The Old Testament in the Heart of the Catholic
Church
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Even though the first three chapters of Genesis may have had diverse
sources (and thus may not have had any unified human origin), we know that
what they teach about the meaning of existence, and about the origin and
purpose of the universe and of man, is non-contradictory, unified, and
true because
a. all the most intelligent people in the
world universally think this.
b. Christ himself verifies this through the
sacrament of Holy Orders.
c. they are the only origin stories that
mankind has ever heard.
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The revelation of creation [CCC 288] is inseparable from
a. the goodness of the universe and of
human existence, just as we find it.
b. the message that man is alone and that
the universe has no purpose.
c. the revelation and forging of the
covenant of the one God with his people.
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Creation is revealed [CCC 288] as
a. a charming story told to satisfy
curiosity about origins.
b. the first and universal witness to God's
all-powerful love.
c. something of minor importance in God's
plan.
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The Holy Father and bishops in communion with him certainly realize that
the idea of a Creator God is only one of many ideas that man has come up
with when he asks himself about the origins of things. [CCC 285]
However, the Catechism reaffirms [CCC 286] the truth professed by the
First Vatican Council, that the idea of a Creator is not unreasonable to
man. Even though, on account of the wounding of human reason because of
the Fall, the existence of a Creator may appear to man merely as one of
several possible answers to the question of origins, it is not an idea so
foreign to human reason that man can not find at least this much about God
on his own. (In fact, since the time of the apostles the Church has known
of pagan teachers who found this truth independently).
Thus the very existence of the world is a universal sign of God the
Creator's existence. The fact that some men don't see it that way does not
change the fact that men often have seen it just that way. It also doesn't
change the fact that it's true.
However, the truly amazing thing is that the all-powerful Creator desires
an intimate and unbreakable relationship of love (a covenant) with men,
his mere creatures. [CCC 288] Read Isaiah 44:24 (the book of the prophet
Isaiah, chapter 44, verse 24) and Psalm 104. God in his surpassing
tenderness reveals to his People that He who formed the world is He who
makes his covenant with them.
The all-powerful Creator is not an anonymous force but personally and
tenderly loves his People and seeks an everlasting covenant with them. The
Holy Father and the bishops united with him teach that, in a way, the
entire Old Testament reveals that one single reality. The Creation is its
wondrous, grand, and beautiful beginning. <<
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Please read Gen 3, and then answer the following question. You need to
understand that the answer is very important, and absolutely true. It is
the answer solemnly professed by the whole Catholic Church with all her
heart [CCC 1008]. Here is the question:
Who is directly and specifically responsible for the entry of death into
the world?
a. God.
b. Man.
c. No one.
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One day, man will be able to go back in a time machine (or use some other
tool or technique), and find the exact moment and place where the Fall
occurred.
a. Maybe.
b. No.
c. Yes.
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If man can not, at least in principle, find the exact moment and place
where the Fall occurred, then that means that the Fall is not a real
event, but is just a charming story about why there is evil in the
world.
a. Maybe.
b. No.
c. Yes.
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Moving yourself closer to the idea that the Fall is not a real event, but
just a story or metaphor for the existence of evil in the world,
a. may possibly take you farther from
Christ.
b. will definitely take you closer to
Christ.
c. will definitely take you farther from
Christ.
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It is literally true that man was there when the Fall occurred.
a. Maybe.
b. No.
c. Yes.
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Jesus Christ, the Son of God, suffered physical and mental torture and an
agonizing death on the Cross in order to save us from an abstract and
metaphorical evil for which no one is actually responsible.
a. Maybe.
b. No.
c. Yes.
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Adam and Eve's Fall literally and permanently damaged the entire nature
of human history, so that it can never be what it was before their
sin.
a. Maybe.
b. No.
c. Yes.
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Adam and Eve's Fall literally and permanently damaged the entire nature
of the universe, so that it can never be what it was before their sin.
a. Maybe.
b. No.
c. Yes.
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Jesus's death and resurrection literally re-created the entire nature of
human history, so that it fully includes all the terrible consequences of
the Fall and of all sin and yet can be even better than what it was
destined to be before the Fall.
a. Maybe.
b. No.
c. Yes.
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Jesus's death and resurrection literally re-created the entire nature of
the universe, so that it fully includes all the terrible consequences of
the Fall and of all sin and yet can be even better than what it was
destined to be before the Fall.
a. Maybe.
b. No.
c. Yes.
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We move farther from Christ - much farther from him - if we think that
the Fall was not a real event. [CCC 389] Of course, if the Fall is just a
charming story, then man is certainly not responsible for the entry of
suffering and death into the world. If the Fall is just a story, then man
wasn't even there when suffering and death entered the world.
Man was there. Our first parents are directly and specifically
responsible for the entry of suffering and death into the world. Persuaded
by the father of lies, the devil, our first parents made a free choice to
fall into death from envy of God. As free creatures, they got their wish,
and their original sin permanently marked all of human history. This is
the solemn teaching of the Catholic Church. [CCC 390-391]
That is not to say that you are going to be able to go back in a time
machine to find the Fall. The Fall was a ''primeval event.'' [CCC 390] It
occurred at the beginning of the history of man. Man can never go back to
the Garden of Eden. He can never go back before he was fallen - not ever,
not even to find the Fall. >>
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Why is that? The Fall was no game. There were no ''take backs.'' God had
given our first parents real freedom, not a pretend kind. When they chose
to have themselves and the entire universe fall into death and suffering,
they got their wish.
By his death, Jesus freely preserves the terrible freedom of Adam and
Eve's sin. God did not ''take back'' the most hideous consequences of the
Fall even regarding himself. He freely endured torture, and an agonizing
death on the Cross.
Jesus literally suffered and died. He did not do that to save us from a
metaphor. He literally suffered and died because Adam and Eve were real,
they really were free, they really made a free choice to sin, and they
really did get their wish. To preserve man's terrible freedom, God freely
does not take sin back. Instead, sweetly and without complaint, our Lord
takes sin upon his shoulders, the pain and suffering and death of the
whole world. This is how he conquers it, and saves us.
Your own sins add to our Lord's suffering on the Cross. That is not
pretend. Yet the sacraments are also not pretend. In Baptism you are
baptized into his death - his death takes the place of your own. Though
you still suffer death's consequences just as he did, death is no longer
the last word of your life, for you are in union with his Body, the
Catholic Church, and his resurrection can be your resurrection.
Now part of his Body, and sinner though you are, your body, your life,
can be part of the gifts brought up to the altar at the Offertory. At
Mass, as the Lamb of God offers his one sacrifice to the Father, you are
free as even Adam was not. Now, if only you wish it, your body, your life,
united to our Lord's in the Eucharist, can help take away the sins of the
world. That is not a metaphor, not a story. It is the truth.
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The Catholic Church sees [CCC 53] that God communicates himself to
man
a. all at once.
b. gradually.
c. never.
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As he more and more reveals himself and his plan for man, God
a. completely reveals himself in his
Son.
b. never reveals himself completely.
c. remains hidden from us until the
end.
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God first makes himself known
a. after the Fall.
b. in the beginning.
c. to Adam and Eve.
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God begins to reveal himself in the very act of creation. He is the
Creator. All created realities reveal his presence. <<
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copyright (c) 2001 John
Kelleher. All rights reserved.
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