The Catholic Faith Divine Revelation

Transcription

1 The Cathlic Faith Divine Revelatin Knwing Gd Faith is a gift frm Gd that allws us t believe in him and all that he has revealed. We can knw Gd frm creatin. Saint Thmas Aquinas five prfs f knwing the existence f Gd by reasn. First Mver: Anything mved is mved by anther. There cannt be an infinite series f mvers. S there must be a first mver. First Cause: Anything caused is caused by anther. There cannt be an infinite series f causes. S there must be a first cause. Necessary Being: Nt everything is cntingent. S there is a necessary being upn which ther beings depend fr their existence. Greatest Being: Whatever is great t any degree gets its greatness frm that which is the greatest. S there is a greatest being, which is the surce f all greatness. Intelligent Designer: Whatever acts fr an end must be directed by an intelligent being. S the wrld must have an intelligent designer. It is nt cntrary t the faith t accept the thery f evlutin, s lng as we understand that Gd is ur Creatr, man is the highest level f creatin, and man s sul is created nly by Gd. Man Made in Gd s Image Revelatin The Trinity Man is cmpsed f a bdy and a sul. Man s sul is ratinal. The intellect is a pwer f the ratinal sul. Man is created in Gd s image. All men are created equal in dignity. Man is called t relatinship and stewardship. Gd has revealed himself ut f lve fr man. The tw channels f revelatin are Sacred Scripture and Sacred Traditin. Revelatin is safeguarded by the Magisterium (the teaching Church funded by Jesus Christ). Man is called t respnd t revelatin (the Faith) with a respnse f belief, which is an act f the will als called faith. Faith is reasnable. Jesus is the perfectin and fullness f the revelatin f Gd. In his Divine Persn, Jesus revealed wh Gd is in wrd and deed. The Trinity is the central truth f the Faith. It expresses ur belief in ne Gd in three Divine Persns: Father, Sn, and Hly Spirit. 1 Rite f Christian Initiatin f Adults (RCIA) Saint Jhn Bsc Cathlic Church

2 Salvatin Histry Hly Bible Inspiratin Salvatin histry is the summary f Gd s saving actins since Creatin. The Cathlic Faith Divine Revelatin The Old Testament teaches hw Gd prepared his peple fr their Savir, Jesus Christ. The New Testament recrds the life and teachings f Jesus. The traditin f the Church guides us in living these teachings in anticipatin f the Secnd Cming f Christ. The Creed is a summary f salvatin histry. Sacred Scripture is the inspired wrd f Gd, recrded in Seventy-three bks. The Old Testament bks are in three categries: Histrical bks (which include the Pentateuch). Wisdm bks. Prphetic bks. The New Testament bks include: Magisterium The Gspels. Acts f the Apstles. Epistles f Saint Paul. Letters t all Christians. Revelatin. Sacred Scripture is inerrant, which means withut errr. The Scriptures are inspired by Gd. The human writers did nt add r subtract frm the revelatin f Gd. The Scriptures are written fr and interpreted by the Church. The Magisterium is the teaching authrity f the Church. It includes the Ppe and the bishps in unin with him. The Magisterium is infallible in teaching in matters f faith and mrals. The Ppe is the successr f Peter. The bishps are successrs f the apstles. The Ppe has the gift f infallibility. The bishps share in this gift when they teach in unin with him. The Church s teaching is the same all ver the wrld and thrughut time. 2 Rite f Christian Initiatin f Adults (RCIA) Saint Jhn Bsc Cathlic Church

