| Religion Grade 6 |
| Who I Am My Interests Family & Friends My Faith What I Do St. Therese School My Desk Other Aspects Art Gallery Fantasy Page News Links Song now playing: "Laudate Dominum," by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart This page created July 4, 2000 Last modified March 28, 2004 |
 |
| Our Father's Plan: Coming to God's Word This is the first Religion class over the course of three years that students have with me. No matter what the religious backgrounds of the students, I always start with the basics so that everyone begins with the same knowledge. If students already have some Judeo-Christian background, so much the better. But it is not strictly necessary in the sense that all students will learn the same material, starting from the very basic elements. Course Objectives (taken from upper grade Religion curriculum) To give students, as much as possible, a clear and reasonable understanding of who God is. To present the famous "arguments" for God's existence so as to encourage students to seriously think about why God just may exist, after all. To teach students what evil is, and that sin is the doing of evil. To introduce students to the concept of soul and spirit, and the spirit's ability to know, love, and reason. To show that human beings are unique in that our souls are in fact immortal spirits, whereas the souls of all other living things are mortal. |
| To demonstrate what angels and demons are, and to reacquaint students with the Fall of the Angels. To introduce students to the Bible, and to teach them how to understand the "big picture" of Scripture so as to make sense of it. To present students with the overall theme of Scripture, which is that of the covenant. To introduce students to the concept of Salvation History. To familiarize students with the fourteen separate stages of Biblical history. To give students an understanding of the Biblical account of creation, which shows that God created all things with order and intelligence. To understand the numerous lessons of the book of Genesis by reading all 50 chapters of that book of the Bible. To get used to the concept of "covenant mediators" throughout the story of the Bible. To understand God's actions in building up His covenant family, beginning with the Israelites. To study the Ten Commandments in depth, understanding how much of human life and habit they actually cover, and to encourage students to conform their lives to this Law of love, which is true freedom. If possible, to continue the study of Biblical history as regards the prophet Samuel, and Kings Saul, David, and Solomon. To introduce students to the Rosary, its Mysteries, and how to pray it. To teach students basic Catholic prayers, as found in the Rosary and other prayers. Materials 1. A notebook that should be kept all three years, as material does overlap. By the time they graduate, students will have filled it. 2. A Bible. In an introductory course on the Bible, the Bible should obviously be the main textbook. A Catholic Revised Standard Version (RSV) or New Revised Standard Version (NRSV) is best, as it is not only agood, accurate translation (RSV is the better), but the teacher is using it as well! The New American Bible, New International Version, or similar translations are also acceptable. I would discourage students from using the King James Bible, the Good News Bible, or any Bible that says "Today's English" on it. While the King James is quite beautiful and uses the good, traditional phrasing that so many have come to love, it is both missing books from the Old Testament and often gives students problems because they can't understand the older English it uses. No point in reading a Bible you can't understand. Secondly, the Good News Bible is what I've often called a "paraphrase of a paraphrase." It could be called the exact opposite of the King James, since it makes sure to avoid any language that sounds remotely traditional or non-modern. In other words, the language is so modern it's ugly. It makes the Bible sound no different from the newspaper. This is actually very dangerous, as it risks making what is holy seem merely commmonplace. The same goes for "Today's English Version" of the Bible. "Today's English" isn't so great for conveying "God's Word." Students will receive other materials during the course of the year. |
 |
|
|