We Believe: The Apostles’ Creed - Ave Maria Press

24 Pages·2011·3.47 MB·English

Part 1
★ ✥
◆ ● ▼ ■ ◆
W B
e elieve:
T A
he postles’
C
reed
Creed: An Expression of Faith
(CCC, 166–197)
F
aith results in a relationship with Jesus Christ and the Church. Faith
brings about the Catholic religion, which has three aspects to it:
1. what we believe,
2. how we worship and pray, and
3. how we live in response to our beliefs.
The what of Catholic faith is summarized in its various creeds,
including the Church’s two most popular creeds—the Nicene Creed,
which is recited publicly during Sunday Mass; and the Apostles’ Creed,
which each believer professes personally at Baptism and at the beginning
of each rosary.
A creed—from the Latin word credo (“I believe”)—is a statement of
belief. A person who recites a creed makes a personal act of faith. Yet a
Christian profession of faith is always made as part of the Church. Our
faith comes from God through the Church; it is not something we invent.
We believe as a community of believers. Professing our faith in a creed
helps unite us to fellow believers. It is similar to the sense of unity and
patriotism that results when citizens pledge their allegiance to the flag.
You are probably familiar with the Nicene Creed professed at Mass. It
formulates essential Christian doctrines about God the Father, God the
18
We Believe: The Apostles’ Creed
Son, God the Holy Spirit, the Church, salvation, TheApostles’Creed
and human destiny. It resulted after decades of
controversy begun by Arius, an Egyptian I believe in God, the Father almighty,
priest. Arius denied that Jesus, the Son, always
creator of heaven and earth.
existed with the Father. Therefore, he rejected
the divinity of Christ. I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord.
The raging Arian controversy caused He was conceived by the power of the
extreme dissension in the Church. Due to this,
Holy Spirit,
the Emperor Constantine convoked the first
and born of the Virgin Mary.
general or ecumenical council at Nicaea in 325.
One of its major achievements was to reaffirm He suffered under Pontius Pilate,
clearly the divinity of Jesus by issuing the was crucified, died, and was buried.
Nicene Creed. The second ecumenical council,
He descended into hell.
the Council of Constantinople (381), endorsed
and expanded this creed. The Nicene Creed has On the third day he rose again.
served as an excellent summary of Catholic He ascended into heaven,
faith ever since.
and is seated at the right hand of the
Based on Part 1 of the Catechism of the
Father.
Catholic Church, chapters 1 to 5 of this text are
organized around another faith summary, the He will come again to judge the living and
Apostles’ Creed, which was developed the dead.
between the second and ninth centuries. The
I believe in the Holy Spirit,
Apostles’ Creed is firmly rooted in an early
the holy catholic Church,
baptismal creed used in Rome in the second
century. This is significant because Peter, the the communion of saints,
first of the apostles and the Christ-appointed
the forgiveness of sins,
leader of the Church, came to Rome to establish
the resurrection of the body,
the Church there. Thus, the great authority of
the Apostles’ Creed goes all the way back to the and the life everlasting. Amen.
theological formulas that arose during the time
of Peter (the first pope) and the apostles.
The Apostles’ Creed is simple, short,
logically ordered, and prayerful. It highlights
the essential Christian doctrine of the Blessed
Trinity by proclaiming faith in
★
the first divine Person (the almighty and
eternal God the Father) and the work of
creation;
★
the second divine Person (Jesus Christ,
God-made-man) and his work of
redemption; and
★
the third divine Person (the Holy Spirit),
who is the origin and source of
sanctification that comes to us through
Christ’s one, holy, catholic, and apostolic
Church (CCC, 190).
19
Lord true God,
The is
living God,
he is the the
.
eternal King. 1
Chapter Outline
Jeremiah 10:10 .
.
One, True God
God reveals himself to us through
.
our natural reason.
. Beliefs about God
There are no more important
questions than those dealing with
.
God’s existence.
. Divine Revelation
God makes himself known
through the mystery of his divine
.
plan.
. Who Is God?
God has revealed himself as a
Trinity of persons.
Creator of Heaven and Earth
God created out of his wisdom
and love in order to share his
glory.
1
C
h a p t e r
★ ✱ ✥
◆ ● ▼ ■ ◆
20
★ ✱ ✥
◆ ● ▼ ■ ◆
O L G
ur oving od:
F C
ather and reator
21
Our Catholic Faith
One, True God
O
ur culture is certainly overwhelmed by sports.
Professional and amateur athletes alike face the
constant temptations of money, power, and fame. Many
athletes in the public eye disappoint themselves and their
fans with poor behavior brought to the public’s attention.
Religion, faith, and God sometimes seem to come in a distant
second to athletics and all of its trappings. But there are
exceptions to this generalized premise.
