 promises of the covenant
 Abraham will have a great name
 Abraham with be father of a great nation
 Abraham will have descendants as numerous as the stars
o All 3 promises are fulfilled through Jesus
 All Abraham must do it obey God
 The Sign of the Covenant: Circumcision to all males

Abraham and Isaac

 Abraham is unable to have a child with Sarah

o Sarah gives Abraham Hagar (her servant) to have a son with
o They give birth to Ishmael
 Three visitors tell Abraham that he and Sarah will have a son
o Abraham laughs because of their old age
o Sarah also laughs about her old age and lies about it
o They are promised a son by the time the men visit again next year
 The son is to be names Isaac because it means “laughter” in Hebrew

Sarah and Isaac

 Over time, Sarah would become jealous of Isaac and Ishmael playing together
 Just as she got jealous of Hagar before she had Isaac, she also gets jealous
when she has a son
o This time she has power
 Hagar and her son are sent away with their own group of servants and slaves
 Isaac becomes the sole heir to Abraham

The Sacrifice

 God tells Abraham to take Isaac up the mountain and sacrifice him
 Abraham was saddened by this, but he did as he was told
 Isaac asks, “Father where is the sacrifice.” Abraham answers, “God will provide
the sacrifice.”
 Isaac carries the wood for his sacrifice up the mountain
 Once they reach the top, Abraham ties Isaac up
 An angel of the Lord stops Abraham and he is rewarded for his great faith
 God provides a sacrifice
o A ram caught in the thicket

Isaac’s Wife

 Abraham, who is old in age sends his servant to find a wife for his son in
Mesopotamia
 The sign that God will give the servant in a specific answer to the question of,
“May I have a drink of water?”
 Genesis 24:14
 Rebekah fulfills this prophesy and the servant gives her a gold ring and
bracelets
 Rebekah agrees to marry Isaac, but does not stay the 10 days requested by
the mother. She and the servant leave immediately

Isaac’s Son

 Rebekah marries Isaac and they conceive twins

o There s a great struggle within the womb
 When they were born, the first son was born with red hair. The second son
emerged grabbing the first on to his ankle
o The first son was called Esau
o The second son was called Jacob
 Esau became a great hunter while Jacob “lived in tents” and was the clever
brother of the two
 Esau became the favorite of Isaac while Jacob became the favorite of
Rebekah

Isaac’s Heir

 One day, Esau had not caught anything for a while and was close to death
 He asked Jacob for some stew, but Jacob would only give it to him if Esau
would give up his birthright
o Esau agrees and he no longer has the right to inherit Isaac’s lineage
 Isaac grows old in age and cannot see. He asks for Esau to hunt and prepare
a savory meal
o Rebekah overhears and tells Jacob
 Jacob takes goas from their own livestock and gives them to his mother to
prepare the meal
 Jacobs points out that he is not a hairy man, so Rebekah takes Esau’s best
robe and put it on Jacob
o She also took goats skin and put it on his arms and neck
 Isaac is suspicious, so he asks to feel his hands and is convinced because of
the hair on them
o He also smelled the garments and tasted the food
 Jacob receives the blessing of his father
o Esau is out raged and plans to kill Jacob when Isaac dies

Implications

 The birthright in the OT would be given to the first-born son of the household
o They would receive twice as much inheritance as the other sons in the
family
 The blessing would be to determine would be the head of the extended family
 The blessing and the birthright could be given to separate sons if the father
preferred
o The combination of both on the same first-born son was expected and
normal
 Jacob receiving both indicates that the covenant of God and Abraham
would be continued through his line

