Believe in God
To people who don't understand Catholic
The Mystery of Redemption
This is the first Theology textbook that I have ever had. In This book we have
- The Original State of Man
- The Original Sin
- The Word Became Flesh
- The Paschal Mystery
- The Theological Virtues
- Prayer
1.The Original State of Man
God created our first parents to share in his love and friendship. For this reason, he gave them preternatural virtues and his supernatural grace, endowing them with the capacity for knowledge and love that were indispensable for their participation in his divine life.
Before the Fall, Adam and Eve possessed a clear awareness of God's presence and enjoyed a profound and loving relationship with him. They were exceedingly happy in the paradise God had created for them and were destined for a blissful life in Heaven.
2. The Original Sin
Original Sin is the first sin that human had. There wasn't any suffering, sick and death before Original Sin. But our first parents refused God's blessed. They had been attracted by a snake which was Satan. Satan told them that they would be closer to God and know everything if they eat the fruit which God's warned them not to. They chose to eat the fruit. There become the Original Sin. People will die, will sick, will pain.
3. The Word Became Flesh
The Second Person of the Blessed Trinity, God the Son, the world through whom all things were created, became man and lived among us. In a manifestation of God's infinite love and wisdom, "the Word became flesh." God loves the pinnacle of his creation so much that he took on their nature to suffer and die on the Cross (the high price for sins.) Through his suffering, Death, and Resurrection, Christ merited for every person a share in his life and the attainment of everlasting life.
There are four reason that the Word become flesh
- to make expiation for sins, reconcile man with God, and restore human nature lost by sin.
- to manifest the infinite depth of God's love.
- to offer a model of holiness
- to allow people to share in his divine life.
4. The Paschal Mystery
The Paschal Mystery is one of the central concepts of Christian faith relating to the history of salvation. Its main subject is the passion, death, and Resurrection of Jesus Christ (the work God the Father sent his son to accomplish on earth.) According to the Compendium of the Catechism of the Catholic Church, "The paschal Mystery of Jesus, which comprises his passion, death, resurrection, and glorification, stands at the center of the Christian faith because God's saving plan was accomplished once for all by the redemptive death of his Son Jesus Christ.
5.The Theological Virtues
The most notable infused virtues are the theological virtues: faith, hope, and charity. They are called theological because their object is union with God. Growth in the theological virtues comes through prayer, reception of the sacraments, and practice of the virtues; these practices assist growth in holiness through becoming more imbued with the life of Christ.
- Faith: elevates the natural intellect and moves the will so a person can assent to the truths supernaturally revealed by God and put those truths into practice.
- Hope: gives the mind and will the power to trust God will give all the means necessary to achieve everlasting life.
- Charity: enables a person to love God above all things and his neighbor as him- or herself with the love of Christ.
6. Prayer
Prayer is communication with God. One of the primary ways a person can hear what God is saying is by prayerfully reading reading his Word in Scared Scripture.
The church has identified three expressions of prayer:
- Vocal Prayer: This is simple conversation with God using traditional prayers such as the Lord's Prayer, the Hail Mary, or using one's own words.
- Meditative: prayer: This is prayer of understanding that involves dwelling on some element of divine wisdom found in Scared Scripture , Sacred Tradition, or a spiritual writing in order to discern God's will and apple it to one's life.
- Contemplative prayer: This is prayer that consists in abiding and resting in God's presence.
The Church Sacrament of Salvation
This is a book about the Church
- The Four Marks of the Church
- The Last Things
- Parousia
1.The Four Marks of the Church
There is The Four Marks of the Church
- The Church Is One: Of these four characteristics, the first - that the Church is One - is of foundational importance for understanding the other three. The reason that we say the Church is one is because we are acknowledging the uniqueness and singularity of the Church, and The Church founded by Christ is One and unique because of her origin.
- The Church is Holy: The second mark of the Church is her holiness, which she receives from Christ her founder through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. As with her unity, the Church's holiness comes solely from God.Christ sanctifies the Church and fills her with his grace so completely that she becomes sanctifying herself.
- The Church is Catholic: Today, the word "Catholic" is typically used as a denominational term, much like "Baptist" or "Lutheran," referring to a specific, limited group of Christians. The Church is said to be Catholic in two ways. From the day of Pentecost, Christ's Holy Spirit has empowered the Apostles and their successors to proclaim the saving truth of the Gospel to the entire human race.
- The Church is Apostolic: The fourth mark of the Church is that she is Apostolic. This mark relates primarily to Christ's selection of the Twelve Apostles as the foundation of his Church. He chose these twelve men to be witnesses to his Resurrection, sent out as his ambassadors to the entire world.
2.The Last Things
For all this, the Church can more easily be described as the divinely instituted institution that seeks the salvation of all souls. The surest way to die a happy death is to live a good Christian life. At death ,the soul leaves the body and is judged immediately by God (the Particular Judgement); the possibility of merit or conversion ceases. The soul will immediately go to Heaven, Hell, or Purgatory as deserved.
- Death: Death puts an end to human life as the time open to either accepting or rejecting the divine grace manifested in Christ.
- Judgement: The New Testament speaks of the judgment mainly from the perspective of a final meeting with Christ when he comes again. But we also find in many places within Sacred Scripture references to the retribution immediately after each one's death as a consequence of one's faith and deeds.
- Heaven: Heaven is the state of everlasting life in which we see God, become like him in glory, and enjoy eternal happiness. All souls in Heaven are in the light of glory and have an immediate vision of God.
- Hell: We cannot be united to God unless we freely choose to love him. We cannot love God if we sin grievously against him, our neighbor, or our own selves.
3.The Parousia
The Second Coming of the Lord is also known as the Parousia, a Greek word meaning "apparition" or "presence." At the Parousia, Christ will appear in power and majesty as judge and establish his kingdom - which was inaugurated at the Incarnation - in all its fullness.