Catechism L5-01 Our Heavenly Father and the Bible (part 1)

 Prayer Before Studying

Incomprehensible Creator, the true Fountain of light and only Author of all knowledge: vouchsafe, we beseech Thee, to enlighten our understandings, and to remove from us all darkness of sin and ignorance. Thou, who makest eloquent the tongues of those that want utterance, direct our tongues, and pour on our lips the grace of Thy blessing. Give us a diligent and obedient spirit, quickness of apprehension, capacity of retaining, and the powerful assistance of Thy holy grace; that what we hear or learn we may apply to Thy honor and the eternal salvation of our own souls.

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Holy Spirit, giver of all good gifts, enter into my mind and heart. Give me the gift of knowledge, wisdom, understanding and the grace to use it wisely. Help me in all my endeavors. Give me perseverance and fortitude. Help my memory, that I may remember what I learn and recall it when necessary. Guide me in my studies. You who are the Way, the Truth, and the Life, let me not be deceived by false teaching. Our Lady of Good Studies, pray for me. Amen.

 Prayer to God the Father

Almighty God, my Eternal Father, from the fullness of my soul I adore You.
I am deeply grateful that You have made me in Your image and likeness, and that You ever hold me in Your loving embrace.
Direct me to love You with all my heart, with all my soul, and with my whole mind.
Direct me to love all Your children as I love myself.
O, my Father, my soul longs to be united to You, and to rest in You forever.
Have the Holy Spirit touch my soul so that I may love You as He does,
and as Your Beloved Son Jesus does.
Amen.

Topic / Agenda

•  Who made me/us?
•  Who is God?
•  What does God know?
•  The difference between people and animals
•  What is the Bible?

 

 Word of God

Psalm 145:1-3

I will extol you, my God and King, and bless your name for ever and ever.
Every day I will bless you, and praise your name for ever and ever.
Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised;  his greatness is unsearchable.

Salmo 145:1-3
Ang kadakilaan ng Diyos ko at Hari, aking ihahayag, di ko titigilan magpakailanman ang magpasalamat,
aking pupurihi't pasasalamatan siya araw-araw, di ako titigil ng pasasalamat magpakailanman.
Dakila ka, Yahweh, at karapat-dapat na ika'y purihin; kadakilaan mo'y tunay na mahirap naming unawain.

Who made us?

Genesis 1:26-28

²⁶ Then God said, “Let us make humankind^[c] in our image, according to our likeness; and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the wild animals of the earth,^[d] and over every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth.”

²⁷ So God created humankind^[e] in his image,
    in the image of God he created them;^[f]
    male and female he created them.

²⁸ God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it; and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the air and over every living thing that moves upon the earth.”

On the Book of Genesis it shows here the that we are part of God's creation:

1. Heavens and Earth; Earth was covered with darkness; God created the Light, so there is now separation from Light called Day and Darkness called Night. -- Includes Angelic Corps
2. He separated waters from waters. He separated the Sky and Land. Some waters to Sky, others to the river, lake and seas. Some waters remove from the land and became dry called dry land or Earth.
3. God created every living plants and trees.
4. God created the Sun the day and the Moon and the Stars for the night.
5. God created creatures for the waters, every wing-birds in the sky -- including sea monsters
6. God created every living creatures in the land and humans.
7. God take a rest.

God’s Creation vs. Big Bang Theory | Bible vs. Science

The Big Bang theory is an effort to explain what happened at the very beginning of our universe. Discoveries in astronomy and physics have shown beyond a reasonable doubt that our universe did in fact have a beginning. Prior to that moment there was nothing; during and after that moment there was something: our universe. The big bang theory is an effort to explain what happened during and after that moment.

