Genesis & Exodus 1-18
What is Holy Scripture?
Holy Scripture is the written word of God imparted by the Holy Spirit through prophets and apostles. It details the acts of God in human history and is the final authority for the Church in manners of belief, prayer, and living.
What is contained in Holy Scripture?
The Holy Scriptures contain 66 books in two testaments, Old and New. There are 39 books in the Old Testament and 27 books in the New Testament.
What is the Old Testament/Hebrew Bible?
The Old Testament (or Hebrew Bible) is the collected writings of the prophets and scribes of Israel. It was written over the course of 1400 years and compiled together by editors after the Babylonian Exile to become the book we have today. In the Old Testament we see the creation and fall of humanity, the covenant God makes with a special family, and that family’s subsequent exile and return to the land promised to them.
We believe that all the books contained within the Hebrew Bible are inspired by the Holy Spirit and are authoritative and truthful.
What is contained within the Hebrew Bible?
- The Torah or Pentatech - Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy
- The Former Prophets - Joshua, Judges, 1 & 2 Samuel, 1 & 2 Kings
- The Latter Prophets - Isaiah, Jeremaih, Ezekiel, Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habbakuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zecharaiah, Malachi
- The Writings - Psalms, Proverbs, Job, Song of Songs, Ruth, Lamentations, Esther, Daniel, Ezra, Nehemiah, 1 & 2 Chronicles
Note: This is the order in which we will read the Bible for this catechism and is the original ordering of the Hebrew Bible up until the 1500’s. However, Protestant Bibles will place Chronicles and Esther through Nehemiah before the Latter Prophets. The remaining writings move to follow Chronicles.
What is the New Testament?
The New Testament is the collected writings of the Apostles and disciples of Jesus. In the New Testament we are introduced to the person of Jesus, his ministry, death, and resurrection. Following that we read stories of his earliest followers as they persevere through persecution and spread the message of Jesus across the whole world. The remainder of the New Testament is a collection of letters from various Apostles and Christian leaders to churches in the first century which still speak to us today. The New Testament concludes with a vision of the end in which God is revealed to be in total control despite mounting persecution. Here we see the vision of the resurrection and the New Creation.
We believe that all the books contained within the New Testament are inspired by the Holy Spirit and are authoritative and truthful.
What is contained within the New Testament?
- The Gospels - Matthew, Mark, Luke, John
- Acts
- The Epistles (letters) - Romans, 1 & 2 Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, 1 & 2 Thessalonians, 1 & 2 Timothy, Titus, Philemon, Hebrews, James, 1 & 2 Peter, 1-3 John, Jude
- Revelation
What is a covenant?
A covenant is a formal promise between two parties who both agree on a set of promises so they can work together toward a common goal. There are five major covenants in the Old Testament involving God:
- God’s covenant with Humanity (Genesis 1-3)
- God’s covenant with Noah (Genesis 8-9) (This covenant is unique in the Hebrew Bible as it was a one-way covenant. YHWH promised never again to flood the earth but laid no expectations on Noah and his family, in fact, YHWH’s covenant with them anticipates them screwing up the world further.)
- God’s covenant with Abraham (Genesis 12, 15, & 17)
- God’s covenant with Israel (Exodus 19-24)
- God’s covenant with David (2 Samuel 7)
Why do we say the world has fallen?
Because our ancestors, the first humans, rebelled against God and tried to define good and bad outside of God’s wisdom. As a result, our relationship with the earth, with one another, and with God has been compromised.
What is the promise given to all mankind after Adam and Eve sin?
The promise to all mankind is was a descendent of the woman would crush the head of the serpent, but he would be struck in the conflict.
What is the promise God makes to Abraham?
God promised Abraham that he would bless him, that his descendents would become a great nation, that he would give his descendents the land of Canaan, and through his descendents would come a blessing for the whole world.
How does God start to fulfill this promise in Genesis and Exodus?
In Genesis, God miraculously gave Abraham a son, even though he and his wife were over 90 years old. Within two generations Abraham’s family consists of more than two distinct nations, one of which becomes the nation of Israel with its 12 tribes.
At the conclusion of the book of Genesis we see that Israel has become a large family of 70 people now residing in Egypt. One of the sons of Israel, Joseph, is second in command of Egypt, and through him God is beginning to bless the whole world. In Exodus however, we see things start to fall apart. The now numerous family of Israel is enslaved in Egypt. God begins a rescue plan to bring them to the land he promised Abraham.