The Creation of the World and Our First Parents

1
The Creation of the World and Our First Parents

• Unit 1

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Gods Creation and purpose for humans

• "Godprovides men with constant evidence of
  himself in created realities. And furthermore,
  wishing to open up the way to heavenly salvation
  - he manifested himself to our first parents from
  the very beginning. He invited them to intimate
  communion with himself and clothed them with
  resplendent grace and justice. (CCC 54)

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Reason for Understanding the Creation Story

• When referring to salvation we understand that it
  is an aspect of divine history. It presupposes
  that God directs historical processes and events
  toward certain results. From the perspective of
  salvation history, God's plan for humans works
  itself out through a complicated but ever-ongoing
  process that moves slowly toward God's goals.
• Salvation History- The story of Gods saving
  activity in human history.

4
What is Revelation?

• Revelation The act of revealing or disclosing
• Everything we know about Christianity has been
  revealed to us by God.
• To reveal means to unveil.
• Therefore, the Revelation of God is when God
  discloses to us who He is and what our purpose
  is. This is called Divine Revelation.

5
Understanding revelation found in the book of
genesis

• The Catholic Church believes in Contextual
  Interpretation of Scripture.
• Contextual Interpretation means that to
  understand Scripture one must first understand
  the message according to the location, time, and
  situation that it originally was set in, then to
  apply that message to today and our faith.
• We believe that the Creation Story is Sacred Myth.

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Literary Format of the Creation Story

• Among all the Scriptural texts about creation,
  the first three chapters of Genesis occupy a
  unique place. From a literary standpoint these
  texts may have had diverse sources. The inspired
  authors have placed them at the beginning of
  Scripture to express in their solemn language the
  truths of creation (CCC 289).

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Literary Forms

• Myth- A traditional story with a focus on
  gods/heros.
• Legend- Unauthenticated story preserved by
  tradition and popularity.
• Fable- Brief tale teaching a moral.
• List- Itemized series of names, numbers, words,
  and events.
• Lyric Poetry- Personal feelings of the poet,
  often sung.
• Love Poem-Personal feelings on love.

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Literary Forms

• Prophecy- Prediction often made with divine
  influence.
• Law- Rule or code of moral conduct, principle.
• Sermon- Serious speech on Biblical basis.
• History- Record account of past events generally
  in chronological order.
• Letter- Written message often a personal account.
• Drama- Story of peoples lives with dialog and
  interaction.

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Purpose for Different Literary Forms

• There are multiple literary forms used in Sacred
  Scripture.
• Each author or editor of Scripture intended a
  particular message to a particular group.
• Though these stories might not be historically
  accurate we would consider them to be truth.

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Religious vs. Scientific Truth

• Scientific truth is based on proven facts and
  figures and experiments
• Religious truth is based on beliefs - faith, hope
  and love
• Importance of Religious Truth-
• Religious truth is inspired by God and guided by
  the Holy Spirit.
• Religious truth contains all that we need for our
  own salvation and a relationship with God.

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Hebrew Scriptures

• The Hebrew Scriptures are love letters from God.
• Church teaching is imperative to understand Gods
  message in the writings of the Hebrew Scriptures.
• Magisterium- The Catholic Churchs official
  teaching office. It was instituted by Christ, and
  is guided by the Holy Spirit in all matters of
  faith and morals.
• Tradition- Begins with Jesus and continues from
  the Apostles to the formation of the Church.
  Guided by the Holy Spirit.
• Scripture Scholars- Specialize in language,
  culture, history, archeology, and literary form.

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Trinitarian God

• The Trinity is One. We do not confess three
  Gods, but one God in three persons, the
  consubstantial Trinity.(CCC 253)
• The divine persons are really distinct from one
  another. God is one but not solitary. Father,
  Son, Holy Spirit are not simply names
  designating modalities of the divine being, for
  they are really distinct from one another. (CCC
  254)

13
Trinitarian God

• The divine persons are relative to one another.
  Because it does not divide the divine unity, the
  real distinction of the persons from one another
  resides solely in the relationships which relate
  them to one another. (CCC 255)
• They are called three persons in view of their
  relations, we believe in one nature or substance.

14
God Created AllSeen and Unseen

• There are two types of created beings
• Human Beings
• Spiritual Beings
• Angels
• The existence of the spiritual, non-corporeal
  beings that Sacred Scripture usually calls
  "angels" is a truth of faith. The witness of
  Scripture is as clear as the unanimity of
  Tradition. (CCC 328)
• As purely spiritual creatures angels have
  intelligence and will they are personal and
  immortal creatures, surpassing in perfection all
  visible creatures, as the splendor of their glory
  bears witness. (CCC 330)

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Human Beings as the Summit of Creation

• The human person, created in the image of God,
  is a being at once corporeal and spiritual. The
  biblical account expresses this reality in
  symbolic language when it affirms that(m)an,
  whole and entire, is therefore willed by God.
  (CCC 362)
• The first man was not only created good, but was
  also established in friendship with his Creator
  and in harmony with himself and with the creation
  around him, in a state that would be surpassed
  only by the glory of the new creation in Christ.
  (CCC 374).

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Human Beings as the Summit of Creation

• Human Beings are created in the image and
  likeness of God.
• Human persons are body and soul- this shows us
  the physical and spiritual realities of creation
  and of the world.
• God made male and female to work in unison.
• We must appreciate the similarities and
  differences of humanity, specifically in regards
  to gender differences.

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Original Plans of Justice and Holiness

• Gods plan consisted of original justice.
• The original state of creation focused on peace,
  harmony, no suffering, no death.
• Gifts of original justice-
• Peace
• Harmony
• No Suffering/Death
• Original holiness is the state of original
  perfection in which God created humans so they
  could share in Gods life.