Old Testament

 Overview of the Bible What is it? Its purpose and theme Its structure and contents  Pentateuch General information  Time span  Importance to both Christian and Jew  Oral to written tradition  4 different traditions  Book of Genesis Chapters 1-11  etiologies  Truths about creation and sin  Promise of redemption Chapters  Beginning of God’s chosen people  Patriarchs  Covenant

 In Hebrew known as the “Torah”  Written by many authors in 4 writing traditions, taken from oral and early written stories  Begins with creation and ends with the death of Moses  Gives the religious history of humankind, particularly the chosen people, and God’s basic moral expectations.  It is the core or center of the Old Testament and contains myth like stories, genealogies, and codes of law.  It is important to both the Jewish and Christian faiths since it reveals much about God and his relationship with and expectations of humanity

 Oral tradition: Unwritten, memorized stories and accounts of historical events passed on, by word of mouth, from generation to generation.  Written records: early attempts of recording stories and accounts by primitive writing forms.  Experience-oral stories-written accounts-final redactions

 It was originally thought that Moses had written the books of the Pentateuch  It has been established, however, that many different writers recorded these books  The many different writers brought their own styles to their writing and these styles have been sorted into 4 writing traditions

 Yahwist: God is called Yahweh Uses anthropomorphism. Humans have direct contact with God Stories of sin and God’s promises  Elohist: God is called “Elohim” Humans have indirect contact with God (visions, dreams, messengers) God demands righteousness and justice  Sometimes the Yahwist and Elohist traditions overlap

 Deuteronomic Encourages obedience to the Law Success or failure of Israel depend upon Israel’s observance of the Law  Blessed are those who… cursed are those who…  Priestly Probably the final editors of the Pentateuch Stressed the importance of worship, ritual and purity Emphasized the power of God

Book of Genesis “The Beginnings”

 Chapters 1-11 The Creation Stories The Fall of Man Continuation of sin Sin multiplies Social Sin

Creation Stories  God made all things good.  God gives and sustains life  God made us responsible for each other and the environment  God gave us human sexuality To bond with a lifelong marriage partner To procreate  Humans are made in the image and likeness of God. Male and female are equal but different We are to see God in others and reflect God to others  Humans share the same organic substance as all creation  Humans have free will  Humans are made to be relational With God With others

Human Beings  Summit of Creation: God made humans for Himself and everything else for humans Human Dignity  Made in God’s image and likeness Immortal Soul  God breathed into the human His breath Reason Free Will  Choose to do right or wrong Stewardship  Care for all creation Human Sexuality  Binding love  Procreation

 The original sin The first humans give in to the temptation of evil in the garden and disobey God  Results of this action: Loss of relationship with God Loss of harmony between man and woman, humans and nature Suffering and death enter the world Following generations are born with concupiscence  Hope of redemption God promises to send someone to crush evil  (Gen. 3:15)

 Sin continues Cain and Abel  Sin multiplies Noah  Sin becomes societal Tower of Babel

 Begins with the “protoevangelium”, the promise of a savior to crush evil and restore original holiness. (Gen. 3:15)

 Continues with the beginning of God’s people. The call to Abram to become the Father of a great nation, Israel

 Chapters 12-50, Origins of the Chosen People of God Begins with the story of Abram  Introduces the covenant made with Abram  The fulfillment of the promises made to Abram  God is not limited by human boundaries Continues with Isaac  God is not limited by human boundaries The account of Esau and Jacob  God’s plan overcomes human sin and weakness Ends with the accounts of Joseph  God brings good from evil  Divine Providence

Begins with the story of Abram, a nomad from Ur  Introduces the covenant made with Abram  Great Nation  Promised Land  Descendents  The fulfillment of the promises made to Abram  Ishmael  Isaac  God is not limited by human boundaries  Sarai conceives and gives birth to a son, Isaac

 Land (Gen.15:18-21)  Great Nation (Gen.12: 1-3) Israelites Ishmaelites  Descendents (Gen  Change of name, (signifies a change of life) Abram= Abraham Sarai= Sarah  Faith  Circumcision, Blood covenant All Jewish men must be circumcised.

The sacrifice of Isaac: God tests Abraham’s faith God keeps His promises Rebekah: God is not limited by human boundaries Rebekah gives birth to Esau and Jacob (twins)

The account of Esau and Jacob  God’s plan overcomes human sin and weakness  Trickery leads to more of the same

Ends with the accounts of Joseph  Divine Providence  God’s active presence in our lives especially in times of distress  God brings good from evil  Joseph is sold  Joseph is wrongly accused and imprisoned