LESSON ONE

The Catechism What is it? Who wrote it and when? Why was it written? smaller larger ?

Catechism Questions 1-8 Why do we NEED the Bible? … what do we know without it? … what do we know without it?

Psalm 19:1-4 The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of His hands.

Acts 14:17 He has shown you kindness by giving you rain from heaven and crops in their seasons; he provides you with plenty of food and fills your hearts with joy.

Psalm 104:24 In wisdom you made them all; the earth is full of your creatures.

Romans 1:20 Since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities – his eternal power and divine nature have been clearly, seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse.

Even “heathens” testify to this … Aristotle: “Being invisible to every mortal creature, he is seen from his very works.” Cicero You do not see God; nevertheless you recognize God from his works

KEY POINT #1 From ________________ I and every human being learns that God is –

So sure is God of this that He says we are without _________ if we do not know these things about him!!!

Another way we learn about God …

Romans 2:14-15 Read from our Bibles … Romans 1:32 They know God’s righteous decree that those who do such things deserve death.

You may refer to this as “our great dilemma.” This natural knowledge tells us there is a God, it tells us He has demands (laws) YET we haven’t measured up. That’s called “holding an empty bag.”

KEY POINT #2 My ______________ tells me that I DESERVE God’s punishment of eternal ________.

KEY TERM: What we know about God from nature and conscience, are referred to as the ___________ ________________ of God.

Calov: The natural knowledge of God is partly inborn, partly acquired. The former is that by which man knows God naturally by reason of the remnants of the aptitude for wisdom implanted in man’s mind when he was created. The latter is that by which from a consideration of creation and the universal government of the world by means of logical reasoning he comes to the conclusion that God is the creator, preserver, and ruler of creation.”

Natural Knowledge does leave us holding an empty bag because it DOES NOT TELL US … Check out Acts 16 and 1 Cor. 2:9

Overestimations of natural knowledge … “Many are the ways to salvation. Clement of Alexandria – “Many are the ways to salvation. “Since the natural law has been preserved, as all confess, the Gentiles are able to be saved, and apart from the written law.” Maldonatus – “Since the natural law has been preserved, as all confess, the Gentiles are able to be saved, and apart from the written law.”

Overestimations of natural knowledge … “Add the fact that the fathers teach that the Gentiles, although they commonly worshipped a number of gods, nevertheless were able by nature to know the one God, just as the philosophers in fact recognized the one God and from that point of view were, so to speak, Christians naturally.” Bellarmine – “Add the fact that the fathers teach that the Gentiles, although they commonly worshipped a number of gods, nevertheless were able by nature to know the one God, just as the philosophers in fact recognized the one God and from that point of view were, so to speak, Christians naturally.”

Overestimations of natural knowledge … “The Christian will not regard the non-Christian as standing outside the pale of salvation simply because he is not a Christian … The Christian will see the non-Christian as an anonymous Christian who does not really know what he actually is” Rahner – “The Christian will not regard the non-Christian as standing outside the pale of salvation simply because he is not a Christian … The Christian will see the non-Christian as an anonymous Christian who does not really know what he actually is”

WHY then do we need the Bible?

2 Timothy 3:15 From infancy you have know the holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Jesus Christ. Acts 16:29-32 Read from our Bibles …

KEY POINT #3 ONLY the _______ of _____ tells me how I AM SAVED in, by Jesus Christ.

KEY TERM: ___________ _________________ What we know about God from the Bible, is referred to as the ___________ _________________ of God.

Application of Key Points 1-3: What do the following tell you about God?

A spring garden in bloom. God is Our body’s ability to develop immunity to disease. God is A mother and her newborn baby. God is The roar of the ocean waves. God is A seed growing in the soil. God is The many things the human hand can do. God is

2. EVALUATE: A friend tells you it’s wrong to do mission work in India because the people there are very religious.

3. Agree or Disagree? There really is no such thing as an atheist. “The fool says in his heart, ‘There is no God.” -- Ps. 14:1

Note the SEVERE limitations of Natural Knowledge … Tillich “There is no evidence for his existence.”

Note the SEVERE limitations of Natural Knowledge … “God as a working hypothesis in morals, politics, or science has been surmounted and abolished; and the same thing has happened in philosophy and religion … For the sake of intellectual honesty, that working hypothesis should be dropped, or as far as possible eliminated.”

Note the SEVERE limitations of Natural Knowledge … Julian Huxley: The God hypothesis is no longer of any pragmatic value for the interpretation or comprehension of nature, and indeed often stands in the way of better and truer interpretation … It will soon be as impossible for intelligent, educated man or woman to believe in a god as it is now to believe that the earth is flat, that flies can be spontaneously generated, that disease is divine punishment, or that death is always due to witchcraft.

Note the SEVERE limitations of Natural Knowledge … John A.T. Robinson: “God is superfluous. God is emotionally dispensable. God is morally intolerable.”

What is the Bible About? Hebrews 1:1 -- In the past God spoke to our forefathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways. Acts 3:18 – But this is how God fulfilled what he had foretold through the prophets, saying that his Christ would suffer.

The Old Testament has ____ books. Most easily remembered because there are ___ letters in the word OLD, and ___ letters in the word TESTAMENT. The Old Testament was written in the _____________ language.

Acts 3:18 – But this is how God fulfilled what he had foretold through the prophets, saying that his Christ would suffer. John 20:31 Read off your study guide sheet

The New Testament has ___ books. This is easily remembered too: “27” is 3 x 9. The New Testament is written in the ________ language.

KEY POINT #4 The Bible is mainly and primarily about _________.

Application of Pont 4: EVALUATE: Since the Bible is written in Hebrew and Greek, we really have no way of telling what it has to say to us.

SUMMARY – I learn about God in three ways: 1. From _________________ 2. From _________________ and especially … from ______________ which is the ONLY SOURCE that tells me about Jesus.