FUNDAMENTALS OF FAITH

REVIEWER
angelica garcia

REVELATION
Etymology: Came from the Latin w ord, Revelare which means to unveil.
Human Limitation: There is nothing in the mind that is not first in the senses.
St. Thomas
Aquinas
No one has ever seen God. John 4:12
Bakit wala pang nakakakita kay God? Because He is a spirit and a mystery.
God knows us fully but we only know a part of Him.

God is a Spirit and a Mystery

A spirit cannot be perceived by the senses.
A mystery transcends all human experiences

Language (God talks to us through language)

A product of human experience.
We have to speak to Him in terms of what our senses can perceive.

Images of God
Ex: A farmers perception of God is a farmer because he gives and provides, however
this statement is incorrect. The correct statement should be God is like a farmer.

Anthropomorphism
Etymology: Anthropos man; morphe form
It is where our images of God come from.
All language about God is analogical and symbolic.
There is no such thing as a perfect image because
a. Images have both strengths and limitations
- Ex: God is like a father.
Strengths: protective
Limitations: can be
abusive
- Ex: God is like a
mother.
Strengths: caring
Limitations: woman meaning, madaling paiyakin, lokohin, etc.
b. Forming an imaginative picture of God can be misleading
- Ex: Alam ng isang bata: God is like a doctor. Yung nanay niya nagkasakit
ng malubha at namatay, iisipin ngayon ng bata na hindi totoo si God kasi hindi
pinagaling yung nanay at hinayaang mamatay.

Who is God?
Only God knows who He really is.
Only God can speak well of God. St. Thomas Aquinas (The same goes when
describing ourselves.)
 Human beings are relational.
 Words are revelatory.
In Christianity, we believe that God actually spoke to us and in fact, continues to speak to
us.

Functions of Words
1. Informative
We speak merely to tell something or just to converse.

2. Expressive
We speak to disclose our feelings.

3. Appellative
We speak to be reciprocated, begging for a response.

Remember: God communicates in an appellative manner. His word is a proposal we can

either accept it or reject it.

Revelation
Revelation is Gods personal loving communication to us of who He is and His plan
to save us all in His love. It is Gods reaching out to us in friendship, so we get to
know and love Him. Catechism for Filipino Catholics 101 (CFC 101)
People are used to being approached and not to initiate approaching. Mas sanay
tayo na inaaproach ng ibang tao kaysa tayo mismo ang mag-approach sa kanila.
Includes getting to know the person deeply. Ipakita kung sino ka talaga.
The challenge: Accept the person even with his/her flaws.
It is in knowing that comes loving. St. Thomas Aquinas
Through knowing, we get to know the true identity of the person.
What matters is whats on the inside; the outside is just a faade.
If we get to know God, we can be able to fully love him.
God is adjusting for man he is using ways to communicate with us in such a way
that we understand. He is the one approaching us.

Avenues of Communication medium

1. Events
a. Creation of Universe 1st act of Gods revelation
b. History general, special, personal; to understand the present
2. Persons
a. Prophets readers of the signs of the time; chosen messengers of God.
(Roles: return back the faith/hope of the people in times of struggle, remind them
what is right and wrong)
b. Jesus Christ fullness of Gods revelation; agent, content, and goal of revelation
c. Church Christ still speaks and is still active in the world.

Kinds of
Revelation
1.
General
natural
God reveals himself through the created world/nature.
 2. Special
supernatural
God reveals himself through his chosen messengers
St. Thomas equates this to the Bible because all these messengers came from the Bible
Gods chosen messengers are sinners, believers, non-believers, and those who do not
know him; they dont have a common denominator. They arent worthy to be called
but God made them worthy.

3. Public
For all of humanity
Why? Because these are necessary for our salvation
Imposes the obligation of faith, adherence is necessary, BINDING all of us
Everything in the Bible is a public revelation.
Jesus: He is the final word. Theres nothing more to say.
DIVINE REVELATION
4. Private
Church-recognized messages
Do not add to public revelation
Impose no obligation of faith
Apparitions, mystical experiences, etc.
Jesus is already the final word
Tradition
DEPOSIT OF FAITH: TRADITION
Record of Divine Revelation
Tradition to pass on/to hand over because
it is important Written
Oral Tradition Tradition
Etymology (Tradition)
Tradere Latin word
Means to pass on/hand over

Not all oral traditions were in written tradition.

Oral tradition came frst before written tradition.
Written Tradition : Bible
Written tradition does not claim to be complete
Twice in his Gospel account, the evangelist John admits that books c annot
contain everything.
Written tradition does not invalidate the unwritten/oral.
Can never be understood apart from the unwritten.
Oral traditions are initially passed on by word of mouth and eventually some of it were
put into writing (written tradition).

