Vocabulary
image and likeness
Adam has a son named Seth, and Seth is in the image and likeness of his father Adam. In Scripture, therefore, the idea of image and likeness points to sonship. When Scripture states that we are created in the image and likeness of God, it is telling us that we are God’s children, his sons and daughters.
"Then they cried out to the Lord in their trouble,
and he brought them out of their distress.
He stilled the storm to a whisper;
the waves of the sea were hushed.
They were glad when it grew calm,
and he guided them to their desired haven." How does this section of Psalm 107 help to prove Christ's divinity?
In the Old Testament, God is the creator, the only one with power over the wind and the sea. Indeed, though many miracles occur in the Old Testament, power over the wind and the sea was reserved for God alone. By calming the storm on the Sea of Galilee, Jesus is revealing that he is more than just a miracle worker; he is God. Even more, he has displayed a power that the Old Testament repeatedly attributes to God alone.
What 2 commands did God give Adam? And how did he fumble the bag on both?
Bonus: How does it relate to our lives?
1. till and keep the garden
2. You may freely eat of every tree in the garden; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall die.
According to CCC 1, what were we created for?
"God, infinitely perfect and blessed in himself, in a plan of sheer goodness freely created man to make him share in his own blessed life."
Shamar
to guard (used to describe the levitical priests guarding the temple and Adam guarding the garden)
Matthew 9 v. 2-7 reads "And behold, some people brought to him a paralytic, lying on a bed. And when Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, “Take heart, my son; your sins are forgiven.” And behold, some of the scribes said to themselves, “This man is blaspheming.” But Jesus, knowing their thoughts, said, “Why do you think evil in your hearts? For which is easier, to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Rise and walk’? But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins”—he then said to the paralytic—“Rise, pick up your bed and go home.” And he rose and went home." How does Jesus prove his authority here and why was it so shocking to the Jews?
Many verses in the Old Testament, Psalm 103 for example, claim God has the power to forgive sins. Forgiving sins was a divine quality, something only God could do. Here, Jesus is asserting his equality with God by saying he can forgive sins. It’s one thing to forgive someone who has personally wronged you. “I forgive you for what you did to me”. It’s another thing to claim to be able to forgive every sin someone has ever committed against God and others. Especially in the first-century Jewish world, that’s something only God could do (see Mark 2:7). Yet, Jesus told people, “Your sins are forgiven,” and the Jewish leaders were abhorred by this and accuse him of blasphemy (Matthew 9:2-3).
In John 14:6, Jesus claims: “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father, but by me.” How might His view about himself in this statement be different from how other religious leaders in history viewed themselves?
In most other religions, the founding leader claims to be a messenger of God, a teacher with an important lesson on how to live life or a prophet sent with a revelation from a deity. Muhammad claimed to be the prophet Allah. Buddha taught principles on how to find a tranquil state of life. Confucius offered proverbial sayings on how to live wisely. But Jesus was different. He didn’t just come to offer the world truth about God. He claimed to be that Truth. And he didn’t just come to offer a way of life. He claimed to be the way and the life. In sum, Jesus didn’t merely summon people to believe in God; he called them believe in him.
According to CCC 397, what was man's first sin?
"Man, tempted by the devil, let his trust in his creator die in his heart and, abusing his freedom, disobeyed God’s command. This is what man’s first sin consisted of. All subsequent sin would be disobedience toward God and lack of trust in his goodness”
St. Catherine of Siena's "The Chasm"
1. The Chasm: Sin radically ruptures our relationship with God, causing a great chasm, an infinite gap, between us and God.
2. The Dilemma: There is nothing we can do to bridge that gap.
3. “The Bridge:” (The God-Man Solution): Only someone who is both God and man can restore us to the Father.
