SEMINAR 1: NOTES 3 STAGES OF GROWTH IN HOW THE BIBLE WAS FORMED

1. Events/Experiences
The written bible grew out of historic events. Some of these events are familiar to every Christian: the call of Abraham and his move to Canaan, the years of the other patriarchs, Isaac, Jacob and Joseph, four hundred years of slavery in Egypt, the exodus when Moses led his people out of slavery. The events or experiences could be understood afterwards. Imagine this story: Thats our first love letter, a friend of yours could tell you with a naughty smile. As you read it with amazement, it was just an algebra problem. As you listen to his story you will find out that the love letter mentioned grew out of an event during the time that your friend and his wife were still at school. Because his girlfriend was away ill, he had been given the task of writing to her with the math homework. An ordinary enough letter, but it had started something, and others had followed it. Taken by itself, the letter would have been completely uninteresting; kept by chance and reread after their marriage, it had really become their first love letter.

So there are events which make no sense by themselves. They only make some sense by becoming part of our history. At the moment they are taken, photographs are not very interesting. But looked at afterwards, they become important. Each event can carry within it a number of meanings that may not see all at once. If however, it is important, we shall be led to think about it again, and by thinking about it, we shall discover its riches. The more one goes on, the richer, the original event becomes. (Charpentier, 1981: 9-10).

2. Oral Tradition
Tradition is from the Latin word tradere, which means to hand down. When people talked about the event, and passing what that event is all about by word-of -mouth, this is what we call oral tradition. God revealed himself to his people through events, and people talked about these experiences. As accounts of these experiences were handed on from generation to generation by word of mouth, a body of oral traditions about the events grew. The oral traditions themselves contained different formsblessings, curses, songs of battle and laws as well as accounts of the events, stories which today we would call legends. (Ralph, 1992:10-14) To help you understand what oral tradition is imagine your own experience. Our lives even in a time of ready access to all kinds of written and recorded materials be it in the newspapers, magazines or even in the internet still contain some elements of what might call oral tradition. Most of us hear and tell jokes rather than

read or write them. Our families have stories, which are told and re-told, particularly at holidays or family reunions. When I was a child I used to recite rhymes which I had never read. I just learn it by imitating other children. I was scared of some horror stories given to me by my elders making to afraid to walk in the dark alone fearing that an aswang, manananggal or any evil creature will devour me. When my family went to church, I heard, absorbed and recited prayers and creed which I could not yet read. Through life in a family and a community, I was exposed to, and made my own, a number of oral traditions. In addition to thinking about the variety of oral traditions, we should think about the motivations that underlie them. In the examples which I mentioned, there are a variety of motivations. A joke is told to amuse, family stories could be told for a variety of reasons- to preserve the past, to instruct the young by good examples, to glorify a loved one, to build family pride and a sense of belonging. An aswang story is used to scare people, and a creed on the other hand is intended to hand on beliefs.

3. Written Tradition
Written accounts of events were based on oral traditions. As word of mouth traditions were written, they were also revised. Traditional stories were appropriated, sometimes from surrounding cultures, and were made contemporary by succeeding generations. A writer might appropriate a story which already existed in his culture in written or oral form, and use it to illustrate a different theme. For instance, a story about the animosity which existed between a nomad and a person who owned land

and grew crops, m might be retold to illustrate the pervasive effect of sin- Cain the tiller of the soil, kills Abel, the shepherd. An existing story about a natural disaster, a flood might be retold to illustrate how God acts through events, how man is responsible for his actions, and how only God can save. The stories as they appear in the Bible are layered. A layered text might be compared to a tree. If I cut down a tree I can see its layered history by the circles which have grown around the trunk each year. A story, too, can be layered in that elements of the story reflect its passage through time, as various authors revise the story to include new emphases or insights. The text is layered because it is not the work of a single generation. Stories about people, events, songs, poems, riddles, curses, blessings- all the elements were eventually written down. The fact that they were written down does not mean that oral tradition stopped. The two traditions existed side by side. (Ralph, 1992: 19-20).

