Session 1 Talk Notes

Finding the Story in Scripture

A. The approach this study takes to Scripture: find the story first
1. God has a plan (see Catechism No.1)

a. The plan is revealed in the Bible

b. A "pastoral narrative approach": learn the plan, walk in it

B. Where the Bible fits into our Catholic Faith

1. The "problem of the heap" (Frank Sheed)
2. A tool for understanding our faith: the Catechism of the Catholic Church

a. Four divisions or "pillars":

i. Creed - the plan (the story of salvation) in tightly wound form (St. Augustine)

ii. Sacraments and Liturgy - how we get into the story

iii. Life in Christ - how we live in the story (Galatians 2:20)

iv. Prayer - the living relationship between God and the Church

C. Everybody's looking for a story

1. Ex: Titanic
2. St Augustine - had to become "like a little one" to gain riches of Scripture (Confessions
3-5, p. 70)

D. How do we read the Bible and understand God's "plan of sheer

goodness"?
1. The problem with reading the Bible like a book
a. Note: St. Jerome, "Ignorance of Scripture is ignorance of Christ" (CCC. 133)

b. Not chronological
c. A library of seventy-three books arranged by literary genre, tied together by God's
plan

2. The Bible Timeline learning system: making the complex simple

a. Twelve Bible periods, color-coded (a mnemonic device)

b. Fourteen "narrative books" that keep the plot moving

c. The fifty-nine remaining or "supplemental" books

d. Understanding The Bible Timeline chart

 E. The place of the Bible in the Catholic Church
1. The relationship between Sacred Tradition and Sacred Scripture

a. We are people of the Word (see Catechism No. 108)

b. One common source, two modes of transmission (Catechism Nos. 80-82)

2. Divine inspiration

a. "God is the author of Sacred Scripture" (Catechism No. 105)

b. "God inspired the human authors" (Catechism No. 106)

c. "The inspired books teach the truth... without error" (Catechism No. 107)

3. Criteria for interpreting Scripture (Catechism Nos. 109-114)

a. Be attentive to the content and unity of the whole Scripture

b. Read the Scripture within the living Tradition of the whole Church

c. Be attentive to the analogy of faith (the truths all fit together)

4. The senses of Scripture (Catechism Nos. 115-119)

a. The literal sense, the intended meaning

b. The spiritual sense (three aspects):

i. Allegorical - how does it relate to Christ?

ii. Moral - how does it relate to my conduct and life?

iii. Anagogical - how does it relate to eternity?

F. Getting started
1. How to choose a Bible (Great Adventure study questions use the RSV-CE)
2. Get a Bible you can "live in"

a. Highlight meaningful texts for later recall

b. Highlight texts for teaching/explaining to others

c. Make it a personal journal of your walk with God

3. How to mark your Bible (keep it simple!)