OTHCC Chapter 64: items 1261

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

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Read Ps 108:1. Read Ps 40:7-10. Read Ps 49:1-3. In biblical tradition, your ''heart'' is

a.   far removed from the place where you make your decisions.
b.   the hidden place where you are truly yourself.
c.   the shallowest and least trustworthy part of yourself.

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The books

Isaiah
Jeremiah
Lamentations
Baruch
Ezekiel
Daniel

occur before or after the Psalms?

a.   Before.
b.   After.

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Genesis Exodus Leviticus Numbers Deuteronomy || Joshua Judges Ruth 1 Samuel 2 Samuel 1 Kings 2 Kings || 1 Chronicles 2 Chronicles Ezra Nehemiah || Tobit* Judith* Esther 1 Maccabees* 2 Maccabees* Job

Psalms

Proverbs Ecclesiastes Song of Songs Wisdom* Sirach* || Isaiah Jeremiah Lamentations Baruch* Ezekiel Daniel || Hosea Joel Amos Obadiah Jonah Micah Nahum Habakkuk Zephaniah Haggai >> Zechariah << Malachi

The Old Testament books with a star * are not any more or less important than the others. The star indicates that the Catholic Church definitively professes and knows these books to be part of the sacred writings, the inspired Word of God [cf. CCC 120], but that they are specifically rejected by the Jewish people, and called ''apocryphal'' (of doubtful inspiration) by Protestants.

The prophet Zephaniah prophesied several years before the Exile began. The prophet Zechariah prophesied

a.   in the middle of the Exile.
b.   several years after the Exile ended.
c.   several years before the Exile began.

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Most scholars think that the first eight chapters of the book of Zechariah, Zech 1-8

a.   has similar but not the identical style and content of Zech 9-15.
b.   has the same style and content as Zech 9-15.
c.   is quite different in style and content from Zech 9-15.

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Like Haggai, Zechariah prophesied after the Exile ended, about 520 BC according to the book of Zechariah. (The prophet Zephaniah is a totally different person who prophesied a wrathful ''day of the LORD'' several years before the Exile). You can remember this by noting that Zechariah (with a c) was Closer to the time of Christ.

Most scholars think that the book of Zechariah has two distinct sources. They say that Zech 1-8 is quite different in style and content from Zech 9-15.

Scholars call Zech 1-8 ''First Zechariah.'' It contains visions and oracles. Most scholars agree that they concern how returnees are to rebuild the community and worship the LORD.

''Second Zechariah'' contains prophecies, primarily about the future. The LORD will judge the Jews and the nations, amid struggle, suffering, and in the end, salvation and consolation.

Read Zech 9:9. The gospel writers remembered this passage when Jesus rode an ass into Jerusalem, as is celebrated on Palm Sunday.

Also, read Zech 12:10, and then read John 19:33-37. <<

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The bishop of Rome (the Pope), and other Catholic bishops in union with him, have the absolutely unique ability to protect the true meaning of the Bible (for instance, when they tell us exactly which books belong in the Old Testament) 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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Marcion had an idea of who Christ ''really'' is. Then he looked at the Old Testament, and compared it to his idea. When the Old Testament didn't fit his idea of Christ, his solution was to take the Old Testament out of the ''real'' Bible.

In essence, St. Polycarp and other bishops of the time told Marcion that he had it backwards. The fact that the Old Testament is the true Word of God is telling us many important things about who Christ really is.

We should not start with our idea of Christ and compare the Old Testament to it. We should start with the truth of the Old Testament, and then we can better know and come close to Christ. >>

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Here's another historical fact: many people have tried to judge the reality of the sacraments of the Catholic Church in terms of their idea of who Christ is. If the sacraments don't seem to fit their idea of who Christ is, then their solution is to take the sacraments out of ''real'' Christianity.

Yet from her beginnings the Catholic Church has professed that Christ is actually, really present in and works through his sacraments, and that this reality is an absolutely crucial part of who Jesus Christ really is.

In essence, the bishops are saying that the fact that the sacraments of the Catholic Church are real is telling us many important things about who Christ really is. We should not start with our idea of Christ and compare the sacraments to it. We should start with the reality of the sacraments, and then we can better know and come close to Christ.

The surest way to really know Christ - the real Christ, the whole Christ - is to BEGIN with the reality of the sacraments.

