The Story of Salvation II: How to Read the Bible - Session 3

The Story of Salvation II: How to Read the Bible Led by Fr. Anton Vogelsang, LC Venue: London Jesuit Centre 114 Mount St, London W1K 3AH - Aula Magna, 2nd floor Dates: Session 1- 18 October 2025 Session 2- 6 December 2025 Session 3 - 31 January 2026 Session 4- 7 March 2026 Session 5- 16 May 2026 Schedule: 10.30- Welcome coffee 11.00 Bible session - 12.30 Conclusion 12.45 - Holy Mass Details: Payment: 15£ per session (pay by session) or 60£ (pay once) After registration, payment details will be provided via email. Course Description: In partnership with the Westminster Agency for Evangelisation, Regnum Christi UK invites you to join us on a journey of deepening in the story of YOUR salvation in this course that will provide you with the tools to both understand the Bible and your Catholic Faith in a new and deeper way and enable you to be a better apostle of his Kingdom in our world. Fr. Anton describes the course in his own words, "I like teaching because I like learning, and the best way to learn something is to try to explain it to others. The two subjects I am most passionate about are the Bible and our Mother Mary. That is why I am so excited about this course, which I hope will equip you to read the Bible better. It is based on a book I published in German called Maria - Auf ihren Spuren in der Bibel, which could be loosely translated as "Finding Mary in the Bible". To find something, whatever it is, you need to know how and where to look for it. In my book, I am looking for the biblical foundation of Mary according to the Catholic faith. How should we look for Mary in the Bible? By this I mean, how should we read the Bible? This is the subject of this course. Almost all the examples I use to illustrate this theory are Marian examples taken from my book. You will be able to apply these same principles to any aspect of the Catholic faith when you read the Bible." Session 1 - The Fulfilment of the Scriptures. Each of the Evangelists teaches that Jesus is the fulfilment of the Scriptures, but they do so in different ways. Luke presents Jesus' teaching that he is the fulfilment. In Acts he presents the Apostles doing the same. Matthew and John, on the other hand, repeatedly tell us that the events in Jesus' life occurred to fulfil the prophecies, but Matthew emphasises those regarding Jesus' birth and infancy while John emphasises those that speak of his passion. Mark does the same, but in a more veiled way. Session 2 - Preparation for the Coming of the Son of God. The Church teaches that "the principal purpose of the Old Testament economy was to prepare for the coming of Christ, the universal Redeemer" (CCC 122). This preparation can be understood in two complementary ways. First, God called and prepared a people to welcome, nurture, and form his Son in his humanity. This was the purpose and mission of the people of Ancient Israel. Session 3 - Preparation for us. God, through the history of Ancient Israel, was also preparing us. We will see how God called Abraham, Moses, and the people of Ancient Israel in view of the Incarnation. Some Church Fathers explain this preparation by using the analogy of shadows. Just as one can recognise an object through its shadow, so can we recognise Jesus as the Emmanuel-God with us-through his "shadows" found in the Old Testament. Session 4 - Shadows of Mary in the Bible. The Old Testament also contains shadows of Mary that help us understand her identity and role in God's plan. She is present in these shadows and promises in two ways: through the prophecies that speak of her and in the types that prefigure her. In this session, we will study the basic principles of biblical prophecy and typology. Session 5 - The Biblical Foundations of Mary. We will now apply all the theory learnt so far to Mary. Not only was she prefigured by many of the women of the Old Testament-Sarah, Rebekah, Rachel, Hannah, Yael, and Judith, She was also prefigured by many objects such as the ark of the covenant, the burning bush, Jacob's ladder, the closed portico of the temple, and the enclosed garden of the Song of Songs. Finally, she was prefigured by the people of Ancient Israel as both were consecrated to God for the same mission-to receive and form his Son in his humanity.