4. Edited Tradition
In the growth process of the bible, the fourth stage is the editing tradition. At various times in the history of the chosen people the inherited oral tradition and written

traditions were edited. According to most scripture scholars, the first five books of our present Old Testament reflect a number of editing. What are the consequences in understanding the stories in the bible as layered text? First, the books in the bible do not appear in the order in which they were written. Scholars have date the creation story in Genesis 1:1-2:4 to the last editing stage, the Priestly editors who reworked the traditions after the Babylonian exile (around 450 BCE). The next story about the man and his wife who ate the fruit of the forbidden tree, is thought to be a much older story dating to the earliest of the editors, the Yahwist editor, who organized and interpreted inherited materials during Davids reign (about 950 BCE). The present order of the stories in the bible is an edited order. The arrangement of the books in the Old Testament is largely thematic. First section is the law or torah, then the prophets and writings. In each section, the order in which the books appear is not the order in which they were written. Prophetic literature like the book of Hosea arrived to its present form long before the first five books of the bible reached their present form. Second point to consider is that the present text contains divergent point of view. An obvious example is the attitude toward Israels having a king like other nations which appears in 1 Samuel. Some texts seem to favor the idea of kingship while others disapprove it, since only God is King. The explanation for the lack of consistency lies in the history of the text. The editor had

several traditions with which to work, and he did not choose between them but included both. The earlier tradition is probably pro king and the text with a negative attitude probably dates to a later time when abuses had tempered the peoples early idealism in regard to having a king. The third consequence of edited text as layered is no account, which we read is an account contemporary with the event. All the accounts include the hindsight or what we simply call a flashback. As accounts were edited for new generations, they were made contemporary for that generation. Certain themes were emphasized for the audience whom the editor was addressing. This is clearly seen in the story of Noah. Ancient flood stories existed in the surrounding cultures but this flood story is given religious significance. Details are added which reflect the religious sensibilities of later generations. Notice that in one tradition Noah takes on both clean and unclean animals, a reference to laws nowhere near as ancient as the story itself. Notice how the story is molded into a covenant tradition through the symbolism given the rainbow, an editing technique which scholars attribute to the Priestly editors who lived after the exile. (Ralph, 1992: 19-20).

5. The Canonical Stage

Canon means to measure. In the biblical world, canon is a standard used if a particular book is part of the scriptures or not. The criteria set if a book is part of the bible are:

First, the book used should be recognized by the worshipping community as inspired and are accepted as vehicles of revelation because they faithfully reflect the experience and beliefs of the community. Second, it should be used by people in their prayer and community liturgy. Third, it should be a guide in the moral dimension of the peoples moral life and not in conflict with their faith. The overall growth process resulted to the formation of bible. It was illustrated what is the effect of oral tradition to the written tradition, and it was also shown what is the effect of editing to the final text. The canonical stage is the last phase if a particular book is to be included to what we known as the sacred scriptures.

BIBLICAL INSPIRATION
All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, so that everyone who belongs to God may be proficient, equipped for every good word (2 Tim 3:16-17). The exegetes (bible scholars) may disagree among themselves as to the interpretation of one or another passage in the Bible, but all would agree that the Bible is the word of God. It is revered as a holy and canonical

literature because it is inspired. Jose Rizals Noli Me Tangere, or Handels Messiah, and the works of Shakespeare are also inspired, but the inspiration predicated of the books of the Bible is different in kind from that attributed to the great men of letters throughout the ages. Biblical inspiration is different from the ordinary kind of literary and artistic inspiration because the human authors who wrote the books of the Bible were so influenced by Gods Spirit that what they wrote were Gods word. It is inspired since the authors had great faith in God, and such faith made them see God involved and part of the different events of their lives. We cannot explain fully the supernatural process of inspiration which brought about the writings of the Bible. The hint, though, is given by Paul in 2 Tim 3:16 where the phrase inspired by God means God-breathed. The Spirit of God is frequently represented as breath. This means that Gods breath (the Holy Spirit) produced the Scriptures. Inspiration, however, is also used of the divine influence, which enabled the human instruments of revelation to speak, as well as to write, the word of God. Thus, both divine and human agencies are involved in the process of the inspired inscripturation of Gods revelation. In 2 Pet 1:21 we see that those whom God chose to write his message were men moved by the Holy Spirit. The churchs teaching on inspiration has obviously undergone evolution. In Vatican I, God is conceived as the principal cause and true author of the biblical text, while the sacred writer is viewed as the instrumental cause that acts under his influence. Vatican II presents a broader synthesis of inspiration. The role of the sacred author was no longer seen as passive interpreter or

instrument. Rather the sacred writer is a person who writes his text as a real, active author - one who studies, reflects, researches, and communicates through his writings the redeeming experience of what he has been part of. Consequently, his worldview and the limits of his knowledge necessarily show up. Dei Verbum states: to compose the sacred books, God chose certain men who, all the while he employed them in this task, made full use of their own faculties and powers so that, though he acted in them and by them, it was as true authors that they consigned to writing whatever he wanted written, and no more (DV 11). Inspiration does not destroy the authors characteristics. But at the same time, God is undoubtedly the author because he is at the very origin of the sacred text. It is his actions that the sacred writer tries to express. We must note that not all biblical books are regarded as historical. They could also be inspired poetry, drama, legend, parable, etc. Hence, as Raymond Brown explains, if the Book of Jonah is a parable and not history, then Gods inspiration makes it a parable (1990:31). Gods truth can be expressed in varied ways. There is, therefore, no contradiction between acceptance of inspiration and acceptance of different literary forms in the Bible. Flowing from the fact that the Bible is God-inspired is the theological concept of inerrancy which means that the Bible is free from errors. Vatican II relates inerrancy to salvific truth: The books of Scripture must be acknowledged as teaching solidly, faithfully and without error that truth which God wanted put into sacred writings for sale of salvation (Dei Verbum #11).

Today, the belief of inspiration extends to the believing community who gathers together to listen attentively to the word of God. The Bible is inspired because it serves to form a believing community and is still performing the same wonder in our own day. Today, communities are being formed because of the dynamic word of God; they bear witness to divine revelation. (Bragado and Monera, 1997:127-30) Currently, the discussion of the fact and process of inspiration has ceased to claim much attention from theologians of the main-line churches as it once did. Today, it is only the churches with a fundamentalist bent that are still very keen on reaffirming the inspiration and inerrancy of the Bible. One of the many reasons for the relative abandonment of the doctrine of inspiration within the main-line churches is the development of the historical-critical method. For the exegete, the doctrine of inspiration remains beyond the pale of the historical investigation of the whole Bible text itself (Collins, 1987:319).

BIBLICAL TRANSLATIONS
If the Old and New Testaments were never translated, then they could only be read and understood by students of Hebrew and Greek. Since the Bible has a universal message and appeal, God willed that translations or versions be made over the centuries. As far as the Old Testament is concerned, the official version of the Old Testament for Judaism since the early Middle Ages is the Masoretic Text (MT). It is so called because the scribes who preserved, edited, and even invented the vowel signs,

accents, and punctuations to the Hebrew alphabets for easy reading were called Masoretes. The word had its origin from the Hebrew root verb masar which means to hand down. Masoretic, therefore refers to what is handed or to what is traditional. Another important translation is the Septuagint which is the Greek translation of the OT and is abbreviated as LXX. The reason for this translation was to make the Bible more readily accessible to the Greek-speaking Jews of Alexandria (Egypt). This version is older than the MT witness. Some of its readings that differ from the MT are in consonance with readings from the Dead Sea Scrolls. In 382, Pope Damasus I commissioned Jerome to prepare a reliable Latin translation of the Bible based on the Hebrew. This Latin translation became the official Bible of the Church for thousands of years, and hence called Vulgate, meaning common. All of these had to be done by long hand either in scrolls and codices. The same is true with the New Testament. From the original Greek it was translated to other languages. The Latin version of the NT became influential for quite a while especially at a time when the Church had not appreciated the original biblical languages. It was not until the time of the humanist renaissance period with their motto recursus ad fontes (back to the sources), i.e., a need to go back to the original languages. This was specially true during the Protestant Reformation. While the Protestant translations were done from the original languages (Hebrew, Aramaic and Greek), the Catholics insisted on the Latin Vulgate. After the conversion of England by Augustine in 600 C.E. the Bible was started part by part to be translated

into English. The first complete translation of the Bible (based on Vulgate) into English is associated with John Wycliffe (ca. 1382-1384). From 16th century on came the great era in the English translation of the Bible. During this time came printed translations like Tyndale Bible, Coverdale Bible, Great Bible, Geneva Bible and Bishops Bible. From 17th century came the famous King James Tradition (1611). We also have to note that the division of the Bible into chapters happened only in the 1225 C.E. with Stephen Langton, the Archbishop of Canterbury. The division into verses by Robert Etienne occurred in 1555 C.E. Today, we have excellent translations from both the Protestants and the Catholics: 1. The New Revised Standard Version (1946/1989), a Protestant sponsored Bible and an offshoot of the King James Version. It was granted imprimatur by Cardinal Richard Cushing of Boston in 1965. From then on, its revision committee included prominent Catholic Bible scholars. This is one of the best of the modern English translations. It combines fidelity to the text with good English style. 2. The New English Version (1961) was produced under the auspices of a team of British Protestant Bible scholars. It is genuinely British in its idiom. 3. The Good News Bible or Todays English Version, a translation by the United Bible Societies intended for use throughout the world.

4. The New Jerusalem Bible (1985), a Catholic Bible in contemporary idiom first published in 1966 by British Catholic scholars. The readings of the Catholic liturgy are based on this Bible. 5. The New American Bible (1970), a work done by the members of the Catholic Biblical Association of America, with the collaboration of Protestant Bible scholars. Its latest revision was in 1986. 6. The New International Version (1973), prepared by an international group of Protestant scholars whose primary concern was the accuracy of the translation and its fidelity to the thought of the New Testament writers. What types of translations are these Bibles? There are two commonly accepted philosophies of translations: philosophy of dynamic or functional equivalence and philosophy of formal correspondence. The philosophy of dynamic equivalence is a translation that focuses on meaning; while the philosophy of formal correspondence is a literal translation. Both types can claim to be true and correct. Dynamic equivalence does not produce a word-by-word rendition but investigates the meanings of its words and structures, and transfers the message of the test into the so-called receptor language (Harrington, 1979:39). This type of translation has the advantage of reflecting more explicitly the opinions of experts regarding the interpretation of the text here and now. A formal correspondence translation presents the biblical text in intelligible language but takes far less initiative in determining for the reader what the text

meant for its original readers and what it means for today (ibid). It leaves the readers with a better possibility of exploring for themselves the various options involved in the text and of coming to their own decisions about its present-day experience. The dynamic equivalence type of translation is represented in NEB, GNB/TEV and JB; while the formal correspondence translation is seen in NRSV, NAB, and NIV. The Living Bible edition is a paraphrased version. Paraphrase means a restatement of the authors thought, using different words than he did (Brown: 13). Beginning in the 1950s, Catholic translations of the Bible have been from the original languages. A great development in our time have been the ecumenical translations of the written word of God in many parts of the globe. We are now helping each other to understand the Bible. We are now witnessing how the Bible itself has become an ecumenical bridge. For instance, the Catholic can now read The New Revised Standard Version or The New English Bible without doctrinal apprehension. Moreover, in recent years there had been attempts to adopt inclusive language in biblical translations. To cite some versions of the English Bible: The New Jerusalem Bible (1985), the New American Bible With Revised New Testament (1986), the Revised English Bible (1989), and the New Revised Standard Version (1989). The NRSV seems to be the most successful in the use of inclusive language. (Bragado and Monera, 1997: 13-23).

JUSTICE, LIBERATION AND COVENANT

Love cures people-both the ones who give it and the ones who receive it. Dr. Menninger Karl

A man risked his life by swimming through the treacherous riptide to save a youngster being swept out to the sea. After the child recovered from the harrowing experience, he said to the man, Thank you for saving my life. The man looked into the boys eyes and said, Thats okay, kid. Just make sure your life was worth saving. Author Unknown from More Sower Seeds by Brian Cavanaugh

The reality of love and the meaning to live a quality life demands the following: to live in justice, experience a total well-being and liberation which is situated in the relationship we give to ourselves, to others and ultimately to God. In the biblical sense, we call such relationship as the covenant.

Justice in the Old Testament

It is said that justice is the minimum of love and love is the maximum of justice. But what is really justice? Why is it that it is the basic requirement of love?

In a broader sense, justice is giving the person what is due to the person. The following types of justice would help clarify this point. 1. Attributive justice- this is the type of justice streaming from the nature and attribute of the person, that is his dignity, rights, honor and integrity. Making a joke to a person who is detrimental to the persons character (we also call this one as character assassination) is a classic example of attributive justice. Cases of moral defamation are also examples how ones honor is trampled. The Old Testament beautifully captures such attributive justice: we are made in the image and likeness of God... (Gen.1:26). This does not mean we are made physically the same with God since God could have no form. The point of the verse is we share Gods honor, and integrity. No single amount could match such dignity possessed by each human being. 2. Cumutative or Contractual Justice- this is the type of justice based on agreements or contracts. A worker not being paid by its employer according to their prior agreement would violate such kind of justice. In the Old Testament, this is expressed in the love of neighbor as yourself. You cannot love unless you should learn to respect agreements and commitments. In that way the fidelity of the law is required. This is seen in the large number of Proverbs. For example: Pr 4:11ff.; 12:28. 3. Contributive Justice- this is the type of justice demanded to each member of a group for the sake of the common good. The paying of taxes or a simple contribution in the class are some of its examples.

In the Old Testament, the challenge to use well ones talent for the good of the community portrays such reality. In the story of the Tower of Babel (Genesis 11) mans pride and arrogance destroys his sense of dignity and integrity, thus confusion and disorder occurred. If the demand is about the obligations of each individual to society, then such justice could also be termed as legal justice. 4. Distributive Justice - this is the type of justice that requires the equal benefits and privileges to all members of the group. The law should be applied to all without partiality. This is exemplified in the Deuteronomy 16:19-20: You shall not bend the law or show partiality. Do not accept gifts because gifts blind the eyes of the wise and subvert the cause of the righteous. Justice! Seek justice if you want to live and inherit the land which Yahweh, your God gives you. 5. Social Justice - this is the dominant type of justice present in the prophets. Prophets cried for equal distribution of resources. This is beautifully captured in the words of Amos: I hate, I reject your feasts, I take no pleasure when you assemble to offer me your burnt offerings. Your cereal offerings, I will not accept! Your peace offerings and your fattened beasts, I will not look upon! Away with the noise of your chanting, away with your strumming on harps. But let justice run its course like water, and righteousness be like an ever-flowing water. Amos 5:21-24

The prophet is indeed strong about social justice. It is in justice where freedom lives. Prophet Isaiah woes those who enact unjust laws and issue oppressive decrees. He woes those who rob the poor of their rights and deprive the helpless of justice. (Isaiah 10:1-2). The Jews every 7 years practice the Jubilee where all debts shall be pardoned (see Deuteronomy 15:1-20). It is highlighted in Deuteronomy that there should be no poor in their midst since Yahweh give them prosperity in the land that they have conquered. (Deuteronomy 15: 4). 6. Retributive Justice- the justice which seeks to reward the good in the life after death. If one could not obtain human justice in this world, Gods wrath will be there later. In the last part of the Book of Daniel, this is well described: At that time, Michael will rise, the Great Commander who defends the sons of your people. It shall be the time of anguish as never before since the nations first existed until this very day. Then all those names that are written in the Book will be saved. Many of those who sleep in the Region of the Dust will awake some to everlasting life but others to eternal horror and shame. Those who acquired knowledge will shine like the brilliance of the firmament; those who taught people to be just will shine like the stars for all eternity. Daniel 12:1-3

Exodus: The Model for All Types of Liberation

The most important story in the history of the Jewish people is the story of exodus. Exodus which means 'departure' describes the time when Moses led the people of

God out of slavery in Egypt. In a broader sense, "Exodus" refers to the whole complex of events from the deliverance to entry into the Promised Land (Ex 3:7-10). This is the first account of God's deliverance of Israel. It is the story of a people in search of freedom and prosperity. The Book of Exodus presents the Israelites as foreigners/strangers in a land that is not their own. It demonstrates a people who depart, and set out in a land for bread, land, protection and material blessing. During this time, Egypt dominated the ancient world and Palestine lay within the bounds of that empire. Moreover, Egypt, being a fertile land, was a favorite place to go for refuge during famine. When Abraham's descendants had first arrived in Egypt (ca. 17th c. BCE during the period of the Hyksos), they lived in peace as guests of the king, or Pharaoh. But after Joseph's death, the family of Jacob lost favor in Egypt. Since they were growing and numerous, they became a political threat to the state that they had to be controlled and treated harshly. Some of these Pharaohs who did not know Joseph took advantage of these foreigners and used them for cheap labor. They built the store cities of Pithom and Rameses (cf. Ex 1:11). The Hebrews were reduced to the status of state slaves in a foreign land, a land far from that which they had been promised by God. Newly born baby boys were ordered killed by the Pharaoh. The birth of Moses as described in Ex 2, the child who shall liberate his people one day, escaped this slaughter of innocent babies. We Christians need to read this narrative carefully because Matthew's account of the slaughter of the innocents is patterned on the Exodus account. After a period of some 400 years, the Israelites cried to God for deliverance. God heard their groaning and

suffering. From then on, "God looked upon the Israelites, and God took notice of them" (Ex 2:25). He responded by choosing and empowering Moses to stand before Pharaoh and announced God's message of redemption. At Mt. Horeb, the mountain of God (Ex 3:1), God shared with Moses his proper name: Ehyeh asher ehyeh - "I am who I am" or "I will be who I will be" (Ex 3:14). In Ex 3:15 God also said to Moses, "Thus you shall say to the Israelites. 'The Lord (YHWH), the God of your ancestors, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you.'" "In an environment where many divine powers were present, some known and some unknown, people naturally would want to know which god had chosen to show favor on them or which god they may have offended" (Anderson, 1986:60). The narrator of Exodus 3 wants us to know that the God who revealed himself to Moses and who announced his divine plan of intervention is the very same God who spoke to their ancestors. YHWH, therefore, is the special name for the God of Israel. In Hebrew, I AM ('ehyeh) is the first personal singular of the verb h-y-h; while YHWH is the third person singular of the same verb, "He is" (or "He will be"). This God is one who is true to his name. He causes things to be; he says and it happens. He is always present, available to his people. He is not, as in the song of Bette Midler, a God who is watching us from a distance. For the Hebrews, God is in their midst as deliverer, protector, guide, and judge. The elders of the people went to the king of Egypt to demand their release: "The Lord, the God of the Hebrews, has met with us; let us now go a three days' journey into the wilderness, so that we may sacrifice to the Lord our God" (Ex 3:18). In other words, the Exodus provides us with the clue on who God is and how God acts to deliver the downtrodden and oppressed.

Israel's life-story did not really begin with the time of Abraham or even with creation, although the OT in its present form starts there. Israel's history had its true beginning in the exodus event -- the great watershed or turning point in Israel's history. It is the central moment in Israel's history. It is the event that created a self-conscious historical community, an event so decisive that it becomes the point of reference where subsequent experiences were seen in its light. Israel's prophets (e.g., Amos 2:9-11; Hosea 2:14-15; Micah 6:4; Jer 2:2-7) and the Psalms (e.g., 66:6; 136:10-11) stress the pivotal significance of the Exodus. Even today the Jewish people understand their vocation and destiny in the light of this event which made them a people. It is the paradigm of liberation to be remembered for only through its remembrance can it be an effective saving event in those who seek true liberation. The Exodus story forms the basic pattern of deliverance to which all other liberation motifs are accommodated. Even Latin America's Liberation Theology is inspired by the biblical account of exodus. Exodus, indeed, provides the model of how the people of God should seek justice in society. In Israel, the best way to remember this memorial event is the yearly celebration of Passover. To remember Exodus is to celebrate the "passingover" from slavery to freedom. Thus, in the annual celebration of Passover, the Jews see themselves as participants in that experience; this event of the past enters into the present with deep meaning, an anamnesis. Just like the Israelites, millions of Filipinos are also aliens/strangers in many foreign lands around the world. The number of Filipino migrant workers abroad ranged from a low of 1.2 million to as high as four million. Their foreign remittances in 1995 rose to $4.7 billion. They have left home in search of liberation from poverty, hunger, and

insecurity. Like the Jews, they have wandered seeking for greener pastures. Like the Israelites of old, our Filipino sojourners are always exposed to numerous threats: *sometimes physical threat: at the mercy of other people *sometimes psychological threat: feeling of rejection by other people *sometimes spiritual threat: temptations of other gods But like the God of Israel, our God is always our protector and liberator. Therefore, we can also claim and paraphrase the words of YHWH: I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the Philippine Islands. I will always be your protector and defender. I am a God who is always available for you. In times of troubles and difficulties, just call out my holy name and I'll be there. Suggested Readings: Exodus 13-15; Psalm 114; Isaiah 43:16-19; 48:20-21; 63:11-64; 2 Chronicles 35:1-18

The Old Testament Salvation and Liberation is Total and Integral

Salvation in the Old Testament is to be experienced today, in the way we could achieve the fullness of life and at the same time a look forward to the salvation in the life after death.

The liberation and salvation of the person is not just a matter of receiving sanctifying grace for the soul, but liberation is being free from all forms of threats be it physical, psychological or spiritual. The demand here is to be real, to look at life as total and integral`. Each person therefore is challenge to develop the different aspects of his life be it social, economic, political and religious. A poor man could not just justify his being poor by saying that it is the will of God, but he should work and do some alternatives to bring in the best of himself. A rich man could not just be so religious inside the church and continue his organized syndicates and gangs. Salvation today means an experience of life as a blessing where each one promotes dignity, justice, companionship, and sense of community life. In that way, we can look forward to the salvation after death. Here we believe that we do not only see God face to face but we hope that this state of life makes us experience the joy and fullness of resurrection. Total liberation today means to experience fully human. To be fully human entails knowing yourself, be yourself and be the best of yourself. If these are already happening, a brighter future is ahead of us even during the time when we enter the gates of immortality.

The Covenant
After the deliverance at the Sea of Reeds, the Hebrew people traveled for three months until they reached Sinai (Ex 19:1). It was a difficult journey, loaded with hardships and uncertainties. Food and water were rare. Yet God in his

graciousness provided them their daily sustenance. He performed to them signs and wonders, such as, water from the rock, manna and quails from heaven. While they received grace in the wilderness, the Sinaitic wilderness was also a time of grumbling, murmuring, discontent, internal strife, rebellion against Moses, and even lack of faith. At Sinai the people pitched their tent before the mountain, while Moses ascended to commune with the Lord. God spoke to Moses informing him that Israel would be God's own possession. "Israel" is, therefore, sacred name, a name of a people established by a very special event: a covenant with God. This covenant gives Israel a special character. She is unlike any other nation; she is no mere ethnic grouping. The Hebrew people is a confederation of tribes whose only uniting factor is their common plight: a band of slaves in Egypt whom God heard, saw and rescued. Israel, unlike other nations, is the people of the covenant, the "people of God." Israel because of the covenant becomes a qahal, "community" with a sense of historical vocation.

Covenant, therefore, is the state of relations between YHWH and his graced, freed people.
The book of Exodus 19:3-8 describes the solemn moment when that people came into being: Then Moses went up to God; the Lord called to him from the mountain, saying, "Thus you shall say to the house of Jacob, and tell the Israelites: You have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles' wings and brought

you to myself. Now therefore, if you obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my treasured possession out of all the peoples. Indeed, the whole earth is mine, but you shall be for me a priestly kingdom and a holy nation. These are the words that you shall speak to the Israelites." So Moses came, summoned the elders of the people, and set before them all these words that the Lord had commanded him. The people all answered as one: "Everything that the Lord has spoken we will do." Moses reported the words of the people to the Lord. The covenant (Berith in Hebrew) in the Old Testament is not merely an agreement between two parties. It means an exclusive intimacy with the Lord; it is love with a promise of fidelity. Covenant, therefore, implies responsibility and commitment. In Mt. Sinai Moses received the Covenant Code, a complete law code both civil and religious (Ex 20-23) that begins with the Ten Commandments (Ex 20:2-17). When the book of the covenant was read out by Moses, the Hebrew people responded: "All that the Lord has spoken we will do." Moses ratified it by sprinkling the blood of many bulls on them (24:3-8). Recent biblical studies reveal that the Sinaitic covenant follows very closely the literary form and structure of the international treaty of the ancient Near East between a suzerain and his vassals. The structure of the suzerainvassal treaty corresponds to the Sinai covenant (Ex 20:1-17): (1) Preamble (identifies the author and his title):

