Forty Days

Forty days and forty nights
Thou wast fasting in the wild;
Forty days and forty nights
Tempted, and yet undefiled.

Sunbeams scorching all the day;
Chilly dew-drops nightly shed;
Prowling beasts about Thy way;
Stones Thy pillow; earth Thy bed.

Should not we Thy sorrow share
And from worldly joys abstain,
Fasting with unceasing prayer,
Strong with Thee to suffer pain?

Then if Satan on us press,
Jesus, Savior, hear our call!
Victor in the wilderness,
Grant we may not faint nor fall!

So shall we have peace divine:
Holier gladness ours shall be;
Round us, too, shall angels shine,
Such as ministered to Thee.

Keep, O keep us, Savior dear,
Ever constant by Thy side;
That with Thee we may appear
At the eternal Eastertide.

                                                                        ~George H. Smyttan

The Pentateuch, Day 5: Creation of Man

A modern icon of the Creation of Man (Russian Orthodox)

The Creation of Adam and Eve
     
We could spend weeks, months, even years on the first chapter of Genesis, but we have decided that this is an "overview" and so we must move forward.  Before we discuss the account of the creation of man, let's take a moment to put man's creation in its ordered place within the entire breadth of God's works.

One way to think about God's work of creation is to divide it into three stages.  Initially,  God creates formless matter in a formless void.  Then,  during the first three days, this totally formless void was partitioned in three, creating the vastness of space, the firm land of the earth, and the depths of the sea.  During the last three days, God "adorned" His creation.  First, He created the sun, moon, and stars for the heavens,  secondly, birds for the air and fish for the sea, and thirdly, animals and man for the land.

St. Thomas Aquinas

 
     ...three things are recorded as created, namely, the heaven, the water, and the earth; and these three received their form from the three days' work of distinction, so that heaven was formed on the first day, on the second day the water were separated, and on the third, the earth was divided into sea and dry land.  So also is it in the work of adornment:  on the first day of this work, which is the fourth of creation, are produced the lights, to adorn the heaven by their movements; on the second day, which is the fifth, birds and fishes are called into being, to make beautiful the intermediate element for they move in air and water, which are here taken as one; while on the third day, which is the sixth, animals are brought forth, to move upon the earth and adorn it.--Summa Theologica, I, Q.70, Art. I

Creation of the World, Giusto de Menabuoi

Thus, St. Thomas helps us to place man in his proper role as the climax and final adornment of all of God's natural, visible creation.  Man is, as Venerable John Paul II has said, "the crown of creation...the creature made in [God's] own image" (Dies Domini, 11).








The Image and Likeness of God
     
Scripture recounts two different versions of the creation of man.  We will not consider here why there might be different accounts, but it is good to notice that each account has a slightly different focus.  The first account, in Genesis 1, gives a brief statement of man's creation which highlights man's relationship to God and to the rest of the natural world.  It also focuses light on the common humanity of man and woman, revealing them to be both the same kind of being.  Unlike the surrounding cultures which thought male and female to be different and even opposed, here we see that both are fully human, both are created "in God's own image."

Guetenberg Bible

So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.  And God blessed them, and God said to them, "Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it,  and have dominion over the birds of the air, over every living thing that moves upon the earth.--Genesis 1:27-28 

The Creation of Adam, Michelangelo, Sistine Chapel

 In what way is man created in the "image and likeness" of God?  This expression highlights for us the uniqueness of man.   He is not an animal; there is a definite distinction between Adam and the animals:

Of all the visible creatures only man is "able to know and love his creator."  He is "the only creature on earth that God has willed for its own sake," and he alone is called to share, by knowledge and love, in God's own life.  It was for this end that he was created, and this is the fundamental reason for his dignity:

St. Catherine of Siena

What made you establish man in so great a dignity?  Certainly the incalculable love by which you have looked on your creature in yourself!  You are taken with love for her;  for by love indeed you created her, by love you have given her a being capable of tasting your eternal Good.--Dialogue 4, 13 "On Divine Providence" --CCC 356


Adam and Eve are created by God as a father creates his son.  We read in Genesis 5:3 this use of "image":  

Gutenberg Bible

When Adam had lived a hundred and thirty years, he became the father of a son in his own likeness, after his image, and named him Seth.

