Chapter One: God Gives Us the Law

Chapter One: God Gives Us the Law Lesson One: Creation

Is there a God?? We can know that there is a God by observing the natural world around us.

St. Thomas Aquinas Words St. Thomas Aquinas gives us 5 proofs of knowing God’s existence: Everything comes from something (generation) and there must have been a first. Everything is in motion, something must have moved it. Something holds everything in existence. Order Degrees of perfection

God is Real… We know that God exists from the world around us. All of creation testifies to the glory of God.

Creation Hierarchy The inanimate objects (rocks, metals) are the lowest level. Then you have vegetative creatures, which have life, grow and turn toward the sun (trees and flowers). Next you have the animals, you have the lower animals with lower level of thinking and then you have the higher thinking animals. Humans are next on the list, all of the lower levels were given to man by God to have the basic necessities.

Creation Hierarchy Lastly, after humans you have angels. Angels are rational pure spirits that serve God (part of that service is to help man).

Why did God Make Man? God made man for a purpose….heaven. To get to heaven we must do good and avoid evil. We are designed for this and it is written in our hearts. Because of the effects of the Fall of Adam and Eve we are prone to sin. This is called concupiscence, however we also have free will. Which is the ability to choose good or evil, right or wrong.

In class group activity… Draw to demonstrate how God created all things seen and unseen.

Classwork / Homework Pg. 1 inside Activity Books

Chapter One: God Gives Us the Law Lesson Two: God’s Laws

Genesis 1:1-3: 24

Original Sin Because of Original Sin, there was a separation between God and man. There was nothing that man could do to make up for his great sin. This original sin was passed down to all people. A savior would be needed to make up for this sin and to reunite man and God. God wants us all to be united with him forever. He loves us completely. Throughout history God has provided way for man to be united with him through covenants, sacrifices, and worship.

Our Responsibilities: Can you be best friends with someone if they are always lying to you? What about if they steal from you? God gave us the Ten Commandments so that we can live in relationship with God and one another.

The Ten Commandments:

First Commandment You should have no other gods before me.

Second Commandment You shall not take the Lord’s name in vein

Third Commandment Remember to keep the Sabbath day Holy.

Fourth Commandment Honor your father and your mother

Fifth Commandment You shall not kill

Sixth Commandment You shall not commit adultery.

Seventh Commandment You shall not steal

Eighth Commandment You shall not bear false witness against your neighbors.

Ninth Commandment You shall not covet your neighbors wife.

Tenth Commandment You shall not covet your neighbors goods.

Classwork / Homework Pg. 2 inside Activity Books

Chapter One: God Gives Us the Law Lesson Three: Jesus’ Law

Covenant A covenant is a binding oath that unites two parties in a relationship. God has called man into relationship with him. The Ten Commandments were the condition of this covenant. By breaking them, we break our covenant with God.

Covenant Types: Marriage Marriage is a covenant that a man and women enter into because of love for one another. Marriage is entered into by the profession of vows before man and God. It is binding, it is possible to break the marriage covenant by breaking the vows to love, honor, and cherish, but breaking vows hurts the marriage relationship.

The Ten Commandments: The first three commandments teach us how to love God. The last seven teach us how to love our neighbor. Jesus, who is God the Son become man, established a New Covenant, expanding upon these laws.

The Beatitudes: Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are they who mourn, for they shall be comforted. Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied. Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy. Blessed are the pure of heart, for they shall see God. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the children of God. Blessed are those who are persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven

Jesus’s Covenant: Jesus established the New and Everlasting Covenant. He is the Savior promised by God to Adam and Eve. He redeemed man by dying on the Cross. By his death and Resurrection he offered atonement and reunited man and God through grace. He established his covenant at the Last Supper by giving his disciples his Body and Blood in the Eucharist and fulfilling this self-gift by his sacrifice on the Cross. We enter this covenant through Baptism and commemorate Jesus’ sacred meal and sacrifice at Mass.

Classwork / Homework Pg. 3 inside Activity Books

Chapter One: God Gives Us the Law Lesson Four: Conscience

Conscience: Conscience – our ability to know and judge what is right and wrong. Every person has a conscience. It is man’s moral guide. It is his inner sanctuary, in which God speaks to him. It is the power to judge what course of action to take in any situation.

Moral Law: If we break moral law, we sin. We sin when we choose to disobey the moral law. Sinful actions that we choose to do are called “actual sins”. Actual Sins differ from Original Sin, which is an inherited stain. We can sin by thought, word, deed, and omission. To determine if something is sinful we must look at what it is that we are doing.

Moral Law: An object can be moral (good) like praying, immoral (bad) like stealing, or amoral (neither) like walking. An immoral object can never become good. A moral or amoral object can become bad by its intention and or circumstance. For example, eating might seem harmless, but if we are eating the last food to keep it away from someone else to be cruel, eating is bad. On the other hand, if we are eating so little that we starve ourselves, then choosing not to eat is bad.

Moral vs. Immoral Occupations There are certain industries and companies that Christians would consider immoral. For example, many Christians think it is wrong to encourage people to gamble. Other places where Christians would not work would be: make or use gambling equipment produce firearms create alcohol or Tabaco operate nuclear power stations sell military weapons experiment on animals pollute the environment have a bad human right record have poor employment records support abortion

Moral vs. Immoral Occupations On the other hand Christians would work in industries that support: Environmental protection Pollution Control Conservation and Recycling Safety and Security Ethical Employment Practices Fair Trade

Classwork / Homework Pg. 4 inside Activity Books

Day by Day God’s Creation Day One: God created the heavens and the earth. Day Two: God creates the sky Day Three: God creates dry land Day Four: God creates all the stars and heavenly bodies. Day Five: God creates all life that lives in water Day Six: God creates all the creates that live on dry land Day Seven: God rests

The End!!