Jacob’s Dream
 After Jacob gains both the birthright and the blessing, Isaac sends him away
to find a wife
 On his way to Haran, Jacob has a dream:
 o He lays down on a rock and envisions a stairway to Heaven with
angels ascending and descending from heaven to Earth
o God is on the steps and promises Jacob the land which he is sleeping
on and descendants that will inhabit it.
o Jacob makes a shrine on the spot by anointing the rock he slept on
Jacob’s Wife
 Jacob travels to visit Laban, son of Nahor from which he will find his wife
 Laban has two daughters: Leah and Rachel
o Leah is the older daughter and needs to be married off first
o Jacob wants to marry Rachel (Leah has a Lazy Eye)
 Jacob agrees to work for Laban for seven years if he can marry Rachel
 After 7 years, Laban tricks Jacob into marrying Leah first
o Jacob has to work another 7 years to marry Rachel
 Jacob loves Rachel more than Leah
Jacob’s Legacy
 Leah bears him 6 sons, handmaids bear him 4 sons, and Rachel bears him 2
sons
o Rachel’s sons are named Joseph and Benjamin
 Jacob became very prosperous under Laban and asked to leave with his
family and servants to find his own land
 Jacob makes his living raising livestock, specially sheep
 Jacob returns back to the land of Canaan (land of Abraham) whenever
Laban is no longer friendly towards him
Jacob in Trouble
 Laban pursues Jacob because Rachel has stolen wealth from Laban
o Laban is also angry because the flocks that Jacob took all originally
belonged to him
 Laban lets Jacob keep everything if he promises to take care of his
daughters until their death
 Jacob returns to his homeland scared that Esau would kill him, so he prepares
a gift for him
o 200 sheep and goats
 Instead of being enraged, Esau embraces with his brother with a kiss and the
brothers are reunited
Jacob Wrestles with God
 The night before Jacob reunites with his brother Esau, Jacob is alone and
encounters a man
 They wrestle with each other until daybreak with no success against one
another
Moses
Israelites in Egypt
 The Israelites grew so numerous in Egypt that they had their own section of
Egypt in which they lived
o They were known for being strong and powerful
 Time passed, and the new kings forgot the friendliness of the Israelites and
began to fear them
 The Kings began to enslave the Israelites to build monuments and cities to let
the Israelites know who was in control
 The Israelites still continued to flourish so the king instructed for all the male
Hebrews to be killed
Moses in the Nile
 The midwives refused to kill the Hebrew sons, so they told Pharaoh that
Hebrew women gave birth before they could get there
 Pharaoh then ordered all the people that if they are to see a Hebrew baby
boy, they are to be thrown into the Nile River, while all girls may live
 Moses’ mother was from the tribe of Levi and hid him for 3 months after birth
 When she could hide him no longer, she put the child in a wicker basket by
the bank of the Nile, while his sister watched from a distance
 Pharaoh’s daughter came down to bathe and found the baby and has pity
on him because he was crying
 Moses’ sister brought Moses’ mother to Pharaoh’s daughter, so she could
nurse the child
Moses in Exile
 Pharaoh’s daughter gives the baby the name Moses because “she drew him
out of the water”
 Moses grows up in the palace and becomes a high ranking Egyptian official
 One day, Moses sees one of his fellow countrymen being beat by a
taskmaster of the Egyptians
 Seeing that no one was around, Moses strikes down the taskmaster and
buries him in the sand
 The next day, he confronts two Hebrews about their conflict, but they are
scared that they will be killed by Moses
 Pharaoh hears and tries to kill Moses, but Moses flees the country
Moses in Midian
 Moses flees to Midian where he comes upon a well where the daughters of
the priest of Midian were not being allowed to water their flock by other
shepherds
 Moses comes to the aid of the daughters and they take him home to their
father, Reuel
 Moses lives with them and eventually marries one of the daughters named
Zipporah
 Moses becomes part of the tribe and no longer had a life in Egypt
 In Egypt, the Pharaoh dies but the Israelites continued to be enslaved
 God hears the cries of his people and remembers the covenant he made to
Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob
The Burning Bush
 Moses was tending the flock of his Father- in-Law when a bush burst into
flames but was not consumed by it
 God called out to Moses from the bush
o He told him to remove his sandals because he was standing on Holy
Ground
o He identifies Himself as the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob and
that He has heard the cry of His people of Egypt
 God commands Moses to go deliver God’s people out of Egypt
o Moses wants to know who he should say sent him to the Israelites
o God tells Him to say “Yahweh”: I AM WHO AM
 God will go with Moses to Egypt
 Moses is worried that the people would not believe him, so God showed
Moses his power
o He asked Moses to throw his staff on the ground and turned it into a
serpent
 Then he tells Moses that he will be able to turn the Nile into blood, and that
he can change the color of his hands
 Moses then voices concern that he is not good with public speaking and
God tells him that his brother Aaron will be his mouthpiece
 Moses meets Aaron in the wilderness and together they visited the elders of
Israel and convinced them that God would deliver them
Moses and Pharaoh
 Moses and Aaron come before Pharaoh, but he refuses to let them go and
no longer provides them with straw for their bricks
 The Israelites begin to turn on Moses because of the extra work they have
received
 Moses goes before Pharaoh yet again and he again refuses, so Moses begins
to show God’s power
o Aaron’s rod is turned into a snake
o Pharaoh’s magicians are able to do so as well, but God’s snake eats
the others
 Pharaoh still refuses to let the Israelites go and God unleashes his power on
the Egyptians in the form of 10 plagues
10 Plagues
 1. Water is turned to blood
 2. Frogs over the land
 3. Plague of insects (gnats)
 4. Flies
 5. Egyptians cattle die
 6. Plague of boils
 7. Plagues of hail
 8. Plagues of locusts
 9. Darkness for 3 days
 10. Death of the first born