So we see the words "image" and "likeness" here associated with the notion of sonship--Adam is God's son; his relationship to God shall be as the loving, mutually self-giving relationship of a father to his son.  Because he is the son of God, Adam is given a sort of royal dominion over creation.  Man's unique relationship to God gives him a dignity which can not be defaced and is the basis of the Church's teachings on the sanctity of human life.  

Male and Female He Created Them

Garden of Eden, Jacob de Baker

In the second account of the creation of man,  we are given much more detail about the creation of woman and the relationship of man and woman.  In this account, the inspired author uses many symbols to convey the holiness of man's original state of blessedness.  Man is given an elevated relationship with God which places him in the role of mediator between the earth and its creatures and God.  Adam is, in essence, the first High Priest of the human race.


"The setting is the garden of Eden, which represents the state of grace.  Man, who is created outside the garden, is placed there by God (2:8) to show that he is raised to a level of divine blessedness that is above his natural state (CCC 374-78).  The sacredness of this original situation is underscored by indications that Genesis imagines paradise as a primeval sanctuary.  Like the Tabernacle and Temple of later times, the garden is (1) entered from the east (3:24;  Ex. 27:13; Exek 47:1), (2) home to angelic guardians called cherubim (3:24; I Kings 6:23-28, (3) adorned with trees (2:9; Josh 24:26; 1 Kings 6:29-32), (4) the source of sacred waters (2:10; Ezek 47:1-12; Joel 3:18), and (5) the place where God dwells with his people on the earth (3:8; Lev 26:12; 2 Sam 7:6)"--Ignatius Catholic Study Bible: Genesis, p. 20

In this second account, we see not only the relationship of Adam to God and to creation, but also the relationship of Eve, mother of all living, to Adam:

Gutenberg Bible

Then the Lord God said, "It is not good that man should be alone; I will make him a helper fit for him." ...So the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and while he slept took one of his ribs and closed up its place with flesh; and the rib which the Lord God had taken from the man he made into a woman and brought her to the man.  Then the man said,
     "This at last is bone of my bones,
          and flesh of my flesh;
       she shall be called Woman,
          because she was taken out of Man."
Therefore a man leaves his father and his mother and clings to his wife, and they become one flesh.  And the man and his wife were both naked, and were not ashamed.--Genesis 2:18, 21-25

 In this account, we have the foundations of the sacrament of marriage. Next lesson will discuss in more depth the sacrament of matrimony and the holy Truths it images, but perhaps this week we might just read this wonderful quote by Venerable John Paul II:

  

By reflecting on the whole account found in Gen 2:18-25, and by interpreting it in light of the truth about the image and likeness of God (cf. Gen 1:26-27), we can understand even more fully what constitutes the personal character of the human being, thanks to which both man and woman are like God. For every individual is made in the image of God, insofar as he or she is a rational and free creature capable of knowing God and loving him. Moreover, we read that man cannot exist "alone" (cf. Gen 2:18); he can exist only as a "unity of the two", and therefore in relation to another human person. It is a question here of a mutual relationship: man to woman and woman to man. Being a person in the image and likeness of God thus also involves existing in a relationship, in relation to the other "I". This is a prelude to the definitive self-revelation of the Triune God: a living unity in the communion of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.--Mulieris Dignitatem, 7

What We Must Believe

The Church teaches several important points with regard to this account of the creation of man.  These are the dogmas we must hold to be true:

1. Human beings are a special creation of God; God breathed a human soul into Adam.

The human person, created in the image of God, is a being at once corporeal and spiritual.  The biblical account expresses this reality in symbolic language when it affirms that "then the Lord God formed man of dust from the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being." (Gen. 2:7)  Man, whole and entire, is therefore willed by God.--CCC 362

2.  Woman is formed from the body of man; from his very self.

[Among the fundamental Christian teachings which must be believed by Catholics are]...the creation of all things which was accomplished by God at the beginning of time; the special creation of man; the formation of the first woman from man; the unity of the human race; the original happiness of our first parents in a state of justice, integrity, and immortality... Pontifical Biblical Commission, 1909, emphasis added.

