1. Connecting With Our Faith
• New Testament is
wonderful means to connect
with many aspects of our
faith – the Trinity, first
century Christians, &
Israelites of Old Testament
• Examining Divine
Revelation in general
• The Canon of the New
Testament
• Content of the New
Testament
• Types of Literature
• Dates the books were
written

2. Divine Revelation – Scripture & Tradition
• God revealed Himself out of love
for us
Serves
• From Adam to Jesus, God
intended us to know Him so that
we could return His love
Sacred
Magisterium
• Two main avenues He uses to Tradition
communicate Himself – Sacred PROTECTS
Serves
Scripture & Tradition Deposit of
• Magisterium preserves the Word of God Faith
• Though written by man, both Scripture &
Tradition are included in deposit of faith
because they are inspired by God
Sacred
• God is ultimate author of all Divine Scripture
Revelation
• Holy Spirit protects Church from error in
faith (including revelation) & morals

3. Scripture’s Origin in Oral Tradition
• Human experience with Scripture
originates in oral tradition
• Hebrews were nomads & not capable
of writing or transport/store written
collections
• Experiences of God perpetuated in oral
tradition
• Not same as “grapevine” wherein info
gets skewed or lost
• People entrusted with remembering
these faith experiences were inspired
by God & had tremendous responsibility
to fellow Hebrews and God
• Words spoken, preached, & memorized
from generation to generation

4. Scripture’s Origin in Oral Tradition
• Earliest written record of Scripture
around 1000 BC (rule of Israel’s kings
when permanent settlement)
• Only included Pentateuch at that time
• Most OT not committed to writing until
the Babylonian Captivity in 587 BC
• Done to preserve Jewish culture amid
the “Babylonian melting pot”
• Oral tradition continued & was accepted
as way of discerning & preserving the
meaning of God’s word for each
generation

5. Passing on the Experience of God
• Like Old Testament, New
Testament born out of
apostle’s experience of God
the Son & the Holy Spirit
• These experiences, like
those of their Hebrew
forefathers, were preached,
taught, & subsequently
passed on to the apostles’
successors under the
guidance of the Holy Spirit