“Very truly, I tell you, before Abraham was, I am.” John 8:58. Recall that I am translates to Yahweh. Why was this statement so shocking to the Jewish people?
n John 8:58, Jesus astonished his listeners, not only because he claims to have existed long before Abraham who died about 2,000 years before Christ; he also applies to himself the holy name of God “I AM” (or in Hebrew, Yahweh), which was the name God revealed to Moses. So holy was God’s name that no Jew would ever dare to speak it. That’s why it was so shocking for Jesus’ audience to hear him say, “Before Abraham was, I AM.” They would be hearing Jesus speak the unutterable name of God and apply it to himself! The Jews respond just a few verses later: “’We are not stoning you for a good work but for blasphemy. You, a man, are making yourself God.” (v. 33). He is claiming to be God.
C.S. Lewis explains refutes some theories about Christ with his "Trilemma". On top of the Trilemma, however, society has come up with a fourth possibility: Legend. Perhaps He didn’t really claim that he was God. According to this view, the Biblical accounts of Jesus’ life are not history; they’re just legends, exaggerated stories that made the simple human Jesus out to be more than he ever really was in history. Jesus never claimed to be God; his followers just made up the stories about his various claims to divinity. How is the concept of Jesus Christ as Legend impractical?
What would have been the motive—what did Christians have to gain if they did exaggerated claims about Jesus? “Here is what they got out of their hoax. Their friends and families scorned them. Their social standing, possessions, and political privileges were stolen from them by both Jews and Romans. They were persecuted, imprisoned, whipped, tortured, exiled, crucified, eaten by lions, and cut to pieces by gladiators.”[10]
Also, all the original disciples of Jesus were persecuted for the faith. And all but one of the apostles died as martyrs. Is it likely that they made up the stories of Jesus, exaggerated what he said and did and turned him into someone who claimed to be divine? If they wanted to save their lives, all they each needed to do was deny Jesus and admit they made it all up. But not a single one did that.
CCC 376 talks about the "four harmonies", and CCC 405 tells us how, because of original sin, these were lost. What are they?
Right after the fall, the Bible tells how man and woman hide from the presence of God (Genesis 3:10). How tragic: Adam and Eve are now running away from the God who lovingly brought them into existence, has a plan for their lives and wants them to be happy. This points to what sin is ultimately all about: turning away from God. As a result of this first sin, man and woman lost what can be called “the four harmonies”: the original harmony they had with God, the harmony they had with all creation, the harmony with each other and the perfect harmony they experienced within their own souls. Without the supernatural gift of God’s life dwelling in us, the human family ever since has been wounded, plagued by an inclination to evil and selfishness, which is the result of what Christians call “original sin”. As St. Paul explained, “For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I do” (Romans 7:15).
Provoevangelium
first Gospel (The church calls Genesis 3:15 this word because it foretells how the woman will have a descendant who will defeat the devil, crushing the head of the serpent and liberating the human family from his reign of sin and death, pointing to Jesus and Mary, who will defeat the devil.)
There is another very recent scientific evidence that proves the resurrection of Christ. It is a linen cloth bearing the faint image of a crucified man, believed by many to be Jesus of Nazareth. Scientific studies show the image is not made by paint, dye, or scorch marks, and it contains three-dimensional data unlike any known artwork. In 2011, researchers at Italy’s ENEA lab found that only a brief, high-intensity burst of ultraviolet radiation—around 34 billion watts of energy—could have created the image, a power surge strong enough to run over 3,000 football stadiums. This burst would have needed to occur in a split-second, with no known natural or human process able to replicate it. The cloth also bears bloodstains consistent with Roman crucifixion wounds and anatomical accuracy verified by forensic experts. Taken together, the scientific and physical features of this cloth make it one of the most compelling artifacts pointing toward the possibility of a supernatural event like the Resurrection. What is the name of this cloth?
Shroud of Turn
Why is it difficult for many people today to admit Jesus Christ is Lord? How does claiming his divinity affect our lives?
