RCIA #1—Revelation September 8, 2015 pg. 1
RCIA #1 God Reveals Himself (Scripture, Tradition, Magisterium)
Reading: 2 Tim 3:16-17, 4:2-4 All scripture is inspired by God and is useful for teaching, for refutation, for correction, and for training in righteousness, so that one who belongs to God may be competent, equipped for every good work. […] Proclaim the word; be persistent whether it is convenient or inconvenient; convince, reprimand, encourage through all patience and teaching. For the time will come when people will not tolerate sound doctrine but, following their own desires and insatiable curiosity, will accumulate teachers and will stop listening to the truth and will be diverted to myths.
Psalm 19: “The heavens declare the glory of God!”
Gospel: John 17:6-9a, 18-20 Jesus said, “I revealed your name to those whom you gave me out of the world. They belonged to you, and you gave them to me, and they have kept your word. Now they know that everything you gave me is from you, because the words you gave to me I have given to them, and they accepted them and truly understood that I came from you, and they have believed that you sent me. […] I pray for them. As you sent me into the world, so I sent them into the world. And I consecrate myself for them, so that they also may be consecrated in truth. I pray not only for them, but also for those who will believe in me through their word.”
2 Questions to Begin: Do your parents love you?
How do you know your parents love you?
I. Ways We Know Things:
RCIA #1—Revelation September 8, 2015 pg. 2
II. Revelation:
The First Question in St. Thomas Aquinas’ Summa Theologiae (literally, “The Sum of Theology”)
See the hand-out with diagram
God’s revelation comes to us in three ways: Sacred Scripture: 2 Tim 3:16 All scripture is inspired by God and is useful for teaching, for refutation, for correction, and for training in righteousness.
Apostolic Tradition: 2 Thes 2:15 Therefore, brothers, stand firm and hold fast to the traditions that you were taught, either by an oral statement or by a letter of ours.
Magisterium: 1 Tim 3:15 But if I should be delayed, you should know how to behave in the household of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and foundation of truth.
Catholics hold and teach “both/and”
III. Paradox:
Some Scriptural paradoxes 1) 2) 3)
The problem of “only”, “solely”, “alone”
IV. It’s all Tradition! (just how you pass it on)
“The Word” & “the word” of God
RCIA #1—Revelation September 8, 2015 pg. 3
V. How To Read the Bible:
Cavins: Gen, Exo, Num, Jos, Judg, 1 Sam, 2 Sam, 1 King, 2 King, Ezra, Nem, 1 Mac, Luke, Acts
“All that is in the New Testament is hidden in the Old; all that is in the Old Testament is revealed in the New”
Where Did We Get the Bible?
Interpretation of the Bible
Tradition and Magisterium
VI. Old Testament Questions
1) How does that work for revelation?
2) Why are Catholic Bibles different from others?
3) Why do we need the Old Testament?