OTHCC Chapter 7: items 121 - 140

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

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Also, don't overestimate man, either, or the world. Adam and Eve's Fall was real, and it twisted the world beyond man's capacity to repair by himself. The world is not always a very nice place. Jesus Christ is not a convenience, he is a necessity. Man is fallen, not only prone to sin, but also prone to justifying and excusing his sins. Part of ''preaching the gospel to all nations'' is simply resisting evil acts, and saying out loud that they are evil. Be nice to people - but don't be nice to actual sin.

Finally, it's not your job to make even one person a Catholic. Nobody can do that, not even the Pope. Only the Holy Spirit can do that, and you need to take that seriously. It is absolutely true that you do risk moving farther from Christ if you do not walk with his one true Bride and Body, the Catholic Church. It is absolutely true that being a Catholic is better than any other choice, ever. Nonetheless, the Holy Spirit takes man's freedom so seriously that he waits for each man to decide that for himself. It is certainly not your job to give a man less freedom than God does.

However, Jesus did tell his disciples to preach the gospel to all nations. All men of all times and all places have the positive right to know Christ and his one true Bride and Body, the Catholic Church, and to receive her sacraments. Yet salvation is a free gift, and it must be freely received.

Making sure that all men at all times and places have enough knowledge and opportunity to freely choose to be a Catholic and to receive the sacraments, if that's what they really want, is the job of every Catholic, including you. <<

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In this book, you will learn ideas a little at a time, over a long period of time. This is called

a.   an incremental approach.
b.   an ineffable approach.
c.   a traditional approach.

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Many times in this course, you will see a phrase like, ''Read Genesis 2:19,'' or ''read CCC 119.'' When you see these instructions to read a particular passage from the Bible or from the Catechism, it means that you

a.   can wait until the end of the question to read the passage.
b.   must immediately read the passage, even before finishing the question.
c.   should ignore any instructions in this text that tell you to read something.

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To learn from this course, you MUST read a passage the moment you are asked to, even before continuing with the question or the explanation.

First of all, please do not be surprised when a course introducing the Old Testament ''in the heart of the Catholic Church'' asks you to actually read passages from the Bible and from the Catechism!

Second, in this course, reading a passage the moment you are asked to is not optional because it is very important to your ability to make full use of this course. This course is consciously designed to help you to learn new ideas by making it easy to connect the new ideas to ideas already at your fingertips.

When you see an instruction like ''read Exodus 14,'' or ''read CCC 123,'' you should understand that you need to have the ideas of that particular passage fresh in your mind, so that you can easily connect those ideas with the very next ideas in the sentence or the question.

So how are you going to have the ideas of that passage fresh in your mind if you don't read that passage just before continuing in the sentence or the question?

Remember: when this course says, ''Read'' - read, right then and there. You need to have the ideas in that passage fresh in your mind, so you can easily connect them to the very next ideas you will read. <<

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In this course, reading a passage the moment you are asked to is NOT optional because

a.   so many courses ask you to do absolutely ridiculous things that teach you nothing, and this course is just like all the rest.
b.   this course is not actually designed to make it easy for you to learn complicated ideas, but is just trying to increase your work load.
c.   you need to have the ideas in that passage fresh in your mind, so you can easily connect them to the very next ideas you will read.

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''Man does not live by bread alone'' is a phrase that

a.   clearly refers only to male human beings.
b.   is offensive because it excludes women.
c.   is talking about the generic human being.

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A long time ago, most people thought that the earth was flat. Did that jeopardize their union with God?

a.   No. Nothing can jeopardize our union with God.
b.   No. They were making a mistake, but it was just a mistake.
c.   Yes. All mistakes jeopardize our union with God.

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Although the Catholic Church has affirmed that the first five books of the Bible are connected with Moses (and thus can rightly be called by one of their traditional names, ''the books of Moses''), modern scholars have given many good reasons to think that they were probably not written by a single human author. Instead, for example, many stories kept and treasured for centuries by the Jewish people were eventually brought together to make the first book of the Old Testament, the book of Genesis. A long time ago, most people thought that the prophet Moses had written the book of Genesis all by himself. Did that jeopardize their union with God?

a.   No. Nothing can jeopardize our union with God.
b.   No. They were making a mistake, but it was just a mistake.
c.   Yes. All mistakes jeopardize our union with God.

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When two people disagree about what the Bible means, somebody (possibly both of them) may be making a mistake. That

a.   does not matter, because union with Christ is not very important.
b.   does not necessarily mean that anybody is moving farther from Christ.
c.   means that somebody is of necessity moving farther from Christ.

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Long ago, people ''knew'' that Moses wrote the book of Genesis by himself, but they were probably making a mistake, without even realizing it. We're human, too. We ourselves might be making a mistake about the Bible right now, without even realizing it. Does the possibility that a future generation might decide that we have made our own mistakes about the Bible, jeopardize our own union with God?

a.   No. Nothing can jeopardize our union with God.
b.   No. We too can make a mistake, and it can be just a mistake.
c.   Yes. All mistakes jeopardize our union with God.

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We can make sizable mistakes about the Bible, without jeopardizing our union with Christ. However, like Marcion, we can also make mistakes about the Bible that do jeopardize our union with Christ. So, how do we tell the harmless mistakes from the deadly ones?

a.   It's obvious.
b.   We don't.
c.   We just can.

