Free Republic

PART I - FAITH. THE APOSTLES' CREED. FIRST ARTICLE OF THE CREED: "I BELIEVE IN GOD, THE FATHER ALMIGHTY." 11. THE SUPERNATURAL ENDOWMENTS OF MAN. Our first parents before the Fall had a happiness almost equal to that of the angels when first created. Hence the Psalmist says of man, " Thou hast made him a little lower than the angels ; Thou hast crowned him with glory and honor" (Ps. viii. 6). Heathen nations have legends of the happiness of the first man; they termed it the golden age. Hesiod says that men lived then like gods, in...

PART I - FAITH. THE APOSTLES' CREED. FIRST ARTICLE OF THE CREED: "I BELIEVE IN GOD, THE FATHER ALMIGHTY." 10. THE SOUL OF MAN. 1. The soul of man is made in the image of God, since it is a spirit like to God. Before the creation of man God said, " Let us make man to our own image and likeness and let him have dominion over the beasts and the whole earth" (Gen i. 26). Man is made in the image of God; his likeness to God is to be found in his soul, which possesses reason...

PART I - FAITH. THE APOSTLES' CREED. FIRST ARTICLE OF THE CREED: "I BELIEVE IN GOD, THE FATHER ALMIGHTY." 9. MAN. The Creation of Man. The account of the creation of man is found in the beginning of the book of Genesis. Nothing is said about the time when man was created, but the general belief fixes the date at 4000 B.C. The four weeks of Advent seem to indicate that the Church adopts this view. 1. God made the body of man out of the dust of the earth, and breathed into him a living soul. The soul...

PART I - FAITH. THE APOSTLES' CREED. FIRST ARTICLE OF THE CREED: "I BELIEVE IN GOD, THE FATHER ALMIGHTY." 8. THE ANGELS. 1. The angels are pure spirits. They can, however, take a visible form. The angels are pure spirits without bodies, whereas men have both body and spirit. Yet the angels can take to themselves a bodily form, as did St. Raphael (Tob. v. 18), when he undertook to accompany the young Tobias on his journey. At the sepulchre of Our Lord, after the resurrection, the angels appeared in the form of young men, and the same was...

PART I - FAITH. THE APOSTLES' CREED. FIRST ARTICLE OF THE CREED: "I BELIEVE IN GOD, THE FATHER ALMIGHTY." 7. THE CHRISTIAN UNDER SUFFERING. Man can suffer in body or soul or both. The apostles, when they were scourged (Acts v. 41), suffered in body; Judas, when he threw down the pieces of silver in the Temple, suffered in his soul. Holy Job suffered in both. Suffering is either merited or unmerited. The sufferings of the prodigal son were merited, those of the patriarch Joseph were unmerited. Yet all sufferings are merited by original sin. 1. No one can...

PART I - FAITH. THE APOSTLES' CREED. FIRST ARTICLE OF THE CREED: "I BELIEVE IN GOD, THE FATHER ALMIGHTY." 6. DIVINE PROVIDENCE. We call by the name of divine providence God's preservation and government of the world. 1. God maintains the world, i.e., He preserves all creatures in existence as long as He wills. A ball hanging from a piece of string falls to the ground as soon as the string is cut. So the whole world would sink into nothing if God were to withdraw from it His supporting power for a single instant. In order that creatures...

PART I - FAITH.THE APOSTLES' CREED. FIRST ARTICLE OF THE CREED: "I BELIEVE IN GOD, THE FATHER ALMIGHTY." 5. HISTORY OF CREATION. "We are instructed by the writer of the book of Genesis in the story of creation. The account given of the creation in the book of Genesis is not a fable, but is founded on truth. The sacred writer was enlightened by the Holy Ghost, and his words are a part of the Word of God. Perhaps God gave him a vision of the course of creation. The story is in exact agreement with the conclusions of...

PART I - FAITH. THE APOSTLES' CREED. FIRST ARTICLE OF THE CREED: "I BELIEVE IN GOD, THE FATHER ALMIGHTY." 4. THE BLESSED TRINITY. At the baptism of Jesus Christ all the three persons of the Blessed Trinity manifested themselves; the Father by a voice from heaven, the Son through His baptism, and the Holy Ghost in the form of a dove (Matt. iii. 16). 1. The Blessed Trinity is one God in three persons. The three persons are called Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. The number three is often found both in nature and in religion. There are three...

PART I - FAITH. THE APOSTLES' CREED. FIRST ARTICLE OF THE CREED: "I BELIEVE IN GOD, THE FATHER ALMIGHTY." 3. THE DIVINE ATTRIBUTES. We ascribe to God various attributes, because the unity of the divine perfection is reflected in different ways in crea- tures. The sun is sometimes red, sometimes yellow, or a palish white. It is the mists around the earth that cause the variety in it as it is seen by us. The attributes of God are therefore various manifesta- tions of God's one and indivisible perfection or essence. In God they are all one and the...