The Passover: The Event
 Moses goes to Pharaoh and warns him that the first born of each household
would die unless the Israelites could leave, but Pharaoh still would not let the
people go
 Each household was to take an unblemished, male lamb, look after it, and
slaughter it at twilight four days later
 Blood from the lamb was to be brushed on the door frames. This would tell
the Angel of death that it was an Israelite home and to ‘pass over’
 Then the families were to roast the lamb and eat it with bitter herbs and
unleavened bread. Every bit of the lamb had to be eaten and any
remaining bones burned
 The Israelites were to perform this ritual dressed for a journey
 The next morning, Pharaoh’s own son is dead, and he finally lets them go
The Passover: The Meaning
The Passover The Eucharist
Unleavened bread and wine Jesus institutes the bread and win as
his Body and Blood
Barakah (blessing) was said at the Jesus breaks the bread and says a
Passover Meal blessing
 Unblemished Lamb’s blood on door Jesus was the unblemished lamb who
posts and lintel was sacrificed for our sins
None of the lamb’s bones were to be The soldiers would not break the legs
broken of Jesus
Celebrates the Israelite’s freedom We celebrate our freedom from sin
from Egyptian slavery
Moses pours blood on the Israelites as Jesus pours out his blood as the sign of
the sign of the covenant the new covenant
Parting the Red Sea
 After the 10th plague, the Israelites exit Egypt
o They brought the bones of Joseph with them
 God leads them by a cloud of smoke by day and a pillar of fire by night
 Pharaoh realizes that he lost all of his servile labor, changes his mind, and
pursues the Israelites and traps them against the Red Sea
 God instructs Moses to raise his hands over the sea and part it while the
Israelites cross on dry land
 Pharaoh’s army chases them through the sea, but once all the Israelites have
crossed, Moses lowers his arms and the Egyptians all drown
Israelites in the Desert
 The Israelites were now in search of the land promised to them by God
o The land of Canaan had been promised to Abraham years before,
and now it was time for them to claim it
 They began to make their way to Mt. Sinai, but had no food to eat in the
desert
o They called out to God and were angry because they believed that
Moses had brought them out into the wilderness to die
 God sends them quail and manna which is bread from heaven
o The bread would come down daily in the middle of the night
o Quail would come in the evening
 Moses struck the rock twice with his staff and water flowed out
o God told Moses that he would not enter into the promised land
because his lack of faith
Moses on the Mountain
 The people made it to Mt. Sinai and Moses went up the mountain alone to
be with God
 A cloud descended upon the mountain and thunder and lightning came
from it
 Moses entered the cloud and talked to God
 o He received the 10 commandments
o He also receives different laws dealing with religious celebration and
social interaction
 Moses remained on the mountain for 40 days and 40 nights
 When he came down from the mountain, he had the tablets of the 10
commandments and was visually changed
The 10 Commandments
 1. I am the Lord your God; you shall not have any other God’s besides me
 2. You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain
 3. Keep holy the Sabbath day
 4. Honor your father and mother
 5. You shall not kill
 6. You shall not commit adultery
 7. You shall not steal
 8. You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor
 9. You shall not covet your neighbors’ wife
 10. You shall not covet you neighbors’ goods
The Golden Calf
 The people of Israel realized that Moses had not come down for a while, so
they asked Aaron to make them a God to lead them
 Aaron had everyone bring him their gold and they melted it down and
shaped it into a golden calf
 They built an altar and made sacrifices to it
 God tells Moses what the Israelites are doing and instructs him to go put an
end to it
 Moses throws the 10 commandments to the ground and melts down the
golden calf in anger
 He kills all of those who would not repent and submit to God
God and Moses
 Moses sets up a tent for God so that they have a place to meet and talk
o Moses is able to talk to God face to face
o God descends in a pillar of cloud which resides outside the tent
o The Israelites worship while God is in talking to Moses
 While Moses talked to God as with a friend, he was not able to see his face
because anyone who sees God’s face will die
 Moses was given a second set of the 10 commandments since he had
broken the first set with the destruction of the Golden Calf
 Moses then instructed an Ark to be built to hold the sacred artifacts of Israel
The Ark of the Covenant
 The ark was made of acacia wood; two and a half cubits long, a cubit and a
half wide, and a cubit and a half high
 It was overlaid with pure gold, both inside and out, and made a gold
molding around it
 There were two cherubim out of hammered gold at the ends of the cover.
The cherubim faced each other, looking toward the cover.
 The Ark Contained:
o Gold jar of manna
o Aaron’s staff that had budded
o The stone tablets of the 10 Commandments
The Land of Canaan
 When the cloud of the Lord left their meeting tent, the Israelites departed
from Mt. Sinai in search of the land of Canaan
 Moses second in command and leader of their army was named Joshua
 Canaan was the land promised to Abraham hundreds of years before
o It was a land said to be “flowing with milk and honey”
 When they reached the outskirts of the promised land, the Israelites sent 12
scouts into the land to size up those who still lived
o One scout from each tribe of Israel
o Joshua was one of the scouts
 The scouts came back and spread word that the inhabitants were giants
and would be nearly impossible to defeat in battle
 Moses ordered an attack on the inhabitants because God promised to
deliver them the land
 However, the people rebelled and refused to attack the Canaanites and
their allies
 The Canaanites in turn attacked Israel and drove them back into the desert
o God struck down 11 of the 12 scouts (not Joshua)
 Because of their lack of faith, the Israelites were now to spend 40 years
wandering in the desert