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We can make sizable mistakes about the Bible, without jeopardizing our union with Christ. However, like Marcion, we can also make mistakes about the Bible that do jeopardize our union with Christ. So, how do we tell the harmless mistakes from the deadly ones?

a.   We look deep within ourselves, make certain that our hearts are pure, then pray for guidance from the Holy Spirit, who will inform us by giving us a special feeling for the correct answer.
b.   If there is a tradition of the Catholic Church's judgment on the matter, we study that, or we find out if the present Holy Father, or the present Catholic bishops in union with him, have made a judgment.
c.   We study the works of the most distinguished scholars in the most reputable universities, carefully examine the evidence pro and con, and form a mature judgment based on the facts.

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If an idea about the Bible is dangerous and conflicts with the truths of the Catholic Church that are necessary for our salvation, then the Church will

a.   eventually form a firm judgment on the matter.
b.   immediately form a firm judgment on the matter.
c.   never form a firm judgment on the matter.

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Over the centuries, some disagreements about what the Bible means persist for a hundred years, and they certainly seem serious. In these cases, the Church

a.   always condemns both positions.
b.   eventually supports one side or the other.
c.   may never condemn either position.

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Many ideas about the Bible help us to come closer to Christ. Many more ideas about the Bible at very least do not take us farther from Christ. We can disagree about them, with no harm to our union with Christ. Yet some ideas about the Bible do take us farther from Christ. How do you tell the difference? At times, you must wait for the Church to decide, and in the meantime do your best.

When there is a new controversy about what the Bible means, don't imagine that the Pope looks up the correct answer in a secret book hidden in the Vatican entitled, ''What the Bible REALLY Means.'' A possible (but totally unofficial) way to see this:

Imagine something really amazing: that God himself has no such book. Instead, imagine a world in which God himself WAITS for the Catholic Church to decide what the Bible means, and then, once the Church decides, that is the meaning.

You think that God would never do anything like that? Please read in the Old Testament, the book of Genesis, Chapter 2, verse 19 (Gen 2:19). (Yes, now).

The ''name'' of something describes its essence, its meaning and significance (compare CCC 203). God created all the animals. Yet with awesome tenderness God freely trusted Adam to give each animal its true name. As part of his divine plan for creation God brought each animal to Adam and waited for Adam to name it. Then, ONCE ADAM SPOKE, ''that was its name.'' [Gen 2:19] >>

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The Church teaches that Christ is the New Adam [CCC 411, 504]. If God trusted Adam, he certainly trusts his only Son, the New Adam, to speak through his Spouse and Body, the Catholic Church, to give the true ''name'' of ideas about the Bible - to say what their meaning and significance is.

Once the Holy Father and bishops united with him decide firmly about an idea (you can tell there's been a firm enough decision - just for instance - if it's been included in the Catechism), then ''that is its name.'' Thereafter, you can not wait any longer. You must walk with the Church to continue to fully walk with her Lord.

Before that, however, your job is to do what you think is best. God is not consulting a pre-written book entitled ''What the Bible REALLY Means'' and flunking you if you don't have the 'right answer' before the Church herself decides what it is!

So, whenever there is a controversy about the Bible (whatever it is and no matter how serious), God himself WAITS for the New Adam of the New Creation, His Son, to speak through his Body and Bride, the Catholic Church. While God himself waits for the true ''name'' of the idea, you certainly can, too. While you wait, as long as you keep listening to the Church, faithfully receiving the sacraments, obeying the commandments, and practicing charity, your union with Christ is perfectly safe. <<

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Suppose there is an idea about the Bible. If the Church has formed no firm judgment, then we

a.   have to use our own best judgment, and sincere people can disagree about the matter, with no threat to their salvation.
b.   have to use our own best judgment, but if it turns out that we made a mistake, then our salvation is at risk.
c.   should avoid thinking about the matter unless and until the Church makes a definitive judgment.

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Suppose there is an idea about the Bible. Suppose you've thought about it, and agree with it. Now suppose the Church forms a firm judgment, and rejects your idea. Then, through the successors of his apostles, Catholic bishops in union with the Pope, Christ himself is teaching us how to remain close to him,

a.   and you risk everything if you move toward an idea that Christ says will take you farther from him.
b.   but your idea is still OK as long as you sincerely do not understand why the Church's position is correct.
c.   but you would be wrong to change your own mind just because the Church said that your idea was harmful.

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If someone has an idea that plainly disagrees with what the Catholic Church teaches and hands on, we should

a.   continue to profess the truth of Catholic teaching.
b.   throw him in jail until he sees the truth.
c.   wonder if Catholic teaching is really true.

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In the fourth century AD, many Catholic bishops agreed with the Catholic priest Arius, and taught that, since there is only one God, then Jesus, God's Son, has been made a sort of honorary God, but is not actually God. The fact that many Catholic bishops at the time taught incredibly serious heresy means that

a.   Holy Orders is not really a sacrament. Bishops are not protected from error, even when they decide something important.
b.   the Catholic Church became corrupt a long time ago, and has failed to preserve the true meaning of Christianity.
c.   we have to pay close attention to whether particular bishops are teaching in union with the bishop of Rome, the Pope.

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