One example is Josh Heupel, the quarterback of the
Oklahoma Sooners when they won the 2000 National
Championship. In November, before a game with Texas
Tech, Josh spearhead a campaign that would eventually
collect enough food to feed 250 families on Thanksgiving
Day.
Josh’s mom described him as always being a caring
person, but Josh said a serious football injury while playing
for a community college in Utah helped to put his life in
perspective. “Things weren’t going along the way I planned.
My first year in college I allowed other things to become
number one. I had to give God complete control over my
life.”
Shelly Pennefather, the woman’s college basketball
player of the year in 1987 at Villanova, is another athlete who
went to dramatic lengths to put God first in her life. Giving
up a lucrative professional basketball career in Japan, Shelly
became Sister Rose Marie, a cloistered nun with the Colettine
Poor Clares in 1991. The path she chose was not a complete
surprise to family members and friends; Shelly had
counseled her college coach on the breakup of his marriage
and once donated $25,000 she received as a basketball bonus
to Mother Teresa’s order, the Missionaries of Charity.
Both Josh and Shelly lived in a public way their faith in God, a definite
Josh Heupel
contrast to those who put God on the “backburner” and save thoughts of
him for only special times in a day or week. They are certainly apart from
many, including atheists, who fail to acknowledge God at all.
This chapter discusses the revelation of God as a loving Father and
Creator of all that exists. All other aspects of our Catholic faith flow from
our belief in the one, true God whom we profess in the Apostles’ Creed.
atheist—A person who
Beliefs about God
denies the existence of
God.
There are many views of God held by people in our world
today. Here are some of them. Evaluate each statement
according to this scale:
1—I believe this is a correct belief about God.
2—There is some merit to this belief.
3—This is a clearly wrong belief about God.
22
Our Loving God: Father and Creator
1. There is a God, and God does indeed make a difference. God
made and cares for everything, including me. ■
2. It is reasonable to conclude that God exists, but I don’t see how God
could possibly be interested in me. I am like a grain of sand in the
Discussion ■
immense universe. God is all-powerful, infinite, and much greater
than I am. Questions
3. There is no God. God is just an excuse for what cannot be explained. ■
As scientists better explain the “mysteries” of the universe, then we will
discover that we simply do not “need” the idea of a God. 1. Why did you accept
■
4. There is no God. If God did exist why would he allow terrorist attacks or reject any of the
on innocent people, senseless wars, helpless fatalities of natural statements?
disasters like hurricanes, and ravaging diseases? The best argument
2. Which of the ■
against God is the existence of so much evil in the world.
statements must a
5. Jesus Christ is God. He is my Lord and Savior! Catholic believe?
■
6. Since you can’t prove God’s existence one way or another, what’s Why?
the big deal? Best to say, “I don’t know.”
3. Which statements are,
Beliefs about God in your judgment, ■
clearly false? Why?
Few questions are more important than the question of God’s
■
existence. Through history, the vast majority of people have worshiped
some kind of deity. For example, the ancient Egyptians, Greeks, Romans,
Aztecs, and many other civilizations all had involved systems revolving
around belief in gods.
Today, it is estimated that well over 90 percent of the world’s
population believes in God’s existence. The number of people who belong
to the world’s great religions attests to this. Christianity, Judaism, and
monotheistic—Religions
Islam together claim more than 50 percent of the world’s population. They
that believe that there is
are all monotheistic religions, that is, they believe in one (mono) God
only one God. Christianity,
(theos). On the other hand, popular Hinduism is polytheistic, that is,
Judaism, and Islam are
holding belief in many gods and goddesses. Buddhism, though not
the three great
believing in a personal god, does hold that there is a sole Ultimate Reality
monotheistic world
in the Universe.
religions.
Some who label themselves as believers take a more philosophical
approach to religion. An example is deism (illustrated in the second
statement in the exercise above). Many of the founding fathers of the polytheistic—Religions that
United States of America (including George Washington and Thomas believe in multiple gods
Jefferson) were deists who thought of God as a watchmaker or absentee and goddesses. The
landlord. In other words, the deists believed that God created the universe ancient Greeks and
by “winding it up” and then staying outside his creation while it Romans were polytheistic
“worked” on its own. Most deists do not think God destined a special as is the Hindu faith.
people to know him. Nor do they believe that God performs miracles by
becoming involved in his creation.
deism—The belief that
Arecent study found that less than one percent of Americans claim to
God did create the
be atheists.2 Atheists are people who do not believe in the existence of
universe but that he takes
God, supernatural beings, or heaven and hell. (The third and fourth
no further interest in it.
statements in the exercise above illustrate some of their reasons.) Many
atheists are also secular humanists. Secular humanists claim that the world
can operate without any recourse to God. Humanism makes the human
person and human achievement the center of the universe.
23
Our Catholic Faith
Related to atheists are agnostics (from a Greek word that translates to
“don’t know”). Agnostics hold that God’s existence cannot be proved or
agnostics—People who
disproved. (The sixth statement in the exercise reflects this view.)
claim that God’s
Agnostics answer “I don’t know” when asked if they believe in God and
existence cannot be
usually act as though God does not exist. Less than one percent of
known.
Americans claim to be agnostics. Divorced from religion, some atheists
and agnostics live a hedonistic life where the pursuit of pleasure acts as
their god.
Belief in God is reasonable. The fact that so many people through the
ages have believed in God and have practiced some kind of religion that
involves prayer, ritual, sacrifice, and an ethical code is a strong indicator
that humans have a religious nature. Humans intuit that there is some
Power in the universe much greater and more awesome than themselves.
But what about the great variety of religions? Does the fact that there
are so many varying beliefs about God and differences in worship and
doctrine disprove God’s existence? Not really. Rather, these differences
point out that the human intellect can discover a Supreme Being, but that
B E
C
A D F
A. Young Asian Buddhist, B. Air Force Academy non-denominational chapel C. Chiang Mai temple,
Thailand D. Korean temple, E. Asian Buddha statue, F. Mormon church.
24
Our Loving God: Father and Creator
God’s complete identity remains a mystery, the universe are forced to ask questions
only to be discovered with God’s direct help or about where the primeval matter that started
revelation. In fact, the Church teaches “by everything came from. The only logical
natural reason man can know God with answer is a Divine Being who made it.
certainty, on the basis of his works” (CCC, 50). 3. Everything Comes from Something (i.e., “the
St. Paul also understood this to be true: cosmological argument”). “Nothing”
For what can be known about God cannot create “something.” Therefore, we
is evident . . . because God made it are forced to conclude there must be one
evident . . . . Ever since the creation of the necessary, eternal Being (God) who always
world, his invisible attributes of eternal was and brought other beings into
power and divinity have been able to be existence.
understood and perceived in what he 4. Supreme Model. Persons and things in this
has made (Rom 1:19–20). world have different degreesof qualities like
goodness, truth, beauty, justice, and so
There is no ironclad way of proving God’s
forth. But we can only speak of different
existence. But there are signs all around us that
degrees of these qualities by comparing
point to God. Intelligent people can discover
them to a Supreme Model or reference
these signs, reflect on them, and reasonably
point. This perfect model of goodness,
conclude that they point to a Supreme Being.
truth, beauty is the perfect being we call
Some of these signs appeal to the intellect,
God.
others appeal to the heart or feelings.
5. Grand Designer. There is a beauty,
Intellectual Proofs for
immensity, symmetry, and power in our
God’s Existence world that forces us to conclude that a
Grand Designer made it all. Asimple spider
Throughout human history many excellent
spinning its web, a beaver building its dam,
arguments have been advanced that
the earth rotating around the sun, the
demonstrate God’s existence. St. Thomas
chemical mix that produces life, the
Aquinas’s (1225–1274) ideas (based on the
awesome process of human reproduction—
Greek philosopher, Aristotle) provide us with
all these and countless other realities
five “proofs” for the existence of God:
suggest a God who implanted laws in the
1. The Unmoved Mover. There is motion in the
universe to make it work right. G.K.
world (for example, neutrons, electrons,
Chesterton once said, “Show me a watch
protons, atoms, etc.). Whatever is in motion
without a watchmaker, then I’ll take a
had to be moved by something else. This
universe without a Universe-Maker.”
“something else” also must have been
moved by Something or Someone. A good application of St. Thomas’s five
Continue imagining back to the beginning proofs is to ask the simple question, “How did
of time and we must conclude there was a we humans get here?” First, scientists have yet
“First Mover,” an “Unmoved Mover,” to explain how life could have evolved from
which is God. matter. Second, statisticians say it is virtually
impossible for intelligent, human life to appear
2. First Cause. Nothing causes itself. For
by mere chance. Third, when we look at the
example, a painting comes about from an
course of human development, we can detect a
artist who was brought into existence by her
hidden but powerfully present Intelligence that
parents. Who caused these parents? Keep
is leading and guiding us. The mystery of
going back to the beginning and you must
human life and history has to be rooted in the
conclude there was a First Cause or
Mystery at the heart of the universe.
Uncaused Cause which was eternal. This
Being we call God. Today, even those who
accept the “big bang” theory of the origin of
25
Our Catholic Faith
Heartfelt Proofs for often prosper in this life while some good
God’s Existence people suffer and are taken advantage of.
We have a fundamental feeling that things
“The desire for God is written in the human
will be reversed someday, that there is a
heart, because man is created by God and for
Power that will right all wrongs, if not in
God” (CCC, 27). We see this deep yearning for
this life, then in the next.