 Bible vs. Science on Findings on Creation

The creation model includes the scientific evidence and the related inferences suggesting that:	The evolution model includes the scientific evidence and the related inferences suggesting that:
I. The universe and the Solar system were suddenly created.	I. The universe and the solar system emerged by naturalistic processes.
II. Life was suddenly created.	II. Life emerged from nonlife by naturalistic processes.
III. All present living kinds of animals and plants have remained fixed since creation, other than extinctions, and genetic variation in originally created kinds has only occurred within narrow limits.	III. All present kinds emerged from simpler earlier kinds, so that single-celled organisms evolved into invertebrates, then vertebrates, then amphibians, then reptiles, then mammals, then primates, including man.
IV. Mutation and natural selection are insufficient to have brought about any emergence of present living kinds from a simple primordial organism.	IV. Mutation and natural selection have brought about the emergence of present complex kinds from a simple primordial organism.
V. Man and apes have a separate ancestry.	V. Man and apes emerged from a common ancestor.
VI. The earth's geologic features appear to have been fashioned largely by rapid, catastrophic processes that affected the earth on a global and regional scale (catastrophism).	VI. The earth's geologic features were fashioned largely by slow, gradual processes, with infrequent catastrophic events restricted to a local scale (uniformitarianism).
VII. The inception of the earth and of living kinds may have been relatively recent.	VII. The inception of the earth and then of life must have occurred several billion years ago.

Bible vs. Science on Findings on Creation

• God created the universe in six days. Science says it took 15 billion years. How to reconcile those numbers?

• 2 Peter 3:8 But do not ignore this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like one day

• Schroeder says. on Einstein's theory that time and velocity have a relationship. In his model of "general relativity," the faster things go, the slower time moves. You'd have to be going pretty fast to see time affected significantly, however. And the one thing that does move that fast is light, which travels at 186,000 miles per second.

• Because light moves so fast, it affects time, meaning one event viewed from two different points in the universe (where light takes more or less time to reach your eyes) is perceived at different rates. So time can't be absolute, because it all depends on your point of reference.

• "When the Bible describes the day-by-day development of our universe in the six days following the creation, it is truly referring to six 24-hour days. But the   reference frame by which those days were measured was one which  contained the total universe,"

Bible vs. Science on Other Findings

Science Confirms the Bible (bear in mind that the Bible is 2000-3000 years old!)
The Bible	Science now	Science then
The Earth is a sphere (Isaiah 40:23)	The Earth is a sphere	The Earth is a flat disk
Incalculable number of stars (Jeremiah 33:22)	Incalculable number of stars	Only 1100 stars
Free float of Earth in space (Job   26:7)	Free float of Earth in space	Earth sat on a large animal
Creation made of invisible elements (Hebrews 11:3)	Creation made of invisible elements (atoms)	Science is mostly ignorant on the subject
Each star is different (1 Corinthians 15:41)	Each star is different	All stars were the same
Light moves (Job 38:19,20)	Light moves	Light was fixed in place
Air has weight (Job 28:25)	Air has weight	Air was weightless
Winds blow in cyclones (Ecclesiastes 1:6)	Winds blow in cyclones	Winds blew straight
Blood is the source of life and health (Leviticus 17:11)	Blood is the source of life and health	Sick people must be bled
Ocean floor contains deep valleys and mountains (2 Samuel 22:16; Jonah 2:6)	Ocean floor contains deep valleys and mountains	The ocean floor was flat
Ocean contains springs (Job 38:16)	Ocean contains springs	Ocean fed only by rivers and rain
When dealing with disease, hands should be washed under running water (Leviticus 15:13)	When dealing with disease, hands should be washed under running water	Hands washed in still water

Darwin's Evolution

•        Darwin’s theory of evolution was a daring attempt to make God’s existence unnecessary. – is the origin myth of atheism.

•        Evolutionist rationalize all kinds of immoral behaviors as merely part of the evolution process of man. Nothing is inherently bad…

•        Theory about evolution is based on huge assumptions about things that happened in the unobservable past.

•        Remember that scientific method requires observation and repeatable research.

Bible vs. Science on Findings on Human Composition

Genesis 2:7: “And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.”

