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THEO 111 Module 1
THEO 111 Module 1
THEO 111 Module 1
LEARNING MODULE 1
DISTANCE EDUCATION
SACRED SCRIPTURES (THEO 111)
AN OVERVIEW
This course is a study on the Sacred Scriptures in a general perspective and a glimpse on the
foundation of our Christian living. The first part of the course introduces the students to the Bible by
tracing the growth of the chosen people of God and how the experiences and concerns which
develop among the believers throughout the centuries somehow went into the formation of the Old
Testament. The second part of the course follows the arrival of Jesus, and His efforts to save His
people from destruction. His rejections, death and resurrection gave rise to the preaching of the
apostles resulting in the formation of the New Testament.
At the end of this module, you are expected to:
1. Recognize that the Bible is one of the world’s great books and it has a unique power to
convince people who read it with an open mind.
2. Discover that the Bible is nothing less than God revealing Him to the human race, and whose
writers were on the receiving end of God’s salvation.
3. Accept that the Bible is not only a book for prayer or for instruction, but a book where the
Cross of Jesus and His resurrection are at its very center communication life to us.
4. Illustrate the reciprocal relationship of the Old and New Testaments
These are the topics that we will be introduced and learned by you for the whole semester:
MODULE 1 The Book (Etymology, Old Testament, In the Beginning & the Chosen People)
MODULE 2 The New Testament (A new covenant, Judaism & the Roman Empire)
MODULE 3 The Promise Land, The Kingdom & A Holy Nation
MODULE 4 Stories with a Message, Persecution, Resistance & Revival
MODULAR 5 Singing to the Lord, the Wisdom of Israel & the Messengers of God
MODULAR 6 The Good News
MODULAR 7 Early Christian Letters & In the End
EXAMINATION PERIOD
Periodical Examinations for offline learners are given on the exact schedule of the
examination. The tests are given online hence, students must look for an internet connection where
he can log in his goggle account and join the group in taking the test. The Finance Office will post
names of students who have permits so permit no exam policy will be strictly followed.
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DO NOT WRITE YOUR ANSWERS IN THE MODULE. YOUR ANSWERS SHOULD BE WRITTEN IN A SEPARATE
SHEET TO BE SUBMITTED TO YOUR TEACHER ON OR BEFORE THE DEADLINE.
PRE-ASSESSMENT
Name _______________________________________ Course/Yr. _________ Date: _________
Many claim to know a lot about the Good Book. Well now it’s time to put those assumptions to the test (in an
enjoyable way) by participating in our intriguing Bible Trivia.
INTRODUCTION The word Bible can rightfully claim to be the great-grandson of the Greek
word biblos, which was the name given to the outer coat of a papyrus reed
in Egypt during the eleventh century B.C.. The plural form of biblos is biblia,
and by the second century A.D. Christians were using this latter word to
describe their writings. Biblia gave birth to the Latin word of the same
spelling, biblia, which was in turn transliterated into the Old French biblia by
the same process. The modern English word Bible is derived from the Old
French, with the Anglicized ending. The word is thus the product of four
stages of transliteration and transmission. The term Bible is often used
synonymously with “Scripture” or “Word of God”
LEARNING INPUTS
LEARNING ACTIVITIES
SELF-CHECK QUESTIONS (SCQ)
The etymology (or origin) of the word Bible: comes from the Greek word for
book, which literally means scroll, which came from the name of an old
Phoenician port called Babylos, where Egyptian papyrus was imported from
into Greece. From there it passed through Latin into English
John Chrysostom, in 386 AD, was the first writer to use the term for
the Old and New Testaments together.
The name Bible was adopted by Wickliffe, and came gradually into
use in our English language.
Jesus said: “He who listens to you listens to me; he who rejects you rejects
me; but he who rejects him rejects me rejects him who sent me.” Luke 10:16
Jesus words did not vanish with Jesus’ ascension, His teachings continued
to live under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit in the preaching of the
Apostles and their successors, the Pope and the bishops, collectively known
as the Magisterium or teaching body of the Church.
