Made for More

INTRO

• Have you ever wondered why we exist?

• Did God put us here for a reason or did we end up here as a result of millions of years of evolution and are simply just surviving?

•Based off of our actions we can argue that we are made for happiness–or in other words desire happiness

“Rules” or “guidelines for happiness”

• What is better than experiencing happiness?

• We experience happiness in many ways through the things we experience in this world.

• We are only on earth for a finite amount of time

• Therefore, the happiness we experience on earth is temporary

• What is better than temporal happiness?

• Is there a reason that God puts us in a situation where we experience temporary happiness?

• Are we ever truly satisfied by the happiness we experience in our lifetime?

• We continually long for more than what this world can offer us.

• Is there a God that created us or is it the “powers of the universe” that have simply set everything in motion.

YES or NO

“If heaven and hell exist, nothing else matters; if heaven and hell don’t exist, then nothing matters.”

- C.S. Lewis

• We will use the material contained within “Made for More” to attempt to answer that question

• We will examine the greatest piece of evidence God has given us to reveal Himself to us.

Jesus Christ

Chapter 1

• We are taking an impartial look at the life of Jesus Christ– Simply as a historical figure– Come to understand the foundation of the Catholic

faith

• Hopefully from this we validate our faith in the sacraments OR at the very least gain an understanding of why Catholics celebrate the sacraments

• Jesus can be considered the most dominant figure in all of history– Source of much controversy

• However, he did nothing “historical”

• Why then is Jesus such an influential historical figure?

• His Death– Why is Jesus murdered?

• Rather than proclaiming the message he proclaims to be the Message– Highly controversial– Jesus is murdered because of his identity– “Who do men say that the Son of Man is?”– We need to answer for ourselves

• Is he simply a wise man?– He offers forgiveness of sins– Proclaims his preexistence– Claims to be the only way to the Father– Allows himself to be worshipped

• Essentially Jesus proclaims to be God– Either he is or he is not– Either way, he is not simply a wise man

• LIAR– Deceives people into thinking he is God

• Lunatic– Is not God but thinks he is and therefore can be

considered insane

• For what reason would Christ lie about being God?– His friends were the outcasts of society at the time No

gain of popularity– He upset a large group of people who wanted him dead,

nonetheless he continued preaching his message– His lie brought him death, Jesus was given every

opportunity to “take back” who he said he was while on trial.

• Was Christ just an insane person?– The Sermon on the Mount– The humility exercised in interactions with

enemies– And self-sacrificing love shown to not just friends

but all people

• Not typical traits of a lunatic

Chapter 2

CAN YOU BELIEVE WHAT YOUR READ?Determining the Reliability of Scripture

Based off of scriptural evidence we can arrive at the truth that Jesus is God

1) Mk 2:1-12 - Saying He could forgive sins2) Jn 18:5-8 - Saying He was Yahweh – before

Abraham was, I AM (pre-existence)4) Jn 20:26-29 - Allowing Himself to be worshipped 5) Mt 16:13-18- Jesus affirms Peter’s belief that He is divine

However, if Jesus’ divinity is founded on the reliability of Scripture how are we to be certain that Scripture, especially those parts that provide us evidence for Christ’s identity are accurate?

Specifically referring to the New Testament

Many people conclude that the New Testament is filled with contradictions which would completely render the claim that Jesus is God as false

Others would argue that the New Testament is a fabrication of the Church, written in order to validate her mission and beliefs

In order to truly answer Jesus’ question of, “Who do you say that I am?” and to be convicted of our answer we must determine the reliability of Scripture.

Modern Prejudices against N.T.

1. Mistake “Complementary” for “Contradictory”

2. Ignorance of Literary Form

3. Biblical Use of Non-Technical Language

4. Failure to Read in Context

5. Resistance to the Unexplained

Mistake “Complementary” for “Contradictory”

• Book uses example of Jesus’ Sermon on the mount

• Matthew records the Sermon as delivered on a mountain, Luke states that Jesus delivered the talk on a plain– Therefore, Gospels contradict themselves and their

accuracy cannot be trusted, right?... Not so much.

Mistake “Complementary” for “Contradictory”

• Like any speaker who is attempting to deliver a message to a large group of people they will give the same or similar talk many times in many places

• Matthew’s account portrays Jesus as a fulfillment of Moses appeals to Jews– New Moses, New Law, from New Mountain

• Luke’s account portrays Jesus as a fulfillment of Adam appeals to Gentiles– Salvation for all people, not just Jews

Ignorance of Literary Form“Facts can only be stated and understood in an

objective manner.”

• Truth is communicated through many different forms and genres– Bible contains many

• To correctly interpret a passage from the Bible, we must understand the literary form of that particular passage

Ignorance of Literary Form• Parable: a simple story used to illustrate a moral or religious lesson.