There’s a saying: “Jesus either is Lord of all, or he is not Lord at all.” In other words, Jesus is really who he says he is — Lord of all, Lord over all the Universe — or he’s not Lord at all. But if he is the Lord of all, then I should welcome him as Lord over my life. And that means I can’t just call him “Lord” or agree on a quiz that “Jesus is Lord.” I need to do what he says. I need to follow his commandments. I need to surrender my life to him and his plan for my life. In sum, if Jesus is not just a religious teacher but really is God, then he has authority over my life. What he teaches matters. I have to follow him and all that he says. And that involves making changes in how I live.
It is love ‘to the end’ (John 13:1) that confers on Christ’s sacrifice its value as redemption and reparation, as atonement and satisfaction (CCC 616). Explain the crucifixion is a symbol of love, not just a means to getting "even Steven".
A father who punishes the innocent to spare the guilty is neither a God of justice nor a God of mercy. This would not be a good or loving father, but a cruel tyrant, who doesn’t care who receives the punishment just as long as punishment is given. Pope St. John Paul II once explained that the saving power of the Cross “comes from the fact that the innocent Jesus, out of pure love, entered into solidarity with the guilty and transformed their situation from within.” God becoming man and offering himself to us on the Cross is an act of love.
C.S. Lewis's Trilemma (and how we can conclude Jesus Christ is Lord)
a. If Jesus was a liar, then we have to ask ourselves, why would He lie? What did he gain? If he was merely looking for popularity and mustering many followers, why did he reject the opportunity to be made a king? And why would he die for a lie?
b. If Jesus was a lunatic, how he was able to preach some of the greatest ethical teachings of all time, like the Sermon on the Mount, and why did others perceive such unique real authority in his teaching? Do the teachings about loving your enemy, praying for those who persecute you, and being merciful sound like the words of lunatic?
c. If Jesus is Lord, what does that mean for us?
How does Jesus in his passion take on the specific curses of Adam presented immediately after the fall? Give 1 example
Just as Adam was tested in a garden, so Jesus Christ will be tested in the Garden of Gethsemane (Luke 22:39-46). But where Adam failed his test, Jesus will prove to be faithful right where Adam was unfaithful. Adam ate from the forbidden Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil; Jesus went to the “tree” of the cross (see Acts 5:30). And in his passion, Jesus will take on the curses of Adam. Just as Adam was cursed with the sweat of his brow, thorns and thistles coming from the earth and ultimately facing death, so Jesus takes on those curses, sweating drops like blood in the garden (Luke 22:44), wearing a crown of thorns on Good Friday (Matthew 27:29) and ultimately being killed (Luke 23:46).
Double the points: Matthew 28:2–4 describes an angel descending from heaven, causing a great earthquake, rolling back the stone, and causing the guards to become “like dead men” out of fear. This miraculous event rendered the guards incapable of preventing Jesus’ resurrection. Furthermore, the Gospel recounts that the chief priests bribed the guards to claim that Jesus’ disciples stole His body while they were asleep (Matthew 28:11–15). Why does the theory that the disciples stole the body of Jesus not add up.
The guards were not paid to fall asleep and the disciples would have been no match for these guards (and if they fled in fear when Jesus was arrested, why would they feel more confident approaching His tomb). If the guards did fall asleep how did they know what the disciples did? And wouldn't a probable initial response be to complain to Pilate of the guards' lack of duty?
Explain what the tree of knowledge of good and evil represents, according to CCC 396.
“The ‘tree of knowledge of good and evil’ symbolically evokes the insurmountable limits that man, being a creature, must freely recognize and respect with trust. Man is dependent on his Creator and subject to the laws of creation and to the moral norms that govern the use of freedom” (CCC 396). “Man’s eventual eating from this tree symbolizes his unwillingness to accept this dependence on God. Man instead uses his freedom to try to establish what is good and evil for himself apart from God. He seeks to ‘be like God’ but without God (CCC 398). This leads to tragic consequences for man—separation from God and the introduction of sin and division into the human family.