The oral teaching, this living memory, his unbroken reception of the living
Word of God from one generation of Chris tians bishops to the next is what
we call, Sacred Tradition.
Just five books make up one of the three major sections of the OT
Scriptures. On the relation of the Torah to the rest of the OT, Jesus casts a
sharper relief by implying that there was a two-fold division of the OT: the
law and the prophets (Mt. 5:17; Lk. 24:27). The Torah was foundational for
all the other inspired writings that should follow.
The Pentateuch
The HISTORICAL Books these books are not unbiased history but
instead are written to emphasize God’s action in history.
The historical books are not books of pure history but instead
emphasize God’s actions in the history of the Jewish people.
The WISDOM and the POETRY Books which use Hebrew poetry to
teach how to live a good and holy life.
a. Calls to reform
b. Hope-filled promises
(Answer Activity 1.1 and SCQ 1.1)
Lesson 2 GENESIS
In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Now the earth
was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and
the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.
And God said, ‘Let there be a vault between the waters to separate water
from water.’ So God made the vault and separated the water under the vault
from the water above it. And it was so. God called the vault ‘sky’. And there
was evening, and there was morning – the second day.
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And God said, ‘Let the water under the sky be gathered to one place, and
let dry ground appear.’ And it was so. God called the dry ground ‘land’, and
the gathered waters he called ‘seas’. And God saw that it was good.
Then God said, ‘Let the land produce vegetation: seed-bearing plants and
trees on the land that bear fruit with seed in it, according to their various
kinds.’ And it was so. The land produced vegetation: plants bearing seed
according to their kinds and trees bearing fruit with seed in it according to
their kinds. And God saw that it was good. And there was evening, and
there was morning – the third day.
And God said, ‘Let there be lights in the vault of the sky to separate the day
from the night, and let them serve as signs to mark sacred times, and days
and years, and let them be lights in the vault of the sky to give light on the
earth.’ And it was so. God made two great lights – the greater light to govern
the day and the lesser light to govern the night. He also made the
stars. God set them in the vault of the sky to give light on the earth, to
govern the day and the night, and to separate light from darkness. And God
saw that it was good. And there was evening, and there was morning – the
fourth day.
And God said, ‘Let the water teem with living creatures, and let birds fly
above the earth across the vault of the sky.’ So God created the great
creatures of the sea and every living thing with which the water teems and
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And God said, ‘Let the land produce living creatures according to their
kinds: the livestock, the creatures that move along the ground, and the wild
animals, each according to its kind.’ And it was so. God made the wild
animals according to their kinds, the livestock according to their kinds, and
all the creatures that move along the ground according to their kinds. And
God saw that it was good.
Then God said, ‘Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that
they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the
livestock and all the wild animals, and over all the creatures that move along
the ground. ’So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God
he created them; male and female he created them.
God blessed them and said to them, ‘Be fruitful and increase in number; fill
the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky
and over every living creature that moves on the ground. ’Then God said, ‘I
give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every
tree that has fruit with seed in it.
They will be yours for food. And to all the beasts of the earth and all the
birds in the sky and all the creatures that move along the ground –
everything that has the breath of life in it – I give every green plant for food.’
And it was so. God saw all that he had made, and it was very good. And
there was evening, and there was morning – the sixth day.
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Chosen people, the Jewish people, as expressed in the idea that they have
been chosen by God as his special people. The term implies that the Jewish
people have been chosen by God to worship only him and to fulfill the
mission of proclaiming his truth among all the nations of the world. This idea
is a recurring theme in Jewish liturgy and is expressed in many passages of
Scripture, as for example: “For you are a people holy to the Lord your God,
and the Lord has chosen you to be a people of his own possession, out of
all the nations that are on the face of the earth” (Deut. 14:2). The term
chosen people is a free translation of the biblical terms
ʿam segullah (“treasure people”) and ʿam nahallah (“heritage people”).
Exodus
The word “exodus” means departure. In God's timing, the exodus of the
Israelites from Egypt marked the end of a period of oppression for
Abraham's descendants (Genesis 15:13), and the beginning of the
fulfillment of the covenant promise to Abraham that his descendants would
not only live in the Promised Land, but would also multiply and become a
great nation (Genesis 12:1-3, 7).
