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Scripture

Bible 101: A Brief Introduction to the New Testament

Sister Anna Marie McGuan

June 13, 2022 7:17 am June 13, 2022

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As the Old Testament is divided into particular genres (the Pentateuch or Torah, the Historical Books, the Prophets, and the Wisdom books), a similar division of the New Testament can…

As the Old Testament is divided into particular genres (the Pentateuch or Torah, the Historical Books, the Prophets, and the Wisdom books), a similar division of the New Testament can also be helpful. The purpose of such a schematic outline is to orient the reader as he reads each book in this second half of the Bible. Knowing what type of writing one is reading can be extremely useful in understanding the text. For example, the Book of Revelation is a symbolic or allegorical interpretation of history and eschatology, the theology of the last things. It does not carry the same historical valence as the four Gospels, and it is not meant to be read as a literal historical account of the end times.

The New Testament literature can be divided more easily by genre or type of writing than the Old Testament because the contents of each book are more uniform.

Interestingly, as in the Old Testament divisions, one can perceive three categories of texts: the Gospels, the letters or epistles, and the apocalyptic genre. These correspond roughly to the three-fold division of the Old Testament according to the Jewish mindset: the Gospels are the new Law; the letters and epistles are similar to the Wisdom literature in that they contain doctrinal teachings, practical counsel and moral exhortation; and the apocalyptic genre can be compared to the prophets. In fact, some of the symbolic and allegorical imagery in the Book of Revelation, which can seem very strange to the modern reader, is very similar to some passages in the Old Testament prophets.

The Gospels

The texture of each section is different, which becomes almost immediately apparent as one begins to read. The Gospels are historical in nature, but they also contain a theological message. They answer: who is Jesus of Nazareth and what is the meaning of his life, death, and Resurrection? The four Gospels are according to Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.

The Acts of the Apostles is also a historical-theological book and is almost certainly the second volume of a two-volume work that includes the Gospel according to Luke. A look at the introductory verses of those two works makes it clear that they are meant to be read together.

Epistles and Letters

The epistles and letters of the New Testament claim various authors, most notably St. Paul. He is the purported author of 13 letters in the New Testament, not counting the Letter to the Hebrews, which has been traditionally ascribed to him as well. St. Paul’s style is intelligent, direct and zealous. After preaching the Gospel in Israel, Syria, Asia Minor and Greece, he corresponded with the communities to teach and encourage them in the Faith. He was on a mission to bring the salvation won by Jesus Christ to as many as possible and did so through almost constant travels. Hence, his letters allowed him to keep in touch with many communities.

St. Paul also asked that the communities share his letters with one another, which they did.

Other New Testament letters are attributed to St. Peter, St. John, St. James and St. Jude. Like the letters of St. Paul, they include doctrinal content and encouragement on the path of virtue. Some scholars posit that certain letters of the New Testament, like 1 Peter, are actually homilies because of their pastoral tone and scriptural explanations.

Book of Revelation

The Book of Revelation is in a category all its own as far as New Testament writings. The genre is that of apocalyptic literature, and it contains specific elements that, if not understood correctly, can lead to misinterpretation. For example, the use of numbers, colors and physical descriptions of monstrous beasts and cosmological disturbances is a symbolic way of describing and explaining the vicissitudes of history and the end times.

The apocalyptic genre is not meant to be read literally; it purposely describes events of history in mysterious images to offer a theological reading of that same history. The goal is to describe the theological importance of the events. For this reason, many scholars understand the Book of Revelation as a theological interpretation of the persecutions the first Christians were facing. The ultimate triumph of the armies of God over the bestial forces of evil and each person’s decision to worship God or bow down to the beast summarizes the Christian understanding of history: despite the horrific persecutions the Christians suffered, the war against evil has been won in the triumph of Christ, but each person must freely believe and cooperate with God to be saved.

The focus of all the New Testament writings is one: to bring to the world the person of Jesus Christ and the salvation he won for us. The diversity of literary styles and genre corresponds to the needs present in different communities and to the most effective way for the evangelists and other authors to preach the Gospel.

Sister Anna Marie McGuan is a Religious Sister of Mercy of Alma, Michigan. She serves the Diocese of Knoxville, Tennessee, as the director of the Office of Christian Formation. Read more from this series here.

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Scripture

Bible 101: A Brief Introduction to Wisdom Literature

Sister Anna Marie McGuan

May 20, 2022 8:12 am May 20, 2022

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The Wisdom literature of the Old Testament is an eclectic collection of proverbs, moral lessons, riddles, warnings, extended meditations, and philosophical inquiry and debate. It also includes hymns and even love poetry in the Song of Songs. The human authors of the Bible took an interest in more than just religious subjects, as anyone who reads the Bible can attest. The Wisdom literature is a prime example of that broad outlook.

