OTHCC Chapter 3: items 41 - 60

The Old Testament in the Heart of the Catholic Church < > All Chapters

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''When Abraham Lincoln was a boy, he had only a few books to read, one of which was the Bible.'' In that sentence, ''he'' refers to

a.   a generic human being.
b.   a male human being.
c.   an unknown person.

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That last question was written to remind you that

a.   students never make mistakes and already know everything, which is why they should be writing this book instead of a teacher.
b.   the word ''he'' can refer either to a ''generic human being,'' or to a ''male human being'' - it all depends on the context.
c.   this book will make learning about the Old Testament such a joy that studying will be better than eating ice cream.

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Heresies are typically ideas

a.   that a fair number of people (at times, even a large number of people) think are more true and more reasonable.
b.   that are thought up exclusively by wicked, evil people whose sole intention is to harm the Catholic Church.
c.   which are so obviously ridiculous, that no one, except perhaps a few crazies, ever takes them seriously.

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Heresies are not thought up exclusively by wicked, evil people whose sole intention is to harm the Catholic Church. Heresies are typically not so obviously ridiculous, that no one, except perhaps a few crazies, ever takes them seriously.

The right answer to the question is pretty amazing, in itself: heresies are typically ideas that clearly conflict with what the Catholic Church solemnly teaches, which a fair number of people (at times, even a large number of people) think are more true and more reasonable than what the Catholic Church professes.

The heresies that are explicitly condemned by the Catholic Church almost by definition are popular ideas. This is because life is much too short for the Pope and bishops to spend time condemning ideas contrary to the faith that almost everybody agrees are ridiculous to begin with. That still leaves a great number of ideas contrary to the teachings of the Catholic Church that at least some substantial number of people during at least certain periods of history (like the followers of Marcion) have thought were very reasonable and true. <<

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Why do you think Marcion's idea, that the Old Testament is not part of the ''real'' Bible, did not prevail?

a.   It was just an accident that Marcion lost - it could have gone either way, depending on who had more power.
b.   Marcion was just not very smart or persuasive, so very few people thought his ideas were more true and more reasonable.
c.   The Holy Spirit, working in and through the bishops and Pope of the Catholic Church, protected the true meaning of the Bible.

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Wait a minute. Marcion was a Christian. He was baptized. So were many of the people who accepted his ideas. That means that Marcion's ideas were held, not by people who ''wanted to bring down the Church,'' but by people who claimed that Marcion's ideas should be accepted because they were more true to the ''real'' Catholic faith. So - really - why did Marcion's ideas not prevail?

a.   It was just an accident that Marcion lost - it could have gone either way, depending on who had more power.
b.   Marcion was just not very smart or persuasive, so very few people thought his ideas were more true and more reasonable.
c.   The Holy Spirit, working in and through the bishops and Pope of the Catholic Church, protected the true meaning of the Bible.

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Here are two facts: a) Marcion's popularity shows that hundreds, even thousands, of baptized Catholics can consider scary heresies to be more true and more reasonable than the Catholic faith. b) A Catholic bishop, along with dozens (yes, dozens) of Catholic priests and Catholic theologians, decided that St. Joan of Arc was a heretic and should be burned at the stake.

Here is a conclusion from those facts: being Catholic, being a theologian, or even being a bishop, does not seem to protect you from terrible errors.

Here is the question for you: So - really - why did Marcion's ideas not prevail?

a.   It was just an accident that Marcion lost - it could have gone either way, depending on who had more power.
b.   Marcion was just not very smart or persuasive, so very few people thought his idea was more true and more reasonable.
c.   The Holy Spirit, working in and through the bishops and Pope of the Catholic Church, protected the true meaning of the Bible.

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Throughout history, people have disagreed about what the Bible means. Very smart people have disagreed with other very smart people. Christians have disagreed with other Christians. Sometimes, it matters a lot who is right. For example, if Marcion's ideas had been followed, then (among other things) Christians would have thrown the Old Testament out of the Bible. But how can we tell who is right? For instance, how can we really be certain that Marcion was wrong?

a.   Due to the fact that all truly intelligent people agree about what the Bible means, we know that a committee of very smart people with university degrees will find the true meaning of the Bible every time.
b.   Even though history shows that we do not necessarily find the true meaning of the Bible on our own, Christ himself continues to give man what he needs to study the truth of the Bible through the sacrament of Holy Orders.
c.   Since people have been disagreeing about what the Bible means for thousands of years, we can't ever really be certain who is right when people disagree about the true meaning of the Bible.

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People have often disagreed about what the Bible means. They still disagree about it. This shows that

a.   all men have the freedom to hear the Catholic Church, or to ignore her.
b.   the Bible means whatever you personally think it means.
c.   the Holy Spirit is no longer protecting the meaning of the Bible.

