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Bible Study Digest

Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Community Volume 19, No.1 November 2002

Meet the Facilitators

We our asked our facilators to tell us what their greatest rewards and challenges have been, and to share some unique qualities of their group.

Barbara Bank has been a member of this parish for twenty years. "I was excited when Kathy and Greg Evans established an Adult Bible Study in 1988. I was out of town and missed the sign ups for the first study, Acts of the Apostles. I did join for the second study, the Gospel of Mark. We are now on our thirty-second study, Exodus."

"After being in the group for several years I accepted the challenge to become a facilitator myself. The first few years I had cozy groups of three to five people. Eventually the size of the group grew to the present fourteen. It has been a wonderful journey and I have met many faith filled friends along the way as the size and dynamics of the group change. Being a coordinator has been a blessing and the richness of faith that is shared and questioned has filled my heart."

"When Kathy Paige moved to Northern California, Cathy Fix asked me to take her place on the coordinating team. I hesitated. I had been asked previously to join the team, but doubted that I had the talent that was needed. This time I took a chance. Cathy promised to continue the responsibilities of publishing the Little Rock Journal. Bill Marlette and I used our organizational skills to keep program growing. Cathy and Bill have since accepted other challenges."

"Today I work with Christina Flores and Wayne Miller co-coordinating the Adult Bible Study. Working with them is a joy and a blessing. We have that marvelous blend of talent where each has unique strengths that complement the others. We have great respect for each other. That has enriched my life greatly."

Christina Flores has been with Bible Study since she moved to the parish. She began with Deacon Manny Porciuncula's group. This was her first experience with an Adult Bible Study group and the first group she joined at OLMC. After several years with Little Rock she was inspired to enroll for a graduate degree in Theology at the University of San Diego along with her friends from the parish, Cathy Fix and Juanita Nacu. Christina graduated after three years, one course at a time, in 1993. In 1994 she joined the program at the San Francisco Theological Seminary which is part of the Graduate Theological Union of the University of Berkeley.

The study of Scripture has become an essential part of her life and she wishes to do this even further when circumstances will allow. Studying Scripture with a wonderful group of fellow searchers make the journey richer and enjoyable. She facilitates a Wednesday morning group.

Wayne Miller first started bible study in the Renew Program by leading a group in Michigan. After moving to San Diego 10 years ago he joined Barbara Bank's group.

"The Bible has inspired me ever since my first exposure as a child with my friends at summer Baptist Bible School. I was fascinated by the stories. As an adult I still love the stories, but now look at the Bible as a guide for knowing God and for finding my role in building His kingdom on earth. When studying the Bible my heart can burn with spiritual inspiration. At other times I can be puzzled by what seems to be moral inconsistencies. For me, the best part of Bible Study is the discussions in our small group of committed Catholics, who have become my friends. We talk heart-to-heart about each one's faith and how that faith is put into practice. Sharing with others how each of us struggles to live a Christian life provides knowledge and confidence that I am not alone. Feeling God's word within and hearing His word from others helps keep me on track."

The Pastor's Corner....

Father Frank Fawcett and Deacon Bernie answered these questions in previous issues of the Bible Study Digest.

Is there a primary source, i.e., JEDP, for each book of the Torah (the Priestly tradition for Leviticus, Deuteronomy, etc.) or did all the traditions contribute to all five books?

It would seem that all the traditions contributed to all five books. We should keep in mind that the JEDP synthesis is a brilliant hypothesis. It is not proven. Scholars are still at work trying to unravel the very complex history of the Pentateuch. The formation of these books is still shrouded in mystery.

Why did God "make" Pharaoh obstinate?

God didn't make Pharaoh anything. You see, to the ancient Hebrew, God was involved in everything. So the author "makes" God cause things to happen. To the Hebrew, God is the primary cause of everything. The secondary causes include the sun, heat, evaporation, seeds, and yes, even us (we plow His fields). God is the uncaused cause. And the Jews only dealt with the primary cause. There's a different reason for what Pharaoh does than that God makes him do it. For example, he did not want to lose his work force. There was a political economic cause for his obstinacy. And after all, the author couldn't make a mere mortal cause a great ruler the problems he faced during the plagues. It's the power of God that comes out so clearly in the plagues. The most powerful of men cannot withstand the Hebrew God. God was, however, involved because He could see all.

Explain leaven in the Church. Discuss the different uses of it from the Old Testament to the New Testament -- sometimes used in a positive way, sometimes negative.

This would take a lot of study. But regarding leaven in the Church, old leaven has to be tossed out at Easter time because it grows old and loses its ability to do what it's supposed to do. So we bring in new leaven which is Christ. It's interesting to note that the Western rite is the only rite that uses unleavened bread.

Why were the Israelites the Chosen People?

It was not because the Israelites were more deserving than any other people that God made them his special possession. He set aside one particular group to form for himself a people from whom his Messiah would come. Part of this process was the gradual revelation of himself in a new way as a God who loves humanity intimately.

Many Jews of today and former times have acknowledged that being the Chosen People has not been an unmixed blessing; sometimes it has been a very heavy burden indeed. The Jews as a people have always been very conscious that the covenants God formed with them (such as with Abraham and Isaac, and with Moses at Sinai) bound them with certain responsibilities, which they frequently failed to uphold. The entire history of the Old Testament is one of God's continuing pursuit of his people and their repeated lapses and reconciliation.
The church affirms that this choice was permanent. The Jews remain God's chosen people, and Christians have become inheritors with the Jews of their part of salvation history.