The purpose of the book may be expressed as tracing the rapid growth of
Jacob's descendants from Egypt to the establishment of the theocratic
nation in their Promised Land.
Leviticus
Chapters 1-7 outline the offerings required of both the laity and the
priesthood. Chapters 8-10 describe the consecration of Aaron and his sons
to the priesthood. Chapters 11-16 are the prescriptions for various types of
uncleanness. The final 10 chapters are God’s guidelines to His people for
practical holiness. Various feasts were instituted in the people's worship of
Jehovah God, convened and practiced according to God's laws.
Numbers
Most of the events of the Book of Numbers take place in the wilderness,
primarily between the second and fortieth years of the wandering of the
Israelites. The first 25 chapters of the book chronicle the experiences of the
first generation of Israel in the wilderness, while the rest of the book
describes the experiences of the second generation. The theme of
obedience and rebellion followed by repentance and blessing runs through
the entire book, as well as the entire Old Testament.
The theme of the holiness of God is continued from the book of Leviticus
into the book of Numbers, which reveals God's instruction and preparation
of His people to enter the Promised Land of Canaan. The importance of the
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Deuteronomy
Blessings are promised to those who obey (5:29; 6:17-19; 11:13-15), and
famine is promised to those who break the law (11:16-17). The theme of
blessing and cursing is continued in chapters 27-30. This portion of the book
ends with a clear choice set before Israel: “I have set before you life and
death, blessing and cursing.” God’s desire for His people is found in what
He recommends: “choose life” (30:19).
The promised land in the Bible was that geographic are God the Father
swore to give to his chosen people, the descendants of Abraham. The
territory was located in ancient Canaan, on the eastern end of the
Mediterranean Sea. Numbers 34:1-12 details its exact boundaries.
For nomadic shepherds like the Jews, having a permanent home to call
their own was a dream come true. It was a place of rest from their constant
uprooting. This area was so rich in natural resources God called it “a land
flowing with milk and honey.”
The Book of Judges is the second of the Books of the Former Prophets
in Hebrew Scripture, and serves as part of the Historical Books of the Greek
Septuagint Old Testament, in the following order: Joshua,
Judges, Ruth, Samuel, and Kings, as well as the books of the Restoration.
These continue as such in our Christian Old Testament of the Bible.
The Book of Judges is known as Κριταὶ in the Greek Septuagint.
The Book of Judges relates the difficult period after the conquest of Canaan
by Joshua, when the twelve tribes began to settle in the territories assigned
to them. The primary message is that the twelve tribes thrive in the land
when they are faithful to the Lord, but when they fall away from the
covenant; they are besieged by their enemies.
However, the Lord God remains faithful in spite of their behavior, and when
beseeched by the people, sends a Judge to save them in times of crisis.
The cycle of sin, servitude, supplication, and salvation recurs throughout the
Book of Judges.
The exact meaning of this very ancient name is somewhat uncertain. Dr.
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This ancient righteous man lived before the Flood, and died at the age of
969 years, in the year of the Flood and before it began (Genesis 5:21-27; 1
Chronicles 1:3). This fact, plus the former possible meaning of his name,
suggests that Methuselah’s very godly father, Enoch, received a prophecy
from God when his son was born, thus the name.
Methuselah’s great age may be further evidence of God’ “long-suffering… in
the days of Noah” (1 Peter 3:20; 2 Peter 3:9).
In Christ’s lineage
(watch https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ALsluAKBZ-c)
(answer SCQ 1.2)
(Accomplish Activity 1.2)
ASSESSMENT Google Classroom:
a. Content: Quiz
b. Performance Task: Online Demonstration
FEEDBACK (Learners must be given feedback about their performance. Feedback must
be specific. Terms such as: “very good”, “excellent”, “keep up” etc. are
positive feedback and welcomed but actually is not a very good feedback
since it is not specific. A more specific feedback is: “Your grammar in
sentence _____ needs to be improved;” “ The right term should be ‘take
out’ NOT ‘take away”; )
Prepared by: