Opening PrayerCome Gracious Spirit,
Heavenly Dove,With light and comfort from above.Be Thou our Guardian, Thou our Guide,Stay close, by every child's side. Amen!
TimelineCr
eatio
n
The Church
70 A
D1900-1300 BCPatriarchal
Period
3000-2000 BCPrimeval History
1300
-125
0 B
CT
he E
xodu
s &
Law
Truth1. God designed and
created all things.2. God created us like
Himself to be in relationship with Him.
3. God gives us all of creation and Himself in
order for us to have true life and freedom with
Him
Reading the Bible(http://www.catholic.com/quickquestions/should-we-read-the-bible-literally-or-symbolically )
“Sometimes I don't know what to think about the Bible. Should we take it literally or symbolically? “It depends on the intent of the particular biblical author:
If he intended what he wrote to be taken literally, then we should take it literally. If he meant for it to be taken symbolically, then that's how we should take it.
Some things in the Bible, such as the parables of Jesus, are clearly symbolic, but what about other things, such as Christ's words about the Eucharist? Are they to be taken literally or symbolically? Catholics, Eastern Orthodox, many Lutherans, and many Anglicans take them literally. Evangelicals, Fundamentalists, and other Protestants do not.
Who decides?Scripture Scholars?
Because of the possibility (and frequency) of such scholarly impasses, the Catholic Church insists that Christ established the magisterium--the teaching authority of the Church--to propound biblical truth infallibly. The authentic explanation of the biblical message has been left neither to our own meager interpretive abilities, nor to the greater, yet still finite, exegetical skills of scholars, but has been safeguarded by God himself.