Describe the principle beliefs of Christianity Over the years, Christianity has organised its principle beliefs into a systematic theology. These principle beliefs have been discovered through scared text and writings and traditions of the Church. The principle beliefs include; Jesus as human and divine, Death and resurrection of Jesus, The nature of God and the Trinity, Revelation and Salvation. The divinity and humanity of Jesus Christ was easily understood in the time of the Roman Empire, as those could understand that a man could become a God. Athanasius suggested that Jesus was a God and also fully human at the same time and this theory was adopted as the correct teaching of the Church by the Roman Emperor Constantine.
When looking at it from a biblical standpoint, the truth of its inception is shown in a light that the Protestant and Catholic theologians have a different opinion. When looking at it from a historical (political) viewpoint, issues of corruption and deceit will arise. The Biblical foundation for which the Catholic Church basis the start of the Office of Papacy on can be found in Mathew 16:18-19, “18 And I say to you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overpower it. 19 I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will have been bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will have been loosed in heaven.” The key words in these scriptures are “this rock” and “keys”. The Protestant theologians’ exegesis of theses scriptures and these key words clearly tells us that “this rock” does not refer to Peter himself, but to Peter’s confession that Christ is the Son of God and therefore Jesus is the rock.
Luther believed that all believers should abide by the words of ‘our Lord and Master Jesus Christ” and repent of our sins (Morris, 1998, p. 56). The problem Luther had with the Catholic Church and the priests specifically was the use of the word of God as a sacramental penance, rather than a real act of repentance from the heart intending to change the behavior of the man (Lohse, 1998, p. 4). Luther demands that the inward changes be reflected by the outward actions that the world can see (Lohse, 1998, p. 4). If one is harsh to others outwardly, their inward harshness is just as readily seen. Man must see their repulsion to sin must continue or
Lauren Harter New Testament Theology Dr. Benjamin C. Blackwell 12 April 2013 The Role and Function of the Church as Put Forth in the Catholic Epistles Introduction When asked why the church exists one could probably list a whole host of roles and functions of the church: to preach the Gospel, to bring hope and provide for the needy, to be a place of worship and instruction, to be an example of righteousness, to prepare the saints for ministry. All of these would technically be adequate answers, but the role and function of the church goes so much deeper. The Catholic Epistles describe the church as the Temple of God, the Bride of God, the Flock of God and the New Israel with stated roles of proclamation, declaration, continuation and demonstration and ultimately glorification. This essay will seek to expand upon these stated functions and roles and will conclude by tying them in to the mission of the church today. The Temple of God The church is referred to repeatedly in the Catholic Epistles as the Temple of God.
INTRODUCTION The book Truth and Tolerance by Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger is one that captures and tackles the tensions that arise from rival claims to ‘the truth’ by different religions of the world. It is a response to the criticisms by modern society and non-Christian cultures against the (Catholic) Christian claim on the “Unicity and Salvific Universality of Jesus Christ and the Church”. How can Christianity insist it is true in the face of other religions and philosophies making competing claims? Is Christianity not being religiously arrogant by imposing its teaching, and thus intolerant to other religions of the world? As such, central to this thesis is the theme of truth- truth in the Christian religion expressed in the faith and teaching of the Catholic Church which Ratzinger sets out to address together with the questions above.
The Puritan forefathers has brought with them an intense Calvinist faith, which was instrumental in forming the character of the new nation. The central tenet of this faith was ‘sole fide’, or ‘justification by faith alone’. Calvinism was a reaction against the institutional basis of Catholicism, and therefore aimed to establish a personal communion with God, the only means to which was faith in Jesus Christ, and in the Bible as the words of God addressed directly to the believer. The Calvinist doctrine implied predestination, so that being in a state of grace marks out the believer. Only with grace are the words of God meaningful, and it is through the Bible that God establishes communion with the
There is much talk, today, in Catholic circles about all sorts of material realities, natural and manufactured, animate and inanimate, being “sacraments”, or at least “sacramental”. Some theologians speak of this in terms of the “principle of sacramentality” and/or the “sacramental imagination”. Sacramentality is the principle that God uses visible signs to convey His grace, which cannot be seen. This is why Catholics believe that the waters of Baptism washes away sin, the oil used in the Sacrament of Anointing of the Sick strengthens us, and the bread and wine become the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ. In Daniel Ladinsky’s poem, the squirrel suggests that “some acorns, an owl feather, and a ribbon” can “be sacraments” or “sacramental”.
The following important division occurred in the 16th century with the Protestant Reformation. Those who remained faithful to Roman Catholicism believed that the central regulation of doctrine by church leaders was necessary to prevent confusion and division within the church and corruption of its beliefs. Most of these branches agree on the basic belief of the faith regarding Jesus, salvation by his death, the oneness of God, and the existence of heaven and hell. They differ however in different important points which caused the division among Christianity. The Roman Catholic branch of Christianity is governed by a hierarchy with the pope at the top and then the bishops and priests follow.
Catholicism Being baptized by a Catholic church and raised a Christian, I naturally became curious as to what the differences were between these two religions. Through my research and observation of a Catholic service (mass), I’ve learned that there are many similarities in their beliefs and that it is their practices of worship and salvation methods that becomes the dividing factor. Many people, including myself, typically mistaken Catholicism and Christianity as two very different religions. The fact is that they have an interrelationship, figuratively speaking. By this I mean that Catholicism is simply a denomination of Christianity.
There is proof in the Catechism of the Catholic Church, in Sacred Scripture, and in the Introduction to Catholicism that we as Catholics are entitled to go to confession in the way that Jesus’ taught us to. Many Catholics before us, who have wanted to be a part of the true Church, have accepted the sacraments, but not everyone knows why the Church commands us to do the things we do. We follow in the examples of the saints is because they followed the traditions of the Church, which includes the Sacrament of Penance. In Sacred Scripture, we see proof that telling our sins to a priest is what God wanted us to do for our salvation. In the book of James (5:16), it says “Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed.