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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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