The Old Testament in the Heart of the Catholic Church
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Even though the first three chapters of Genesis may have had diverse sources (and thus may not have had any unified human origin), we know that what they teach about the meaning of existence, and about the origin and purpose of the universe and of man, is non-contradictory, unified, and true because

a.   all the most intelligent people in the world universally think this.
b.   Christ himself verifies this through the sacrament of Holy Orders.
c.   they are the only origin stories that mankind has ever heard.


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The revelation of creation [CCC 288] is inseparable from

a.   the goodness of the universe and of human existence, just as we find it.
b.   the message that man is alone and that the universe has no purpose.
c.   the revelation and forging of the covenant of the one God with his people.


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Creation is revealed [CCC 288] as

a.   a charming story told to satisfy curiosity about origins.
b.   the first and universal witness to God's all-powerful love.
c.   something of minor importance in God's plan.


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The Holy Father and bishops in communion with him certainly realize that the idea of a Creator God is only one of many ideas that man has come up with when he asks himself about the origins of things. [CCC 285]

However, the Catechism reaffirms [CCC 286] the truth professed by the First Vatican Council, that the idea of a Creator is not unreasonable to man. Even though, on account of the wounding of human reason because of the Fall, the existence of a Creator may appear to man merely as one of several possible answers to the question of origins, it is not an idea so foreign to human reason that man can not find at least this much about God on his own. (In fact, since the time of the apostles the Church has known of pagan teachers who found this truth independently).

Thus the very existence of the world is a universal sign of God the Creator's existence. The fact that some men don't see it that way does not change the fact that men often have seen it just that way. It also doesn't change the fact that it's true.

However, the truly amazing thing is that the all-powerful Creator desires an intimate and unbreakable relationship of love (a covenant) with men, his mere creatures. [CCC 288] Read Isaiah 44:24 (the book of the prophet Isaiah, chapter 44, verse 24) and Psalm 104. God in his surpassing tenderness reveals to his People that He who formed the world is He who makes his covenant with them.

The all-powerful Creator is not an anonymous force but personally and tenderly loves his People and seeks an everlasting covenant with them. The Holy Father and the bishops united with him teach that, in a way, the entire Old Testament reveals that one single reality. The Creation is its wondrous, grand, and beautiful beginning. <<


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Please read Gen 3, and then answer the following question. You need to understand that the answer is very important, and absolutely true. It is the answer solemnly professed by the whole Catholic Church with all her heart [CCC 1008]. Here is the question:

Who is directly and specifically responsible for the entry of death into the world?

a.   God.
b.   Man.
c.   No one.


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One day, man will be able to go back in a time machine (or use some other tool or technique), and find the exact moment and place where the Fall occurred.

a.   Maybe.
b.   No.
c.   Yes.


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If man can not, at least in principle, find the exact moment and place where the Fall occurred, then that means that the Fall is not a real event, but is just a charming story about why there is evil in the world.

a.   Maybe.
b.   No.
c.   Yes.


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Moving yourself closer to the idea that the Fall is not a real event, but just a story or metaphor for the existence of evil in the world,

a.   may possibly take you farther from Christ.
b.   will definitely take you closer to Christ.
c.   will definitely take you farther from Christ.


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It is literally true that man was there when the Fall occurred.

a.   Maybe.
b.   No.
c.   Yes.


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Jesus Christ, the Son of God, suffered physical and mental torture and an agonizing death on the Cross in order to save us from an abstract and metaphorical evil for which no one is actually responsible.

a.   Maybe.
b.   No.
c.   Yes.


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Adam and Eve's Fall literally and permanently damaged the entire nature of human history, so that it can never be what it was before their sin.

a.   Maybe.
b.   No.
c.   Yes.


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Adam and Eve's Fall literally and permanently damaged the entire nature of the universe, so that it can never be what it was before their sin.

a.   Maybe.
b.   No.
c.   Yes.


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Jesus's death and resurrection literally re-created the entire nature of human history, so that it fully includes all the terrible consequences of the Fall and of all sin and yet can be even better than what it was destined to be before the Fall.

a.   Maybe.
b.   No.
c.   Yes.


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Jesus's death and resurrection literally re-created the entire nature of the universe, so that it fully includes all the terrible consequences of the Fall and of all sin and yet can be even better than what it was destined to be before the Fall.

a.   Maybe.
b.   No.
c.   Yes.


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We move farther from Christ - much farther from him - if we think that the Fall was not a real event. [CCC 389] Of course, if the Fall is just a charming story, then man is certainly not responsible for the entry of suffering and death into the world. If the Fall is just a story, then man wasn't even there when suffering and death entered the world.

Man was there. Our first parents are directly and specifically responsible for the entry of suffering and death into the world. Persuaded by the father of lies, the devil, our first parents made a free choice to fall into death from envy of God. As free creatures, they got their wish, and their original sin permanently marked all of human history. This is the solemn teaching of the Catholic Church. [CCC 390-391]

That is not to say that you are going to be able to go back in a time machine to find the Fall. The Fall was a ''primeval event.'' [CCC 390] It occurred at the beginning of the history of man. Man can never go back to the Garden of Eden. He can never go back before he was fallen - not ever, not even to find the Fall. >>


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Why is that? The Fall was no game. There were no ''take backs.'' God had given our first parents real freedom, not a pretend kind. When they chose to have themselves and the entire universe fall into death and suffering, they got their wish.

By his death, Jesus freely preserves the terrible freedom of Adam and Eve's sin. God did not ''take back'' the most hideous consequences of the Fall even regarding himself. He freely endured torture, and an agonizing death on the Cross.

Jesus literally suffered and died. He did not do that to save us from a metaphor. He literally suffered and died because Adam and Eve were real, they really were free, they really made a free choice to sin, and they really did get their wish. To preserve man's terrible freedom, God freely does not take sin back. Instead, sweetly and without complaint, our Lord takes sin upon his shoulders, the pain and suffering and death of the whole world. This is how he conquers it, and saves us.

Your own sins add to our Lord's suffering on the Cross. That is not pretend. Yet the sacraments are also not pretend. In Baptism you are baptized into his death - his death takes the place of your own. Though you still suffer death's consequences just as he did, death is no longer the last word of your life, for you are in union with his Body, the Catholic Church, and his resurrection can be your resurrection.

Now part of his Body, and sinner though you are, your body, your life, can be part of the gifts brought up to the altar at the Offertory. At Mass, as the Lamb of God offers his one sacrifice to the Father, you are free as even Adam was not. Now, if only you wish it, your body, your life, united to our Lord's in the Eucharist, can help take away the sins of the world. That is not a metaphor, not a story. It is the truth. <<


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The Catholic Church sees [CCC 53] that God communicates himself to man

a.   all at once.
b.   gradually.
c.   never.


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As he more and more reveals himself and his plan for man, God

a.   completely reveals himself in his Son.
b.   never reveals himself completely.
c.   remains hidden from us until the end.


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God first makes himself known

a.   after the Fall.
b.   in the beginning.
c.   to Adam and Eve.


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God begins to reveal himself in the very act of creation. He is the Creator. All created realities reveal his presence. <<


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