 They would not be able to enter the promised land until they showed that
they could be faithful to God
Moses Dies
 The Israelites continued to wander in the desert under God’s guidance
 Their main focus was survival
o Finding food
o Fighting battles
 o Escaping sickness
 Because of their unfaithfulness, the God let snakes attack the Israelites
o Healed by raising a bronze serpent on Aaron’s staff
 During a battle, Moses is up on a mountain and lifts his arms over the battle
o Every time that his arms are up, the Israelites have the advantage
 Moses is shown the Promised Land but dies in the land of Moab and Joshua
becomes the new leader of Israel
Leviticus
 Leviticus is a book of law that demonstrates a concern with many different
aspects of Jewish daily life
 It contains detailed laws regulating the offering of sacrifices, the duties of
priests, the liturgical calendar, the sexual, dietary, and economic practices of
the Israelites, and many other issues of ritual and moral holiness
 The entirety of Leviticus is set at the base of Mt. Sinai
 The most popular verse we receive from Leviticus is the command of the Lord
to, “Be holy as I the Lord your God am holy.”
Numbers
 Numbers is a book that is focused on the census of the Israelites
 It tells the story of how Israel’s exodus generation entered the desert where
most of them died away in faithlessness and disobedience
 It also explains how the next generation emerged, prepared to claim the
promise of a new land
 Numbers emphasizes the theme of God’s faithfulness that endures even in
the face of difficult journeys, lack of food and water, and unbelief
Deuteronomy
 Deuteronomy is the stories of the previous three books through the eyes of
Moses right before his death in the plains of Moab
 Moses mainly focuses on the laws that had been given to him by God an
instructs the Israelites to follow them
 Moses knows the unfaithfulness of the Israelites and encourages them to rise
to the challenge
 The end of the book tells about Moses’ last days and the transition of Joshua
to the leader of Israel
Joshua and Judges
Origins
 Joshua was originally named Hosea son of Nun until Moses changed his
name to Joshua (“Yeshua”)
 He is the only spy that believes that they can beat the Canaanites whenever
Moses sends them to scout the promised land
o He is the only scout not to be smitten by God
 He takes control of Israel after Moses dies as directed by Moses
 Joshua is a prefiguration of Jesus
o Leads his people into the promised land
o Joshua literally means “Lord of Salvation”
Entering the Promised Land
 Under Moses’ dying command, Joshua begins to lead the new generation of
Israelites into the Promised Land
 Jericho is the first city that needs to be conquered for the Israelites to claim a
homeland
o Joshua sends two spies into the city to see if there are any weaknesses
to exploit
o Jericho had impenetrable walls that made it impossible to conquer
 Rehab the prostitute hides the spies whenever the people of Jericho come
looking for the spies
o She hides them in the roof of her home and says that they left the city
o She does this to assure her safety whenever the Israelites attack
Crossing the Jordan River
 While the spies where in the city of Jericho, the rest of Israel had to figure out
how to cross the flooded Jordan River
 God directed the priests to take the Ark of the Covenant and stand in the
middle of the Jordan River
 All the Israelites were able to cross because a path dried up for them to cross
the river
o This directly correlates with the crossing of the Red Sea
o This showed that Joshua has the same authentic leadership as Moses
 Once the enemies of the Israelites heard what the Lord had done, they were
frightened of them
The Fall of Jericho
 There were those who had not yet been circumcised during their time in the
desert, so Joshua ordered for all men to be circumcised who had yet to do
so
 An Angel of the Lord appeared to Joshua and gave him instructions on how
to defeat Jericho
 “March around the city once with all the armed men. Do this for 6 days.
Have 7 priests carry trumpets of rams’ horns in front of the ark. On the 7th day,
 march around the city 7 times, with the priests blowing the trumpets. When
you hear them sound a long blast on the trumpets, have the whole army give
a loud shout; then the wall of the city will collapse, and the army will go up,
everyone straight in.”
 God delivered on his promise and the Israelites wiped out all of the people of
Jericho. Only Rehab and her family lived.
Israel and Its Enemies
 Other nations heard about Israel and what happened to Jericho and they
were scared of their invading force
 Some nations pretended to be out of town admirers of the Israelites so that
they would not lose their homeland
o Joshua made these people their servants
 Many other nations banded together to form an alliance against Israel
 The alliance attacked Joshua and his armies
o Joshua defeats their armies
o He asked the Lord to make the sun stand still so that his enemies
cannot escape into darkness
Joshua’s Victories
 There continues to be armies that come to meet Joshua and the Israelites in
battle. This is because the land of Canaan was one that was very fertile
 Joshua would defeat every single one with the help of the Lord
 Chapter 12 of the book of Joshua list the line of kings that Joshua defeats
with the help of the Lord
o 31 kings are mentioned
 Once the military conquests are completed, the land is divided amongst the
12 tribes of Israel
 There was no king to rule over the Israelites
Significance
 The Israelites had finally received their homeland that was promised to them
by God to Abraham
 They were now able to have legitimacy as a nation because they now had a
homeland and were able to protect it
 The remaining parts of the book of Joshua have to do with the fair distribution
of the land to the 12 tribes of Israel
 Finally, once all the land had been divided, Israel re-consecrates itself to the
Lord and renews its covenant with him in a large sacrifice to Shechem
Judges
 The book of Judges begins with the death of Joshua who lived to be 110
years old
 After a couple generations, the Israelites forgot about God and all of the
things that he had done for them
o They began to worship the idol Baal