The reason for this length and breadth of interest is that wisdom comes to us in many forms. There is, of course, the wisdom that we learn from God himself through revelation. There is also wisdom to be gained from human experience and reflection. For example, the question “What is it to be just?” or “What does the just man do?” can be answered from a religious perspective or from a more secular bent. The answers may be different, but they are not contradictory.

The Wisdom literature exposes us to both types of reflection, especially in the books of Proverbs and Sirach. Some of the proverbs or sayings could be considered truisms, but they do contain ageless, sage advice, along with a lot of common sense. For example, “Where words are many, sin is not wanting; but those who restrain their lips do well.” (Prv 10:19), or: “Unjust anger can never be justified; anger pulls a person to utter ruin.” (Sir 1:22).

Book of Job

Besides given sound advice, the biblical authors were not afraid to ask hard questions. In fact, they challenged inadequate understandings of wisdom and insufficient answers to questions about the meaning of suffering, diminishment and death. This, for example, is clearly the case in the book of Job. The question behind the book of Job is the enigma of the just man who suffers.

The answers given by Job’s friends, namely, that he is being punished for his sins or that there is some hidden thing he has done to displease God, are proved inadequate again and again as Job verbally spars with his interlocutors. The poetry of this book is powerful; according to some authors, it is by far the most skillful and elevated poetry in the Bible.

The final chapters are quite surprising because God answers Job, in a certain sense, but does not allow Job’s human intelligence to have dominance over the mystery of suffering. The poetry of God’s speech is breathtaking; his descriptions of the crocodile (Leviathan) and the hippopotamus (Behemoth) are fascinating. His descent into the conversation takes the form of a whirlwind, and that is what the poetry feels like.

Ecclesiastes

The book of Qoheleth, or Ecclesiastes, also does not shy away from critiquing canned answers to difficult questions. In this book, the “preacher” informs the readers that he has examined the world and “All things are vanity!” He proclaims in the first chapter: “What has been, that will be; what has been done, that will be done. Nothing is new under the sun!” (Eccl 1:9).

This sounds rather nihilistic. At times the author seems quite despondent, yet he also writes things like this: “Just as you do not know how the life breath enters the human frame in the mother’s womb, So you do not know the work of God, who is working in everything. In the morning sow your seed, and at evening do not let your hand be idle: For you do not know which of the two will be successful, or whether both alike will turn out well” (Eccl 11:5-6). There is a certain humility requisite for the wise man. It is not in our power to know all things, but we do have to decide what to do with the time we have.

Prayer book of ancient Israel

The book of Psalms is sometimes called the prayer book of ancient Israel. It is also the prayer book of Jews and Christians today. The psalms are written in poetry, and, like other books, the poems often have a parallel structure. This means that the verses are written in two or three lines, and the second and third lines are in relation to the first by interacting with its meaning. This can be through synonym, antithesis, the completion of an idea, etc. The lines within the poem can play together in lots of different ways. It can be fun to try and find the parallel meanings as one reads the psalm.

The book of Wisdom, though not included in the Hebrew Bible, also belongs to the Wisdom literature and is an extended meditation on wisdom, law and the just man. At the center of the book is a prayer for wisdom, which expresses the deep longing of each human heart for God, a longing that never goes away.

Sister Anna Marie McGuan, RSM, is director of Christian formation in the Diocese of Knoxville. Read more from the Bible 101 series here.

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Easter

The Resurrection and Scripture: Lessons from the Road to Emmaus

Sister Anna Marie McGuan

April 18, 2022 7:00 am April 18, 2022

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On Easter morning, two disciples were traveling on the road to Emmaus. Leaving Jerusalem, they were downcast and disappointed over what had happened to Jesus. They did not understand the…

On Easter morning, two disciples were traveling on the road to Emmaus. Leaving Jerusalem, they were downcast and disappointed over what had happened to Jesus. They did not understand the stories of the women who said that they had seen him early that morning. As the disciples were walking away from the holy city, Jesus came and walked alongside them.

As in the other resurrection appearances, the disciples did not recognize Jesus. And, as in the other appearances, Jesus did not reveal himself immediately. Instead, he walked with these two disciples and engaged them in conversation. They expressed their frustration and sorrow over the events of Good Friday. One of them, named Clopas, said:

“‘Are you the only visitor to Jerusalem who does not know of the things that have taken place there in these days?’ And (Jesus) replied to them, ‘What sort of things?’ They said to him, ‘The things that happened to Jesus the Nazarene, who was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people, how our chief priests and rulers both handed him over to a sentence of death and crucified him. But we were hoping that he would be the one to redeem Israel’” (Lk 24:18-21).