  

3.  All humanity is descended from Adam and Eve (there are not multiple progenitors of the human race).

Pope Pius XII

For the faithful cannot embrace that opinion which maintains either that after Adam there existed on this earth true men who did not take their origin through natural generation from him as from the first parents of all, or that Adam represents a certain number of first parents. Now, it is in no way apparent how such an opinion can be reconciled with that which the sources of revealed truth and the documents of the teaching authority of the Church proposed with regard to original sin, which proceeds from a sin actually committed by an individual Adam and which, through generation, is passed on to all and is in everyone as his own--Humani Generis 37 

Pope Benedict XVI

The unity of the whole human race becomes immediately apparent...We are all one humanity, formed from God's one earth.  It is precisely this thought that is at the very heart of the creation account and of the whole Bible.  In the face of all human division and human arrogance, whereby one person sets himself or herself over and against another, humanity is declared to be one creation of God from his one earth....The Bible says a decisive "no" to all racism and every human division.--In the Beginning, p. 43-44.
 

4.  Adam and Eve were created without sin.

The first man was not only created good, but was also established in friendship with his Creator and in harmony with himself and with the creation around him, in a state that would be surpassed ony by the glory of the new creation in Christ. The Church...teaches that our first parents, Adam and Eve, were constituted in an original "state of holiness and justice."  This grace of original holiness was "to share in ...divine life."--CCC 374-375

(Source of these dogmas:  Fundamentals of Catholic Dogma, Ludwig Ott)

Main lesson:  God created man and woman in a state of original innocence as bearers of His image and likeness to enter into relationship with Him.

 

Your Assignment

1.  Read Ephesians 5:21-33.  In what ways does marriage symbolize the relationship of Christ to His Church?

2.  Why is marriage considered a covenant?  What is a covenant?

3.  Reading John Paul II's words above, how do you think marriage represents the Blessed Trinity?  In what ways are marriage and the union of the Three Divine Persons analogous?

Next lesson:  The Sacrament of Marriage 

The Pentateuch, Day 3: The Blessed Trinity in Creation

God Separating Light from Darkness, Michelangelo

God, the Creator of Heaven and Earth


Each Sunday, Catholics recite "The Creed", the basic truths of Christianity that were first set down by the Apostles and then handed on faithfully to our own day.  The Nicene Creed begins thus:

We believe in one God, the Father, the Almighty, maker of heaven and earth, of all that is, seen and unseen...




As Catholics, we believe that one God created all the visible and invisible realities which we call "the world", and which the ancient Hebrews indicated under the phrase "heavens and earth".  But not all people have believed in one, all-powerful God.  In fact, the text of Genesis echoes pagan creation accounts that were well-known in the surrounding cultures of the Middle East. In contrast to these stories, the divinely-inspired writer of Genesis wanted to communicate, using images and terms familiar to his reader, that the world was created, not by a group of gods and demi-gods struggling to bring order out of the primordial chaos, but by a single, almighty Power that not only created order, but also created all matter out of nothing.