 God allowed them to be conquered, but then raised up Judges who would
lead and protect the people of Israel as long as they stayed faithful to the
Lord
 The book of Judges shows the cycle of Israel worshipping God, then
forgetting Him and worshipping false Gods, then being conquered before
being saved by God through the hand of the Judges
 Othniel
o The Israelites were defeated by the Cushan-Rishathaim
o Othniel was directed by the Lord to deliver his people
 Ehud
o Israel was defeated once again by the Moabites
o Ehud took a sword and stabbed the king in the stomach and left him
for dead
o He then leads the Israelites in battle to reclaim their land
 Shamgar
o Israel was threatened by the Philistines
o Shamgar led them in battle and killed 600 with an ox goad
Deborah
 The Israelites were again conquered for 20 years
 Deborah, a prophet, lead Israel at the time and made plans to free Israel as
directed by God
 She went up with Israel’s armies to Mount Tabor and the Israelite army was
victorious even though they faced 900 chariots
 All were killed except for the leader of the army, Sisera, who escaped down
Mount Tabor and was seeking a place of refuge
 Jael, wife of Heber the Kenite, welcomed him as an ally into her tent
 While he was sleeping, she took a tent spike and drove it through his head
Gideon
 Because of their unfaithfulness to the covenant of God, Israel again falls to
the Midianites for seven years
 God hears the cry of the Israelites once again and send his angel to Gideon
o He informs Gideon that he is a mighty warrior
 He instructs Gideon to go and save Israel from the Midianites, but Gideon
questions the angel and asks for a sign
o Gideon did not realize he was talking to an angel
 Gideon grabs a goat and unleavened bread and, in his attempt, to make a
sacrifice to the Lord
 The Angel touched the unleavened bread and meat with the end of his staff
and it was consumed with fire
o It is only then that Gideon recognizes the Angel of the Lord
 God instructs Gideon to tear down the altar of Baal and to build one to Him
instead
o Gideon does so in the middle of the night and sacrifices a bull on the
altar of the Lord
 When the people wake up, they are outraged and want to know who tore
down Baal’s altar
o Gideon’s father reasoned with the people
o “Are you going to plead Baal’s cause? Are you trying to save him?
Whoever fights for him shall be put to death by morning! If Baal really
is a god, he can defend himself when someone breaks down his
altar.”
 Gideon is preparing for battle, but is still unsure if this is indeed what God
wants of him
o “Do not be angry with me. Let me make just one more request. Allow
me one more test with the fleece, but this time make the fleece dry
and let the ground be covered with dew.”
o That night God did so. Only the fleece was dry; all the ground was
covered with dew
 Gideon continues to prepare and gathers men for battle
o God informs Gideon that he has too many men for battle
o There were 22,000 men
 Gideon tells all those who are scared of battle to go home
o This leaves him with 10,000 men
o God says this is still too many
 God instructs Gideon to take his men to a pond of water so that he can thin
the number of men in Gideon’s army
 There are two ways that the army drinks from the water will determine who
goes into battle
o The 300 men who lapped up water like a dog will go into battle
o The rest were sent home
 Gideon takes his 300 men and surrounds the camp of the Midianites at night
o Again, Gideon begins to doubt the Lord and was scared to attack
with so few men
 God tells Gideon to go down to the camp and listen to what the Midianites
are saying
o “I had a dream that a round loaf of barely bread came tumbling into
the Midianite camp. It struck the tent with such force that the tent
overturned and collapsed.”
 Gideon was encouraged by this because he interpreted this as him
overrunning the camp
o Israelites were associated with poverty
 The Israelites took trumpets and jars, surrounded the camp, and made large
noises
 The Midianites were so scared that they fled and even began to fight
amongst each other thinking they were part of Gideon’s army
 Gideon chases down the remaining Midianites and slaughters them
 The Israelites are free once again and ask Gideon to be their leader
 Gideon refuses to leave, only asking for each of them to give him a gold
earring as a reward
o Gold earring distinguished an Ishmaelite
 Gideon made the gold into an ephod, which he placed in Ophrah, his town.
All Israel prostituted themselves by worshipping it there
 Gideon son of Joash died at a good old age and was buried in the tomb of
his father
 Israelites began to worship Baal again
Samson
 Abimelek, Jair, Tola, and Jephah were judges who would save Israel after
they have fallen to the temptation to false gods
 A certain man of Zorah, name Manoah, from the clan of the Danites, had a
wife who was childless, unable to give birth
 The Angel of the Lord appeared to her and told her she is not to drink any
wine or eat anything that is unclean for she was to become pregnant
 He told her that her son would be a Nazirite
o This vow required the Nazirite to observe the following: Abstain from
wine, wine vinegar, grapes, raisins; Refrain from cutting the hair on
one’s head; Avoid corpses and graves, even those of family members,
and any structure which contains these things
 When Manoah was told of this, he prayed for the Angel of the Lord to come
back and show them how to raise the child
 The Angel complies, and the child is born, and they name him Samson
 When it came time for Samson to find a wife, he decided that he desired a
Philistine woman rather than a woman of Israel
 On his way to see her, he encountered a lion and tore it apart with his bare
hands
 Later on, when he came back to the lion’s carcass, he found that bees had
made a hive and he took the honey and gave it to his parents
 At Samson’s wedding; “Let me tell you a riddle,” Samson said to them, “If you
can give me the answer within the 7 days of the feast, I will give you 30 linen
garments and 30 sets of clothes. If you can’t tell me the answer, you must
give me 30 linen garments and 30 sets of clothes.”
 “Out of the eater, something to eat; out of the strong, something sweet.”
