Transcript God’s Good Creation

The Bible’s Purpose
Big Questions
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 A theology class asks you to think about many “big
questions”
Big Questions
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 “Big questions” ask us to look beyond empirical data
 Sometime empirical data is not
 What are other forms of data?
Big Questions
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 The Bible is designed to answer big questions
 It uses “revelation” (revealed data)
 The Bible’s purpose is to help us understand both the
“big questions” and to give us insight in the answers
The Bible’s Purpose
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 Therefore, the Bible is not a storybook
 The Bible’s chief concern is not to answer our
questions about
The Bible’s Purpose
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 The Bible’s purpose is to teach us about our life in
God
 Our life in God begins with “salvation history”
Salvation History
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 Salvation History and Redemption are clearly
presented in Genesis
 Genesis is historical…
 Genesis is about …
 Genesis presents …
Salvation History
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 Salvation History is primarily centered around
mankind, but is good for all creation
 The narrative is for men, to men
 KEY: To read the Bible (& Gensis) as a ____book
 Specifically a _____book
Why God Created
The Origins
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 Genesis is about origins (beginnings)
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(Gen 1)
(Gen 2)
(Gen 3)
(Gen 4-5)
(Gen 6-10)
(Gen 11)
(Gen 12-50)
 “Origin” is the root for “original”; hence “original”
means not unique, but first
The Creation
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 Listen carefully to Genesis 1.1-2.3
 Hebrew poetry, which uses patterns instead of rhyme
 List the patterns that you hear
The Creation
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 The most important pattern is:
 What do these patterns show?
 All creation …
 God created …
The Creation
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 The second most important pattern is the one that is
broken
 Where is “And God said” not used?
 What does this tell you about man compared to all
other creatures?
 What else does God say that is not said to any of the
other creatures?
The Creation
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 IMPORTANT: Man is unique, made in God’s “image
and likeness”
The Creation
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 Third most important pattern is how the days are
arranged
 Chart on page 6
 Why are only six days listed?
 The days of creation build to a pinnacle.
 What is the pinnacle of God’s creation?
 What words show you that God made everything for
the man?
Stewardship
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 Everything is made for humans
 Everything is ____________ from God to man
 BIG QUESTION: What is man’s responsibility?
 Locate the words that describe the responsibility
 What does “subdue it” mean? (p. 7)
The Trinity in Creation
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 Look again at Genesis 1.1-3. Where is the Blessed
Trinity in this account?
St Augustine
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 It is the Blessed Trinity that is represented as
creating. For, when Scripture says, “In the beginning
God created heaven and earth,” by the name of
“God” we understand the Father, … and when
Scripture says, “And the Spirit of God was stirring
above the water,” we recognize a complete
enumeration of the Trinity. So in the conversion and
in the perfecting of creatures by which their species
are separated in due order, the Blessed Trinity is
likewise represented: the Word and the Father of the
Word, as indicated in the statement, “God said.”
How Man is Supposed to Be
The Creation of Man
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 Genesis 1 presents the big picture
 It gives us a glimpse about why God created
 BIG QUESTION: Why did God create?
 Possible answers
 Summary: God creates to ….
The Creation of Man
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 Genesis 2 zooms in on one part of Day 6
 Locate the words that describe the creation of man
 What do these words tell you about yourself?
 Locate the words that describe the creation of
woman
 Do you see any hints at salvation history?
The Soul
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 Genesis 2.7 shows what man is made of
 With the soul, humans are able to
 Love (________)
 Believe (________)
 Hope (________)
 The soul means that man is ….
The Soul
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 Most importantly, the soul allows us to love God
 IMPORTANT: Man is made to be in communion with
God
 The soul makes all kinds of love possible
 God’s love for us is ἀγάπη, and that is the love He
desires us to have for Him
The Trinity in Creation
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 Look again at Genesis 2.7. Where is the Blessed
Trinity in this account?
The Human Family
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 God creates two complimentary humans
 Adam means …
 Eve is originally named Isha (means “…”)
 Later (Gen 3.20), Adam names her Eve
The Human Family
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 Why does God create the woman?