Bible vs. Science -- CONCLUSION

This confirms the Bible is a short poster full of supposed "proofs" that the Bible is scientifically accurate. To show this, it quotes the Bible and then compares what it says to science "now" and "then". The effect is to demonstrate that the Bible was right long before science was. 

Human vs. Animals

The soul is the principle of life.

Human	Animals
Material Body	Material Body
Eat, Drink, Sleep	Eat, Drink, Sleep
Very Intelligent and it evolves.	Varies Intelligence but does not close to human.
When we die, our bodies decays or corrupted. Others does not!	Bodies are either eaten, decays or corrupted.
Human soul is spiritual, rational, immortal	Animal soul is material; no moral sense, mortal
When we die, we either go to Heaven or Hell	When animals die, it stops there.

Who or What is God? What does God know?

God is the infinite being. The creator of all things visible (Material things/world) and invisible (Spirit things/world).

• Omnipotent – almighty or infinite power; having very great or unlimited authority or power;
• Omniscient – Infinite knowledge and wisdom;
• Omnipresence – present everywhere at the same time
• Sovereignty – Power to govern without external control; total control on everything that happens;
• Holiness – absolutely no sin or evil thought.

God is a Trinity.  This means that God is three persons, not three gods.  Technically, the doctrine of the Trinity states that in the one God is the person of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.  Each is not the same person as the other; yet there are not three gods but one.

God was never created, is completely loving, completely just, completely holy, completely merciful, and that He desires the best for us.

Who is God the Father?

• The Almighty God, the Creator of Heaven and Earth
• The provider of all our needs…
• The Ultimate Healer and giver of Life
• The Most Merciful and Loving Father
• Author of our Salvation
• Creator of Miracles:
• Creation of the universe, including plants, animals and humans
• The destruction of the entire world by a divine Flood and the preservation of 8 righteous people and animals in the Ark.
• Destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah;  
• The Ten plagues of Egypt
• RED SEA DIVIDED at just the right moment; the nation of Israel passes through on DRY GROUND. The sea then violently consumes the Egyptian army.
• MANNA sent daily to feed the Israelites, except on the Sabbath
• The SUN AND MOON STAYED MOTIONLESS (longer day) to enable the Israelites to win a crucial battle.
• Drought, Fire and Rain in response to Elijah's prayers
• DANIEL SAVED FROM HUNGRY LIONS in a sealed den
• Healing many sick people from the time of prophets to Jesus even now
• Conception of Isaac, John, etc. and the Incarnate Conception of Jesus
• The feeding of 5000 men then another 4000 men.
• Subject the Demons under God’s authority to prophet and saints.
• Enoch, Elijah and Mary went to Heaven without dying.
• Bring back people from the dead  and Jesus Resurrection and His Ascension

What is Bible?

The Bible (from Koine Greek τὰ βιβλία, tà biblía, "the books") is a canonical collection of texts considered sacred in Judaism as well as in Christianity. The term Bible is shared between the two religions, although the contents of each of their collections of canonical texts is not the same. Different religious groups include different books within their canons, in different orders, and sometimes divide or combine books, or incorporate additional material into canonical books.

The Bible is actually many books written by many men over hundreds of years but that it was God who told them what to write -- divinely inspired.

The primary author is the Holy Ghost, or, as it is commonly expressed, the human authors wrote under the influence of Divine inspiration. It was declared by the Vatican Council (Sess. III, c. ii) that the sacred and canonical character of Scripture would not be sufficiently explained by saying that the books were composed by human diligence and then approved by the Church, or that they contained revelation without error. They are sacred and canonical "because, having been written by inspiration of the Holy Ghost, that have God for their author, and as such have been handed down to the Church".

Old Testament:

The Old Testament tells us about God creating the world and everything in it and how he always took care of his people as they waited for the Savior to open the gates of heaven.