Kinds of
Tradition
1. tradition
Cultural traditions
 Could have arisen from particular needs of the Church at a particular time and
place.
Can be changed, modified, or done away w ith without destroying the integrity
of our
Christian Faith.
Examples: Praying of the Holy Rosary (did not come from Christ, can be
modified), Salubong (only arises when people need to express their faith), December
25 as Christmas Day, La Naval Procession, Procession during the mass (not
really necessary), Gesture of bowing at the sacrament of Holy Order (gesture of
bowing can be changed), Host and Wine (when it is not yet consecrated)

2. Tradition
Doctrinal/Sacred Traditions
The living and lived faith of the Church
Can never be changed, modified, or done away with , for doing so would
harm the integrity of our Christian Faith
Examples: Rolled Stone in the Resurrection story (it is in the Bible),
Birth of Christ,
Consecration (all sacraments are sacred traditions), Host and Wine (only if it is
already consecrated)
The Bible is not equal to sacred tradition. Tradition
If it would be equal to sacred tradition,
then oral
traditions are being invalidated.

Sacred Traditions
1. Scriptural Tradition Oral Tradition Written
Revolves around the Bible Tradition
These are the traditions that take their
roots in the Holy Bible.
These practices and beliefs can be
justified SACRED
by quoting Sacred Scriptures. TRADITI
ON

2. Apostolic Tradition
These are the teachings that the Apostles left us, not through written scripture
but through the unbroken chain of succession of Popes, bishops, priests, and deacons
The unbroken chain is the reassurance that the teachings of the Apostles are
preserved
intact.
Teachings of the Apostles (maraming Apostles ang pinili ni Christ para maging
accurate yung teachings/preachings kapag may nagkamali, marami ang
nakakaalam ng tama at madali lang icorrect)
The 12 Apostles were the first bishops. (Judas Escariot was replaced by Matthias)

Fathers of the Church first successors.

At some point or another, the successors also had arguments or fights
regarding the position.
Holy Spirit is the primary agent.
Unshakable Tripod of the Catholic Church
1. Sacred Scripture
2. Sacred Tradition
3. Magisterium

Magisterium
Etymology: Magister (Latin) means teacher
The teaching authority of the Catholic church
Exercised by the Pope in making solemn defnitions or by bishops in an ecumenical
council.

THE BIBLE Scriptural Tradition

Catholic Bible
72 or 73 books
46 books in the Old Testament [45 if Jeremiah and Lamentations are counted as one]
27 books in the New Testament

Non-Catholic Bible
66 books
39 books in the Old Testament [does not include the Deuterocanonical books]
27 books in the New Testament
How do you Determine if a Bible is a Catholic Bible?
1. Nihil Obstat nothing hinders [given by Censor Liborum; it is an attestation a book
contains nothing damaging to faith or morals.]
2. Imprimi Potest (Optional) it may be printed [given by the major religious superior
if the
author is a member of a religious congregation.]
3. Imprimatur let it be printed [given by the authors diocesan bishop of the place
where the book is published.]

Etymology
Byblos (Greek) which means papyrus
Biblion scroll, book(plural biblia)
Codex scrolls can be put on top of each other, folded in the middle and bound.
Original scrolls are kept in
Vatican.

For St. Jerome, the Bible was a divine library, a Bibliotheca Divina. (Ignorance of
Scripture is ignorance of Christ.)

Christianity vs Other Religions

JUDAISM ISLA CHRISTIANITY
Word by which M
Torah/Law/Pentateuch Koran Jesus Christ
God has
Spoken
Messenger Moses Mohammed Bible

The Bible can be compared to a scrapbook.

Bible is a faith-book. (Written by believers for believers)
 The Bible is an account of life, preserved in memory, turned into text.
Records events seen as designed and influenced by God.

Formation of Scriptures (Process)

1. Actual Events
2. Oral Tradition
3. Written Tradition

Important Persons
1. Stephen Langton (1226) divided the Bible into chapters.
2. Robert Estienne (1551) divided the Bible into verses.
Why? For easier citation.
OLD TESTAMENT NEW TESTAMENT
Testament Cycle of Infdelity Fulfilment of
kasunduan Creation of False Gods Gods promise
Contract vs Covenant Yahweh sends Invaders through Jesus
Contract man and man Israelites ask for Christ.
help Establishment of
Covenant God
Yahweh sends help the definite
is included in the form of a king, covenant
An agreement between God judge, or prophet relationship
and the Israelites. Israelites forget between God and
God Humanity through
Arrangement of Books
Books are arranged in terms of classification.
CLASSIFICATION OLD TESTAMENT NEW TESTAMENT
Sacred Books Torah/Law 4 Gospels
Historical Narratives Joshua, Judges, Ruth, I & II Acts of the Apostles
Samuel, I & II Kings, I & II
Chronicles, Ezra,
Nehemiah, Esther
Wisdo Job, Psalms, Proverbs, 13 Epistles of Paul
m Ecclesiastes, Song of
Propheti SolomonIsaiah, Jeremiah, Revelation
c Lamentations, Ezekiel,
Daniel, Hosea, Joel, Amos,
Obadiah, Jonah, Micah,
Nahum, Habakkuk, Haggai,
Zechariah, Malachi