God reveal itself in many ways, including:
4. Love. Love is a spiritual reality with origins
1. An unquenchable thirst for joy and happiness. that the material universe cannot explain.
We all want to be happy. We spend a lot of In fact, love comes from love itself, the
our time and energy doing and getting being we call God. (The same argument
things that we think will make us happy. holds for intelligence; it must ultimately
Yet our happiness fades and we soon find come from intelligence itself, that is, God.)
ourselves desiring something else. Are we
Given the many signs of head and heart
creatures doomed to be ultimately
that point to the existence of God, it’s easy to
frustrated? We want happiness, but the
see that the French philosopher, Blaise Pascal
more we pursue it, the more it slips away. A
(1623–1662), is right on. He said it is a good bet
possible explanation for this reality is that
to believe in God. “If you win, you win
our Creator God implanted in us a kind of
everything.” With faith in God comes a big
homing device that causes us to be restless
payoff—eternal life. With atheism, you only
until we find him. This restlessness for total
have everything to lose.
happiness points to a God who made us
this way. Consider the opposite: If there is
no God then there is no meaning to life.
Our deep yearning for everlasting Understanding God
happiness and joy becomes a meaningless
joke. The Scriptures stress both God’s
2. An experience of beauty and truth.So much of transcendence and
the beauty and truth of heaven is found on immanence. These terms can
earth: a starlit sky, a breathtaking sunset, or help us to understand more
a beautiful piece of music. When we about God.
experience profound joy in the presence of ★
Transcendence is the quality of God’s
some awesome experience, when we
total uniqueness and infinite greatness
encounter truth and it seems so perfectly
compared to his creatures. Psalm 102 puts
right, we are getting a taste of God’s beauty
it this way: “They shall perish, but you
and truth. God made us, understands us,
remain though all of them grow old like a
loves us, and gives us a taste of heaven on
garment; . . . but you are the same, and
earth.
your years have no end” (27–28).
3. Asense of personal conscience, moral goodness, ★
God’s immanence, on the other hand,
and justice. In the depths of our souls we
refers to God’s being in the world, his
sense God’s voice teaching us that we must
closeness to, and intimacy with us. In
always do good (for example, treat others
preaching to the Athenians, St. Paul
fairly) and always avoid evil (for example,
emphasized this quality when he said, “In
“Do not murder”). We sense that there is an
him we live and move and have our
absolute moral authority—God—that
being” (Acts 17:28). A wonderful example
teaches the standard of human behavior.
of God’s immanence is when he allows us
We also imagine a God of justice. It seems
mere creatures to receive his very Son,
unfair to us that cheaters, liars, and killers
Jesus Christ, in Holy Communion.
26
Our Loving God: Father and Creator
1. What kind of God (immanent or transcendent) do you experience
when you are happy? worried? guilty? peaceful?
2. Interview two adults and two peers. Ask them for two reasons for ■
believing or not believing in God. Share and compare responses.
Discussion
3. Choose a piece of instrumental music (classical or otherwise) that
Questions ■
speaks to you of beauty, truth, or goodness. Listen to the music. Write
two or three paragraphs explaining how this music speaks to you of
God or other spiritual realities.
■
1. Do you feel that belief
in God is reasonable?
Explain. ■
✷ ✷ ✷ ✷ ✷ ✷ ✷
2. Which proof of God’s
Thomas Aquinas existence leaves you
■
with the most
Thomas Aquinas was born in approximately 1225 to a noble family. As questions? Which
a child, his brilliant mind was already asking his Benedictine teachers proof of God’s
■
about God’s nature. Against the fierce opposition of his family, at existence answers
eighteen he joined the relatively new Dominican Order, which had more of your
become known for its quality of preachers and teachers. questions? ■
Thomas studied under the brilliant St. Albert the Great at the University
3. Why do you believe in
of Cologne. Tradition holds that
God?
Thomas merited the nickname ■
“Dumb Ox” for his quiet manner and
huge size, but he proved himself to
be the most brilliant of all students.
Albert reportedly said of him, “This ox
will one day fill the world with his
bellowing.”
transcendence—A trait of
After ordination, Thomas
God that refers to God’s
received his doctoral degree at the
total otherness and being
University of Paris. He then embarked
infinitely beyond and
on an untiring life of teaching and
independent of creation.
preaching. But it was his writing that
made him a marvel in his own day
and the genius theologian of the
Catholic Church for all time. A prolific immanence—A trait of
writer of more than sixty works, God which refers to
Thomas’s masterpiece is the Summa God’s intimate union with
Theologica (Summary Treatise of and total presence to his
Theology, 1265–1273). It marks the creation.
summit of scholastic philosophy,
which reconciled Christian faith with
human reason and the works of
Aristotle with Scripture.
Thomas’s contributions to human
thought are immeasurable. Besides
27