-"I am the Yahweh, your God." (2) Historical Prologue (recounting the past beneficent deeds of the suzerain to the vassal; the deeds are the grounds for the vassal's gratitude and future loyalty and obedience): -"who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery" (v. 2b). (3) Stipulations or terms consisting of: (a) the basic demand for allegiance and faithfulness: "You shall have no other gods before me (20:3). (b) specific stipulations (vv. 4-17) (4) Provision for the deposition of the document in a temple and be read publicly at regular intervals (tablets containing vv. 1-17 were placed in the ark of the covenant; Dt 10:1-5; 31:10-13). (5) Curses and blessings (invoked upon the vassal for breaking or keeping the covenant): Dt 28:1-14 (blessings), vv. 15-68 (curses). The Ten Commandments were never intended to be a system of legal observances, but rather the stipulations of a covenant relationship rooted and anchored in grace. The covenant stipulations are also the source of his wrath and rejection should the people fail to keep them. The subsequent history of Israel manifested how the Israelites vacillated their vocation. God would chastise them to purify their faith. He sent prophets to remind them of their covenant obligations, to call them to repentance. The forty years of pilgrimage in the wilderness was for Israel a time of preparation, purification and unification before God allowed them to enter into the Promised Land. It was a time

to grow in faith and confidence in him who rescued them from slavery. God's people would always be assured that YHWH is "merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for the thousandth generation, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin..." (Ex 34:6-7). Today, among the Jews, the Covenant theme is celebrated during the Feast of Tabernacles sometime in September-October and also at Pentecost around the month of May. Suggested Readings: Ex 19:4-6; Ex 20-23; 2 Chr 34

Summary
Justice is the minimum of love and love is the maximum of justice. Justice is the minimum of love because no person is capable of loving without respecting the rights, dignity and honor of the other. This is the start of the whole drama of the Old Testament. God liberated them, give them the rights to be free and eventually define their identity as People of God. Each person who belongs to be the liberated People of God is endowed with freedom, dignity, honor and rights. This is beautifully captured in the phrase, made in the image and likeness of God. What makes a person a person is his right to be free. The OT is presenting the different types of justice: attributive, cumutative, contributive, distributive and social. What is common to these types of justice is the capacity to respect the right and agreements of any given relationship, be it yourself or others.

The center of the Old Testament drama is the Exodus event. It is also the model of all types of liberation. Why is Exodus, the core of the OT? It is because one could see in Exodus the movement of the Israelites from being a slave to being free People of God. When they were slaves, they were nobody. But as soon as they escape from Egypt, they become somebody, and that is having an identity who they are- the People of God. The freedom they earned from the Exodus experience allows them to make an agreement with God that from now on they will become His people. This is known as the covenant. In their faith, covenant was sealed. From now on, they are going to commit their lives to defend such freedom. Laws were also made to protect one another from the possible harm and abuses of others. Exodus is the reference point to any form of oppression later on. Is it not that God liberated them from the hands of their tormentors? Why are they becoming one of them now? Salvation and liberation in the Old Testament is not just spiritual. It is most of all a total experience. The search for being truly human here is important. One should not spiritualize things by resorting to escapism, and not confront the issues that relate to their well-being. Salvation calls for a wholistic approach to life where love if self, others, environment and God are integrated. Love is the maximum of justice for in loving one is going beyond respect. It is taking the risk to sacrifice, and be ready for any pains and sufferings that will come along the

way for a given relationship. In loving, one is set to enjoy more fully what life means,

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Unpublished Notes Used by the author:

Synthesis Notes on Scriptures of James Loreto C.Piscos (1995) for the Comprehensive Examinations of Scriptures at the Maryhill School of Theology.