BIBLE STUDY: NOVEMBER & DECEMBER 2008

On each Tuesday evening during November and December we are holding a Bible Study session in preparation for Advent and Christmas. This year we shall be take our studies from the Old Testament book of the Prophet Isaiah.

ISAIAH - INTRODUCTION

 
Isaiah is the name of one of the prophets of ancient Israel and of a book in the Old Testament which bears his name. Let us first remind ourselves why the Church has retained the Old Testament in the Christian Scriptures and how we should read those scriptures .

The Old Testament.

In our Bible Study during November & December 2007 we reminded ourselves of what the Compendium of the Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCCC) tells us about how we should read the Bible:

19. How is Sacred Scripture to be read?
Sacred Scripture must be read and interpreted with the help of the Holy Spirit and under the guidance of the Magisterium of the Church according to three criteria: 1) it must be read with attention to the content and unity of the whole of Scripture; 2) it must be read within the living Tradition of the Church; 3) it must be read with attention to the analogy of faith, that is, the inner harmony which exists among the truths of the faith themselves.

It is important, therefore, that when we read from the Bible, we pay attention to the content and unity of the whole of scripture. It is a mistake to treat each book of Scripture in exactly the same way. The Bible is a library of seventy three different books (46 in the Old testament and 27 in the New Testament). These books were written at different times, in different places, in different languages (Hebrew, Aramaic & Greek), by very different people, for different purposes and in different genres. In particular we read what the CCCC tells us about the Old Testament.

21. What is the importance of the Old Testament for Christians?
Christians venerate the Old Testament as the true word of God. All of the books of the Old Testament are divinely inspired and retain a permanent value. They bear witness to the divine pedagogy of God's saving love. They are written, above all, to prepare for the coming of Christ the Saviour of the universe.

We see, then, that in the pages of the Old Testament God is teaching his people both about himself and, especially, preparing them for the coming of Jesus as Messiah (Christ). In the pages of the Old testament we can see how the Israelites first understood the LORD (JHVH or YHWH) to be one god among many: he was their god, who looked after them, fought for them and was stronger than the gods of other nations; but in return for protecting them he expected them to obey the moral precepts he had given them.

Gradually they came to learn that the LORD was the only true God and he had chosen them so that they might make the one true God known to other nations. In the prophets, however, we find emphasized not only that God is the one, true God of all, but aso that His moral law is of universal nature; they emphasize personal responsiblity and are concerned with the coming of the Messiah.

The Book of the Prophet Isaiah

The prophetic books of the Old Testament contain exhortations, threats, announcements of punishment, promises of deliverance - all made with solemn authority and in highly imaginative language. These books are characterized by a disregard for exact chronology: both past and present are 'types' of the perfect Messianic order to which they look forward.

Isaiah, the greatest of the prophets, came at a critical moment in Hebrew history. In the second half of the eighth century B.C. the northern kingdom (the Kingdom of Isreal) was captured by the Assyrians (722), and Jerusalem itself saw the army of Sennacherib, the Assyrian leader, drawn up outside its walls (701). Isaiah received his call to the prophetic office in the year that Uzziah, king of Judah, died (742), and his ministry can be divided into three periods, covering the reigns of the Jotham (742-735), Ahaz (735-715), and Hezekiah (715-687).

The complete Book of Isaiah, as we now have it, is a collection of poems composed chiefly by the great prophet himsef, but also by his disciples, some of whom came many years after Isaiah. In chapters 1-39 most of the poems come from Isaiah, and reflect the situation in eighth-century Judah. Sections such as the 'Apocalypse of Isaiah' (Isa 24-27), the oracles against Babylon (Isa 13-14), and probably the poems of Isa 34-35. were written by disciples deeply influenced by the prophet .

Chapters 40-55, sometimes called 'Deutero-Isaiah', were written by an anonymous poet who prophesied toward the end of the Babylonian exile (around the mid 530s BC) the loftiness of his vision and the profundity of his thought has led tradition to include his poems with Isaiah's. Chapters 56-66 contain poems from a later period, composed by a disciple or disciples who iwished continued the work of Isaiah.

The principal divisions of the Book of Isaiah are the following:

The Book of Judgment

The Book of Consolation

 

In these two months we will read from the Isaiah, from whose prophecy many of the Advent Mass readings are taken. Let us try and understand the context in which the passages were written and how they bear witness to the divine pedagogy of God's saving love and pepare for the coming of Christ. Let us do this with the help of the Holy Spirit and under the Guidance of the Magisterium of the Church, as we als prepare ourselves for the coming of Christ the Saviour of the universe.

Each week during November and December the Tuesday study will be posted on this site as soon as possible after the Bible Study session, and the antiphon for the following Tuesday will also be given.

PICTURE OF CHURCH

CATHOLIC CHURCH OF OUR LADY & ST PETER, LEATHERHEAD
 
THE SPIRIT OF CATHOLICISM:   CONTEMPLATION & COMPASSION, COURTESY & COURAGE
'Act justly, love mercy, walk humbly with your God'.   Micah 6:8
Ever seeking a Grace-filled culture of love.

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