Beliefs

• What are Beliefs? Find a definition

Beliefs can be an acceptance that a statement is true or that something exists, beliefs can also be something someone accepts as true or real; a firmly held opinion or conviction.

• What is the difference between believing something/someone and believing in something/someone?

The difference is if you believe something/someone you hope it might happen or that you believe what someone told you. eg. I believe that I can win that competition whereas if you believe IN someone that usually means you trust the person and are loyal, encouraging and nice towards them.

• What are some things that you believe?

I believe in Jesus, Jehovah (God)  and the Holy Spirit and that Jesus died for my sins and that we shoul love each other instead of judging each other.

• Why do you believe in them?

I belive in them because they are true and it is what God/ Jesus said and tought.

Marian Apparition

Our lady of Guadalupe (Mexico 1531)

Year and place of Apparition

1531 in Mexico

Where did the apparition occur?

The apparition happened when an Aztec non believer was walking past a small catholic church near his home and he also went to Tepayac Hill where the apparition occurred.

 

How many times did Mary appear?

3 times

What title did Mary use?

She told him that she was the Mother of God

To whom did she appear?

She appeared to the Aztec Indian (Juan Diego) as well as the bishop through the Aztec’s poncho

What was the social climate at the time?

During the sixteenth century in Mexico, tension and fighting where taking place between the Spanish invaders and the native Aztecs.

What was Mary’s message (s)?

She asked the Aztec to build a small house for her on that very spot and asked him to go to the local bishop with this request.

What miraculous images, miracles, healings etc. have been attributed to this appearance?

Mary promised to heal Juan’s uncle, she made flowers grow and when Juan Diego visited the bishop Mary appeared (in Juan’s Poncho) as a brown skinned woman, in a pink robe and turquoise mantle, which was covered in stars and edged in gold. She wore a black sash, indicating that she was pregnant and she was surrounded by rays of light.

 

Mary Fakebook

Feasts of Mary

Teachings about Mary

Catholic Church Perspective

Mary is the mother of God

•  Doctrine defined in  431 CE (doctrine is the teachings of the catholic church)
• As Mary is the Mother of Jesus, she is therefore the Mother of God. Mary is a bearer of God (Theotokos, a Greek word meaning God-Bearer) 

Virginal Conception of Jesus

• Found in the early church the Apostles creed
• Central to the doctrine is that Mary gave birth as a virgin
• Jesus was conceived by the Holy Spirit

Immaculate Conception

• Doctrine was defined in 1854
• Mary was born without original sin
• Immaculate means without beginning
• conception means beginning

Assumption

• Doctrine defined in 1950
• Mary's body was assumed (take up) both body and soul into heaven after she completed her life on Earth

Mary the Mother of the Church

• Doctrine defned in 1964
• Mary is acknowleged as being the Mother and redeemer.
• Mary Mother of the Christ, Mother of the Church

 

Mary of Nazareth

What does the name “Mary” mean?

Wise woman

What three images do we have of Mary in our minds?

Mother of Jesus,  virgin, New testament

What percentage of people of Nazareth were peasant farmers?

70%

What religion was Mary?

Jewish

 

List 4 facts about Jewish scriptural stories Mary’s would have followed.

·         Eaten Jewish foods (kosher)

·         Observed holy days

·         Known Jewish laws

What were the three classes which existed in Nazareth and which one did Mary’s family belong to?

Rich, poor, destitute – Mary was poor

What are 2 reasons why the 4 Gospels present the story of Mary differently?

A)     Writing for a particular audience

B)      Conveying ideas about Jesus and God

 

What was the Gospel writer Mark implying when Jesus reset the boundaries of family life by saying – “Who are my mother and my brothers?’ And looking at those who sat around him, he said, ‘Here are my mother and my brothers! Whoever does the will of God is my brother and sister and mother. (Mark 3:33-35)”?

That everyone is his family – (everyone who believes in God is his family)

What did the Gospel writer Luke paint Mary as?

Role model, but also human with normal emotions, failings etc.

 

Why was it difficult for Mary to become pregnant while unmarried?

It was against social normality at the time, could be dangerous for her.

What was a Jewish woman’s responsibility for her children?

Care for her child and educate them in Jewish religion.

What point of view does Matthew’s Gospel paint Jesus’ birth? What does the story preceded by?

Jesus’s birth, Joseph’s point of view followed by Genealogy

What 2 stories does John’s Gospel contain which the other Gospel’s do not?