The Trinity in Creation

The Old Testament suggests, and the New Testament reveals the creative action of the Son and the Spirit, inseparably one with that of the Father.  This creative cooperation  is clearly affirmed in the Church's rule of faith:  "There exists but one God...he is the Father, God, the Creator, the author, the giver of order.  He made all things by himself, that is, by his Word and by his Wisdom", "by the Son and the Spirit" who, so to speak, are "his hands".  Creation is the common work of the Holy Trinity.--CCC 292

In the first few verses of Genesis, we see evidence of all the three Persons of the Blessed Trinity.  First, we have God creating.  Before the beginning, God the Father already had conceived the entire plan of creation and salvation, which He would enact with the Son, His Word, and the Spirit, His Wisdom.  As we read in Day 2, the New Testament states,

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world... Eph. 1:3

Creation, James Tissot

In the beginning, God created all matter ex nihilo, which is Latin for "out of nothing".  In fact, the verb used for "created" in Gen. 1:1 is a translation of a Hebrew word which only is used with God as the subject.  Man can "make" from pre-existing materials any number of things, but only God can "create" out of absolutely nothing.  The matter which He created was primordial matter;  it is depicted in Genesis as a deep ocean in the midst of darkness, over which the creative and loving Spirit hovers.  The Spirit is often shown in Scripture to be the Giver of Life.  "When Thou sendest forth thy Spirit, they are created; and thou renewest the face of the ground." Ps 104:30  

The Word of God and his Breath are at the origin of the being and life of every creature. It belongs to the Holy Spirit to rule, sanctify, and animate creation, for he is God, consubstantial with the Father and the Son...power over life pertains to the Spirit, for being God he preserves creation in the Father through the Son--CCC 703

  
To impose order upon this matter, God spoke, "Let there be light!" Gen. 1:3  The Word of God, who is Jesus Christ, is the active agent in the creation and ordering of the world.  As St. John will say in the prologue to his Gospel:

 In the beginning (sound familiar?) was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.  He was in the beginning with God; all things were made through Him, and without Him was not anything made that was made.  In Him was life, and the life was the light of men.  Jn 1:1-4

Christ Himself was present at Creation, as He had always been present with the Father; all was made through Him and for Him, as the Nicene Creed says:

We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ, the only Son of God, eternally begotten of the Father.  God from God, Light from Light, True God from True God, begotten not made, one in being with the Father.  Through Him all things were made. 

St. Paul makes the same point:

[Jesus] is the image of the invisible God...for in him all things were created, in heaven and on earth...all things were created through him and for him.  He is before all things, and in him all things hold together.  Col. 1:15-17

The work of creation belongs to the Blessed Trinity, the three Divine Persons of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.


A Good Creation

Enuma Elish tabl

The cultures surrounding the Hebrew people had their own creation myths. In the Babylonian epic Enuma Elish, the creation of the world is described as being the result of a struggle between opposing gods.  In this account, a dragon is sundered in two by Marduk, god of light, and its dead body forms the heavens and the earth:

Then the lord paused to view her dead body,
That he might divide the form and do artful works.
He split her like a shellfish into two parts:
Half of her he set up as a covering for heaven,
Pulled down the bar and posted guards.
He bade them to allow not her waters to escape.--Enuma Elish

From the blood of this dragon, man is fashioned.  Pope Benedict (while he was Cardinal Ratzinger) described the worldview these myths produced:

It is a foreboding picture of the world and of humankind that we encounter here:  The world is a dragon's body, and human beings have dragon's blood in them.  At the very origin of the world lurks something sinister, and in the deepest part of humankind there lies something rebellious, demonic, and evil...Such views were not simply fairy tales.  They expressed the discomfiting realities that human beings experienced in the world and among themselves. --In the Beginning, Pope Benedict XVI

The very heart of creation for these pagans is death and violence.  The world is not good, but bad, vicious, and evil.

By contrast, the Biblical writer begins with a world "without form and void"; it is dark, but not demonic.  It is not yet full of light, but it is material created by God who is Light.  God, by the power of His Word, creates a world that is both ordered and good.

And God said, "Let there be light"; and there was light.  And God saw that the light was good; and God separated the light from the darkness.--Gen. 1:3-4

For the Hebrew, and later for the Christian, the world was created by a good, loving God and was itself good.  Physical creation is not, as some philosophies hold, inherently evil or corrupt, nor is it a random, orderless collection of events.