Tanakh (Jewish Bible)	Protestant Old Testament (39 books)	Catholic Old Testament (46 books)	Eastern Orthodox Old Testament (50 books)	Original Language
Torah or Instruction	Pentateuch or Five Books
Bereishit (In the beginning)	Genesis	Genesis	Genesis	Hebrew
Shemot (Names)	Exodus	Exodus	Exodus	Hebrew
Vayikra (And He called)	Leviticus	Leviticus	Leviticus	Hebrew
Bamidbar (In the wilderness)	Numbers	Numbers	Numbers	Hebrew
Devarim (Words)	Deuteronomy	Deuteronomy	Deuteronomy	Hebrew
Nevi'im or Prophets	Historical books
Joshua	Joshua	Joshua	Joshua	Hebrew
Judges	Judges	Judges	Judges	Hebrew
see below	Ruth	Ruth	Ruth	Hebrew
Samuel	1 Samuel	1 Samuel	1 Samuel (1 Kingdoms)[2]	Hebrew
	2 Samuel	2 Samuel	2 Samuel (2 Kingdoms)[2]	Hebrew
Kings	1 Kings	1 Kings	1 Kings (3 Kingdoms)[2]	Hebrew
	2 Kings	2 Kings	2 Kings (4 Kingdoms)[2]	Hebrew
Chronicles see below	1 Chronicles	1 Chronicles	1 Chronicles	Hebrew
	2 Chronicles	2 Chronicles	2 Chronicles	Hebrew
			1 Esdras	Greek (or Aramaic?)
Ezra (includes Nehemiah) see below	Ezra	Ezra	Ezra (2 Esdras)[2][3]	Hebrew(+Aramaic)
	Nehemiah	Nehemiah	Nehemiah (2 Esdras)[2][3]	Hebrew
		Tobit	Tobit	Aramaic
		Judith	Judith	Hebrew
see below	Esther	Esther[4]	Esther[4]	Hebrew
		1 Maccabees[5]	1 Maccabees	Hebrew or Aramaic?
		2 Maccabees[5]	2 Maccabees	Greek
			3 Maccabees	Greek
			4 Maccabees	Greek
	Wisdom books
see below	Job	Job	Job	Hebrew
see below	Psalms	Psalms	Psalms[6]	Hebrew
			Odes[7][citation needed]	Hebrew(+Greek)
see below	Proverbs	Proverbs	Proverbs	Hebrew
see below	Ecclesiastes	Ecclesiastes	Ecclesiastes	Hebrew
see below	Song of Solomon	Song of Songs	Song of Solomon	Hebrew
		Wisdom	Wisdom	Greek
		Sirach	Sirach	Hebrew, then translated into Greek
	Major prophets
Isaiah	Isaiah	Isaiah	Isaiah	Hebrew
Jeremiah	Jeremiah	Jeremiah	Jeremiah	Hebrew(+Aramaic)
see below	Lamentations	Lamentations	Lamentations	Hebrew
		Baruch[8]	Baruch[8]	Hebrew [9]
			Letter of Jeremiah[10]	Greek (or Hebrew?)[11]
Ezekiel	Ezekiel	Ezekiel	Ezekiel	Hebrew
see below	Daniel	Daniel[12]	Daniel[12]	Hebrew+Aramaic
	Minor prophets
Trei Asar or Twelve	Hosea	Hosea	Hosea	Hebrew
	Joel	Joel	Joel	Hebrew
	Amos	Amos	Amos	Hebrew
	Obadiah	Obadiah	Obadiah	Hebrew
	Jonah	Jonah	Jonah	Hebrew
	Micah	Micah	Micah	Hebrew
	Nahum	Nahum	Nahum	Hebrew
	Habakkuk	Habakkuk	Habakkuk	Hebrew
	Zephaniah	Zephaniah	Zephaniah	Hebrew
	Haggai	Haggai	Haggai	Hebrew
	Zechariah	Zacharias	Zechariah	Hebrew
	Malachi	Malachi	Malachi	Hebrew
Ketuvim or Writings[13]
Psalms				Hebrew
Proverbs				Hebrew
Job				Hebrew
Song of Songs				Hebrew
Ruth				Hebrew
Lamentations				Hebrew
Ecclesiastes				Hebrew
Esther				Hebrew
Daniel				Hebrew+Aramaic
Ezra (includes Nehemiah)				Hebrew(+Aramaic)
Chronicles				Hebrew
		see above[5]	1 Maccabees	Hebrew or Aramaic?
		see above[5]	2 Maccabees	Greek

New Testament:

The New Testament tells us about the Savior, Jesus Christ, and the Church, which carries on his work of bringing us to heaven.

Catholic, E. Orthodox, Protestant, and most O. Orthodox (27 books)	Traditional Lutheran	Traditional Syriac	Original Language (Koine Greek)
Canonical Gospels
Matthew	Matthew	Matthew	Greek (?)[14]
Mark	Mark	Mark	Greek
Luke	Luke	Luke	Greek
John	John	John	Greek
Apostolic History
Acts	Acts	Acts	Greek
Pauline Epistles
Romans	Romans	Romans	Greek
1 Corinthians	1 Corinthians	1 Corinthians	Greek
2 Corinthians	2 Corinthians	2 Corinthians	Greek
Galatians	Galatians	Galatians	Greek
Ephesians	Ephesians	Ephesians	Greek
Philippians	Philippians	Philippians	Greek
Colossians	Colossians	Colossians	Greek
1 Thessalonians	1 Thessalonians	1 Thessalonians	Greek
2 Thessalonians	2 Thessalonians	2 Thessalonians	Greek
1 Timothy	1 Timothy	1 Timothy	Greek
2 Timothy	2 Timothy	2 Timothy	Greek
Titus	Titus	Titus	Greek
Philemon	Philemon	Philemon	Greek
General Epistles
Hebrews	Hebrews[L 1]	Hebrews	Greek (?)[15]
James	James[L 1]	James	Greek
1 Peter	1 Peter	1 Peter	Greek
2 Peter	2 Peter		Greek
1 John	1 John	1 John	Greek
2 John	2 John		Greek
3 John	3 John		Greek
Jude	Jude[L 1]		Greek
Apocalypse
Book of Revelation	Book of Revelation[L 1]		Greek

History of the Bible Timeline:

