Introduction to the Old Testament – Class 2

Tonight we discussed various cultural influences found during the period of the early Old Testament writings. We discussed Standing Stones, Oral Tradition, and the Ancient Hebrew’s World View.

Eyewitnesses did not write the books of the Old Testament as the events occurred. The Biblical stories that we have were originally passed down by word of mouth. Family after family of the Hebrew people told and retold the stories of their religious faith experience; stories of how God had saved his people and was still saving them. Although the details of stories were changed or even lost, the basic religious meaning remained. This process of preserving stories, known as oral tradition, kept the stories meaning and value for the people. All civilizations have stories of the past that have been passed down from generation to generation.

Careful research of the first 5 books of the Bible, or the Pentateuch, reveals that it was probably assembled from 4 separate sources. In the Yahwist source (J), written in the Southern part of the Kingdom, God interacts directly with humans and has human qualities. God is passionate, relational, personal, social, and merciful. Later in the Elohist source (E), written in the Northern part of the Kingdom, God interacts indirectly with humans, through dreams and manifestations, and He is less vivid and less concrete. Later still in the Priestly source (P), written during the exile in Babylon, God is represented as transcendent and holy. This source emphasized genealogies, pilgrimages, festivals, worship, and ritual. Finally in the Deuteronomist source (D), written in Israel, God is the Lord of Israel. It is primarily concerned with the history of Israel.

Myth is “an imaginative story that embodies the beliefs and values of a group of people”, or contains “symbolic stories that express a spiritual truth or a basic belief about God”. Its purpose is to reveal many meanings or levels of understanding contained in a single story”. They perform four functions, including Theological, what God is like and how God relates to humanity; Cosmic, how the world works and what it’s purpose is; Social, how society should be organized and who is in charge; and Ethical, what values we should have and how we should behave.

Connections

I wasn’t exposed to sports as a child. I played grade school and high school softball and football in PE class as most of us did, and I was one of those kids that was usually picked last. My parents weren’t interested in sports at all so I didn’t go to evening and weekend games, and I wasn’t encouraged to join leagues or play summer sports. In fact, no one that I knew paid any attention to professional sports. When I went to college I noticed a lot of other students were focused on sports, and that they kept track of school teams and professional teams, but I didn’t understand what it was all about.

After college, I wasn’t even aware of sports until I met my wife. She is the sports nut at our house, and when we first met she knew the names of all the players and could quote statistics, for both football and softball. I was very impressed to say the least. Eventually, as I began to meet and pay attention to other friends and sport fans, I became aware of a peculiar reality. Professional sports seemed to tie people together in a way that politics and governments were not able to do. Once I heard the statistic that more people watch soccer in one day than watch football all year long, I realized the power of sports and how impressive this reality was.

As a child and before I knew anything about sports, my small town church connected me with other likeminded people. But as I grew older I realized that this was fairly limited in population and location. Quite a few years later, although I was still Protestant, I came to believe that it was the Catholic Church that connected almost everyone in the entire world, and that it was even more impressive than the power of professional sports. The Catholic Church connects people into one group, with similar beliefs all around the world. The Catholic Church connects people with a long history, going back thousands of years. The Catholic Church connects people in continuous worship, in the form of the Mass.

Almost every hour of every day, almost every day of every year, almost every year for centuries, the people of the Catholic Church have been in continuous worship to God. The Mass of the Catholic Church has been, and continues to be celebrated every hour somewhere in the world, and it connects us directly to Jesus Christ.

Introduction to the Old Testament – Class 1

Tonight we were presented with the question of how do we come to know God? The presentation suggested personal prayer and meditation, spiritual direction, communal prayer, ritual, sacrament, reading and study, and the Bible as answers to that question. We explored what is the Bible, divisions of the Bible, what kind of book is the Bible, and religious truths in the Bible.

The Bible is ancient, obviously, and it was written in Hebrew and Greek (obviously), not English, German, or even Latin. It came from a very different time and culture, which means that to read it out of context, is dangerous, which in turn makes it difficult to read. As we read we must try to understand the culturally conditioned experiences of God that the writers convey. Abraham, Moses, Joseph, and Jesus, although historical figures did not write anything in the Bible; they were written about. Still, we believe that there is Truth to be understood, interpreted, applied, and passed on to contemporary people of faith.