Continuing, Clopas explained about the testimony of the women and how strange it all had been. Having only heard the women’s account, the disciples did not know what to make of the disappearance of the body. No one understood what resurrection from the dead even meant.

Jesus listened patiently, but instead of nodding in an understanding way, he turned their sorrow on its head — to their shock and our surprise — saying, “Oh, how foolish you are! How slow of heart to believe all that the prophets spoke! Was it not necessary that the Messiah should suffer these things and enter into his glory?” (Lk 24:25-26).

Jesus explained that it was actually necessary that the Messiah would undergo the suffering of the Passion and crucifixion. He does this by walking the disciples through the Old Testament. The evangelist writes: “Then beginning with Moses and all the prophets, he interpreted to them what referred to him in all the scriptures” (Lk 24:27).

At this point, of course, there was no New Testament as we have today, so “all the scriptures” referred to here are only the writings of the Old Testament. The apostles and disciples had only the Greek and Hebrew scriptures of the Old Testament, along with their own experience of being with Jesus and watching him suffer and die. Without Jesus’ help, they could not make the connections between what happened to Jesus and the writings of Moses and the prophets.

What Jesus did on the road to Emmaus was interpret the writings of the Old Testament in terms of their relationship to his incarnation, passion, death and resurrection — all of which fulfilled the Old Testament. They were predicted, and everything that happened to Jesus was there, albeit hidden from the disciples’ understanding. Jesus opened their minds and hearts to see his life and death in the light of the Old Testament. Without the Old Testament, the life, teaching and sacrificial death of Jesus would be incomprehensible.

The Church in every age has followed Jesus’ example on the road to Emmaus, upholding the value of the inspired Hebrew and Greek writings that prepared for the coming of Jesus. The apostles passed on the fullness of God’s revelation by showing reverence to the Old Testament, while composing the writings we now call the New Testament.

The Old Testament is a part of God’s Revelation and finds its fulfillment in Jesus. Additionally, there is a principle of continuity between the Old Testament and the New Testament, such that the two must never be separated. From St. Augustine, the Church still holds this classic maxim: the New Testament lies hidden in the Old and the Old Testament is unveiled in the New. Both the Old Testament and the New Testament are God’s word, all part of God’s Revelation, in which he shows forth who he is and who we are in relation to Him. Jesus taught this on the road to Emmaus, and his exposition of the Scriptures set the hearts of the disciples on fire.

Sister Anna Marie McGuan, RSM, is director of Christian formation in the Diocese of Knoxville.

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Scripture

Bible 101: Jesus Fulfills the Old Testament

Sister Anna Marie McGuan

March 22, 2022 8:34 am March 22, 2022

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Toward the beginning of the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus says: “Think not that I have come to abolish the law and the prophets; I have come not to abolish…

Toward the beginning of the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus says: “Think not that I have come to abolish the law and the prophets; I have come not to abolish them but to fulfil them” (Mt 5:17). When one understands that different sections of the Old Testament fall under the categories of “Law” and “Prophets,” this statement means more than just the Ten Commandments or the Books of Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, etc. “The law and the prophets” can be interpreted as practically the entire Old Testament. In other words, all of it points to Jesus, and all of it finds its completion and most profound meaning in him. He is its culmination.

Throughout the Old Testament God is showing Himself to humankind in order to bring persons into a life of communion with him. Communion happens through worship and a life lived according to the commandments of God and the obedience of faith. One might ask, “why does God bother to reach out to us?” A simple answer might be that he thought we would like it. In his goodness, he knows that we will have the greatest happiness if we are in communion with him, and so he made it possible.

This approach toward human beings on the part of God begins with Adam and extends to Abraham and his children. It becomes clear, however, that physical bonds are not the most important factor of being a member of Abraham’s family. Instead, it is faith. Those who share in the faith of Abraham are his “seed.” St. Paul recognized that and preached adamantly about the Gentiles being grafted onto Israel through faith. It was clear to him that Israel had been chosen not in order to exclude the rest of humanity from God, but so that through them the greatest possible communion with God might be given. That happened with the Incarnation, the coming of the Son of God as a man, to live among us — namely, Jesus of Nazareth.

