The Catechism

[Joolye]

Does the catechism have stuff in it that explains some of the connections between the OT and the NT?

Does it explain about the tabernacle/the temple?

Is the catechism sort of like a commentary/explanation of the Bible/gospel?

[jasJis]

Joolye,

The Catechism is a teaching aid. There is a link to it (and different versions of it) in the Reading Room. It gets updated everyonce in a while. It can take different forms, but the current one is very thorough, but a little deep for some. The Church only has 1 approved one at a time. They don't contradict, but can develop understanding. The current Catechism follows the outline of the Apostles Creed and explains it, the Our Father, the 10 Commandments, Sacraments, prayer life, etc. Check it out and look at the table of contents. Explanations will reference Scripture, early Church writings, previous Church explanations such as encyclicals, etc. That's why it is kinda easy for Catholics to justify their faith. We can take an understood concept and reference it back to Scripture and Church teaching (they go hand in hand). Many other denominations do the same. Learning to justify your faith with Scripture and Church teachings helps devolop your Christian Faith.

[Cure of Ars]

The unity of the Old and New Testaments

CATECHISM:

128: The Church, as early as apostolic times, and then constantly in her Tradition, has illuminated the unity of the divine plan in the two Testaments through typology, which discerns in God's works of the Old Covenant prefigurations of what he accomplished in the fullness of time in the person of his incarnate Son. 129: Christians therefore read the Old Testament in the light of Christ crucified and risen. Such typological reading discloses the inexhaustible content of the Old Testament; but it must not make us forget that the Old Testament retains its own intrinsic value as Revelation reaffirmed by our Lord himself. Besides, the New Testament has to be read in the light of the Old. Early Christian catechesis made constant use of the Old Testament. As an old saying put it, the New Testament lies hidden in the Old and the Old Testament is unveiled in the New. 130: Typology indicates the dynamic movement toward the fulfillment of the divine plan when "God [will] be everything to everyone." Nor do the calling of the patriarchs and the exodus from Egypt, for example, lose their own value in God's plan, from the mere fact that they were intermediate stages.

[Norseman82]

Is the catechism sort of like a commentary/explanation of the Bible/gospel?

There is a cross-reference in the back between sections of the bible and paragraphs of the catechism. I don't believe it is currently available in the online editions, you have to buy the hardcopy edition. Now, some of the references may not be as clear or expounded on as clearly as others, but after a bit of study you will see the connection.

As far as the temple is concerned, did find this:

CATECHISM:

583: Like the prophets before him Jesus expressed the deepest respect for the Temple in Jerusalem. It was in the Temple that Joseph and Mary presented him forty days after his birth. At the age of twelve he decided to remain in the Temple to remind his parents that he must be about his Father's business. He went there each year during his hidden life at least for Passover. His public ministry itself was patterned by his pilgrimages to Jerusalem for the great Jewish feasts. 584: Jesus went up to the Temple as the privileged place of encounter with God. For him, the Temple was the dwelling of his Father, a house of prayer, and he was angered that its outer court had become a place of commerce. He drove merchants out of it because of jealous love for his Father: "You shall not make my Father's house a house of trade. His disciples remembered that it was written, 'Zeal for your house will consume me.'" After his Resurrection his apostles retained their reverence for the Temple. 585: On the threshold of his Passion Jesus announced the coming destruction of this splendid building, of which there would not remain "one stone upon another." By doing so, he announced a sign of the last days, which were to begin with his own Passover. But this prophecy would be distorted in its telling by false witnesses during his interrogation at the high priest's house and would be thrown back at him as an insult when he was nailed to the cross. 586: Far from having been hostile to the Temple, where he gave the essential part of his teaching, Jesus was willing to pay the temple-tax, associating with him Peter, whom he had just made the foundation of his future Church. He even identified himself with the Temple by presenting himself as God's definitive dwelling-place among men. Therefore his being put to bodily death presaged the destruction of the Temple, which would manifest the dawning of a new age in the history of salvation: "The hour is coming when neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father."

If that answers your question, great, otherwise if you have some scripture references either you can check in the biblical cross-reference in back or, if you don't have a catechism and don't want to wait for Barnes and Noble to open, I'm sure one of us could post what we find....

[Joolye]

Thanks.

I have just recently been taught this really cool explanation about the temple of God in the OT, and how it points to/relates to our lives as our bodies are the temple of God these days. It is just absolutely amesome what I have just learnt!

[jasJis]

Cool! B) You might be intrested in a writing called "On the Value and Inviolability of Human Life" Evangelium Vitae that relates the fact that humans are the temple of God also means that all human live is valuable because of that.

Tell us what you think if you read it. :rolleyes: