THE BIBLE

REED 4 -THE CATHOLIC SOCIAL VISON:

INTRODUCTION

1 . What is a just and meaningful society?

2 . Is the bible still relevant?
3 . What is shalom in the context of the Christian Faith?
EXPOSITION
I. One of the sources of the Catholic Faith
• SCRIPTURE: Salvation History
II. Reading the Scripture should NOT be done in a
LITERAL OR FUNDAMENTALIST WAY
III. Consider the following:
• Context in which it was written
• The genre
• Other noticeable patterns
OLD TESTAMENT
THE TORAH
I. Central Narrative of the Old Testament hinges on the
• EXODUS STORY
– Recounts the hardship of slavery that the Israelites
endured in Egypt
II. God hears them and ultimately delivering them from the
OPPRESSIVE SITUATION INTO FREEDOM
CONTRACT VS COVENANT
CONTRACT COVENANT
A binding and legally enforceable agreement An agreement between two unequals, initiated by
between two entities God through grace, and not negotiated
Human response is compliance because of Human response is obedience out of gratitude
rewards or punishments and love
Can be individualistic and reductionistic (What is A binding and enduring relationship of mutual
in it for me? What do I get out of this?) loyalty and care

Focus is on the fulfillment of obligations and Focus is on relationship, with the emphasis being
duties on mutual belongingness and enduring
responsibility
TEN COMMANDMENTS

“Should be understood in terms of LOVE rather than a MONARCHIAL

COMMAND”

“Not a way of enforcing SOCIAL CONTROL, What the COMMUNITY

chooses to commit into”
TEN COMMANDMENTS
According to Walter Bruegemann:
I. Emphasizes JUSTICE:
• God is inseparable from doing justice
• “The people of Israel were freed from oppression and
slavery and freed for community, justice, love and equalit
y”
II. Community marked by SHALOM
• Shalom means PEACE
• a world where not only is there no war, but a world where
everyone, including non- human creation, has food to e
at, a roof over their head, their basic needs met, and ways
to resolve conflict that are just and merciful
 PROPHETS
I. Spoke GOD’S WORD to people who had in one way or another
distanced themselves from God.
II. But in marketplace terms, prophet is often a WHISTLE-BLOWER,
particularly when an entire tribe or nation has turned away from
God.
III. The Four Major Prophets:
• Isaiah, Jeremiah, Lamentations, Ezekiel, and Daniel
THE TWELVE MINOR PROPHETS
I. “THE BOOK OF THE TWELVE.” the essential background
of the collection is the covenant that God has made with
his people, the story of Israel’s violation of the covenan
t, God’s response in punishing or disciplining of Israel,
and God’s slowly-unfolding restoration of the Israelite
nation and society.
II. HOSEA, JOEL, AMOS, OBADIAH, MICAH— reflect on th
e effect of the people’s sin, both on the conduct of the
covenant and on the events of the world.
III. NAHUM, HABAKKUK, ZEPHANIAH—concern the
punishment for sin
 PROPHETS
I. HAGGAI, ZECHARIAH, MALACHI—concern the restoration of Israel with
respect to a renewal of the covenant
II. JONAH - his prophecy does not concern Israel at all, but with the non-
Hebrew city-state of Nineveh

• Their constant theme is that no worship is acceptable to god unless it is

accompanied by ECONOMIC AND POLITICAL JUSTICE, for god does not
recognize a split between the work of worship and the work of daily life.
THE WISDOM LITERATURE
I. The biblical books of Job, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of
Songs, Wisdom of Solomon, and Psalms COLLECTIVELY
II. Give emphasis on understanding and attaining wisdom
for all areas of life, including our relationships with God
and with one another.
III. “To know wisdom and instruction, to understand words
of insight, to receive instruction in wise dealing, in
righteousness, justice, and equity. ” (Proverbs 1:1-7)
IV. “Give justice to the weak and the fatherless; maintain
the right of the afflicted and the destitute” (Psalm 82:3)
 NEW TESTAMENT
I. THE GOSPELS
• The Gospel according to Matthew
• The Gospel according to Mark
• The Gospel according to Luke
• The Gospel according to John
II. Central to Christian faith is Jesus’ SUFFERING, DEATH, AND
RESURRECTION, which is an important part of salvation history.
PASSAGES IN PARTICULAR

1. The inauguration of the kingdom of God

2. The temptations of Jesus in the desert
3. The final judgment of the nations.
4. Jesus’ table fellowship, a recurring practice in
Jesus’ ministry
THE INAUGURATION OF THE KINGDOM OR THE REIGN
OF GOD: (MARK 1:14-15 AND LUKE 4:14-30)

I. Jesus begins his ministry with the PROCLAMATIO

N: “the time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God ha
s come near; repent and believe in the good news.”
II. Jesus both announces the good news of mercy,
love, justice, and the reign of God, but at the same
time denounces the oppression, wickedness, and
injustice of the time.
I. “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because
he has anointed me to bring good news to
the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release
to the captives and recovery of sight to the
blind, to let the oppressed go free, to
proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”
(Luke 4;18-19)
II. Jesus announces the Kingdom not simply for
God’s self-aggrandizement, but for the sake
of the “other”—those considered to be the
least, the last, and the lost.
THE TEMPTATIONS OF JESUS: LUKE 4:1-13

I. Three Temptations
1. turn some stones into bread (Luke 4:3-4)
2. to worship Satan in exchange for glory and authority
(Luke 4:6-8)
3. to throw himself down from the temple, citing Scripture that if
he were truly the messiah or the Son of God, God would not a
llow him to be hurt (Luke 4:9-12).
II. A common interpretation of the story is that Jesus was able to resist
these temptations and thus we are to emulate his rejection of sinning
and worshipping Satan.
THE TEMPTATIONS OF JESUS: LUKE 4:1-13

I. The first temptation of turning bread into stone

signifies the importance of material possessions.
II. The second temptation that offers Jesus all the world is
the choice towards power.
III. The last temptation that asked Jesus to throw himself
off the temple to “prove” he is the messiah and that
he was special. This temptation to prove himself is the
temptation to prestige
NEW TESTAMENT
I. 3 Ps:
1. Possessions
2. Power
3. Prestige
II. 3 S:
1. Sharing
2. Service
3. Solidarity
III. It is through discernment that Jesus himself also comes to reflect on and make sense
of his ministry, with SHARING, SERVICE, AND SOLIDARITY becoming the hallmarks
of his ministry, rather than going the route of power, prestige, and possessions.
THE JUDGMENT OF THE NATIONS: MATTHEW
25:31-46

I. “For I was HUNGRY and you gave me food, I was

THIRSTY and you gave me something to drink, I was a
STRANGER and you welcomed me, I was NAKED and
you gave me clothing, I was SICK and you took care of
me, I was in PRISON and you visited me” (Matthew 25:
35-36)
II. “truly, I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of
these who are members of my family, you did it to me”
(Matthew 25:40)
TABLE FELLOWSHIP

I. One of the most common actions we find in Scripture is Jesus

eating with those who were understood to be sinners during
that time, and thus were marginalized and excluded.
II. One of the most common actions we find in Scripture is Jesus
eating with those who were understood to be sinners during
that time, and thus were marginalized and excluded.
TABLE FELLOWSHIP
• Commensality-practice of eating or drinking together
• Filipino families
• OFWs
• Marita, the Filipina domestic worker
• Eating can be used as a way of exclusion and marginalization.
• Jewish society
• ’am-ha-aretz (literally “people of the soil”) - those belong to t
he lower strata of the Jewish society; often referred to as th
e ’ochloi (“multitude” or “crowd”)
• "The disciples of the learned shall not recline at table in the c
ompany of the ’am-ha- ’aretz.”
TABLE FELLOWSHIP

