Session One: Introduction: Unlocking the Mystery of the Bible
Summary: Jeff Cavins provides an overview of the series to encourage Catholics to read and understand the Bible. He presents a method to center on the basic stories of the Bible sorting it in chronological order into twelve periods in fourteen narrative books. He provides The Bible Timeline Chart and Bookmark to put the story into a helpful chronology.
The Bible Timeline Chart: (See also: Bible Time Frame)
12 consecutive historical periods, color coded:
1. Early World, Creation to 2000 BC: Turquoise
2. Patriarchs, 2000 1700 BC: Burgundy
3. Egypt and Exodus, 1700 1280 BC: Red
4. Desert Wanderings, 1280 1240 BC: Tan
5. Conquest and Judges, 1240 1050 BC: Green
6. Royal Kingdom, 1050 930 BC: Purple
7. Divided Kingdom, 930 722 BC: Black
8. Exile, 722 538 BC: Baby Blue
9. Return, 538 167 BC: Yellow
10. Maccabean Revolt, 167 AD 1: Orange
11. Messianic Fulfillment, AD 1 33: Gold
12. The Church, AD 33 White
Narrative Books: 14 books telling salvation history beginning to end.
Supplemental Books: 59 remaining books to be read in their historical context.
Gods formation of His family: One holy couple; one holy family; one holy tribe; one holy nation; one holy kingdom; One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church.
Key people and events: chronological and geographical (north to south: Babylon, Canaan, Egypt).
Events in secular history correlated.
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS ANSWERED
1. Answers will vary; personal response
2. The Church Fathers followed a "narrative approach" to teaching the Christian Faith that is built upon the biblical story of God's interactions with his people. The CCC (Catechism of the Catholic Church) which you might think of as containing a "heap of Catholicism," reflects this in its structure. All the information in the "heap" the Catechism divided into four "pillars":
The Creed. St Augustine tells us that this first "pillar," the Creed, is the story of salvation history "in tightly wound form." It is the first pillar for a reason: It is the foundation of the biblical story, and the second, third, and fourth pillars are built upon it.
Sacraments and Liturgy. The second pillar addresses how each of us is brought into the story of salvation.
Life in Christ. This third pillar is where we find our place in the story: how we live it.
Prayer: This fourth pillar is where intimacy with God develops; this is the goal of the story.
3. Each book of the Bible is linked to the other books by the "narrative thread" of God's plan. If we do not understand this plan-which includes why we have been created, what went wrong at the beginning, and how God set about making things right--it is difficult to make sense of the Bible as a whole.
From the very beginning, God taught his people to pass down the story of all he had done for them. As the story continued, his people would refer back to past events and look forward to things God had promised. If we enter the story in the middle, the importance and meaning of many people, places, and events may be unclear. Reading the Bible without knowing the larger story makes it difficult to understand the intended meaning of the text. The Catechism reminds us that we must be "attentive to the content and unity of the whole" when reading the Bible (CCC 112), as well as to "the way the truths of faith hang together among themselves and within the whole plan of divine Revelation" (CCC 114).
4. Genesis 1-11 (Early World); Genesis 12-50 (Patriarchs); Exodus (Egypt and Exodus); Numbers (Desert Wanderings); Joshua and Judges (Conquest and Judges); 1 and 2 Samuel; 1 Kings 1-11 (Royal Kingdom); 1 Kings 12-22; 2 Kings (Divided Kingdom); 2 Kings 17, 25 (Exile); Ezra and Nehemiah (Return); 1 Maccabees (Maccabean Revolt); Luke (Messianic Fulfillment); Acts of the Apostles
5. 1 and 2 Chronicles, the "supplemental" books, provide a parallel historical account of the period. The "wisdom literature," including Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and song of Solomon (Also called Song of Songs), reflects God's covenant with David and this is placed in the Royal Kingdom period. Solomon is considered the "father" of wisdom literature, and David most likely wrote or inspired many of the Psalms.
6. The family group grows from One Holy Couple (Adam and Eve) to one Holy Family (Noah, his wife, and their sons) in the Early World, to One Holy Tribe (under Abraham) in the time of the Patriarchs, to One Holy Nation (under Moses) after the Exodus, to One Holy Kingdom (under David) in the Royal Kingdom, and finally to One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church (in the New Covenant with Jesus Christ). Notice how God's family grows! God starts with a couple and gradually builds a worldwide family.
7. A Key to Understanding The Bible Timeline Chart can be found on the inside front cover of the Chart. Hint: Look for the big arrows that point from one horizontal band to another on the Chart. Notice that the red genealogy line also crosses these bands to indicate the movement of God's people in and out of the land of Canaan. The major movements are:
God call Abram out of Ur (event 6; from the Northern countries into the land of Canaan; beginning of the Patriarchs period). There is another minor move during this time when Jacob flees into the North and has his sons.
Jacob's family moves to Egypt (event 14; from Canaan into the South and Egypt at the close of the Patriarchs period).
Israel's move from Egypt to Canaan at the start of Conquest and Judges (event 30; "Israel crosses the Jordan").
Israel goes into exile in Assyria, and Judah falls to Babylon (events 44 and 47; see the four arrows in the Exile period).
Judah returns to Canaan in the Return period (see the three arrows pointing to events 49, 50, and 52).
8. Answers will vary based on the periods selected.
Jeff stresses the focus of our efforts: The Bible tells a love story of God reaching out to you.
Next: Session Two
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