 For 3 days, they could not give the answer. But on the 4th day they asked his
wife for the answer under penalty of death
 On the 7th he told her and she in turn told the Philistines
o Because they cheated, Samson kills them all and his wife is given to
one of his companions
 Samson wanted to get vengeance on the Philistines, so he burned their crops
to the ground by means of foxes
 When the Philistines found out who had done it, they found Samson’s wife
and burned her and her father to death
o Samson kills many Philistines in retaliation
 The Israelites send 3000 men to hand Samson over to the Philistines; Samson
agrees as long as they do not kill him
 Once he is handed over to the Philistines he breaks free of the ropes and kills
1000 Philistines with the jawbone of a donkey
 Samson falls in love with another Philistine woman named Delilah
 The Philistine leader asked Delilah to figure out where he gets his strength
from and Delilah agrees
 Samson lies and said that 7 fresh bow strings are his weakness. Delilah
believes him and ties him up to no avail
 Samson lies to her 2 more times (new ropes and her braided) Delilah still
sends the Philistines on him
 After much nagging, Samson finally gives in and tells her that his strength is his
hair
o She ties him up and cuts his hair
 Samson was captured and had his eyes gouged out by the Philistines
 They brought Samson to their Philistine temple and were celebrating his
capture
o They tied him to pillars
 He pushed the pillars down and killed over 3000 Philistines
 The rest of Judges tells about the struggles within the 12 tribes of Israel
 Throughout this book, Israel has no king at God’s command
The Synoptic Gospels
General Facts
 The Gospels are not biographies or autobiographies
o The emphasis of the Gospels is on the actions of Jesus Christ that relate
to our eternal salvation
 The Gospels are historically accurate
o Although there are some incongruencies, nothing in the Gospels is
completely contradictory
 The Gospels view the story of Jesus through 4 different vantage points
 Each Gospel was written to a separate audience and by a separate author
 Matthew, Mark, and, Luke are known as the synoptic gospels because they
are similar
Synoptic Gospel Origins
 The word “synoptic” comes from the Greek word synoptikos, meaning “able
to be seen together”
 Before these Gospels were written down, they were transmitted orally
through the tradition and liturgy
 Because of how close certain passages are in each of the 3 Gospels, Biblical
scholarship believes that these Gospel all come from one similar source
o An unknown source called Q
o Or Mark
 It is believed that Luke and Matthew are written independently of each other
and around the same time
Matthew
 The early Church fathers all believed that the Apostle Matthew is the author
o Modern scholarship would disagree because of its dependence on
Mark
 Matthew writes his Gospel around 70-90 AD to a Jewish/Christian community
who spoke Greek
o Matthew wrote in Greek and often references the OT in his writings
o He also used phrases like “kingdom of heaven” and “son of David”
 Matthew’s main purpose is to show that Jesus is the Messiah promised by
God
o Traces genealogy back to David
 Matthew is 1 of the 2 Gospels with a nativity story
o Only account of the Magi
 Matthew splits his Gospel into 3 basic divisions: The Nativity, Jesus’ ministry,
and the Passion, Death, and Resurrection of Jesus
 Matthew is known for his rendition of the sermon on the mount which lead
into the Beatitudes
 He also has multiple parables relating to the Kingdom of God
 Matthew is the only Gospel that reports the bribe of the guards after the
resurrection
The Number 7 in Matthew
 The Number 7 is prevalent in Matthew’s gospel because he is writing to a
Jewish audience who would understand the significance
o 7 signifies something divine that is perfected or completed
 Matthew 13-7 Parables
o Sower, Mustard Seed, Wheat, Leaven, Treasure, Pearl, and Net
 Matthew 23-7 Woes to the Scribes and Pharisees
o Shutting heaven, swearing by the temple, straining the gnat, cleaning
the cup, whitewashed tombs, murdering prophets, and pronounced
of judgement
 Book of Matthew: 7 Mountains of the King
o Mountain of Temptation (4), Sermon on the Mount (5), Mountain of
Prayer (14), Mountain of Feeding (15), Mountain of Transfiguration (17),
Mountain of Olives/Suffering (21), Mountain of the Resurrection (28)
Mark
 The author of Mark is widely known and accepted as “John also called
Mark” of Acts
o Mark was a close friend of Peter
 The Gospel of Mark is believed to be drawn solely from the preaching and
teaching of Peter
 Mark was a companion of Paul and Barnabas on their first Apostolic Journey
o Paul refused to take Mark on his second apostolic journey
 Mark ends up with Peter, but reconciles with Paul by the end of his life
 Mark is known as the earliest written Gospel written between 50-60 AD
 Mark writes specifically to the suffering and persecuted Christian community
in Rome
 Mark emphasizes the love Jesus shows in his suffering for humanity and the
need for all of us to follow in Jesus’ example
 More than any other gospel, Mark shows the humanity and emotions of Jesus
 Mark is the shortest Gospel starting with Jesus’ baptism
o Mark has an abrupt writing style
 Mark has the same formal as Matthew
o No infancy narrative
 Mark’s Gospel focuses on Jesus being a popular miracle worker, powerful
healer, and authoritative teacher
o Focuses on the signs and works of Jesus and his teachings
 Mark has the largest focus on the journey to the passion of Jesus
o There are 3 predictions of the passion recorded on this journey
 The road to Jerusalem is a slow one filled with teachings and miracles
The Emotions of Jesus in Mark
 In the very first chapter of Mark, we see Jesus show “compassion”
o Heals a man with leprosy who begs for Jesus’ help
 In Mark 3, Jesus is angry with the Pharisees
o The Pharisees are outraged that Jesus tries to heal on the Sabbath
o Jesus is angered by their “hardness of hearts”
 In Mark 8, Jesus is greatly disappointed with the Pharisees
o The Pharisees come looking for a sign and Jesus sighs for the depth of
his Spirit
 In Mark 10, Jesus shows love for the little children
