Fr. Neil Gray led a Formation Group that reflected on “What is truth?” in relation to Biblical Authority, Incarnation, Resurrection, and the Second Coming.
Session 1. Is the Bible true?
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We enter the world-view of the ancient Jew in which story was used as freely as today we use metaphor. Theological truth is very difficult to put into words, especially when people’s imaginations have to be kindled. We take the miracle of the Feeding of the Five Thousand as an example of this. We discover that the question of whether (or not) it actually happened is of much less importance than the powerful assurance of spiritual nourishment and feeding of the soul that it wonderfully illustrates. We go on to look at this as a record of an early eucharist.
Session 2. Was Jesus really God’s Son?
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This session looks at the many different ways of expressing the relationship between Jesus, the itinerant preacher and healer and the entity that we know as God. When the Gospel writers looked back to Jesus’ background and childhood, they did so greatly influenced by what he said and did as an adult. They try to answer the question posed by the crowds, “Where did this man get all this?”
Session 3. Did Jesus actually rise from the dead?
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The Gospel writers had a very difficult task in talking about the Resurrection. They wanted to convey something which was mind-blowing and life-changing. It was not the resuscitation of a corpse but neither was it a ghost or a vision. It was something which was not physical but absolutely real.
Session 4. When exactly will Jesus come again?
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The earliest books in the New Testament show that they expected Jesus to return to earth and establish the Kingdom within a very short period of time. The later books acknowledge the delay and encourage Christians to use the waiting time wisely. After 2,000 years, are we still to look for a physical return of Jesus? Or are we to try to see the apocalypse in a spiritual sense? Recognizing Jesus “coming again” when we study scripture, celebrate the mass and serve the needy.