The Bible contains fact, myth, and truth. Examples of historical fact include David, who was king around 1000 BC, and Assyria, who destroyed Israel around 722 BC. Examples of things that are not fact, include the stories of creation found in Genesis, and the number of men leaving Egypt during the Exodus. Still, we are confident that God’s love and care for humanity is preserved in the Bible, whether buried beneath factual inaccuracies or not.

Here I am Lord

I, the Lord of sea and sky, I have heard my people cry.
All who dwell in dark and sin, my hand will save.
I, who made the stars of night, I will make their darkness bright.
Who will bear my light to them, whom shall I send?

 

Here I am, Lord, is it I Lord?
I have heard you calling in the night.
I will go, Lord, if you lead me.
I will hold your people in my heart.

 

I, the Lord of snow and rain, I have borne my people’s pain.
I have wept for love of them. They turn away.
I will break their hearts of stone; give them hearts for love alone.
I will speak my word to them, whom shall I send?

 

Here I am, Lord, is it I Lord?
I have heard you calling in the night.
I will go, Lord, if you lead me.
I will hold your people in my heart.

 

I, the Lord of wind and flame, I will tend the poor and lame.
I will set a feast for them, my hand will save.
Finest bread I will provide, till their hearts be satisfied.
I will give my life for them, whom shall I send?

Here I am, Lord, is it I Lord?
I have heard you calling in the night.
I will go, Lord, if you lead me.
I will hold your people in my heart.

 

Text based on Isaiah 6, Dan Schutte, 1981, 2003, OCP all rights reserved

Welcome

I am a convert to Catholicism although I feel like I've been catholic all of my life. I grew up in a small town evangelical church called the Church of the Nazarene, attending church regularly; earning a ten year perfect attendance pin while I was in High School. During college I went to church occasionally even though I attended religious schools for the first two years, and after college I searched for a church that was exciting, vibrant, and uplifting, but I couldn’t find what I needed. Eventually I quit altogether, and although I missed attending church and sometimes considered attending church on my own: I just never got around to it. My wife and I attended church with my Mother on visits to my home town although we never attended church otherwise, even though we seemed to share many of the same religious beliefs. I knew that my wife was Catholic, but it seemed to me that we should be attending a small local protestant church near our home, since I hadn't found anything better and it couldn't hurt. She, on the other hand, felt that the protestant church of my youth seriously lacked the level of worship that she desired, and I don't believe that being protestant was ever an option for her.

 

While preparing one of our daughters for marriage, my wife responded to a personal call and returned to her Catholic faith. She began attending Mass on Sundays, and joined the RCIA program as a team member. With her renewed interest we returned to our discussions about church and religion and I discovered that I was agreeing with her most of the time. She would come home after her RCIA meetings and we would talk about the subject for that evening, and during those conversations I began to realize that what I had believed about Catholicism was not accurate. She eventually invited me to attend the RCIA meetings with her and since she would be there it seemed like a good thing to do. I already knew that we both believed in Jesus and the Trinity, but this was the first time I understood that I could be Catholic and still be a Christian.

 

During these meetings I slowly realized that I was (in fact) a closet Catholic, since what the Church was teaching was what I believed to be true. I began attending weekly Mass with my wife, and after some hesitation I went forward during communion for a blessing. Once I did that I was hooked, amazed by an overwhelming sense of well being that lasted all week. I quickly became dependent on my weekly blessings, and that became a desire to be in full communion with the Church. I joined the next RCIA group as a participant and looked forward to my confirmation. Although I had stopped searching for a long time I never lost my faith in God. He used my wife's hope to bless me, her charity to convince me, and her love to lead me to his Church. I believe that the Catholic Church is teaching the Truth, and I want to learn all that I can so that I can help others, by being an example of his love. I am grateful for this opportunity to deepen my relationship with God, to learn more about his Church, and to contribute to His Kingdom.