...we are told [in the first verses of Genesis] that God alone, who is the eternal Reason that is eternal love, created the world, and that it rests in his hands.  Only with this in mind can we appreciate the dramatic confrontation implicit in this biblical text, in which all these confused [Babylonian] myths were rejected and the world was given its origin in God's Reason and in his Word.--In the Beginning, Pope Benedict XVI  

Divine Providence

"Divine Providence" is the term we use to denote God's constant care and guidance of His creation.  Not only did God create this world in the beginning, but Scripture describes His almighty power  upholding and keeping alive and in existence all of creation at every moment of history. He sustains it all, and is continually guiding it forward toward the ultimate perfection for which He created it in the first place.   God created you in your mother's womb, He never fails to sustain you in existence at each and every moment, and He will do this for all eternity. 

  With creation, God does not abandon his creatures to themselves.  He not only gives them being and existence, but also, and at every moment, upholds and sustains them in being, enables them to act and brings them to their final end.  Recognizing this utter dependence with respect to the Creator is a source of wisdom and freedom, of joy and confidence.--CCC 301

Take a moment this week to meditate on the great goodness, power, and love of God, Who at each and every moment of your life is blessing you with the beauty of His creation, sustaining you and guiding you, and loving you with an infinite love.

Main Idea:  Creation is the good and glorious work of the Blessed Trinity, three Persons in One God, Who are sustaining and guiding it to its final destiny.    

Your Assignment 

1. Genesis, chapter 2.

2. Read the CCC, paragraphs 279-281, 287-289

3. Look up and define "providence".  

Next lesson:  Myth or Science?

I wanted to post a Youtube video of "Morning Has Broken" here, but I can't seem to get it to play without a bunch of ads!  Yikes!  Any tips on how to get the ads off of the video??? 

Couldn't figure out how to delete the ads, so please just turn them off and enjoy the music.  I do not endorse any of the products! 
 

 

Bible Basics, Day 8: The New Testament

The Four Gospels

The New Testament
 
     Well, we've done a very quick look at the Old Testament, and now we will move on to take a brief overview of the New Testament. The New Testament contains the story of the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, the fulfillment of God's promises to Israel and to all mankind, and the story of the establishment of the Catholic Church.  The Catechism states:

 "The Word of God, which is the power of God for salvation to everyone who has faith, is set forth and displays its power in a most wonderful way in the writings of the New Testament" (Dei Verbum) which hand on the ultimate truth of God's Revelation.  Their central object is Jesus Christ, God's incarnate Son:  his acts, teachings, Passion and glorification, and his Church's beginnings under the Spirit's guidance.--CCC124

     The inspired authors of the New Testament also tell us why they wrote.  First, because they were commanded by Christ to go into the world and teach the "good news" of salvation:

Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them.  And when they saw him they worshiped him; but some doubted.  And Jesus came and said to them, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.  Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you;  and lo, I am with you always, to the close of the age." Matthew 28: 16-20 (emphasis added)

They also wrote so that we could know the true facts of Christ's life:

Inasmuch as many have undertaken to compile a narrative of the things which have been accomplished among us, just as they were delivered to us by those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and ministers of the word, it seemed good to me also, having followed all things closely for some time past, to write an orderly account for you, most excellent Theophilus, that you may know the truth concerning the things of which you have been informed.  Luke 1:1-4 (emphasis added) 

And they wrote so that we might be confident of the gift of eternal life and have faith in the power, love, and mercy of God:

I write this to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life. 1 Jn 4:13 (emphasis added)

Let us take a moment to thank God and praise Him for the gift of the New Testament and for the faithfulness of those witnesses to the truth who have gone before us.  Let us pray that we, too, will be faithful witnesses and preserve and pass on the Truth for those who will come after us. 