John’s Gospel includes – wedding of Cana, Mary witnessed the crucifixion of her son

 

 

What does the story of Cana display Mary’s personality as?

Describe what the “Acts of the Apostles” paint Mary’s personality/role as with her Jewish community?

Describe the Palestine’s economic recession at the time Mary lived?

What background or context was the Gospel’s written in?

What placed women in a negative category within the culture of Mary’s time?

How does the retelling Jewish scholar Josephus’ in 94AD demonstrate the discrimination of women of that time?

Describe an ideal Roman Woman in Mary’s time

The Bible as Literature

LESSON 2

Why do Humans like stories?
Humans like stories because its entertainment, and teaches us life lessons and can either teach about the world or even ourselves.

How are Bible Stories different to modern stories?
Bible stories are written with only a few details provided and much information is inferred or even omitted.

What is the significance of location in Adam &Eve and story of Jonah?
The significance of the location in these stories is that it provides symbolic meaning for example; In the garden of eden it symbolises the simplicity and innocence of Adam and Eve's life before they disobeyed God.
when Jonah is trapped inside the belly of a huge fish, the setting symbolises the imprisonment of Jonah’s futile attempt to flee from what God was telling him to do.

What does the term poetic justice mean, why does the bible use it in the stories?     

poetic justice means good will always win over evil in the end. So God will reward those who are good and seek him. The bible uses it as a message of hope and faith.

 

LESSON 3

Why does the Bible have stories about Heroes?

The bibles have stories about heros because it gives an example about how to treat people and how to live your life according to Gods word. And it also gives an example of qualities like humility, courage etc.

 What is an epic story? What are two epic stories in the Bible?

An epic story is built around a hero who does something extraordinary like Moses or David. But it is also a representation of a nation. two examples are;

Exodus:
Exodus 1-20 (pages 79-117), Numbers 10-17 (pages 218-234), Numbers 20-24 (pages 238-249), Deuteronomy 32-34 (pages 318-325)

David:
1 Samuel 16-17 (pages 442-446), 2 Samuel 5-19 (pages 473-498)

What are parables?
Parables are masterful storytelling at its most candid. And traditionally they are oral.

Why are they used by Jesus?
 Jesus used it to teach and  spread the word of the father as it states in the Gospels.

LESSON 4

How much of the Bible is written in Poetry?
Approximately one-third of the bible is written in poetry

What are the main poetic ingredients? Include a brief description of each one?

Imagery.
The use of words to paint pictures, evoking a concrete sensory experience of people, places, and things: “He makes me lie down in green pastures” (Psalm 23:1).

• Simile.
  A comparison between two things that uses “like” or “as” — A is like B: “They are like trees planted by streams of water” (Psalm 1:3).

• Metaphor.
  A comparison between two things that forgoes “like” or “as” to say that A is B: “The Lord is my shepherd” (Psalm 23:1).

• Apostrophe.
  Addressing someone absent as though the person (or people) were present: “Depart from me, all you workers of evil” (Psalm 6:8).

• Personification.
  Endowing a non-human subject with human attributes or actions: “Let the hills sing together for joy” (Psalm 98:8).

• Hyperbole.
  Conscious exaggeration for emotional effect: “By my God I can leap over a wall” (Psalm 18:29).

Read Psalm 23, describe the scene?
The scene is very picturesque and very inspirational.

What is the difference between

Synonymous Parallelism & Antithetic Parallelism

Synonymous Parallelism is  saying the same thing in similar grammatical form:

Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment,
Nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous. (Psalm 1:5)

Antithetic Parallelism is  saying the same thing in contrasting ways:

For the Lord watches over the way of the righteous,
But the way of the wicked will perish. (Psalm 1:6)

LESSON 5
What is a proverb? List one example
Proverbs in the Bible are Words to the Wise
example; A gentle tongue is a tree of life. (proverbs 15.4)

What is satire? list one bible example
Biblical Satire tells it like it is
example;The Book of Jonah


What are letters? what to they consist of? (parts of the letter)
A letter is a form of information and are used to communicate with others.
they consist of opening or salutation, thanksgiving, main body, moral exhortations, closing.

Name one person that wrote letters to deliver a message in the bible?
Paul

Name one part of the Bible letters appear in?
The book of Revelation

LESSON 6
What are Gospels?
The Gospels are eye witness stories from the bible

what are they about?
the Gospels are about the life of Jesus

Who wrote them?
Matthew, Mark, Luke and John

List 3 types of stories in them

Nativity stories
Calling or vocation stories
witness stories