This is similar to what St. Augustine meant when he said, ''But I would not believe in the Gospel, had not the authority of the Catholic Church already moved me.'' Once St. Augustine knew in his heart that Christ continues his work in and through the Church and her sacraments, then he could truly know and believe in Christ and his Gospel. [The bishops quote St. Augustine's remark in CCC 119] <<

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When someone teaches or believes that the sacraments of the Catholic Church are not real, then

a.   there is a chance he could be correct.
b.   we know that he is going to Hell.
c.   what happens to him can be known only by God.

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Will God ever make another covenant? [CCC 66]

a.   Maybe.
b.   No.
c.   Yes.

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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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Read Ex 12. This is a description of the Passover and of the last of the ten Plagues that God sent to make Pharaoh allow the people of Israel to leave Egypt. In the paschal lamb, the Catholic Church has always found a type of Christ. The Exsultet, a proclamation sung most solemnly at the Easter Vigil, attests this:

''This is our passover feast
when Christ, the true Lamb, is slain,
whose blood consecrates the homes of all believers.''

To this day, the Jewish people see the Passover as a living memorial of the covenant God makes with them. The Passover is given solemn memorial by them every year. CCC 1340 adds:

''By celebrating the Last Supper with his apostles in the course of the Passover meal, Jesus gave the Jewish Passover its definitive meaning. Jesus' passing over to his father by his death and Resurrection, the new Passover, is anticipated in the Supper and celebrated in the Eucharist, which fulfills the Jewish Passover and anticipates the final Passover of the Church in the glory of the kingdom.'' <<

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Read Ex 19-20. This is the giving of the covenant and the law to Moses in the theophany on Mount Sinai. (Note that Ex 20 also gives, as part of the law, one form of what are now known as the Ten Commandments. Deuteronomy 5 gives another.) Although of course Exodus is a rich and complex book, since you have already read Ex 1-3, and Ex 6, you now probably have enough of its meaning to understand the following passage from the Catechism, CCC 62:

''After the patriarchs, God formed Israel as his people by freeing them from slavery in Egypt. He established with them the covenant of Mount Sinai and, through Moses, gave them his law so that they would recognize him and serve him as the one living and true God, the provident Father and just judge, and so that they would look for the promised Savior.'' <<

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Genesis Exodus Leviticus Numbers Deuteronomy || Joshua >> Judges << Ruth 1 Samuel 2 Samuel 1 Kings 2 Kings || 1 Chronicles 2 Chronicles Ezra Nehemiah || Tobit* Judith* Esther 1 Maccabees* 2 Maccabees* Job

Psalms

Proverbs Ecclesiastes Song of Songs Wisdom* Sirach* || Isaiah Jeremiah Lamentations Baruch* Ezekiel Daniel || Hosea Joel Amos Obadiah Jonah Micah Nahum Habakkuk Zephaniah Haggai Zechariah Malachi

In distinct contrast to the book of Joshua, the book of Judges

a.   describes an easy and speedy conquest of the promised land under the competent leadership of Joshua.
b.   outlines a very slow and uncertain occupation of the land with the help of various military leaders and advisors.
c.   shows the pattern of good and bad kings that governed Israel up to the time of the Exile in Babylon.

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According to most scholars, the ''judges'' in the book of Judges are primarily

a.   charismatic military leaders and rulers.
b.   leaders of the legal system of Israel.
c.   priests of the worship of the LORD.

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Many scholars see Judges

a.   as a series of fact-based hero stories collected together for a religious purpose.
b.   as presenting a systematic history of Israel up to the time of David.
c.   in the light of the information on the judges provided by the book of Joshua.

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Judges presents sparse information on several judges, and provides the most extended stories regarding three judges. These are

a.   Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
b.   Deborah, Gideon, and Samson.
c.   Moses, Aaron, and Miriam.

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Most scholars consider that the accounts of each of the major judges

a.   are a single tightly-woven tradition that was passed on.
b.   collect together several traditions about these heroes.
c.   show evidence of drastic re-writing by editors.

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Most scholars find in Judges a message and a pattern common also to Deuteronomy, Joshua, 1 and 2 Samuel, and 1 and 2 Kings. The LORD

a.   makes promises to Israel which he never expects to fulfill.
b.   rejects the people of Israel, in spite of their continual faithfulness.
c.   saves his people, they turn from him, and the people again suffer.

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Unlike other judges, Deborah also seems to have been a ''judge'' as we understand that term (a judge of legal matters) prior to being called by the LORD. He calls her at a time of crisis, and she then calls and advises Barak. Then Israel defeats a strong coalition of enemies in battle. Read Judg 4:1-16.

Scholars consider the Canticle of Deborah one of the oldest texts in the Bible. Read the beginning of the Canticle, Judg 5:1-7. <<

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