Author: pilgrim

New Testament Warm-Ups: Answers 17-27

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Bible Question Mark

Earlier today I started posting the answers to the New Testament Warm-Up questions. Here is the next set of answers…

17. What books appear in the Bible after Acts of the Apostles?
The 9 epistles sent by St. Paul to different Christian communities.

18. How are these epistles arranged?
They are arranged roughly in order of length, from the longest to the shortest.

19. What are the names of the cities/communities to which Paul writes?
Romans (City of Rome)
1 & 2 Corinthians (City of Corinth)
Galatians (The region of Galatia)
Ephesians (City of Ephesus)
Philippians (City of Philippi)
Colossians (City of Colossae)
1 & 2 Thessalonians (City of Thessalonica)

20. From where did Paul write the epistle to the Philippians?
He wrote it from prison (or while under house arrest).

21. What city was he in most likely at the time?
Rome.

22. Why did Paul write his letter to the Philippians?
Paul’s primary purpose in writing this letter was to thank the Philippians for the “gift” they sent him (probably money), which they sent to him upon hearing of his incarceration.

23. Who probably delivered this letter for Paul?
A man by the name of “Epaphroditus”. This man was the emissary from the Philippian congregation. He was quite sick and near death during his time with Paul.

24. What are the main themes of the letter to the Philippians?
Joy, regardless of the circumstances, through Jesus Christ.

25. What Christian hymn does Paul quote in the letter in Chapter 2?
He quotes the song known as “The Carmen Christi” (Latin for “hymn of Christ”): “Though he was in the form of God…”

26. What is the main theme behind the letters to the Thessalonians?
Christ’s Second Coming.

27. What claim-to-fame do the Thessalonian letter have?
It was most likely the first piece of the New Testament to ever be written.

I’ll post some more answers tomorrow. Happy Lord’s Day!

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All Questions

The article New Testament Warm-Ups: Answers 17-27 first appeared on RestlessPilgrim.net

New Testament Warm-Ups: Answers 1-16

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A while ago I enumerated all the warm-up questions asked each week at the beginning of our Bible study group. Several people sent me messages asking me for the answers, but one reader, Alexandra, went ahead and sent me her own responses!

So, in case you were curious, over the next couple of days I’m going to be posting the answers to the questions, based upon Alexandra’s email…

1. In what language was the New Testament written?
(Koine) Greek

2. What is the likely exception to this?
The Gospel According to Mathew. The Early Church Fathers say that it was originally written in Aramaic and soon translated into Greek.

3. Which books appear first in the New Testament?
The four Gospels.

4. Why are these books placed first in the canon?
These books appear at the beginning of the New Testament because they contain the teaching, life, death and resurrection of the Lord Jesus and therefore hold pride of place in the New Testament.

5. Why do they appear in this order?
They are arranged in the order of composition as believed by Early Church Fathers.

6. Which Gospels are attributed to Apostles?
Matthew and John

7. With whom is Mark associated?
He was companion of Paul and later Peter. It is said that Mark’s Gospel is the preaching of Peter in Rome.

8. What is Mark’s other name?
Mark is also called John (Acts 12:12). We was the cause of some friction between Paul and Barnabas.

9. With whom is Luke associated?
He was a companion of Paul.

10. What is Luke’s profession?
Physician

11. What comes after the Gospels?
Acts of the Apostles

12. By whom is it written?
Luke, the author of the Gospel which bears his name.

13. To what genre does it belong?
“Acts” is a genre of books in the ancient world that described people’s great deeds. This book describes the history of the Early Church.

14. What is the first main message of the Acts of the Apostles?
The Church continues the mission of Jesus.

15. What is the second main point of the Acts of the Apostles?
The unity of the mission of Paul and Peter. There are numerous parallels between the acts and deeds of these two apostles.

16. Between what years do the events described in Acts of the Apostles take place?
Probably between about AD 30 and AD 60

I’ll post the next set of answers after lunch…

1-16 | 17-27 | 27-42 | 43-52 | 53-57 | 58-67 | 68-71 | 72-81
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The article New Testament Warm-Ups: Answers 1-16 first appeared on RestlessPilrim.net

Catholic Dating: Friends First

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Continuing our discussion concerning the Christian dating scene, today I would like to talk about “Friends First” dating. I would like to ruminate over some of the advantages of this approach, but I would also like to discuss some of the potential pitfalls, at least as I see them.

In Christian formation and catechesis, you often hear praise of romantic relationships which were first based on friendship, before the addition of a romantic component. This is what is known as “Friends First” dating.

FriendsThe approach certainly has much to commend itself. After all, it makes sense to get to know someone, that person’s character, personality, interests etc., prior to the big rush of hormones and emotions that come with dating. The “high” that comes from being in a relationship can leave one blind to the warning signs. It’s not hard to find examples of what happens when someone rushes headlong into dating and becomes so emotionally entangled with the other person that it becomes extremely difficult to deal with problems in the relationship, or even to recognize when problems exist.

I know plenty of people who have got together through physical attraction and initial chemistry, only to find out a month or two down the line that there isn’t really anything else on which to base the relationship. To their shock, they realize that the other person is not the person they thought at all! After all, it’s not too hard to “hide the crazy” for the first few months… 😉

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Happy Feast Day of St. Dominic!

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Q. What is similar about the Jesuit and Dominican Orders?
Well, they were both founded by Spaniards, St. Dominic for the Dominicans, and St. Ignatius of Loyola for the Jesuits. They were also both founded to combat heresy: the Dominicans to respond to the Albigensians, and the Jesuits to respond to the Protestants.

Q. What is different about the Jesuit and Dominican Orders?
Well, have you met any Albigensians lately?

Dolan-Laughing

The article Happy Feast Day of St. Dominic! first appeared on RestlessPilgrim.net

TOT: How to pray with confidence!

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Fr. Jacob (Andrew) Bertrand, priest at Santa Sophia, recently gave a talk at Faith On Fire, an event in our San Diego diocese much like Theology On Tap, but specifically targeted at those in their late teens and early twenties.

Fr. Jacob was scheduled to speak at another Faith On Fire series at the end of last year, but was unfortunately sick on the night of his talk, meaning that I had to do my best Fr. Jacob impression and cover for him at the last minute. Fortunately, this time Fr. Jacob ate his Wheaties and took all his vitamins so he was in tiptop, fighting form for his talk on prayer.

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The lecture was entitled “How to pray with confidence”.  You can either listen to it using the embedded player or download it in MP3 format using the link below:

(Download Main Talk)

There was also a brief period of Q&A and that audio is available here:

(Download Q&A)

At the end of his talk Fr. Jacob gave a quiz, awarding prizes to those with the most correct answers. Here are the questions he asked:

1. What are the three stages of the spiritual life?
2. What are the four forms of prayer?
3. How many petitions are there in the Our Father?
4. The illuminative way is also known as spiritual adulthood. True or false?
5. Name one of the kinds of evil the Father will deliver us from.
6. God leads us into temptation to see if we will sin. True or false?
7. What is the one conditional petition in the Our Father?
8. The Our Father is considered the ______ of our desire.
9. St. Therese said that prayer is a ______ of the heart.
10. What is Fr. Jacob’s middle name?

If you would like to listen to more of Fr. Jacob, his homilies are available on Sound Cloud.

The article Fr: Jacob: How to pray with confidence! first appeared on RestlessPilgrim.net

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