Why was it necessary for the law to precede Christ's coming?

It could have been done some other way. But the way it happened, the Law made the Hebrews a nation, it was their rallying point, it gave them their identity. Those who followed the Law were the true descendants of Abraham and from these people the Messiah would come. While this is true of the Jewish people, Paul was to point out that it did not apply to individuals who chose to come to Jesus. One can come to Jesus directly without retracing the steps of thc Jewish nation.

In the stages of development, the individual first must have rules. Then, as one matures, one moves beyond just obeying rules to doing things out of love. This same can be said of nations as they develop and even for the human race.

What was the point of earlier laws set down in the Old Testament (Cf. Numbers, Leviticus, Exodus) if Christ came down and created a new law? Why did God inspire so many laws and then turn around and discount them?

Many of the laws in the Old Testament dealt with san-itation, personal hygiene, etc and were given a reli-gious connotation to insure compliance by all. The laws regarding our relationships with God, others and ourselves are all summed up in the Ten Command-ments. Jesus summed up the Ten Commandments by quoting the Old Testament injunction: "Hear, O Israel! The Lord our God is Lord alone! Therefore you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength. You shall love your neighbor as yourself" (Mk 12:29-31). In John's Gospel He gives us a new law which strengthens the Old Testament command to love neighbor: "Love one another. As I have loved you, so you also should love one another" (Jn. 13:34). The laws governing our relationships with God, self and neighbor should not be placed on the same level with sanitation laws and hygiene laws which, although very necessary at the time for a nomadic people, do not need to have a religious connotation placed on them today. We are all taught that if we want to stay healthy we need to wash ourselves, our food, cook pork well, etc.

What is the difference between a covenant and a promise?

Most of the following information was drawn from the Dictionary of Judaism.
In early times, before written documents were common, the spoken word between individuals and groups (such as neighboring nomads or warring tribes) was given a ritual solemnity and could not be retracted or annulled. According to the Dictionary, 'The covenant was such a solemn ritual agreement which served the function of a written contract. The covenanting parties bound themselves by a ritual agreement which included terrible imprecations upon the party that should violate the covenant." Covenants tended to follow a set form, and this form was modified over the course of centuries, so that it is possible to identify specific styles with particular cultures and eras. A common sequence was historical prologue, call on witnesses, stipulations, oath of fidelity, and curses. Often the ritual included actions such as those described in Genesis (15:10) and Exodus (24:3-8), such as sacrificing an animal, dividing it in two, and walking between the two halves, or sprinkling blood on two sides. Numerous covenants between parties are mentioned in the Old Testament.
Yahweh used the familiar formula of the covenant to define his relationship with Abraham (and Isaac). In the covenants described in the Old Testament, Yahweh imposes certain duties on Israel and promises in return to be their God, to assist them and deliver them. The Israelites were to worship no other God but Yahweh, and if they break the covenant Yahweh will withdraw his favor. The covenant Yahweh made with Abraham was the original basis of the Hebrews' relationship with Yahweh, but it was distinct from the covenant with Israel as a people that God made at Sinai with Moses. In this later covenant, the Israelites became Yahweh's special possession from among all the peoples of the earth. Through this relationship God made himself known to the Jews in a special way, and he prepared for himself a people from whom the Savior would come.

In the New Testament, Jesus's shedding of his blood is spoken of as forming a new covenant. "As the blood of the old covenant united the partners in one relationship, so the blood of Jesus is now the bond of union between the covenant parties, God the Father and the Christian....The old covenant is not annulled; the new covenant is a continuation of the original covenant made to Abraham."

Covenants therefore are much more solemn than promises, and they differ in that both parties have responsibilities, with severe penalties being enacted for failure to respect the terms. With a promise, only one of the parties agrees to do something, and often the agreement is informal.

Given the popularity of the war in the Middle East, I find it very difficult to speak out against it. Yet my conscience tells me war is wrong. What is the Church's official stand on war? How can a war be just when so many innocent people are killed?

Since its beginning, the church has been in the middle and on the extremes of both sides of the question of war. Most of the discussions of the justifiability of war have come from pre-eminent theologians and philosophers within Christianity. There is no official stand taken by the Catholic Church, but there are generally agreed-upon criteria for morally justifiable war that the Catholic Church, indeed most Christian denominations, hold. According to those criteria, in order for a war to be justified it must be:

In pursuit of a just cause
Undertaken by rightful authority
Undertaken only as a last resort
Undertaken without an underlying morally wrong intent
Undertaken with a reasonable hope of success.

These conditions having been met, and war undertaken, two additional criteria must be followed:
Noncombatants must not be subject to direct attack
The evil that can reasonably be expected to result from the war must not be proportionally greater than the good being sought.

Disagreements arise, as we have seen in the war against Iraq in 1991, in whether the above points are met. There has been disagreement within the ranks of the Catholic Bishops of the United States on whether they were met. Some people have argued, very convincingly, of the mass destruction that we possess, and the impersonal means of launching them.

Adding to the confusion is the "national religion" to which many in this country subscribe. This is characterized by such statements as "My country, right or wrong" and "God is on our side". For many who have this attitude, the decree of the president, the legislature, or the Supreme Court have the effect of Divine mandate. To question the decisions of the temporal leaders of this country is seen as morally wrong. Ironically, the people who ask questions and challenge the civil authority are the very ones who are using the system as it was intended.

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Last Updated on 1/5/03
By Wayne Miller