January 14, 2014
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Warm-Up: Chapter 1 Reading Guide/Crossword
– Due Friday 1/17!
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Activity Chapter 1….Your Brick Road to God!
– Explain your “road to God” in 15-20 bricks
– Make your bricks look like a “ROAD”….leading you to
somewhere special!....this is your “SEARCH for GOD”
– NICE, NEAT, AND EXPRESSIVE!!
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Lecture Chapter 1
Bible Activity…
Exam 1: Friday 1/17/14 
BRING YOUR BIBLES!!!!!!!!!
CHAPTER 1 QUIZ
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1) Define Happiness. (according to the text).
Why is God the source of true happiness?
2) List and explain 3 ways that demonstrate the
existence of God.
3) Define Divine Revelation. Why do humans
need Divine Revelation?
4)What is a virtue? Name and explain one
virtue.
5) What does the gift of faith enable us to do?
Explain.
JESUS CHRIST:
GOD’S REVELATION TO
THE WORLD
CHAPTER 1
SEARCHING FOR GOD
True Happiness
“Happy the people so blessed; happy
the people whose God is the Lord.”
(Ps 144:15)
But, what is happiness?
God: The Source of
True Happiness
WE ALL WANT TO BE HAPPY!
because
WE WERE MADE TO BE HAPPY!
“True happiness is found . . . In God
alone, the source of every good and
of all love” (CCC, 1723).
The Restless
Human Heart
Nothing in this life
can make us fully
content or perfectly
happy.
Why is this?
God gave us a hunger
for happiness!
Only God can fulfill
this hunger because
he placed it in us!
St. Augustine:
“Our heart is restless
until it rests in you.”
Questioning
Minds
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Do you ever wonder
what is beyond the
stars?
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Do you ever
question the
meaning of life?
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Do you ever think
about where your
life is going?
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Do you ever wonder
what will happen to
you after you die?
Humans have searched for answers to
these questions from the beginning.
We Are Religious by Nature
We have always
searched for God and
given expression to
this quest.
God speaks to us
through our human
reason, through prayer,
and through our
hearts. He calls us first.
In spite of the prevalence of irreligion and secularism,
most people still belong to an organized religion.
Knowing God through
Natural Revelation
Something does not come out of nothing!
Contemplating
Creation
Because we are created in
God’s image, we are
endowed with
intelligence.
Look at the world around
us.
Where did all these
beautiful things come
from if not from the
beautiful One who made
them?
The Church teaches that
human intelligence can
discover God.
“Converging and convincing
arguments” of God’s existence
(according to St. Thomas Aquinas)
Unmoved Mover
 First Cause
 Everything comes from Something
”Cosmological Argument”
 Supreme Model
 Grand Designer
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Contemplating
the Human
Person
Our lives have
meaning!
Beauty
Truth
Moral goodness
Personal
Conscience
Justice
Love
Intelligence
Knowing God through
Divine Revelation
Human language and human reason cannot
fully describe God or really know what God is
like.
God is truly a mystery!
That is why God does not leave us to our own
limited knowledge. He gives us
Divine Revelation.
What Is Divine Revelation?
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God’s free gift of selfcommunication by
which he makes
known his divine plan
God tells us who he
really is through the
events of Salvation
History
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God invites us to live
in covenant with him
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The greatest sign of
God’s love was the
sending of his Son,
Jesus Christ, to be
our Savior from sin
and death
Salvation
History
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God’s creation of the
world begins
Salvation History (the
account of God’s
saving activity for
humankind).
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God intended from
the very beginning to
invite humans to live
in intimate union with
him.
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God remains faithful
to us despite our
sinfulness.
God’s Covenants
with Humankind
Covenant
with Moses,
the Sinai
Covenant
Covenant
with Noah
Covenant
with
Abraham
Wisdom
Literature
Kings and
Prophets
Jesus Christ,
the New
Covenant—
the climax
of Salvation
History
Handing Down
Divine Revelation
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Sacred Tradition
The word tradition means
“handing down.”
The Apostles preached
the Gospel to all nations.
They chose men to
succeed them (bishops
headed by the Bishop of
Rome).
Sacred Scripture
The word bible means
“books.”
 Jesus gave the Apostles the
authority to interpret the
divinely inspired Scriptures.
 This teaching authority is
known as the Magisterium.
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“Whoever listens to you listens to me. Whoever rejects you rejects
me. And whoever rejects me rejects the one who sends me.”
Faith: Our Response
to Divine Revelation
Makes it possible
for us to accept
Jesus Christ
Require free
acceptance
FAITH: a
theological virtue
Opens up the
gates of Heaven
for us
Enables us to
partake in the life
of the Holy Spirit
St. Peter
IMPETUOUS
BRAVE
HEADSTRONG
COMPASSIONATE
HEROIC
BORN LEADER
“And so I say to you, you are
Peter, and upon this rock I
will build my church, and the
gates of the netherworld
shall not prevail against it. I
will give you the key of the
kingdom of Heaven.
Whatever you bind on earth
shall be bound in heaven;
and whatever you loose on
earth shall be loosed in
heaven”
(Mt 16: 18-19).