OTHCC Chapter 77: items 1521 - 1540

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

{1521}      Down

Who first used the term, ''New Covenant'' regarding what Jesus established?

a.   Jesus.
b.   Saint Paul.
c.   Saint Peter.

{1522}      Down       Up

The term ''New Covenant'' (or New Testament) is

a.   not something that the Church can ever replace with some other name, since the Son of God himself gave it at the Last Supper.
b.   something that the Church can replace with some other name, as long as it is replaced by another name Jesus himself gave.
c.   something that the Church must replace with some other name, since it has encouraged Catholics to sin against the Jews.

{1523}      Down       Up

The contrast between the covenant established by Jesus (New Covenant), and the one God has made with the Jews (Old Covenant), is

a.   not something that the Church can ever deny, since the Son of God himself first made the distinction.
b.   something that the Church can change, as long as the reality of the Son of God continues to be emphasized.
c.   something that the Church must reject, since it has encouraged Catholics to sin against the Jews.

{1524}      Down       Up

In the Catechism the bishops united with the Holy Father teach that the Covenant God has made with the Jewish people

a.   ''had a temporary value.''
b.   ''has never been revoked.''
c.   ''has been revoked.''

{1525}      Down       Up

In the Catechism the bishops united with the Holy Father

a.   apologize for the terms ''Old Covenant'' and ''Old Testament''
b.   avoid the terms ''Old Covenant'' and ''Old Testament''
c.   use the terms ''Old Covenant'' and ''Old Testament''

{1526} Down Up

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.

Read Ruth 1:1. Most scholars say that the book of Ruth

a.   has no real connection to life in the time of the judges.
b.   is a story whose setting is the time of the judges.
c.   is an account of Ruth, one of the judges of the LORD.

{1527}      Down       Up

Many scholars think that the historical details in the book of Ruth about Jewish village life in the time of the judges is

a.   consistent with what is known.
b.   not consistent with what is known.
c.   partly consistent with what is known.

{1528} Down Up

Ruth is much like a short story. A nice Jewish girl, Naomi, loses her husband and children in the foreign land of Moab. Her daughter-in-law, Ruth, promises not to abandon her, or her God. Read the most famous passage in Ruth, Ruth 1:15-18. Impoverished and cursing God, Naomi sends Ruth to pick up remnants of wheat from a field after harvesting. Ruth meets and falls in love with the rich owner of the field, Boaz. Naomi negotiates with Boaz for Ruth's hand, and Boaz and Ruth are married. A child is born to Ruth, but somehow the local women give the credit to Naomi. A genealogy links the child to David. Now read the short book of Ruth, Ruth 1-4. <<

{1529}      Down       Up

There is one God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. God is called ''Father''

a.   by many religions.
b.   only by Christians.
c.   only by Jews.

{1530}      Down       Up

Read Deuteronomy, Deut 32:6. The Jewish people call God ''Father'' in part because he is

a.   eternally with his Son, Jesus.
b.   holy above all things.
c.   the Creator of the world.

{1531}      Down       Up

Read Ex 4:21-23. By his revelation of himself to Israel in his covenant and his gift of the law, God is called Father by the Jewish people because

a.   by these he makes Israel his first-born son.
b.   he reveals himself even more as the Creator.
c.   in this way Israel trembles before him.

{1532}      Down       Up

Read 2 Sam 7:8-15. God is also called the Father of

a.   the king of Israel.
b.   the patriarchs.
c.   the prophets.

{1533}      Down       Up

In ancient Jewish society, widows and orphans were impoverished. In general a woman could not work outside the home. Thus, widows had few ways to generate income and were usually entirely dependent on the mercy of others. Therefore, fatherless children might go hungry very frequently. Moreover, unless a widow were able to come under the protection of some relative, she lived with a definite increased risk of physical or sexual harm from evil men. Read Ps 68:1-6. ''Most especially'' [CCC 238] God is called Father by the Jewish people

a.   as the Creator of the heavens and the earth.
b.   because the poor are under his loving protection.
c.   in his support of the house of David.