• Creation - B.C. 2000 - Originally, the earliest Scriptures are handed down from generation to generation orally.
• Circa B.C. 2000-1500 - The book of Job, perhaps the oldest book of the Bible, is written.
• Circa B.C. 1500-1400 - The stone tablets of the Ten Commandments are given to Moses at Mount Sinai and later stored in the Ark of the Covenant.
• Circa B.C. 1400–400 - The manuscripts comprising the original Hebrew Bible (39 Old Testament books) are completed. The Book of the Law is kept in the tabernacle and later in the Temple beside the Ark of the Covenant.
• Circa B.C. 300 - All of the original Old Testament Hebrew books have been written, collected, and recognized as official, canonical books.
• Circa B.C. 250–200 - The Septuagint, a popular Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible (39 Old Testament books), is produced. The 14 books of the Apocrypha are also included.
• Circa A.D. 45–100 - Original 27 books of the Greek New Testament are written.
• Circa A.D. 140-150 - Marcion of Sinope's heretical "New Testament" prompted Orthodox Christians to establish a New Testament canon.
• Circa A.D. 200 - The Jewish Mishnah, the Oral Torah, is first recorded.
• Circa A.D. 240 - Origen compiles the Hexapla, a six-columned parallel of Greek and Hebrew texts.
• Circa A.D. 305-310 - Lucian of Antioch's Greek New Testament text becomes the basis for the Textus Receptus.
• Circa A.D. 312 - Codex Vaticanus is possibly among the original 50 copies of the Bible ordered by Emperor Constantine. It is eventually kept in the Vatican Library in Rome.
• A.D. 367 - Athanasius of Alexandria identifies the complete New Testament canon (27 books) for the first time.
• A.D. 382-384 - Saint Jerome translates the New Testament from original Greek into Latin. This translation becomes part of the Latin Vulgate manuscript.
• A.D. 397 - Third Synod of Carthage approves the New Testament canon (27 books).
• A.D. 390-405 - Saint Jerome translates the Hebrew Bible into Latin and completes the Latin Vulgate manuscript. It includes the 39 Old Testament books, 27 New Testament books, and 14 Apocrypha books.
• A.D. 500 - By now the Scriptures have been translated into multiple languages, not limited to but including an Egyptian version (Codex Alexandrinus), a Coptic version, an Ethiopic translation, a Gothic version (Codex Argentus), and an Armenian version. Some consider the Armenian to be the most beautiful and accurate of all ancient translations.
• A.D. 600 - The Roman Catholic Church declares Latin as the only language for Scripture.
• A.D. 680 - Caedmon, English poet and monk, renders Bible books and stories into Anglo Saxon poetry and song.
• A.D. 735 - Bede, English historian and monk, translates the Gospels into Anglo Saxon.
• A.D. 775 - The Book of Kells, a richly decorated manuscript containing the Gospels and other writings, is completed by Celtic monks in Ireland.
• Circa A.D. 865 - Saints Cyril and Methodius begin translating the Bible into Old Church Slavonic.
• A.D. 950 - The Lindisfarne Gospels manuscript is translated into Old English.
• Circa A.D. 995-1010 - Aelfric, an English abbot, translates parts of Scripture into Old English.
• A.D. 1205 - Stephen Langton, theology professor and later Archbishop of Canterbury, creates the first chapter divisions in the books of the Bible.
• A.D. 1229 - Council of Toulouse strictly forbids and prohibits lay people from owning a Bible.
• A.D. 1240 - French Cardinal Hugh of Saint Cher publishes the first Latin Bible with the chapter divisions that still exist today.
• A.D. 1325 - English hermit and poet, Richard Rolle de Hampole, and English poet William Shoreham, translate the Psalms into metrical verse.
• Circa A.D. 1330 - Rabbi Solomon ben Ismael first places chapter divisions in the margins of the Hebrew Bible.
• A.D. 1381-1382 - John Wycliffe and associates, in defiance of the organized Church, believing that people should be permitted to read the Bible in their own language, begin to translate and produce the first handwritten manuscripts of the entire Bible in English. These include the 39 Old Testament books, 27 New Testament books, and 14 Apocrypha books.
• A.D. 1388 - John Purvey revises Wycliffe's Bible.
• A.D. 1415 - 31 years after Wycliffe's death, the Council of Constance charges him with more than 260 counts of heresy.
• A.D. 1428 - 44 years after Wycliffe's death, church officials dig up his bones, burn them, and scatter the ashes on Swift River.
• A.D. 1455 - After the invention of the printing press in Germany, Johannes Gutenberg produces the first printed Bible, the Gutenberg Bible, in the Latin Vulgate.
• A.D. 1516 - Desiderius Erasmus produces a Greek New Testament, forerunner to the Textus Receptus.
• A.D. 1517 - Daniel Bomberg's Rabbinic Bible contains the first printed Hebrew version (Masoretic text) with chapter divisions.