o Jesus “rebukes” those stopping the children, Jesus “embraces” the
children
Luke
 Luke is the 3rd Gospel in the Bible written by Luke who was the companion of
Paul
 Luke is a gentile (non-Jew) who was well educated in Greek culture
 Luke is known as the divine physician because we see his occupation as a
doctor in Colossians
o Paul references his “dear friend Luke, the doctor”
 Luke takes part in Paul’s 2nd and 3rd apostolic journeys, accompanying Paul
to his death
 The Gospel of Luke is a part of a 2-volume set with Acts of the Apostles
 Both Luke and the Acts of the Apostles are addressed to the same reader:
Theophilus
o Theophilus literally means “one who loves God”
 o This person is believed to be a high ranking Roman Official
 Luke’s narrative was written for the instruction of Theophilus with the intention
that he would publish/circulate the work
 Luke is considered the most educated of the Gospel writers
o His Greek vocabulary is extensive, and his understanding of the Holy
Land is detailed
Luke’s Emphasis
 Luke writes to a gentile audience with the intention of letting all people know
that salvation was not for people of Jewish decent
 Luke focuses on the prayer that Jesus puts into his ministry, especially before
special occasions
 Luke is the only Gospel that gives major focus to the role of women in Jesus’
ministry
o This includes the women of his family
 Luke focuses on the poor and the sinners (outcast of society)
 Luke has more parables that any other gospel (28)
Major Events in the Gospel
 Jesus’ birth: Matthew and Luke
o Both Matthew and Luke state that Jesus is of virgin birth
o Jesus came from David’s family line
o Jesus was born in Bethlehem (shepherds came and visited)
 Baptism of Jesus
o All 4 gospels have this story
o Jesus was around the age of 30 and began his public ministry
o The Holy Spirit descended, and a voice came from the sky
 Miracles
o At least 35 miracles by Jesus are recorded in the NT
o He healed many physical ailments (he raised people from the dead 3
times)
o He also showed power over nature, including stopping a storm and
walking on water
 Teachings
o Jesus’ main teaching occurs at the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-
7)
o Jesus travels city to city on foot and often teaches outside of
civilization
o Parables are a main teaching tactic in the synoptic gospels (33 unique
parables)
 Suffering and Death
o All Gospels recount Jesus’ suffering and death as their focal point
o Jesus has the last supper with his apostles and is then betrayed and
arrested in the Garden
o Jesus is tried by both of the Jews and the Romans
o Jesus is beaten, tortured, and eventually crucified
 Resurrection
o Each gospel recounts an empty tomb with witnesses there on the 3rd
day
o The NT tells us over 500 people witness the resurrected Christ after He
dies
o Jesus ascends into Heaven after 40 days
The Gospel of John
Author
 The author of the gospel of John is widely accepted to be the Apostle John
also known as the beloved disciple
 We know more about John than any other writer because of his involvement
in the Gospels
 John had a brother named James who was also an apostle
o They were the sons of Zebedee and fishermen at the time of that Jesus
called them
 He was one of Jesus’ inner circle (Peter, James, and John)
 John was the only apostle who was at the foot of the cross
o He is charged with the care of Mary
o He is the only apostle to die a natural death
Purpose
 The Gospel of John was written in the year 90 AD during his exile on the Island
of Patmos
o We believe that it was the last Gospel written
 John focuses on the divinity of Jesus in argument against to the heresies of
the time period
 John is not concerned with chronology, but rather the theological treatment
of who Jesus is and his theological teachings, prayers, and discussions
o Priestly prayer at the last supper, discussion with Nicodemus the
Pharisee, etc.
 John steeps his gospel in abundant symbolism, both theological and
sacramental
o Light, water, bread, etc.
 John provides an inside view because of his proximity to Jesus
Construction
 The Gospel of John begins with an explanation of Jesus before He becomes
man, and why He becomes man
o The Prologue: In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with
God, and the Word was God
 Chapters 1-12 show us different works, teachings, and events of Jesus’ life
that lead up to his passion, death, and resurrection
o There are no parables in the Gospel of John
 Chapters 13-20 give an in-depth account of the passion, death, and
resurrection of Jesus
 Chapter 21 is believed to be a chapter that was added on later by a
different author
The 7 Signs
 John recounts 7 signs (or miracles) of Jesus to complete his early ministry
1. Chapter 2-Cana: water into wine
2. Chapter 4- raising the son of the royal official
3. Chapter 5- paralyzed man at the pool of Bethesda
4. Chapter 6- multiplication of loaves
5. Chapter 6- walking on water
6. Chapter 9- healing of the man born blind
7. Chapter 11- raising of Lazarus
The 7 “I Am” Sayings
 Jesus makes 7 “I am” sayings which give us a clue to who He is
o This is a direct reference to “Yahweh”
6:35- I am the bread of life
8:12- I am the light of the world
10:7- I am the gate for the sheep
10:11- I am the good shepherd
11:25 – I am the resurrection and the life
14:6 – I am the way, and the truth, and the life
15:1- I am the true vine
Jesus and the Number 8
 The number 8 in the Bible represents a new beginning, a new order, or new
creation
o The Jewish word for 8 comes from the Jewish word for abundance,
fertility, and even resurrection
 Jewish boys were circumcised on the 8th day of their life as a sign of a new
beginning in God
 In the Jewish Feast of Tabernacles (booths) there are 7 days of celebration
and the final Great Last Day (8th day) which commemorates the Last
Judgement of God
 The number of Jesus is considered 888 because that is the sum of his name in
Greek
 Jesus’ saving work is his 8th sign (Cross and Resurrection) which becomes the
8th day of creation (Eucharist)
The Bread of Life Discourse
 John 6:
 Jesus begins this chapter by feeding 5000 people (multiplications of loaves
and fish)
 Then Jesus walks on water
 The people find him, and the bread of life discourse begins