– Ex. Prodigal Son or Good Samaritan• These people do not need to necessarily have existed or the

events of the story to have actually happened in order for Jesus’ message to be true.

• The truth of Jesus’ teaching on charity, mercy, and love of God still remains.

• Hyperbole: a deliberate and obvious exaggeration used for effect.

– Ex. Matthew 5:30• Jesus is not saying in a literal sense that by amputating one’s arm

are they able to rid themselves of sin. Rather, he is highlighting the importance of renouncing sin by stating it would be better to live without an arm and no sin rather than live with sin and both arms.

Ignorance of Literary Form

–However, the Bible is not entirely poetic. One needs to take the time to discern what the voice of the author is. Literary sense:» Jesus was born in Bethlehem» Jesus rose on third day» Jesus’ tomb was found empty» Jesus rose from the dead, etc.

Biblical Use of Non-Technical Language

• Just because the Gospel authors use words or terms that do not relate or refer to science as it is understood today does not mean they are unreliable– Example: the use of the word “sunrise” in the

Gospel account of the Resurrection» Just because the ancient understanding of how the sun

“operated” was incorrect does not mean that the events associated with the non-technical term are inaccurate or false.

» Rather, Gospel authors are speaking in a way that is natural in trying to communicate a real-life event

Failure to Read in Context

• Without proper context scripture can be manipulated to say just about anything in order to deceive people as to what it really says.

• Understanding the words, phrases, and passages that come before and after any particular selection of Scripture help us to interpret it properly

Failure to Read in Context• The devil quotes Scripture out of context to tempt

Jesus (Mt. 4:5-6)“Then the devil took him to the holy city and had him stand on

the highest point of the temple. “If you are the Son of God,” he said, “throw yourself down. For it is written:

“‘He will command his angels concerning you, and they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.’”

Jesus answered him, “It is also written: ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’”

• The devil quotes Psalms, Jesus quotes Deuteronomy

Resistance to the Unexplained

• Just because some things cannot be explained in a way that can be grasped by our human minds does not mean that they are impossible.

• Example: the Resurrection– In all our human experiences with death when a body dies it

remains dead– However, God does not operate on the same level as humans

do. – We do not have the capacity to understand how God does

such things. Nonetheless, they are just as real as anything we’ve ever experienced.

Resistance to the Unexplained

• The Gospel authors could not understand, in a scientific sense, how the events they witnessed occurred.

• All that they knew was that the events did in fact occur before their eyes and they recorded them.

TEXTUAL CRITICISM– A scholarly discipline that deals with determining the

reliability of ancient texts.

– It analyzes historical texts impartially and objectively.

– Uses three basic types of evidence used in testing the reliability of ancient texts:• 1) Bibliographic Evidence• 2) Internal Evidence• 3) External Evidence

Bibliographic Evidence

• None of the original manuscripts of the New Testament exist, so why trust the versions we have today?

• If we make the existence of an original manuscript our sole criterion for trusting a document, then we must question much of what we know about history dating back just a few centuries ago.

Bibliographic Evidence• So how do we know that the copies of the New Testament that still

exist are accurate representations of what was originally written?

• Compare the copies of the ancient texts we do posses to one another.

• If a copying error has occurred in a copy of an original document it will stand out amongst other copies made of it – if one copy is not consistent with the majority of the others it is easy to

say it is not accurate. – Sacredness Only Raises the Stakes

• Copyists took great care to keep the text faithful to the one from which they were copied.

• If an error was found the copy was destroyed and the copyist started over in order to not risk the sacrilege of corrupting the sacred text.

Bibliographic Evidence• Compare and Contrast Non-Christian Texts with the New

Testament

• There greatly exists more manuscripts of the New Testament that date to just within a century of the original documents than most other Non-Christian historical texts that our world holds as absolutely true and accurate.

• “To be skeptical of the resultant text of the New Testament books is to allow all of classic antiquity to slip into obscurity. For no documents of the ancient periods are as well attested bibliographically as the New Testament.” – Dr. John Warwick Montgomery

Internal Evidence

• If the text gives obviously wrong information regarding secondary subject matter such as customs, persons, or geography than the accuracy of this text is unreliable. The accuracy of such facts can easily be determined through non-biblical sources.

• Alternatively, if the text includes secondary subject matter that can be confirmed by non-biblical sources it increases the reliability of the text

Internal Evidence

• In addition, texts that include inconvenient truths or details that aren’t necessarily flattering to a person are evidence to the accuracy of a document. Those trying to deceive others by giving inaccurate gospel accounts would not include the unappealing details of the apostles or Jesus. Rather, we would receive an account that is more inflated for the purpose of making the author look good.

