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GUIDELINES FOR TEACHERS OF THE SEVEN DAY THEOLOGY CLASS:
These are the procedures we use to teach this class. As you become familiar
with the course you might want to change some teaching methods to suit
your individual tastes, but please do not change the basic truths that
are presented here. This course is provided absolutely without charge to
anyone who wishes to take it. Please read about 'Simony' in the New Catechism,
page 514, paragraph 2121. The course is set up for a seven week period
with one session each week. We ask that anyone wishing to take the course
be willing to commit to this beforehand and to try to
attend each and every session. By announcing a start and a stop date, the
potential student sees that there is an end to their commitment. The first
two days are intense and lay a foundation for the rest of the course. If
a person misses the first days, he will have difficulty understanding some
of the later material. For this reason, we encourage anyone who has missed
the first two days, not to attend the rest of the course but instead, opt
to start on the first day of the next scheduled class. At the option of
the instructor, 'tack on' days could be added to cover some subjects in
greater depth, or to have a question - answer day covering the whole course.
Each session is two hours long and we strongly urge you to stick to this
time frame. The average persons attention span is about two hours, and
after that they get restless and their learning ability declines. The lesson
plans are designed for a two hour session for people going through for
the first time and there should be a limited time for questions and answers.
Accept only questions pertinent to the topic being discussed and accept
no questions you know will be covered later. Too many questions will cause
significant overruns of the two hour period.
We use one of the Church classrooms that is like any classroom you would
find in a school. You can teach out of your home if you wish. The classroom
has a white writing board and we use erasable marking pens. This is time
consuming to write the material each time on the board, but it gives students
time to take notes. The average person comprehends the course material
more easily when he takes notes. We have found this to be time consuming
and we now make student copies of the days lessons. Just blank out the
answers and the (opt) fields when you make copies of the masters. This
way leaves more time for questions and answers. I have used flip charts
and note the class time is reduced, but flip charts are hard to work with
if I want to rearrange something or add more references. Note takers still
have to copy from the flip charts, so the charts save the teachers writing
arm more than help the students. Please feel free to use any teaching method
you are comfortable with. I have made it a policy to pass out a copy of
my notes only to others who wish to teach. Use your own discretion on this.
Material requirements for this course are:
1. A Catholic Bible.
2. The New Catechism of the Catholic Church.
Optional Study Aids (highly recommended):
Frank Sheeds books are a true treasure of basic theology.
1. Theology and Sanity, by Frank J. Sheed, ISBN 0-89870-470-7, $17.95
OR
2. Theology for Beginners, by Frank J. Sheed, ISBN 0-89283-124-3, $8.95
These books can be obtained from any Catholic bookstore
or,
online at, WWW.AMAZON.COM...
3. Charts: These charts might be hard to find. They are
very good. They were published by Catholic Viewpoint Publications
and no response was received from them, so they have moved or have
gone out of business.
I suggest you make copies from others.
# 1 THE TRIUMPH OF THE CHURCH: This is a large chart showing
all major Christian Churches and their
founders and dates of origin.
# 2 THE TEST # 3 THE FOUR MARKS OF CHRIST'S CHURCH
# 4 THE MAKING OF THE NEW TESTAMENT
# 5 ORIGINS AND DIVISIONS OF PROTESTANTISM
# 6 THE LIFE OF THE SOUL
# 7 FAITH AND COMMON SENSE
# 8 THE STORY OF OUR SALVATION
4. Fr. Corapi Catechism tapes: Fr. John Corapi recorded
a set of 24 audio tapes covering the major topics of the New Catechism.
He is an excellent speaker and his tapes are a treasure of truth. His commentary
greatly reinforces the course. Write or call Kurt Schirmer, Society of
Our Lady of the Most Holy Trinity (S.O.L.T.), Media Ministry P.O. Box 1058,
Fair Oaks Calif 95628 or call 916-967-6765.
The course itself consists of:
1. Seven lesson plans:
One lesson per two hour session.
2. A Question and Answer Sheet:
This is a summary of the best questions asked by
students and is
subject to periodic updates.
3. A Definitions and Facts Truth Table:
This is a very handy tool that is used many times throughout
the course
as a ready reference. I suggest you pass a copy of this
to every 2 or 3 students.
4. Bible Passages For The Sacraments:
This is needed for days 5 and 6 as a ready reference
and has other useful information in it such as, a reconciliation of Psalms
between Catholic and protestant Bibles.
5. A Class Reference List:
This is a summary of references used throughout the course.
The course has many references built in. Read the top
of each page.
(?) means a question concerning this topic is on the Question
sheet.
*(opt) means this is optional to mention, usually it is from a comment
made by a student.
*TB and *TS refer to the Frank Sheed books.
*FC is referring to Fr. Corapi tapes.
*CCC is the New Catechism of the Catholic Church.
Always start by invoking THE HOLY SPIRIT.
Start Day # 1 with the Catechism and page 5, bottom paragraph,
(Catechism is for all to read), page 6 (Pope John Paul II Signature)
and paragraphs 904-906 (authorization to teach). You might
mention 907 also.
If you have any problems with the lessons, have any questions,
or wish to make any additions or deletions, please feel free to email me
and we can discuss it. If you have a problem with any part of the course
material, please read all references to that subject first. The course
is updated periodically mainly due to the addition of questions from students
which add to the understanding, and to the addition of references from
the various sources shown above.
It has been said by Fr. Corapi, "Hey folks, the Nuns
are gone,
the Priests are going, so it is up to you and me from here on in to
teach the TRUTH".
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