I.  The Languages of the New Testament

Alexander the Great, Rembrandt

     This is the easiest section, so let's do it first, OK?   Since the time of the conquests of Alexander the Great (356 BC--323 BC), Greek language and culture dominated the eastern Mediterranean and the Middle East.  This dominance of Greek culture lasted well into the first century; Christ Himself probably spoke at least some Greek. The earliest New Testament manuscript copies that we have are all written in Greek.  Most scholars believe that the originals were also written in Greek, but there are some who have put forth convincing evidence that the Gospels were originally composed in Aramaic, or even Hebrew, and then translated into Greek.  St. Paul, traveling and preaching across the Roman Empire, would have often used Greek and his epistles were written in Greek.
      Another  language that was used in Palestine during the lifetime of Jesus was Aramaic.  Aramaic is a Semitic language that was first used by the Jews during their captivity in Babylon and after they returned from Babylon to Jerusalem around 530 B.C.  It was probably the language that Jesus did most of His teaching in, although there is some evidence that He also taught in Hebrew.  Aramaic was used as an early lingua franca in the areas that had been under Assyrian influence, but was gradually replaced by Greek.

St. Jerome, Caravaggio

     The New Testament would not be translated into Latin until the late fourth century.  This translation was St. Jerome's greatest work.  He based it on original Hebrew and Greek texts (many of which have been lost over the years).  His translation is known as the "Vulgate", since Latin was at that time the common, or "vulgar", language of the people. 
    


II. The Dating of the New Testament

Oldest NT papyrus

     Now we are getting into troubled waters!  In the last 150 years or so, many scholars began to question the early composition of the New Testament books, some even concluding the Gospels were written in the second or third centuries after Christ!  Fortunately, about 50 years ago, a significant artifact was discovered. This artifact was a very early (and very small) fragment of papyrus which contains text from the Gospel of John.  It has been dated to AD 125.  Allowing time for the copying and circulation of the text,  scholars know that at the very latest John (which is generally agreed to be the latest book of the New Testament) was composed before the end of the first century.  Most scholars today also agree that the books written by St. Paul were the earliest texts of the New Testament, with the earliest one being either the Letter to the Galatians (possibly as early as AD 50) or the First Letter to the Thessalonians (no later than AD 51).  I want to point out that there are scholars, again with convincing arguments, that place Matthew as the earliest text, written in Hebrew, around AD 37- AD 40.  This controversy is ongoing, and as we look as each New Testament book, I will briefly mention a range of dates of composition.

III. Divisions of the New Testament

    To help us understand the organization of the New Testament, we can think of it in three "sections" that correspond to the traditional sections of the Old Testament:

Lindisfarne Gospel

The Gospels and Acts:  These are the books that record the life, sayings and teachings, passion, death, and resurrection of Christ.   The Acts of the Apostles  (named in the second century by St. Iranaeus) records the work of the Holy Spirit through the Apostles (focusing on St. Peter and St. Paul) to establish the Church.  These correspond to "the Law" in the Old Testament---they contain the actual words and teachings of God and the history of the establishment of the People of God as a holy community (the Church).
  
     According to the Catechism, there were three stages in the development of the four Gospels as we have them today. They were:

1.) The life and teachings of Jesus Christ:  The New Testament is based on the historical truth of the life of Jesus of Nazareth.  The details of His life are recorded accurately in the Gospels.  These Gospels, "whose historicity [the Church] unhesitatingly affirms, faithfully hand on what Jesus, the Son of God, while he lived among men, really did and taught for their eternal salvation, until the day when he was taken up."--CCC 126

2.) The oral tradition:  The Apostles handed on what Jesus had taught and done.  They were able to add to this knowledge the further understanding they had been given by the Holy Spirit of the meaning and significance of Christ's work.

3.)  The written Gospels:  The final stage, during which "the sacred authors...selected certain of the many elements which had been handed on, either orally or already in written form; others they synthesized or explained with an eye to the situation of the churches...always in such a fashion that they have told us the honest truth about Jesus."--CCC 126 

The Gospels, containing the true words and deeds of Our Lord, hold a unique and privileged place in the entire Bible and are specially venerated during the Mass.