PART I - FAITH. THE APOSTLES' CREED. FIRST ARTICLE OF THE CREED: "I BELIEVE IN GOD, THE FATHER ALMIGHTY." 2. THE DIVINE ESSENCE. What God is in His divine nature or essence is known to us partly from created things, but more clearly from His revelation of Himself. St. Paul tells us that, " The invisible things of God from the crea- tion of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made" (Eom. i. 20). Creation is a sort of mirror that reflects the divine perfections ; thus from the beauty of things created...

PART I - FAITH. X. THE APOSTLES' CREED. Besides the Apostles Creed, which is repeated at Baptism, there is also the Nicene Creed (composed at the Council of Nicæa, 325), and enlarged at the Council of Constantinople. Also the Creed of Pope Pius IV., which contains the teaching of the Council of Trent, and was published by the authority of Pope Pius IV. in 1564. Some additions have been made to it by the Vatican Council (1870). The Nicene Creed is repeated on certain days by the priest in holy Mass, and the Creed of Pope Pius IV. has...

PART I - FAITH. IX. THE SIGN OF THE CROSS. The Catholic makes confession of his faith most especially by the sign of the holy cross. By it he lets men know that he makes profession of belonging to the religion of the crucified Saviour. To Jews and Turks the cross is an object of hatred and contempt; Protestants, too, pay no honor to the holy cross, though there are indeed some of them who, in the present day, have learned the practice from the children of the Church. The sign of the cross is thus the peculiar property...

PART I - FAITH. VIII. ON THE DUTY OF CONFESSING OUR FAITH. 1. God requires of us that we should make outward profession of our faith. Christ says, " So let your light shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father Who is in heaven" (Matt. v. 16). We are bound in our words and actions to let men know that we are Christians and Catholics. It is by the open profession of our faith that we help others (as we see from the above words of Our Lord), to know God better...

PART I - FAITH. VII. ON THE ABSENCE AND LOSS OF FAITH. Faith is the road to heaven. Unhappily there are very many who are wanderers and strangers to the Christian faith. 1. Those who do not possess Christian faith are either: (1) heretics or (2) infidels. 1. Heretics are those who reject some one or more of the truths revealed by God. Heretics are those who hold to some of the doctrines revealed by God, and reject others. Those who induce others to a false belief are called leaders of heresy, or arch-heretics. It is always pride that...

PART I - FAITH. VI. THE MOTIVES OF FAITH. 1. The external motives which move us to believe are chiefly miracles and prophecy. It is through these that we attain to a certain knowledge that this or that truth of faith is really from God. The veracity of God is of course the ultimate motive of faith, for we make an act of faith in the truths revealed by God, because we know that God is true and cannot deceive or be deceived. But no reasonable man can make an act of faith in any truth, until he is...

PART I - FAITH. V. THE CHRISTIAN FAITH. 1. Christian faith is the firm conviction, arrived at with the grace of God, that all that Jesus Christ taught on earth is true, as well as all that the Catholic Church teaches by the commission she has received from Him. At the Last Supper Our Lord said " This is My body," " This is My blood." Although the apostles had the evidence of their senses that what lay before them was only bread and wine, yet they believed that the words of Christ were true. The holiness of the...

PART I - FAITH. IV. HOLY SCRIPTURE AND TRADITION 1. Holy Scripture or the Bible consists of seventy-two books, which were written by men inspired by God, and under the guidance and influence of the Holy Ghost. These seventy-two books are recognized by the Church as " the Word of God." The Holy Ghost inspired in a very special way the writers of Holy Scripture ; He moved them to write, and guided and en- lightened them while they were writing (Cf. 2 Tim. iii. 16; Matt. xv. 3; Mark xii. 36). The Council of Trent and the Vatican...

PART I - FAITH. III. THE PREACHING OF THE GOSPEL. 1. The truths revealed by God to men were, by God's command, proclaimed to all nations of the earth by the Catholic Church, and especially by means of the living word, that is, by preaching. The command to proclaim to all nations of the earth the truths revealed by God, was given to the apostles by Our Lord at the time of His ascension. Our Lord, before ascending into heaven, spoke to His apostles as follows : " All power is given to Me in heaven and in earth...

PART I - FAITH. II. DIVINE REVELATION. If any one stands in a room behind a gauze curtain he perceives all those who are passing in the street, and they see him not. But if he makes himself known by speaking, the passers-by are able to recog- nize him. Such is our relation to God; He sees us, but conceals Himself from our eyes. Yet He has in many ways made Himself known to men; to Abraham, to Moses in the burning bush, to the Israelites on Mount Sinai, etc. 1. God has in His mercy in the course...

PART I - FAITH. I. THE KNOWLEDGE OF GOD. The knowledge of God consists in the knowledge of His perfections, His works, His will, and the means of grace instituted by Him. St. Paul bids us " increase in the knowledge of God " (Col. i. 10). Now we only know God through a glass in a dark manner; only in heaven shall we see Him face to face, and have a clear knowledge of His perfections (1 Cor. xiii. 12). 1. The happiness of the angels and the saints consists in the knowledge of God. Our Lord tells...