External Evidence• We must ask, “What is the testimony of the original audience?

How did they react to it? How were they moved by it?”

• Look to the first martyrs who were asked by Roman authority to renounce Christ as their King and Savior and even in the face of death refused to.

• We subsequently see that this is repeated throughout history.

• The trustworthiness of the accounts of the apostles is attested by the fact that not just a few but many people were willing to die rather than to be unfaithful to the truth contained in them. No other text has received such passionate loyalty.

CONCLUSION• “What we read in the New Testament today is what was

written in the first century by eyewitnesses or by their companions.

• The simple fact is this: Jesus was not executed for simply saying, “love one another” or “try to be nice.” He was executed for claiming to be the God of the universe – the I AM.

• He doesn’t ask us to just accept his teaching; he calls us to accept Him and reject/renounce the ways of the world. That is why he was executed.”

Chapter 3

Christ is Risen!

REVIEW

• Jesus Christ is who he says he is, God.

• The Gospel accounts that provide evidence for Christ’s divinity are accurate

• What’s left to investigate?

The Resurrection • Christ’s resurrection is fundamental to the entire

Christian faith.– The entire Christian faith stands or falls with the

resurrection of Jesus.

• It is not until Christ is risen from the dead that all who were witness to His ministry begin to call to mind the claims that Christ made.

• Christ fulfills His promise.

Conspiracy Theories• Wild Dog Theory (pg. 44)• Wrong Tomb Theory (pg. 45)• Mass Hallucination (pg. 46)• Spiritual Resurrection (pg. 46)• Swoon Theory (pg. 47)• Missing Twin Theory (pg. 49)• Romans Stole the Body (pg. 51)• Jews Stole the Body (pg. 52)• Apostles Stole the Body (pg. 53)

“Who Do You Say That I Am?”

• Jesus is God and He came down from Heaven, offered Himself in atonement for our sins, and rose from the dead – In order to conquer death for all (Eternal life)

• Why does it seem that some people have such a difficult time accepting Christ for themselves?– Is it because they have a hard time believing that he

actually was who he said he was or is it something else?

Chapter 4

How we meet God

The Kingdom of God on Earth

• Hopefully we have erased any doubts about who Jesus was and that God exists

• Now we can focus on learning more about the nature of God and who He calls us to be– We can learn what God has created us for

• How do we come to fully understand the power and truth of Christ today when His presence on earth occurred over 2,000 years ago?– Jesus established the Kingdom of God on earth• The Church

Jesus is the King

• How do we enter into the “Kingdom”

• Reject the “Kingdoms” of this world– What might those things be?

• First, we need to change the way we think• How are we to think?

– We must listen for God to reveal it to us• Scripture and Tradition

Jesus is the Law • Christ is not simply asking us to acknowledge that

he exists or that he did great things while on earth.

• He is asking us to realize that he is present right now in our day to day lives and that he wants us to enter into a relationship with him.

• How often do we reject Jesus’ call?– Relativism Jesus’ call is not relevant to me.• We have the freedom to choose right and wrong but we do not

have the freedom to choose what is right and what is wrong

Covenant• Jesus calls us to obey his law but our relationship to

him is much more than that of a subject to authority figure

• Jesus calls us into a covenantal relationship where we become family with him as well as with other Christians– The laws within this family are laws of love, not laws of

selfishness or dominance– It is sacred bond with a mutual agreement to fulfill

certain duties, unlike a contractual/civil agreement

New Covenant• The New Covenant is founded upon sacred oath

rituals in which God is more than a witness to but a participant in these sacred oath rituals.

– Sacred Oath: a proclamation to remain faithful in their new relationship established through the covenant. (WORDS)

– Ritual Act: manifests the nature of the oath. Communicates and confirms the intention to join in the covenant through more than just words but by actions as well. (ACTIONS)

• Latin word for oath is “sacramentum”

• What then are the sacred words and actions that Catholics participate in that actuate our covenant relationship with God?

The Sacraments

• Each are established by Christ, each for a specific purpose

• They initiate, maintain, and perpetuate our relationship with God

• Baptism

– Baptism is the covenantal act by which we are reborn as adopted children of God

– Only Jews were the People of God by birth, in the New Covenant all enter through a different kind of birth

The Beginning of the Kingdom

The Heart of the Kingdom

• The Eucharist– Christ came to us with the mission of establishing

the Kingdom that nourished souls and provided them with the “food” that gave them the strength to grow in a relationship with Christ

– Assimilates us to Christ– Our sign of accepting Christ– Inspires us to imitate him more because of his

humble offering of himself to us

The Mercy of the Kingdom

• Confession– If you privately ask God for forgiveness of your sin

do – How are we sure we are forgiven?