• A.D. 1522 - Martin Luther translates and publishes the New Testament for the first time into German from the 1516 Erasmus version.
• A.D. 1524 - Bomberg prints a second edition Masoretic text prepared by Jacob ben Chayim.
• A.D. 1525 - William Tyndale produces the first translation of the New Testament from Greek into English.
• A.D. 1527 - Erasmus publishes a fourth edition Greek-Latin translation.
• A.D. 1530 - Jacques Lefèvre d'Étaples completes the first French language translation of the entire Bible.
• A.D. 1535 - Myles Coverdale's Bible completes Tyndale's work, producing the first complete printed Bible in the English language. It includes the 39 Old Testament books, 27 New Testament books, and 14 Apocrypha books.
• A.D. 1536 - Martin Luther translates the Old Testament into the commonly-spoken dialect of the German people, completing his translation of the entire Bible in German.
• A.D. 1536 - Tyndale is condemned as a heretic, strangled, and burned at the stake.
• A.D. 1537 - The Matthew Bible (commonly known as the Matthew-Tyndale Bible), a second complete printed English translation, is published, combining the works of Tyndale, Coverdale and John Rogers.
• A.D. 1539 - The Great Bible, the first English Bible authorized for public use, is printed.
• A.D. 1546 - Roman Catholic Council of Trent declares the Vulgate as the exclusive Latin authority for the Bible.
• A.D. 1553 - Robert Estienne publishes a French Bible with chapter and verse divisions. This system of numbering becomes widely accepted and is still found in most Bible's today.
• A.D. 1560 - The Geneva Bible is printed in Geneva, Switzerland. It is translated by English refugees and published by John Calvin's brother-in-law, William Whittingham. The Geneva Bible is the first English Bible to add numbered verses to the chapters. It becomes the Bible of the Protestant Reformation, more popular than the 1611 King James Version for decades after its original release.
• A.D. 1568 - The Bishop's Bible, a revision of the Great Bible, is introduced in England to compete with the popular but "inflammatory toward the institutional Church" Geneva Bible.
• A.D. 1582 - Dropping its 1,000-year-old Latin only policy, the Church of Rome produces the first English Catholic Bible, the Rheims New Testament, from the Latin Vulgate.
• A.D. 1592 - The Clementine Vulgate (authorized by Pope Clementine VIII), a revised version of the Latin Vulgate, becomes the authoritative Bible of the Catholic Church.
• A.D. 1609 - The Douay Old Testament is translated into English by the Church of Rome, to complete the combined Douay-Rheims Version.
• A.D. 1611 - The King James Version, also called the "Authorized Version" of the Bible is published. It is said to be the most printed book in the history of the world, with more than one billion copies in print.
• A.D. 1663 - John Eliot's Algonquin Bible is the first Bible printed in America, not in English, but in the native Algonquin Indian language.
• A.D. 1782 - Robert Aitken's Bible is the first English language (KJV) Bible printed in America.
• A.D. 1790 - Matthew Carey publishes a Roman Catholic Douay-Rheims Version English Bible in America.
• A.D. 1790 - William Young prints the first pocket sized "school edition" King James Version Bible in America.
• A.D. 1791 - The Isaac Collins Bible, the first family Bible (KJV), is printed in America.
• A.D. 1791 - Isaiah Thomas prints the first illustrated Bible (KJV) in America.
• A.D. 1808 - Jane Aitken (daughter of Robert Aitken), is the first woman to print a Bible.
• A.D. 1833 - Noah Webster, after publishing his famous dictionary, releases his own revised edition of the King James Bible.
• A.D. 1841 - The English Hexapla New Testament, a comparison of the original Greek language and six important English translations, is produced.
• A.D. 1844 - The Codex Sinaiticus, a hand written Koine Greek manuscript of both Old and New Testament texts dating back to the fourth century, is rediscovered by German Bible scholar Konstantin Von Tischendorf in the Monastery of Saint Catherine on Mount Sinai.
• A.D. 1881-1885 - The King James Bible is revised and published as the Revised Version (RV) in England.
• A.D. 1901 - The American Standard Version, the first major American revision of the King James Version, is published.
• A.D. 1946-1952 - The Revised Standard Version is published.
• A.D. 1947-1956 - The Dead Sea Scrolls are discovered.
• A.D. 1971 - The New American Standard Bible (NASB) is published.
• A.D. 1973 - The New International Version (NIV) is published.
• A.D. 1982 - The New King James Version (NKJV) is published.
• A.D. 1986 - The discovery of the Silver Scrolls, believed to be the oldest Bible text ever, is announced. They were found three years earlier in the Old City of Jerusalem by Gabriel Barkay of Tel Aviv University.
• A.D. 1996 - The New Living Translation (NLT) is published.
• A.D. 2001 - The English Standard Version (ESV) is published.