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Something you have learned already about finding the meaning of the Bible is:

a.   anybody can read the Bible and decide for himself what it means, and the Holy Spirit will protect him from any serious mistakes.
b.   only stupid, uneducated people who never went to college make mistakes when they try to figure out what the Bible means.
c.   people have disagreed a lot about what the Bible means, even about whether the Old Testament belongs in the Bible.

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The bishop of Rome (the Pope) and Catholic bishops in union with him have the absolutely unique ability to give man what he needs to study the truth of the Bible (for instance, when they tell us that Marcion's ideas are wrong) ONLY because

a.   bishops are much smarter and better educated than anyone else.
b.   bishops are much more spiritually enlightened than anyone else.
c.   Christ protects his Church in and through the sacrament of Holy Orders.

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A short pep talk:

It is important to the eventual depth and ease of your learning that you 'turn around' both wrong answers to every question, and then restate the entire question (now including the corrected wrong answers) to yourself. Actually talk to yourself, subverbally or out loud, when you do this.

This activity may seem silly to you, redundant, irrelevant, or any other word that gives you permission to avoid doing this! However, this method is an effective way to allow the full meaning of the question to be present to your mind all at once.

Nonetheless, based on what we now know about how our brains work, allowing the full content of each question to be present to your mind all at once, in one single moment, is very important to the eventual depth and ease of your learning. If the suggested way of doing that does not work for you, you should still find some other way to accomplish the same thing. One way or another, make the entire content of each question present to your mind, not just in isolated chunks, but all at once. >>

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If doing these restatements is irksome but possible, join the club. They don't call it course WORK for nothing. Going through this course with a teacher or 'study buddy' is preferable for many reasons, not the least of which is, then everyone has a little extra motivation not to slack off from doing the coursework.

However, if your eyes continually glaze over and you get lost trying to do the restatement of a particular question, then just skip it and move on. You may find that you can make the full content of the question present to your mind later on, when you're less tired, or after you've worked through the course a little further.

You can treat this course like a toy, and that's just about what you'll get out of it. On the other hand, if you take this course seriously and do it the right way, you will learn highly sophisticated concepts deeply and easily. You may also find your faith deepening, too.

It's not a race. Nobody's testing you. Take your time. Do this right. Get ALL you can out of this carefully-designed course.

'Nuff said. <<

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The Bible is the very ''speech of God as it is put down in writing under the breath of the Holy Spirit'' [Dei Verbum 9, Vatican Council II]. So, of any mere man who claims to know what the Bible means, it can always truly be said:

a.   Always be certain that you have a perfectly pure heart.
b.   To find the real truth, you must look deep inside yourself.
c.   Who are you, to tell God what his own Word means?

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With unbelievable trust, God gave man, in Christ and through the Holy Spirit, the ability, and the duty, to

a.   read the ideas of the finest scholars in order to learn exactly what the Bible means. [CCC 119]
b.   rely on the bishops of the Roman Catholic Church to answer all questions regarding the meaning of the Bible. [CCC 119]
c.   study the Bible and help the Church come to a firmer judgment about what it means. [CCC 119]

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Any man's ideas can be full of error, and also, men's ideas disagree. As men sincerely labor to discover the Bible's meaning more and more deeply, bad mistakes can still be made. To give man what he needs to study the truth of the Bible, God himself is content to

a.   have specially-appointed Roman Catholic bishops look up the answer to each question in a book titled, ''What the Bible REALLY Means.''
b.   rely on a standing committee of the best bible scholars of each particular time, who have met at least once every five years since 813 AD.
c.   speak through the judgments of the successor of St. Peter (the Holy Father), and Catholic bishops who are in communion with him.

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Catholic bishops, the successors of the apostles, when they act in communion with the Pope, infallibly teach and protect the true meaning of the Bible, only because

a.   bishops are very holy.
b.   Holy Orders is a sacrament.
c.   there are so many saints.

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The Catholic Church freely admits that if the sacraments are not real, then

a.   Christ is still protecting the true meaning of the Bible.
b.   she has no authority whatever to say what the Bible means.
c.   the wisdom of all mankind will protect the meaning of the Bible.

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Just like St. Augustine [CCC 119], whether you're a Catholic or not, in order to read the Bible and to start figuring out what it truly means, you have to begin by deciding

a.   whether the sacraments of the Catholic Church are real.
b.   whether you are intelligent enough for the task.
c.   which scripture scholars are the best.

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If the sacraments of the Catholic Church are real, then

a.   Christ the Head acts through his Body and Bride, the Catholic Church, and himself protects the true meaning of the Bible.
b.   Catholics have no disagreements about what the Bible means, since Christ the Head acts through his Body the Church .
c.   the full meaning of the Bible is revealed, and all questions about the meaning of the Bible have already been answered.

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