As at other times when God approached near to human beings in order to lead them to a greater communion with Himself, Jesus came preaching the Kingdom of God. He himself was the Kingdom present among the people. Also as at other times, human beings for the most part rejected God’s gift, a relationship of friendship with himself. Jesus was rejected by the Jewish leaders and crucified for his claims of being God’s Son. He died, but God did not allow him to remain in death. Instead, God raised him on the third day, and Jesus now is alive forever. It is still possible for us to have a relationship with him, a true friendship with God.

Why, then, do not more people live in this friendship with Him? Take Christmas, for instance. It might seem like that feast of the Incarnation of the Son of God, from the natural point of view, is a failed project. After centuries of preparation, after all the revelation contained in the Law and the Prophets, God finally came to earth Himself, in the flesh. But humankind rejected him yet again. And, clearly, His coming to us as a man did not end war and violence, sin and destruction, by imposing divine order from the outside.

So, why did Jesus come to fulfill the Law and the Prophets? All throughout the age of the Old Testament, God is inviting His people to look at him, to fix their eyes on him, because he is the only way through the mire of sin, death and confusion that we experience day in and day out. Over and over again, Israel turns away. God’s ways are too difficult. His paths are too circuitous. He demands too much. Finally, in Jesus of Nazareth, the God of the Old Testament comes among his people and says: “Learn from me, for I am meek and humble of heart. Take my yoke upon you, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” In doing so, he showed his love for us in an astounding way. All our hopes for change and restoration, for renewal and “getting it right this time” depend on this love that God has for us and this communion that God makes possible for each and every person. Jesus came to save every person and bring each one to communion with God. It is only through each individual human heart that God desires to end war and violence, sin and destruction. He desires that his salvation occur within each man and woman, and so have its effects without. Only he can enter into our lives in such a way as to make them whole, to “fulfill them.” He has said it, and he will do it.

Sister Anna Marie McGuan, RSM, is director of Christian formation in the Diocese of Knoxville. Read more from the Bible 101 series here.

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Morality

Why Do People Do Good?

Sister Anna Marie McGuan

March 5, 2022 6:00 am March 5, 2022

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Humans always act for a purpose. Voluntary acts are by definition purposeful. Involuntary acts, which we don’t choose – such as breathing – are not something to which we can…

Humans always act for a purpose. Voluntary acts are by definition purposeful. Involuntary acts, which we don’t choose – such as breathing – are not something to which we can ascribe to a goal or purpose. We pursue goals to achieve results we believe are good, or we may pursue a goal to possess or enjoy something. We enjoy things that are good, not things that are bad.

One way to look at love is when humans strive to enjoy and possess the good. This is how human beings are made, but not just human beings. Animals, plants and, in fact, all matter is made this way. Everything acts for a purpose in a way that is proper to that thing. For example, animals live, move and reproduce by instinct. Plants grow, nourish themselves and also reproduce. Animals and plants have a kind of love proper to them. They attain to these things because they are fulfilling their purpose — they’re doing what they were made to do. However, they don’t perform any voluntary acts. They don’t get to choose their purpose — it’s simply written into their DNA.

Human beings also have DNA, which determines certain things about them (brown hair, black hair; brown eyes, blue eyes; male, female; etc.). DNA, however, cannot tell us everything about why we do what we do. This becomes, then, an important distinction. What makes me different from an acorn is certainly my DNA, but also my freely chosen purpose. Irrational nature (plants and animals) just naturally fulfills its purpose without making any choice to do so. Rational nature (humans) has a purpose, too, but it must be chosen.

Morality has at its root one basic question: What is my ultimate goal? Another way of putting it is: What do I love? Or you could ask: What will definitively satisfy me?

At first, we may think there are lots of things that could provide satisfaction. But like plants and animals, our purpose is achieved by living in accord with what we were made for. What one thing, if I love it, will make me complete? What am I made to love? That is what really satisfies me — that’s what will really define me.

But is my ultimate good the same as yours? In other words, is there an objective good worth pursuing for everybody? The simple answer is, “Yes, absolutely.”

Consult your own experience and name the happiest people you know. Without fail, the people who are good are also the happiest people. This doesn’t mean that you don’t face difficult situations, that you don’t occasionally have fits of anger or experience deep sadness. It does mean that your fundamental outlook is one of virtue. In a given situation, you know what to do and how to do it in a way that upholds your dignity and the dignity of those around you. Your interior disposition is one of looking for and naturally, peacefully pursuing whatever is good to do in a given situation. So, if you are at work, you work diligently, without giving into distraction or procrastination. If you are married, you love your wife and children without hesitation and without selfishness. Your outlook is one of desiring the true good for each person, yourself first, and then those around you. And, if we don’t know what the true good is for ourselves, we will have a hard time doing good for anyone else. You know what is right and will actually be happier doing what you know is right. You do that through your choices.