3 The Cathlic Faith Divine Revelatin Terms and Definitins Revelatin: Gd s cmmunicatin f himself, by which he makes knwn the mystery f his divine plan, a gift f selfcmmunicatin which is realized by deeds and wrds ver time, and the mst fully by sending us his wn divine Sn, Jesus Christ (CCC 50). Sacred Scripture: The sacred writing f the Old and New Testaments (CCC 101). The bks which cntain the truth f Gd s revelatin and were cmpsed by human authrs inspired by the Hly Spirit (CCC 105). The Bible cntains bth the frty-six bks f the Old Testament and the twenty-seven bks f the New Testament (CCC 120). Sacred Traditin: The living transmissin f the message f the Gspel in the Church. The ral preaching f the Apstles, and the written message f salvatin under the inspiratin f the Hly Spirit (Bible), are cnserved and handed n as the depsit f faith thrugh the apstlic successin in the Church. Bth the living Traditin and the written Scriptures have their cmmn surce in the revelatin f Gd in Jesus Christ (CCC 75-82). The thelgical, liturgical, disciplinary, and devtinal traditins f the lcal churches bth cntain and can be distinguished frm this apstlic Traditin (CCC 83). Magisterium: The living, teaching ffice f the Church, whse task it is t give as authentic interpretatin f the wrd f Gd, whether in its written frm (Sacred Scripture), r in the frm f Traditin. The Magisterium ensures the Church s fidelity t the teaching f the Apstles in matters f faith and mrals (CCC 85, 890, 2033). Infallibility: The gift f the Hly Spirit t the Church whereby the pastrs f the Church, the ppe and bishps in unin with him, can definitively prclaim a dctrine f faith r mrals fr the belief f the faithful (CCC 891). This gift is related t the inability f the whle bdy f the faithful t err in matters f faith and mrals (CCC 92). Inspiratin: The gift f the Hly Spirit which assisted a human authr t write a biblical bk s that it has Gd as its authr and teaches faithfully, withut errr, the saving truth that Gd has willed t be cnsigned t us (105). 3 Rite f Christian Initiatin f Adults (RCIA) Saint Jhn Bsc Cathlic Church

4 The Cathlic Faith Divine Revelatin Literal sense f Scripture: Requires ne t understand a passage as it is written, taking int accunt its histrical setting. We read textbks and instructin manuals in the literal sense. Spiritual sense f Scripture: Requires us t seek the deeper significance f the text. There are three spiritual senses: 1. Allegrical the passage as it relates t Jesus. 2. Mral the passage as it relates t each f us. 3. Anaggical the passage as it relates t the eternal. Fr example, Jesus said he culd rebuild the Temple in three days. The literal sense f the Temple is the building in Jerusalem where the Jews wrshiped Gd. It was destryed in 70 A.D. The allegrical sense tells us that Christ is the Temple destryed and rebuilt in the three days befre the Resurrectin. The mral sense reminds us that we are temples f the Hly Spirit. The anaggical sense reminds us that heaven is the Eternal Temple where Jesus reigns. 4 Rite f Christian Initiatin f Adults (RCIA) Saint Jhn Bsc Cathlic Church

5 Sacred Traditin The Cathlic Faith Divine Revelatin RCIA Class, St. Jhn Bsc Cathlic Church Revealed & Persnal Gd Gd cmes t meet man - By natural reasn man can knw Gd with certainty, n the basis f his wrks. - Anther rder f knwledge that man cannt pssibly arrive at by his wn pwer. Divine Revelatin. Cmpare Genesis 1:1 t Jhn 1:1-5,14 Gd Reveals His Plan f Lving Gdness thrugh Stages f Revelatin In the Beginning (Adam and Eve) Gen 1:1 The Cvenant with Nah (divine ecnmy tward the Natins ) Gen 9:16 Gd chses Abraham ( the father f a multitude f natins. ) Gen 17:5 Gd frms his peple Israel (cvenant f Munt Sinai, gave them the law) Christ Jesus Mediatr and Fullness f All Revelatin (DV 2) Gd has said everything in his Wrd There will be n further Revelatin The Transmissin f Divine Revelatin The Apstlic Traditin Apstlic Preaching Cntinued in Apstlic successin The Relatinship between Traditin and Sacred Scripture One cmmn surce Tw distinct mdes f transmissin (Sacred Scripture & Hly Traditin) Apstlic Traditin and ecclesia traditins (Capital T and small t) The Interpretatin f the Heritage f Faith The heritage f faith entrusted t the whle f the Church The Magisterium f the Church 5 Rite f Christian Initiatin f Adults (RCIA) Saint Jhn Bsc Cathlic Church