{1534}      Down       Up

The Holy Father and bishops in communion with him teach [CCC 239] that calling God Father in part indicates that God

a.   is a man.
b.   is a woman.
c.   is the Creator.

{1535}      Down       Up

The Holy Father and bishops in communion with him teach [CCC 239] that calling God Father in part indicates that God

a.   has spoken through the prophets.
b.   is goodness and loving care for all his children.
c.   will come to judge the living and the dead.

{1536} Down Up

The Old Testament never uses the word Father to refer to God in his eternal relationship to his only Son, Jesus. This meaning of God's Fatherhood is ''unheard-of'' [CCC 240] in the literal meaning of the books of the Old Testament. This central truth of the Catholic faith is only revealed by Jesus himself, as he calls God his Father and reveals that he is the Son who is in intimate communion with the Father and who alone reveals the Father to men.

Of course, reading the Old Testament as if the sacraments were real and the New Testament were true will reveal additional meaning in the Old Testament, but in its literal sense, the Old Testament does not speak of God as Father of his only-begotten Son. <<

{1537}      Down       Up

The Holy Father and the bishops in communion with him profess [CCC 239] that God is

a.   like a mother in his tenderness and intimacy.
b.   Mother in her tenderness and intimacy.
c.   not at all like a mother in any way.

{1538} Down Up

God is Father. He is LIKE a mother in his tenderness and intimacy, but he is Father. However, though he is Father, ''He is neither man nor woman: he is God. He also transcends human fatherhood and motherhood, although he is their origin and standard: no one is father as God is Father.'' [CCC 239]

Many academics and theorists have recently been contending that God should be called ''Mother'' or ''Father-Mother,'' or at least, ''God,'' and not ''Father.'' Others have pointed out a tiny problem with this argument: Jesus addresses God as ''Father'' exclusively. For Jews, ''Father'' is one title for the LORD. For Catholics, Father is a CRUCIAL name: God is eternally Father in relation to his only Son. [CCC 239]

Other scholars have contended that while Jesus used ''Father'' exclusively to address God, the Jewish people sometimes called God Mother. This too is not true. There are times when the Old Testament says God is like a mother, but that is all.

The scholarly evidence from people's names is definitive. Children in the ancient societies around Israel were often given a name referring to a god: ''My father is [the god] Samas'' is one real name that was used; ''My mother is Samas'' is another. People in the societies around Israel were perfectly capable of attributing motherhood/sisterhood, etc., or masculine equivalents, to a god, even to the same god, in the names that people gave their children; it was not a strange concept at all.

Yet this is NEVER done in the normative religious culture of Israel. Never is a feminine name associated with God. Even the GIRL'S names say (for example), ''My father/brother/king is the LORD.'' This is true throughout the entire Old Testament. >>

{1539} Down Up

The pious people of Israel were absolutely clear that the LORD was Father, not mother. It was not as if they didn't realize that a god might be called ''mother'' or some other feminine name. They weren't ''oppressed'' by their culture into thinking that a god had to have a masculine name. Everybody knew that a god might have a feminine name. But the LORD did not have a feminine name; this was clear to them.

The false gods frequently had sex - with each other, with cattle, etc. The Old Testament ridicules this. In the Old Testament, even before Jesus reveals him fully, God is Father in a way that is completely beyond sex - but he is Father nevertheless.

Please don't be like Marcion. Don't decide who God ''really'' is and then get mad when the Pope and bishops in communion with him don't see it your way. Many important people are now saying that calling God Father is ''oppressive'' and ''sexist.'' They are moving farther from Christ. You can trust not only our Lord, who himself teaches you to say, ''Our Father,'' but also the uncounted generations of the faithful people of Israel who bestowed names on their children associating them with the LORD as Father, and never mother. God is mysteriously, but really, Father. <<

{1540}      Up

Modern biblical scholars think that the first three chapters in Genesis

a.   consist of stories compiled from diverse traditions.
b.   should be read as ''newspaper truth.''
c.   were written at the same time by one human author.

Up < > All Chapters

copyright (c) 2001 John Kelleher. All rights reserved.
www.catholiclearning.com