Sunday, 11 October 2009

• Question 186 - Shea blog claims USCCB catechism changes nothing

  Question 186 - Shea blog claims USCCB catechism changes nothing

   

  Robert,

   

  On Mark Shea's blog it is being touted that the USCCB catechism's deletion of the sentence saying that the Mosaic covenant is valid for the Jews "changes nothing" because, being only a US catechism, it has no authority. They also say that the 1994 Catechism of the Catholic Church is the true authority and that it says the Old Covenant is not revoked. How do you respond to this?

   

  T. Ryan

   

  R. Sungenis: First and foremost, it shows that Shea and his groupies are trying desperately to have the Mosaic covenant perpetuated for the Jews, and thus it shows that they are all in heresy, with Shea as their ring leader.

   

  Second, two weeks ago the Vatican gave the USCCB change to the US catechism the "recognitio," which means that the Vatican has recognized and has no objections to the deletion from the US catechism the sentence about the Mosaic covenant being eternally valid. So the obvious question is, why would the Vatican approve the USCCB knowing that the CCC says the Old Covenant is not revoked? That, of course, would be a contradiction if the Old Covenant in the CCC referred to the Mosaic covenant.

   

  Third, and obviously then, when the 1994 CCC says the Old Covenant is not revoked, it is not referring to the Mosaic covenant. You won't find the words "Mosaic covenant within 300 pages of the statement on p. 34, para 121. What you will find is the phrase "Old Testament." In other words, the 1994 Catechism is juxtaposing the word "Covenant" and "Testament," not promoting the idea that the Mosaic covenant is still valid for the Jews. The 1994 Catechism is saying nothing more than that the Old Testament is still valid for Christians to use in their daily life, not valid for the Jews as a legal covenant between them and God. If the 1994 Catechism did not issue this warning, then we would be Marcionites, people who rejected the Old Testament altogether and see it as having not even practical value.

   

  Here are the surrounding paragraphs in the CCC. Note how many times the Old Testament is the referent for the Old Covenant.

   

  The Old Testament

  121 The Old Testament is an indispensable part of Sacred Scripture. Its books are divinely inspired and retain a permanent value, for the Old Covenant has never been revoked.

  122 Indeed, “the economy of the Old Testament was deliberately SO oriented that it should prepare for and declare in prophecy the coming of Christ, redeemer of all men.” “Even though they contain matters imperfect and provisional, the books of the Old Testament bear witness to the whole divine pedagogy of God's saving love: these writings “are a storehouse of sublime teaching on God and of sound wisdom on human life, as well as a wonderful treasury of prayers; in them, too, the mystery of our salvation is present in a hidden way.”

  123 Christians venerate the Old Testament as true Word of God. the Church has always vigorously opposed the idea of rejecting the Old Testament under the pretext that the New has rendered it void (Marcionism).

  We should also note that the Mosaic covenant isn't mentioned by the 1994 Catechism until page 301 at paragraph 1164, and there it distinguishes the Mosaic law from New Testament feasts.

  1164 From the time of the Mosaic law, the People of God have observed fixed feasts, beginning with Passover, to commemorate the astonishing actions of the Savior God, to give him thanks for them, to perpetuate their remembrance, and to teach new generations to conform their conduct to them. In the age of the Church, between the Passover of Christ already accomplished once for all, and its consummation in the kingdom of God, the liturgy celebrated on fixed days bears the imprint of the newness of the mystery of Christ.

  The only other times the 1994 CCC mentions the Old Covenant are those in which it is distinguished from the New Covenant, and once again, the Old Covenant is juxtaposed with the Old Testament, showing that the 1994 CCC regards the Old Covenant as a reference to the Old Testament, not to the Mosaic covenant; and no mention is ever made of the Mosaic covenant remaining valid for the Jewish people:

  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.

  200 These are the words with which the Niceno-Constantinopolitan Creed begins. the confession of God's oneness, which has its roots in the divine revelation of the Old Covenant, is inseparable from the profession of God's existence and is equally fundamental. God is unique; there is only one God: “The Christian faith confesses that God is one in nature, substance and essence.”

  1093 In the sacramental economy the Holy Spirit fulfills what was prefigured in the Old Covenant. Since Christ's Church was “prepared in marvelous fashion in the history of the people of Israel and in the Old Covenant,” the Church's liturgy has retained certain elements of the worship of the Old Covenant as integral and irreplaceable, adopting them as her own: -notably, reading the Old Testament; -praying the Psalms; -above all, recalling the saving events and significant realities which have found their fulfillment in the mystery of Christ (promise and covenant, Exodus and Passover, kingdom and temple, exile and return).

  1145 A sacramental celebration is woven from signs and symbols. In keeping with the divine pedagogy of salvation, their meaning is rooted in the work of creation and in human culture, specified by the events of the Old Covenant and fully revealed in the person and work of Christ.

  1150 Signs of the covenant. The Chosen People received from God distinctive signs and symbols that marked its liturgical life. These are no longer solely celebrations of cosmic cycles and social gestures, but signs of the covenant, symbols of God's mighty deeds for his people. Among these liturgical signs from the Old Covenant are circumcision, anointing and consecration of kings and priests, laying on of hands, sacrifices, and above all the Passover. The Church sees in these signs a prefiguring of the sacraments of the New Covenant.,

  et al.

  • 12:51 AM
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