Section 1: God’s Plan for

Part 1: The Goodness of Creation

Article 1: The History• If we choose to follow our

faith and believe that God exists, the next question is: Why did God create us? Was he bored, lonely, looking for free labor?

Genesis Creation Accounts• The creation accounts reveal:– God created the whole universe– He created the universe out of

love, because He is love– He created the world to be

good, because he is Goodness– He revealed the serpents words

as lies, because he is Truth– Even after the sin of Adam and

Eve, God remained faithful to humanity because he is faithfulness

• The creation accounts are part of a period known as primeval history, passed down by oral tradition, eventually edited over several centuries and written down from several ancient Jewish sources

• Primeval history- • Archeological-

Religious Truth vs Scientific Truth• The primeval history in

the Bible teaches religious truth, not science

• Our faith tells us that each writings is written by a human author who was inspired by the Holy Spirit

• Figurative Language- • Figurative language can

teach us important religious truths, but is not usually meant to be scientifically or historically accurate

Figurative Language in Genesis• Number Seven- • Wind-• Chaos and Order- • Serpent- • Adam’s naming the

animals-

• Light and Darkness- • Water- • Garden- • Tree of Knowledge- • Fruit-

Literary Forms in the Bible• God did not take away the

creativity of the human authors as they wrote the books that would eventually become Sacred Scripture, so sacred scripture contains many literary forms.

• Literary forms (genres)- Different kinds of writing determined by their literary technique, content, tone, and purpose (how the author wants the readers to be affected)

• Open your textbook to page 13, read the box at the bottom of the page and list the literary forms that the Bible contains.

Article 2:

• Praise the Lord from the heavens; give praise in the heights. Praise him, all you angels; give praise, all you hosts. Praise him, sun and moon; give praise, all shining stars.

• Young men and women too, old and young alike. Let them all praise the Lord’s name, for his name alone is exalted, majestic above the earth and heaven.– (Psalm 148: 1-3, 12-13)

Creation: The Work of Three-In-One

• God exists outside of space and time (He created them)

• Trinity-

Examples of Trinity in Life

• Family

• H2O

• Tree

• Three Leaf Clover

Examples of the Trinity in Scripture• Jesus= 2nd Person of the

Trinity, “The Word of God”• “In the beginning was the

Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came to be through him, and without him nothing came to be.”– (John 1: 1-3)

• Holy Spirit= 3rd Person of the Trinity, symbolized by Wind, Fire, a Dove.

• “A mighty wind swept over the waters”– (Genesis 1: 2)

Creation Seen and Unseen• Modern day science tends

to place emphasis on things we can observe with our 5 senses

• The Scriptures and Tradition teach us that part of God’s creation is spiritual or unseen – Angels– The Soul

• Tradition- • Magisterium

Article 3: Human Beings: The Summit of Creation

• “God created man in his image; in the divine image he created him; male and female he created them”– (Genesis 1: 27)

• Soul-

• “The union of our body and soul is so complete we cannot distinguish or separate them, until death when our body dies and our soul lives on.”

Male and Female

• Both sexes are created in the image of God

• Both should be treated with equal dignity

• Both maleness and femaleness reflect God’s infinite perfection

Made For Each Other• “It is not good for the man to

be alone. I will make a suitable partner for him” (Genesis 2: 18)

• The loving relationship between a husband and wife reflects the perfect relationship of the Trinity

• Through their love comes forth new life

Humanity’s Role/Responsibility

• Humanity’s Role:– 1) – 2) – Man is predestined to

reproduce the image of God’s Son made man, the “image of the invisible God” (Col 1:15) (Catechism of the Catholic Church #381)

• Humanity’s Responsibility:– God has put the earth and

everything on it in our care– “Be fertile and multiply; fill

the earth and subdue it. Have dominion over the fish of the sea, the birds of the air, and all the living things that move on earth” (Genesis 1: 28)

– Each living thing has its own goodness and own unique place in creation

Article 4: The Garden of Eden: The Perfect Life

• Adam and Eve started out in a perfect place, the Garden of Eden, and also in a perfect relationship with God and each other– Read the account of Adam

and Eve in Genesis 2:4- 3:24– This account uses figurative

and symbolic language– As you read focus on the

quality of relationships

• Original Holiness- • Original Justice-

Symbolic Elements in the Adam and Eve Story

• Adam- • Eve- • God’s blowing breath of

life into Adam- In biblical times breath was considered a source of life

• God’s making Eve from Adam’s rib- symbolic of the closeness and unity that is to exist between man and woman=Marriage

• Serpent-