Canonicity of Scriptures
Canonization came from the Greek word, Kanon which means measure. [Kanon =
stick used for measurement]
These are the standards/norms for a book to be considered part of the Bible.
OLD NEW
Prophetic
TESTAMENTOrigin Apostolic
TESTAMENTOrigin
Coherence with Torah Gospels
LITURG
Language Y
Why do some Bibles only have 66 books?
Babylon invaded Palestine (Babylonian Exile from Palestine to Babylon). Yahweh then
sent prophets (1 prophet in Babylon, 1 prophet on Palestine). Babylon had a Greek
language while Palestines language was Hebrew. Some people rejected the
books that were written in GREEK.
These books are now the Deuterocanonicals.
1. 1 Maccabees
2. 2 Maccabees
3. Sirach
4. Baruch
5. Judith
6. Wisdom
7. Tobit

Books not in the Scriptures

These books are called Apocryphal Writings. They did not pass the Canon of Scriptures.
1. Gospel of Judas
2. Gospel of Thomas
3. Gospel of Mary Magdalene
They did not write the books themselves. Their names were only used to establish
credibility. Divine Inspiration
Main character: Holy Spirit
Active and dynamic influence of the Holy Spirit to the human authors of the
Bible, thus enabling them to write what God w ants them to w rite .
Bible is the word about, from, and by God.
The Bible is 100% Word of God and 100% Word of Man.
The word of God written by men through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit.
The word of Men because it is written by men in the language of men .

Misconceptions
1. Not ecstatic
2. Not verbal or mechanical dictation
3. Not subsequent approbation
4. Not simply negative assistance
5. Not mere ideological inspiration

NOTE: The Bible contains no error in terms of faith and salvation.

Called as the inerrancy of the Bible

Aspects that the Bible could commit an Error

1. Inconsistencies
Example: Narrative of Jesus Birth
- Matthew: Christ was born inside a house.
- Luke: Christ was born in a manger.
- WHY THE DIFFERENCE? It was because Matthews audience were the
believers of the
Torah, who believed that the savior would come from the lineage of a king.
Therefore,
 his birth had to be somehow fit for a king. On the other hand, Lukes audience
were the outcasts of society and the oppressed, thats why Christ was born in a
manger according to his narrative.

2. Difference from Science

Example: The Creation Story (Big Bang Theory or the Creation Narrative?)
Example 2: The Book of Joshua stated that Earth is the center of the universe and
the sun revolves around it.

3. Difference in Chronology
There are some stories that vary in arrangement.
Example: The Passion of Christ Narrative (Which came first? The scourging or the
decision to crucify Him?)
- Why the error? Because the Bible is like a journal. What happened to the
day was
narrated in no order but whats important is the end: that Jesus died on the
cross.

4. Moral Deficiency
Some stories in the Bible are immoral.

Senses of the
Scripture
1. Literal Sense
The meaning of the human author of the text directly intended to convey to his
audience.

2. Allegorical Sense
Old Testament stories prefgures the life of Christ
Consist of patterns and parallelism
Example: Story of Moses and Story of Isaac
- Moses: prominent figure in the Old Testament and liberated Israel from Egypt
- Isaac: was supposed to be a sacrifice
- JESUS SACRIFICED HIMSELF TO LIBERATE US FROM SINS.
You cannot understand the New Testament if you do not understand the Old
Testament
- We can acquire more profound understanding of events by
recognizing their significance in Christ.

3. Moral Sense
Stories have a lesson
St. Paul: they were written for our instruction
Events reported in Scripture ought to lead us to act justly

4. Anagogical
Deepest sense
We can view realities and events in terms of their eternal signifcance, leading
us to our true homeland: thus the Church on Earth is a sign of the heavenly
Jerusalem
 Example: Parable of the 10 Virgins = about the second coming of Christ; only
those who are prepared will be admitted to heaven or in the parables case, the
reception. What happens after death?
Interpreting the Bible
1. Interpretation must be coherent to the tradition of the Church.
2. Consider the historical character of Biblical Revelation
3. Must be interpreted to the needs of its readers today.
4. Must be interpreted in relation to Christ, to the whole scripture and the
Church.

Exegesis vs Eigesis
Exegesis to draw out meaning (fixed interpretation)
Eigesis to put own meaning to the story (own words)