 Marriage is the community that man and woman
form
Ideal Man
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 BIG QUESTION: Why does God create humans?
 God creates humans to live
 Love is a choice to give yourself completely to
another without demanding anything in return
 All love is …
Ideal Man
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 To live in love with God is to
The Origin of Sin
Why the Tree?
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 What are the two trees?
 What are the rules about the two trees? (Gen 2)
 Who is first told these rules?
 What do these rules mean?
Why the Tree?
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 BIG QUESTION: Why does God place a forbidden
tree in the Garden?
 IMPORTANT: The Tree of the Knowledge of Good
and Evil is an act of God’s love
What About the Devil
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 The devil is the diabolical one
 The one who opposes
 The devil rebelled (Rev. 12.7-11) because he chose his
own way rather than God’s way
Why Death?
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 Locate what God says to Adam about eating from
the forbidden tree (Gen 2)
 Death is not God’s action but the result of our choice
 To choose against God is to choose against His desire
to …
Why Death?
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 God is Love
 Choosing against God is choosing not to love
 God is Life
 Choosing against God is choosing death
The Story
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 Read Genesis 3.1-6
 Where is Adam?
 Where should he be?
 What does the devil promise?
 Is his promise the truth or a lie?
 How does Eve’s answer differ from what God said?
 Compare Gen 2 and Gen 3
 Why do you think the words are different?
Hiding
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 What did Adam and Eve realize immediately after
they had sinned?
 What does this represent or signify?
What Comes Next?
Owning Up
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 Why does God come to Adam first?
 What is Adam’s first response?
 Who is he really blaming?
 What are the three immediate consequences of
Adam & Eve’s sin?
 For Adam
 For Eve
 For the snake
The Consequences
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 What are the long term consequences?
 Temptation, evil and death…
 All creation is …
 The communion between God and man …
 Sin is …
The Consequences
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 Adam & Eve’s sin results in five “losses”
The Consequences
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 BIG QUESTION: Why can’t I do the good I want to
do?
 Man still desires the good, but his nature bears the
wound of Original Sin and, thus, is inclined to evil and
subject to error. Because of this, the life of individual
men and all of society is a dramatic struggle between
good and evil. (Gaudium et Spes)
Review Questions
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 What were the consequences of Original Sin for
Adam and Eve?
 What were the consequences of Original Sin for
Adam and Eve’s descendants?
Review Questions
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 What was the effect of Original Sin on our minds
and wills?
 What was the effect of Original Sin on sexual
relations?
Review Questions
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 Did Original Sin destroy our ability to know the
truth or to act freely?
Concupiscence
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 BIG QUESTION: Why do you suffer because of what
Adam & Eve did?
 Isn’t everyone responsible only for his own actions?
 Sin (like all behavior) has a ripple effect
 We are all interconnected
 Because of the “unity of the human race” all men are
implicated in Adam’s sin, as all are implicated in
Christ’s justice.” In other words, we all suffer because of
Adam, but we all benefit due to Christ. (cf CCC 404)
Concupiscence
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 Sin (like all behavior) has a ripple effect
 This is concupiscence: the inclination to sin
 We are born with a damaged but not corrupted
human nature, which inclines us strongly to every
conceivable form of selfishness
Good News
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 God does not leave Adam & Eve, nor the creation
they ruined, to fend for themselves
 God’s love is located in the three actions when He
confronts Adam & Eve
 The words of hope in the Protoevangelium (Gen 3.15)
 The sacrifice of an animal
 The banishment from the Garden
Good News
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 All three signs of hope point to our redemption in
Jesus
 The seed that comes from the woman…
 The sacrifice of an animal points to …
 The banishment from the Garden points to …
Good News
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 For us, this redemption is found in the Sacraments
 Baptism removes the stain of Original Sin by
infusing God’s sanctifying grace into the soul.
 Sacramental Grace and our personal struggle is the
key to living in conformity with the teachings of
Christ