 “Do not work for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to
eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you, for on Him the Father, God,
has set His seal”
 “Truly, truly, I say to you, it is not Moses who has given you the bread out of
Heaven, but it is My Father who gives you the true bread out of Heaven. For
the bread of God is that which comes down out of Heaven and gives life to
the world.” Then they said to Him, “Lord, always give us this bread”
 Jesus then tells us that He is the bread of life
 “Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; he who comes to Me will not
hunger and he who believes in Me will never thirst.””
 “All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me
I will certainly not cast out. For I have come down from Heaven, not to do
My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me.”
 “For this is the will of My Father, that everyone who beholds the Son and
believes in Him will have eternal life, and I Myself will raise him up on the last
day.”
 “Therefore, the Jews were grumbling about Him, because He said, “I am the
bread that came down out of Heaven.”
 The Jews get mad
 “They were saying, “Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and
mother we know? How does He now say, ‘I have come down out of
Heaven’?””
 “Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes has eternal life. I am the bread of
life. Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died. This is the
bread which comes down out of Heaven, so that one may eat of it and not
die.”
 “I am the living bread that came down out of Heaven; if anyone eats of this
bread, he will live forever; and the bread also which I will give for the life of
the world is My flesh.”
 “Then the Jews began to argue with one another, saying, “How can this man
give us His flesh to eat?””
 Jesus does not back down
 “So, Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless, you eat the flesh of
the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in yourselves.”
 “He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood abides in Me and I in him.”
 “Therefore, many of His disciples, when they heard this said, “This is a difficult
statement; who can listen to it?”
 “As a result of this many of His disciples withdrew and were not walking with
Him anymore?”
 So, Jesus said to the 12, “You do not want to go away also, do you?”
 Simon Peter answered Him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have words of
eternal life. We have believed and have come to know that You are the
Holy One of God.”
The Paschal Mystery
 Paschal Mystery- The Passion, Death, and Resurrection of Jesus through
which the human race is able to go to Heaven
o The Paschal Mystery takes place during the Holy Triduum (Holy
Thursday, Good Friday, Easter Sunday)
 “Paschal” comes from the Hebrew word that refers to the Passover
o The events of the Holy Triduum are inherently connected to the
Passover
 This is the central mystery of the Catholic faith
o Without it, Jesus is just another teacher
John 13
 Jesus washed the feet of his disciples
o Peter refuses Jesus at first
o Jesus tells us that we must do as He does
 Jesus predicts his betrayal
o After they share bread, Judas who was in charge of the money,
leaves
John 15
 Jesus gives another “I AM” statement
o I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you,
you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing
o If you follow Jesus, the fruit of your work will be apparent
o Commandment of Love: “Love each other as I have loved you.
Greater love has no one than this; to lay down one’s life for one’s
friends. You are my friends if you do what I command. I no longer call
you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business, I
have called you friend.”
 The world will hate the disciples
o The disciples of Jesus will be treated just as He is (martyrdom)
John 16 & 17
 Jesus has to leave so that the Holy Spirit can come
o “advocate” means ‘helper’ and refers to the Holy Spirit
o “But when he, the Spirit of truth, he will guide you into all the truth”
16:12
 Jesus tells them He is leaving
o The apostles will be sorrowful because of Jesus’ death, but will rejoice
in the resurrection
 Jesus prays for his apostles
o He asks for their strength, protection, and holiness
 Jesus prays for all believers
o He asks that they might be unified with the father
The Passion
 After they are done praying, they leave for the Garden of Gethsemane (new
creation) where Judas confronts Jesus and betrays him with a kiss
o Peter cuts off the ear of the high priest’s servant
 While Peter is standing outside of the high priest’s gate, he denies Jesus 3
times as predicted
 The Jewish high priest Caiaphas hears the testimony against Jesus
o No real charges could be brought forth, but they found him guilty of
blasphemy because he claimed to be the son of God
 The Jews did not have the authority to execute anyone, so they had to bring
Jesus before Pilate (the roman governor)
o Pilate does not know how to judge him
 Jesus is sent to Herod because he is Jewish
 Herod loses interest in Jesus and sends him to Pilate
 After questioning, Pilate decides to release a prisoner hoping it will be Jesus
 The crowns choose Barabbas
 Instead of killing Jesus, Pilate has him beaten and scourged 39 times. Jesus
was also mocked and given a purple robe and crown of thrones
 People wanted Jesus dead
 Jewish people use Caesar against Pilate
 Pilate washes his hands of the situation
 Jesus carries his cross to the place of the skull- Golgotha
 He was crucified with two other criminals
 Pilate puts “Jesus of Nazareth, the King of Jews” on Jesus’ cross
 The soldiers cast lots for Jesus garments
 Jesus is crucified
 Last words were “It is done”
 Buried in the tomb of Joseph of Arimathea
 The Resurrection
 Mary Magdalene is the first to see that the tomb is empty
 Peter and John have a foot race to the tomb
 After they leave, 2 angels and Jesus appear to Mary M telling her of the
resurrection
 Jesus would appear to the apostles for the 40 days after that until he would
second heaven
Acts of the Apostles
 Acts of the Apostles was apart 2 of the works of Luke the companion of Paul-
Gospel of Luke was apart 1
 The book is addressed to the same Theophilus
 The book was written prior to the