Non-canonical books -- BEWARE!!!

Bible Compilation

The earliest indications of the Old Testament canon come from the time of Ezra and Nehemiah and suggest that the process had begun during the Babylonian captivity (605-535 BC) with the Torah (the 1st 5 Books of the Bible).  The New Testament had pretty much come together by 150AD but there continued to be discussion about a few books until about 400 AD. It was not officially canonized until the Council of Trent in the 1500′s. There were three basic criteria for inclusion.

1. Were the authors either eyewitnesses to the events they wrote about or at least directly taught about them by the Apostles?

2. Was each book’s teachings consistent with church practice and tradition?

3. Was each book already in general use by the church, and accepted as the Divine Word of God?

In both Old and New testaments, the books included had to be generally viewed as the work of divinely inspired writers who faithfully converted God’s Word into written form. (2 Peter 1:20-21)

Regarding our Human Experience(s)

•        With the advent of technological breakthroughs, man can now clone some animals or just part of it. Does it make him as equal to God?

à No. Genetics needs cells of existing animals in order for them to recreate something.

•         With proven existence of Big Bang Theory, will that proves the Superiority of Man against God?

à No. The experiment they did cannot be equal to God's creation of the universe. God created things out of nothing while man recreated the Big Bang using existing things that we have.

•         Looking back at the timeline of the Bible, does this proves the gradual revelation of God's Words?

à Yes.

•         Does this proves that "Sola Scriptura" is wrong.

à Yes.

Life Application

•        Does science make the Creator superfluous (obsolete, needless, excessive)?

à No. The sentence "God created the world" is not an outmoded scientific statement. We are dealing here with a theo-logical statement, therefore a statement about the divine meaning (theos = God, logos = meaning) and origin of things. [CCC 282-289]

•         Can someone accept the theory of evolution and still believe in the Creator?

•        à Yes. Although it is a different kind of knowledge, faith is open to the findings and hypotheses of the sciences. [CCC 282-289].  ... provided he does not fall into the heresy of evolutionism, which views man as the random product of biological processes.

•        Is the world a product of chance?

à No. God, not chance, is the cause of the world. Neither in its origin nor with respect to its intrinsic order and purposefulness is it the product of factors working "aimlessly". [CCC 295-301, 317-318, 320]

•         Remember that the Bible is the Word of God. Keep it to your heart.

•         How can you show appreciation to God's gift and everything that you have now?

–        Thank Him and show humility and share whatever you have

–        Desire for goodness for His creation and take care of it.

–        Seek God and praise Him about He has done to you.

–        Avoid offending Him by not getting sin

Life Application

The idea of fideism (exclusive reliance in religious matters upon faith, with consequent rejection of appeals to science or philosophy) is that faith is the most important thing of all, above evidence, above reason, above logic. It essentially states that you just have to believe, and ignore the evidence against you; these are just tests of faith, after all.

Compare our God that we worshipped to the other gods of other religion. You can confidently say “Our God is greater, our God is Stronger”.

Life Application

•        Isaiah 40:8 The grass withers, the flower fades; but the word of our God will stand forever.

•        Isaiah 59:21 And as for me, this is my covenant with them, says the Lord: my spirit that is upon you, and my words that I have put in your mouth, shall not depart out of your mouth, or out of the mouths of your children, or out of the mouths of your children’s children, says the Lord, from now on and forever.

•        Matthew 5:18 For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth pass away, not one letter,[a] not one stroke of a letter, will pass from the law until all is accomplished.

•        Matthew 24:35 Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.

•        Mark 8:38 Those who are ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of them the Son of Man will also be ashamed when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.

•        Revelation 22:18-19 I warn everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: if anyone adds to them, God will add to that person the plagues described in this book; 19 if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God will take away that person’s share in the tree of life and in the holy city, which are described in this book.

•        Matthew 16:16-19 Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah,[a] the Son of the living God.” 17 And Jesus answered him, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father in heaven. 18 And I tell you, you are Peter,[b] and on this rock[c] I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it. 19 I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.”