Posted on 10/05/2008 10:33:44 AM PDT by narses
Yes, there is only one God.
I am the Lord, and there is none else: there is no God besides me. (Isaiah 45:5)
In God there are three Divine Persons – the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost.
Going, therefore, teach ye all nations; baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost. (Matthew 28:19)
The Father is God and the first Person of the Blessed Trinity.
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. (I Corinthians 1:3)
The Son is God and the second Person of the Blessed Trinity.
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. (John 1:1)
The Holy Ghost is God and the third Person of the Blessed Trinity.
Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? (I Corinthians 3:16)
By the Blessed Trinity we mean, one and the same God in three Divine Persons.
Going, therefore, teach ye all nations; baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost. (Matthew 28:19)
The three Divine Persons are really distinct from one another.
And the Holy Ghost descended in a bodily shape, as a dove, upon him. And a voice came from heaven: "Thou art my beloved Son. In thee I am well pleased." (Luke 3:22)
The three Divine Persons are perfectly equal to one another, because all are one and the same God.
I and the Father are one. (John 10:30)
The three Divine Persons, though really distinct from one another, are one and the same God because all have one and the same Divine nature.
We cannot fully understand how the three Divine Persons, though really distinct from one another, are one and the same God because this is a supernatural mystery.
A supernatural mystery is a truth which we cannot fully understand, but which we firmly believe because we have God's word for it.
Exactly. It is so well done. It was a big part of my path to the True Church.
As a new Catholic in the early 90’s, I read the first English version of the CCC before I was exposed to the Baltimore Catechism. However, the B.C. structure laid out key doctrines so clearly, with Scripture references, that I just loved it when I saw it. (The Presbyterian Catechism probably came in a “reference” version, but we learned it from mimeographed sheets made by a Navy Chaplain who was an old-school Calvinist :-)
None of my children has ever been misled by the illustrations, which I admit are not necessarily helpful. There was a lot of Catholic Twaddle in the 40’s, or whenever the currently reprinted versions were new.
I taught a class on angels and Purgatory to a 5th grade group a few years ago, because they were so interested in the concepts but had no idea of the authoritative teachings. They loved it.
Is Jesus Christ God?
Yes, indeed. I believe in the deity of Jesus Christ. In fact, more than you.
Perhaps you are not aware of the fact that Christianity has sort of a sliding scale. On one extreme are the Tritheists, like the Mormons and Catholics. Where the three-ness of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit takes precedence over the unity of God.
On the other extreme are those, like myself, who are aghast at the sort of Tritheism displayed in the pictures in the Baltimore Cathechism. They rather see the unity, or oneness of God, taking precedence over any sort of three-ness.
The mandate of the Bible is to understand God as one. To make him three separate and distinct beings is Polytheism, and is in direct opposition to the Bible.
Wow, word warbling. Jesus is God in your world. Good. we agree.
What about His Father? Is He God too? And the Paraclete?
Word warbling you say. Contrasting Monotheism vs Tritheism is not word warbling.
So far, all I see are Catholics on this thread. A thread showcasing the Baltimore Cathechism is obviously meant for Catholics.
Catholics are spiritually dense. To try to have a meaningful discussion with Catholics about something as the Godhead requiring a great amount of spiritual understanding, is a waste of time.
Believing all the other wrong things Catholics believe, how could Catholics hope to understand the Godhead correctly? Things like their Mariolatry, for instance.
I’ll leave it to you Catholics. Your word warbling comment says all I need to know. Bye now.
The images you saw have been considered all but heretical in the Eastern Churches. To visualize the ineffable Father and Holy Spirit is absurd. Here is the proper form of the icon of the Holy Trinity. It is called "The Hospitality of Abraham" since the Fathers believed that the visitation to Sarah and Abraham by three strangers was a "type" of the Trinity.
Father Raniero Cantalamessa discussed that icon at length in his book, “Contemplating the Holy Trinity.” It was very thoughtful, in a “Where’d all the wine go, anyway?” sorta way.
Howya, K.?
“Howya, K.?”
Working hard and ready for winter! How’s tricks on Jupiter, Saturn? Are they speaking Greek there yet?
I’m ready for winter, too. Things are weird here on Planet Zongo, among the Anglophones and the Grecophones. Reptiles, you know.
Is your son engaged, yet?
Is Jesus Christ God?
Sabellianism?
Are you allowed to use that kind of language in the Religion Forum?
Shhhhh, few recognize the words.
*Anybody* out there might have an Unabridged Dictionary!
I hear Oxford does. :)
The OED is an Unabridged on steroids. I wish I had one!
So far, all I see are Catholics on this thread. A thread showcasing the Baltimore Cathechism is obviously meant for Catholics.
I am not Roman Catholic. The thread is not labeled caucus, so I am free to post. It is an acceptable thing to look at and comment on someone else's catechism. Perhaps I should dig up Heidelberg or Westminster on the doctrine of God for comparison. In this there is no difference between the Reformation churches and the Church of Rome.
Catholics are spiritually dense.
Feel the love.
You’re right, Lee, that the Scripture references in the Baltimore Catechism are not exhaustive. They’re not intended to be, as you observed. An exhaustive coverage of Scripture related to the Trinity would have to include, among other passages, the visitation of the three men (angels?) to Abraham in Genesis, since, as K. pointed out, this was understood by many early Christian writers as a type of the Holy Trinity.
I think this illustrates that there is always more to find, more that God wants us to find, in the Sacred Scriptures. I had never heard of the Trinitarian significance of this episode in Genesis until I read Fr. Cantalamessa’s book on the Trinity. God is so transcendant, and yet immediately present! “In Him we live and move and have our being,” as St. Paul said, quoting a Greek :-).
“Is your son engaged, yet?”
Alas (I suppose), no.
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