I. It is through this table fellowship that Jesus disrupted Jewish

society, earning the anger of the elite, but welcoming all to the
table. It was also this encounter with Jesus that allowed peopl
e to respond in kind with hope and a radical conversion.
II. Zacchaeus proclaims that “look, half of my possessions, Lord,
I will give to the poor; and if I have defrauded anyone of
anything, I will pay back four times as much” (Luke 19:8)
THE EPISTLES, REVELATION, AND THE
EARLY CHRISTIAN COMMUNITY
  I. Jesus’ message and his actions were dangerous ones in
his time, and they led to his death—a cruel and viciousl
y inflicted death (Gal 3:13).
II. Jesus’ RESURRECTION, the surest sign that death does
not have the last word, energizes the apostles and
disciples to spread the good news.
III. The word epistle comes from the Greek word epistole, 
meaning letter or message. Epistles were primarily wri
tten communications during the time of the New Tes
tament. For example, Paul, Peter, and John wrote epi
stles or letters to churches or individuals (Timothy, Tit
us, Philemon).
THE EPISTLES, REVELATION, AND THE
EARLY CHRISTIAN COMMUNITY
 
I. Epistles in the Scriptures are only found in the New Testament, which contai
ns 21 such letters extending from Romans to Jude. THIRTEEN of the
Epistles are written by the Apostle Paul.
II. Within the Pauline epistles are a group of letters known as the PRISON
EPISTLES (Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, and Philemon). These epistles
were written during Paul’s two-year house arrest in Rome (Acts 28:30-31).
III. The PASTORAL EPISTLES (1 and 2 Timothy and Titus) were written to
church leaders and include teaching focusing on worship services and
church order within the early church.
THE EPISTLES, REVELATION, AND THE
EARLY CHRISTIAN COMMUNITY
  I. Following Paul’s Epistles are eight General Epistles, also
known as the CATHOLIC EPISTLES, and are written to a
universal audience. These include the following:
1. Hebrews
2. James
3. 1 and 2 Peter
4. 1, 2, and 3 John
5. Jude
II. Paul links justice and righteousness with salvation.
• Paul also emphasizes that God’s justice is His mercy:
salvation is restorative justice rather than punishment to
God’s enemies.
THE EPISTLES, REVELATION, AND THE
EARLY CHRISTIAN COMMUNITY
 
I. The book of James also echoes the calls for JUSTICE AND RIGHT LIVING.
• It was not a matter of how someone could be involved in justice mat
ters and still be a Christian. Real Christians validated their Christianity
by being deeply invested in matters of fairness, balance, hospitality,
and social needs—all justice
II. The Greek name of the Bible book of Revelation, A·po·kaʹly·psis
(apocalypse), means “Uncovering” or “Disclosure.” Jesus Christ is the
central theme of the Revelation. He is both the author of the Revelation
and the subject of it.
THE EPISTLES, REVELATION, AND THE
EARLY CHRISTIAN COMMUNITY
  I. John paints the ROMAN EMPIRE in Revelation 17-18 as an
empire that arrogantly makes itself equal to God while
maintaining its power through violence and an exploitative
economy. In contrast, the new Jerusalem in Revelation 21-
22 is a contrast to the Roman empire, where land will no lo
nger be taken away by the wealthy and the powerful, and
where corruption will be no more.
II. John wrote Revelation, addressing it to the seven churches
that were in Asia Minor. The purpose of the book was to
strengthen the faith of the members of these churches
against the impending persecution by giving to them the
assurance that deliverance from the evil powers arrayed
against them was close at hand.
THE EPISTLES, REVELATION, AND THE
EARLY CHRISTIAN COMMUNITY
 
I. While contemporary culture often extremely focuses on the individual or
only on a limited sense of community or in-group, Scripture offers a
wider horizon and perspective.
II. It shows an understanding of creation that is intimately connected and
BOUND BY SHALOM and keeps shalom through love and justice.
III. The social vision outlined in Scripture and articulated by the Church
serves as a “target” to aim for and is the future that motivates the
Church to continue in its bringing about the Kingdom of God.
 THANK YOU!

Reporters:

Carin, Mary Elaiza

Dampog, Layle
Fidel, Mary Prilyne
Hungoy, Berryl Ann Marie
Tawantawan, Hebban