St. Therese of Lisieux

But above all it's the Gospels that occupy my mind when I'm at prayer; my poor soul has so many needs, and yet this is the one thing needful.   I'm always finding fresh lights there, hidden and enthralling meanings.--St. Therese of Lisieux 






Let us remember, too, that we can be certain of the truth of these texts because they have the authority of the Catholic Church, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, to testify to their veracity.

St. Augustine

I would not believe in the Gospel if the authority of the Catholic Church did not move me to do so.--St. Augustine

The Letters of St. Paul, El Greco

The Epistles:  We can think of these as the New Testament "writings".  They include two main groups of epistles, or letters.  First in the canon are those written by St. Paul.  They are ordered from longest to shortest (more or less). Next follow the letters written by other apostles, or even by unknown authors (Hebrews).
These contain much wisdom and practical help for living as a Christian in the world.

Detail, The Last Judgement

Revelation: This corresponds to the "prophets", in that it contains in a prophetic type of writing information about the Kingdom of God and about the final victory of Christ.  Revelation is also known as "The Apocalypse", meaning "The End".  



IV.  Chapter and Verse

Bishop Stephen Langton

     When the Bible was written, it was written as a prose text, much like a modern book would be written.  It was not divided up into chapter and verse designations.  The chapter divisions were developed by Archbishop Stephen Langton, the (Catholic!) Archbishop of Canterbury, in the thirteenth century. (Bishop Langton was also important in the securing of the Magna Carta...a scholar, bishop, and statesman.) The verse designations were later introduced by Robert Estienne in 1545. The purpose of the text divisions was to make it easier to find references in the Bible and to designate more accurately which passages should be read during Mass. 
    
Bible references today are written in this format:  

Name of Book (usually abbreviated)  Chapter:Verse(s)

So, for example, Jn 1:1-3 refers to the Gospel of John, chapter 1, verses 1 through 3.  It's a very easy system, and we can thank a Catholic bishop for it!

This homework is for the next two lessons (the first will be on translations, the second on study aids):


1.  Check your Bible and see what translation (or version) you have.
2.  Think about what would be most important to you in a Bible:
easy to read, accurate, big type, pictures, maps, study notes, pronunciation guides, red ink for Jesus's words.  What features would you use?
3.  Look in the back of your own Bible and see what study aids it has.  Check out the front pages for a Table of Contents, notes on the translation/text, or other helps.  Look at the bottom of the pages for cross-references and notes.  Does your Bible have sub-titles or chapter titles?

Main idea:  The New Testament contains the story of the life and works of Jesus Christ and the founding of His Church. 

Next lesson:  Translations and Paraphrases

 I want to share a lovely hymn that always brings peace to my heart as I meditate on our Lord's life and labor in that quiet home in Nazareth and how He fills each moment of my daily life with His presence and hope (tune below):
  

LORD OF ALL HOPEFULNESS

Lord of all hopefulness,
Lord of all joy
whose trust, ever child-like,
no cares could destroy,
be there at our waking,
and give us, we pray,
your bliss in our hearts, Lord,
at the break of the day.

 Lord of all eagerness,
Lord of all faith,
whose strong hands were skilled
at the plane and the lathe,
be there at our labours,
and give us, we pray,
your strength in our hearts, Lord,
at the noon of the day. 

Lord of all kindliness,
Lord of all grace,
your hands swift to welcome,
your arms to embrace,
be there at our homing,
and give us, we pray,
your love in our hearts, Lord
at the eve of the day.

 Lord of all gentleness,
Lord of all calm,
whose voice is contentment,
whose presence is balm,
be there at our sleeping,
and give us, we pray,
your peace in our hearts, Lord
at the end of the day.

Jan Struther (1901 - 1953)