Creed I

Before Class

• Read Introduction and Chapters 1-3 in U.S. Catholic Catechism for Adults
• Read the Dogmatic Constitution on Divine Revelation (Dei Verbum) and come prepared to discuss at next class
• Fill out the Catechist Profile and return on October 25, 2008
• Read the following handouts:
  • Sacred Scripture
  • Sacred Tradition

Homework

• Read Chapters 4-6 in U.S. Catholic Catechism for Adults
• Read the following handouts:
  • The Blessed Trinity
  • God the Father
  • Male and Female He Made Them
  • The Mystery of Evil

To Make Up an Absence

If you are unable to attend this class, please submit to the instructor at the next class written responses to two questions from each section below (for a total of eight questions). Each response should be 2-3 paragraphs in length and address the question completely.

Chapter 1: My Soul Longs for You, O God

1. Briefly describe the three paths by which every human person can come to God. How are they related, and how are they different?
2. "Religious seekers in the United States live within a culture that in some important ways provides support for belief in God while at the same time also discourages and corrodes the faith in practice" (p. 6). Explain with examples.
3. What examples or “proofs” (converging and convincing arguments) of the spiritual soul would you give to a friend that does not believe in its existence?
4. "God can be known with certainty from his works in creation and from the spiritual nature of the human person by the light of natural reason, although there are many difficulties in coming to this knowledge because of humanity's historical and sinful condition." Give some examples of how "humanity’s historical and sinful condition" makes it difficult to come to know God.

Chapter 2: God Comes to Meet Us

1. Describe the relationship between public and private revelation and how they differ. Why is it important to understand the difference between the two?
2. "The culture in which we live is, in many ways, individualistic, secular, and materialistic" (p. 16). How do these qualities of the culture challenge believers in God’s Revelation?
3. Consider another "revealed" religion (such as Islam or Mormonism). How does its revelation contradict the Revelation of Christ?

Chapter 3: Proclaim the Gospel to Every Creature

1. Describe the two means by which Divine Revelation is transmitted. How are they related to one another and to Christ?
2. What is the Magisterium and how is it related to Christ and the Apostles? What is the sensus fidei and how is it related to the Magisterium?
3. Select a passage from Scripture and describe its literal sense and its allegorical, moral and anagogical senses.
4. Biblical Literalism and Historical Reductionism are two modern challenges to an authentic understanding of Scripture. Describe and give an example of each. Is there a way in which the two approaches are alike?

Dei Verbum: Dogmatic Constitution on Divine Revelation (Vatican II)

1. How is the authorship of Sacred Scripture both human and divine? Why is it important to read and interpret Scripture with this in mind? What does it mean to say that Scripture is “inerrant”?
2. St. Augustine says that the New Testament lies hidden in the Old, and the Old Testament is revealed in the New. Explain with examples.
3. “…Sacred Scripture, Sacred Tradition and the Magisterium of the Church are so connected and associated that one of them cannot stand without the others” (¶10). Why not? Can you describe historical examples when Christians have abandoned one or more of these, and to what results?
4. How does ¶19 explain some apparent inconsistencies among the four Gospels?
5. Why does study of the Church Fathers and sacred liturgies lead to a deeper understanding of Sacred Scripture (¶23)?
6. Explain the importance of the Church providing and approving translations of Sacred Scripture.