All this does not mean that rules aren’t important; they are, but they are not the most important part of the moral life. It is much more important to pursue and love what is truly good so that you can be happy. To do this, the help of grace and the interior promptings of the Holy Spirit are needed, which can be followed with the help of wisdom, knowledge, understanding, counsel, fortitude, piety and fear of the Lord. These gifts of the Holy Spirit push me (interiorly) to freely believe, hope in and love the good. If we can follow the promptings of the Holy Spirit within us to grow in faith, hope and love of God, we will be truly happy.

So, the moral life comes down to fulfilling what will really satisfy your deepest longing for happiness. Let’s return to our original question: “Why do people do good?” The answer is that doing good makes us happy and fulfilled. If you open up to God and begin to act for the good with his help, you will be authentically human, truly happy and truly good.

Sister Anna Marie McGuan is with the Religious Sisters of Mercy in Alma, Michigan.

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Scripture

Why the Holy Spirit matters

Sister Anna Marie McGuan

February 24, 2022 11:27 am February 24, 2022

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Jesus told his Apostles at the Last Supper many things about the Holy Spirit, and some of these are included in the readings at this time, such as: “And I…

Jesus told his Apostles at the Last Supper many things about the Holy Spirit, and some of these are included in the readings at this time, such as: “And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate to be with you always, the Spirit of truth…” (Jn 14:16-17). In another moment during the Last Supper discourse, Jesus even said to the Apostles, “But I tell you the truth, it is better for you that I go. For if I do not go, the Advocate will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you” (Jn 16:7). The Holy Spirit’s presence with the Apostles, disciples and with the entire Church throughout the centuries is always meant to be a comfort, a consolation, a leader and a guide to Jesus’ friends.

If we think back to the Last Supper, it is totally appropriate that Jesus would make such a promise at that time. The impending departure of Jesus was troubling his friends. They did not know what was about to happen, and they did not understand many of the things Jesus was saying. All they really seemed to grasp at that moment was that Jesus was going away — and this reality left them in the dark, even desolate.

Jesus knew this, so at the Last Supper he not only instituted the holy Eucharist, whereby he would always be present to his friends, but he also promised them the Counselor, the Holy Spirit. He told them that the Holy Spirit would dwell with them and be with them. The Holy Spirit’s presence in and among the disciples would make it possible for them to live for Jesus, just as he was asking them to do. Living for Jesus means more than a simple calling to mind; it is to actually live Christ’s life within the sphere of my own existence. As St. Paul put it, “For to me life is Christ, and death is gain” (Phil 1:21). It is the Holy Spirit that enables that sentence to be true for Paul and for all of us.

The Holy Spirit makes God’s plan for each of us real, and we know the Holy Spirit by what he does in each life. Here is one way the Catechism expresses this: “…[T]he mission of the Spirit of adoption is to unite [God’s children] to Christ and make them live in him…” (CCC, No. 690).

In other words, that mission is to reveal Jesus, the Word of God, and to make the image of Jesus fully alive in each person. The Holy Spirit teaches us who Jesus is and how we are to become more and more like him. He also makes us ready to receive Jesus in faith. The life of a baptized person can be an ever increasing union with God through faith, hope and love. The Holy Spirit is the author of that union; he teaches us how to know God better and love Him more fully.

There are many ways that the Holy Spirit can do this, but two very important ones are through Sacred Scripture and through the sacraments. In Sacred Scripture, the same Holy Spirit who inspired the sacred authors to write is the one who dwells within the heart of each person reading it. As the Spirit inspired the writing, so the Spirit inspires the reading — so that the mind and heart of Christ can be formed in us.

In the Sacraments, we receive grace. Grace makes us like God, but we have to be disposed to it and cooperate with it. What does it mean to be like God? What does God do? Above all else, God knows and loves himself and knows and loves all things in himself. That is why the Lord Jesus taught us that the greatest commandment is to love God: “You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the greatest and the first commandment.The second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself” (Mt 22:37-39). The Holy Spirit teaches us and forms us to do what Jesus taught us to do. It is the Holy Spirit that enables us to do this, because “The Holy Spirit, whom Christ the head pours out on his members, builds, animates, and sanctifies the Church” (CCC, No. 747).

If you do not have an active and growing relationship with the Holy Spirit, you can ask for that friendship with Him at any time. You can invite the Holy Spirit to play a real, dynamic role in your life starting now. As we turn our minds and hearts toward Pentecost, we can invite the Holy Spirit to renew Pentecost in our own lives.

Sister Anna Marie McGuan, RSM, is director of Christian formation in the Diocese of Knoxville.

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