SALVATION HISTORY: GOD'S PLAN OR "OIKONOMIA" FOR OUR SALVATION
"The Fathers of the Church distinguish between theology (theologia) and economy (oikonomia). "Theology" refers to the mystery of God's inmost life within the Blessed Trinity and "economy" to all the works by which God reveals himself and communicates his life. Through the oikonomia the theologia is revealed to us; but conversely, the theologia illuminates the whole oikonomia. God's works reveal who he is in himself; the mystery of his inmost being enlightens our understanding of all his works. So it is, analogously, among human persons. A person discloses himself in his actions, and the better we know a person, the better we understand his actions."
- CCC, 236
In order to know our role in God's theodrama, we need to know what came before us. A key way to study salvation history is through the Bible, a great love letter to us from God that is organized through covenants, or in Latin, "testaments."
GOD'S PLAN OF SALVATION FOR HIS PEOPLE IS MADE MANIFEST THROUGH COVENANTS
A contract is an exchange of services, whereas a covenant is an exchange of persons. And whereas a contract can be broken, a valid covenant is indissoluble. The solemn importance of covenants in the Pentateuch (first five books of the Bible) and beyond is also seen in God’s swearing sacred oaths in binding himself to his people. And whereas mere humans can and have strayed throughout salvation history, God will not. That is, God ensures that his covenants will be fulfilled, even when his people transgress seriously, such as through idolatry.
God makes three covenants with Abram/Abraham regarding the latter’s descendants: 1) to make of them a great nation (Gen. 15), fulfilled in the founding of Israel by Moses (Ex. 24); 2) to make of them a great kingdom (Gen. 17), initially fulfilled in David and his royal descendants (1 Samuel 16ff.); and 3) to make of them a “catholic” or universal blessing (Gen. 22), i.e., one meant to impact all nations, and ultimately fulfilled in Jesus Christ, the King of kings, who restored and fulfilled the kingdom of Israel in founding the Catholic Church (Luke 1:26-33; Matt. 28:18-20).
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