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A Bible Study in Six Lessons:
Genesis to Jesus

By Scott Hahn and David Scott
St. Paul Center for Biblical Theology

Christ Pantocrator, Cathedral of Cefalù, Palermo, Italy, 1148

Lessons

One: How a Catholic Starts to Read the Bible
	Objectives: • To learn to read the Bible the way the Catholic Church has always read it. • To understand the key concepts of "salvation history" and "covenant." • To learn the key points of the creation story in the Bible's first book, Genesis.
Two: Creation, Fall and Promise
	Objectives: • To read Genesis 1-3 with understanding. • To learn God's "original intent" in creating man and woman. • To understand "original sin" and God's promise of a New Adam and a New Eve.
Three: East of Eden, Headed to Egypt
	Objectives: • To read Genesis 3-50 with understanding. • To learn how God's covenants with Noah and Abraham are fulfilled in Christ. • To learn how the Church interprets the sacrifice of Isaac.
Four: On the Way to the Promised Land
	Objectives: • To read Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy with understanding. • To learn how the "Old Covenant" is fulfilled in the New Covenant of Jesus Christ. • To understand how Moses, the Passover, and Israel are interpreted by the Church.
Five: To Kingdom Come
	Objectives: • To finish the Old Testament (from Joshua to Malachi), reading with understanding. • To understand Israel's history in light of God's covenant with Abraham. • To appreciate the crucial importance of God's covenant with David.
Six: Into the Kingdom of the Son
	Objectives: • To read the New Testament with understanding. • To understand how Jesus fulfills the covenants of the Old Testament. • To appreciate the importance of the Davidic Covenant for understanding Jesus and the Church

Course Descriptionn

What is the Bible, where does it come from and what is its purpose? How are Catholics supposed to read the Bible and what story does it have to tell? These are the questions we take up in this “big picture” survey course.

Following an introduction to Catholic teaching about divine revelation and Bible, we jump right in and begin reading. We start with the creation story and Noah’s ark, and trace the history of salvation as it unfolds in the series of covenants that God makes with His chosen people - from Abraham and the twelve tribes of Israel to Moses and finally to King David. We see how this history reaches its climax and fulfillment in Jesus and the Church. The aim is to give you a solid outline and overview of the story that the Bible tells, from Genesis to Jesus.

Course Objectives

• To learn the basic Catholic principles for reading Scripture.

• To learn about God’s covenants in the Bible, and to understand their significance for reading and interpreting the Bible.

• To learn the broad outlines of the books of the Bible and to understand their place in the story of salvation told in the Bible.