|
Basic
Catholic Q and A's
The numbers in parenthese that
follow the questions refer to related paragraphs in the Catechism
of the Catholic Church.
How We Know about God
1. Does God exist?
2. Who is God?
3. How can we know that God exists?
4. What is reason?
5. What are some of the ways God's existence can be
known by our power to think and reason?
6. Does the universe itself point to a Creator?
7. What other religious facts can we know by our reason?
8. What is God's revelation?
9. Why do we need God's revelation?
10. How has God given us his revelation?
11. What is Sacred Tradition?
12. How important is Sacred Tradition?
13. What is meant by the "heritage of faith"?
14. What is the Bible?
15. What are other names for the Bible?
16. What are the main parts of the Bible?
17. What is the Bible's main theme?
18. What is divine inspiration?
19. What is the Old Testament about?
20. Briefly, what is the history of the chosen people?
21. What is the New Testament about?
22. What is the Gospel?
23. What do we learn from the Gospels?
24. How did the four Gospels come to be written?
25. Can people make mistakes when they try to understand
the Bible?
26. Can the Church make a mistake in interpreting
the Bible?
27. What does the Church consider in interpreting
the Bible?
28. How is the Bible to be read?
29. What is faith?
30. What is the profession of faith we recite at Mass?
31. Who are the faithful?
1. Does God exist?
Yes, God exists.
One God and Father of us all,
who is above all, through all, and in all (Eph 4:5-6).
2. Who is God?
God is the all-powerful Spirit who created everything that exists.
He is our Father who is with us always and awaits us in heaven to
share his everlasting joys with us. (205-221)
For God who made the world
and everything in it-the Lord of the heavens and the earth-does not
dwell in sanctuaries made by human hands, nor does he need anything
we can do for him since he gave life and breath to everyone and everything
(Acts 17:24).
3. How can we know that God exists?
Through reason and revelation we can know that God exists. (35)
4. What is reason?
Reason is our power to think. (33)
5. What are some of the ways
God's existence can be known by our power to think and reason?
We can know about God's existence from nature's laws and purposes,
the degrees of perfection in the universe, motion, causes and effects,
and the order and design of the universe. The longings of the human
heart, conscience and freedom point to God as the ultimate source
of our happiness. (31-35)
The Bible puts this question to us:
For if they had the power to
know so much that they could investigate the world, how did they fail
to find sooner the Lord of these things? (Wis 13:9).
6. Does the universe itself point
to a Creator?
Yes, in its magnificence and order the universe points to a Creator.
St. Paul says:
From the creation of the world
God's invisible attributes-his eternal power and divine nature-have
been accessible to human knowledge through what can be perceived,
and so they have no excuse (Rom 1:20). (See also Rom 11:36) (32,
36)
7. What other religious facts
can we know by our reason?
Some religious facts we can know by our reason are the following:
- the human soul will never die (see page 31); (366)
- everyone has a duty to worship God, who created us
(see page 178-179, 186-189); (2096, 2135)
- the historical character of the Gospels makes them
worthy of being believed (see page 15-16). (514-515)
8. What is God's revelation?
God's revelation is what he has told us about himself, ourselves
and his plan of love for us. Revelation is God's self-communication
to us, which he has made known to us through Scripture and Tradition,
as taught by the teaching authority of the Church. (50-51, 80)
Of old God spoke to our fathers
through the prophets many times and in various ways, but in these
last days he has spoken to us through a Son... (Heb 1:1-2).
9. Why do we need God's revelation?
We need God's revelation because without his help our reason
could not discover everything that God wants us to know about himself,
ourselves and his plan of love for us now and in the life to come.
(37-38, 52)
10. How has God given us his
revelation?
God has made himself known to us through his deeds and words
in salvation history. He gave us the fullness of revelation in his
Son, Jesus Christ, who is God-made-man. This revelation comes to
us
through Scripture and Tradition, as interpreted by the Church. (74-87,
95)
11. What is Sacred Tradition?
Sacred Tradition is the process by which the Church, through
the assistance of the Holy Spirit, preserves and hands on to all generations,
in its teaching, life and worship, all that it is and all that it
believes. (78)
Now there were many other things
that Jesus did; if every one of them were written down, I do not suppose
the world would have room for the books that would be written (Jn
20:25).
12. How important is Sacred
Tradition?
Sacred Tradition is of prime importance because in it we have
certainty about the things we must believe and do. (80-81)
Stand firm and hold fast to
the tradition we taught you, whether by word of mouth or by a letter
of ours (2 Thes 2:15).
13. What is meant by the "heritage
of faith"?
The "heritage of faith" (sometimes called the "deposit
of faith") means the truths which God has revealed and has given
to the Church to keep and to teach. This should not be thought of
in a static sense, since the Church grows in understanding this heritage
of faith. (84-95, 175)
14. What is the Bible?
The Bible is the book which contains the inspired Word of God.
In it God speaks to us through the writings of human authors whom
he chose and whom the Holy Spirit guided. (81)
Thus says the Lord, the God
of Israel: Write in a book all the words that I have spoken to you
(Jer 30:2).
15. What are other names for
the Bible?
The Bible is also called "Sacred Scripture," which
means "holy writings," or just "Scriptures," or
"the Word of God," since it is God's revelation to us.
16. What are the main parts of the
Bible?
The main parts of the Bible are the Old Testament, the forty-six
books written before the birth of Jesus, and the New Testament, the
twenty-seven books written after Jesus' resurrection. (120)
17. What is the Bible's main
theme?
The Bible's main theme is God's saving love for us human beings,
even though we are sinful.
18. What is divine inspiration?
Divine inspiration is the special guidance the Holy Spirit gave
to the Bible's human authors, so that they wrote everything God wanted
and only that, without error. (105-106)
All Scripture is inspired by
God and is useful for teaching, reproving, correcting, and training
in righteousness, so that the man of God may be fully capable of carrying
out every good work (2 Tm 3:16).
19. What is the Old Testament
about?
The Old Testament tells the history of God's saving actions
in the lives of the chosen people, the Israelites, through whom God
brought
about his plan of salvation. (122)
Salvation is from the Jews
(Jn 4:22).
20. Briefly, what is the history
of the chosen people?
Their history began with Abraham, whom God called to be father
and leader of the chosen people. Later Moses was sent to free the
people from slavery in Egypt and to give them the ten commandments
which God had revealed to him. God chose Joshua to lead the people
into Canaan, the "Promised Land." Later David became a great king
of Israel and an ancestor of Christ. God sent prophets (spokesmen)
such as Isaiah and Jeremiah to speak his words to the people and encourage
them to grow in fidelity to the covenant. At one point, God permitted
the destruction of the center of worship, Jerusalem, and the exile
of its people into Babylon. The exiles who later returned to Jerusalem
rebuilt the temple and renewed the covenant. (59-64)
21. What is the New Testament
about?
The New Testament is about the birth, life, teachings, death
and resurrection of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, as well as the life
and growth of the early Church which he founded. (124)
The appointed time has come
and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the Good
News! (Mk 1:15).
22. What is the Gospel?
The Gospel or "Good News" consists of the first four books of
the New Testament, and gives us a detailed description of the life
and teachings of Jesus. For Christians, these four books are the
most
important books of the Bible. (125)
23. What do we learn from the
Gospels?
From the Gospels we learn what Jesus asks us to believe and do
in order to be saved and reach heaven. We learn about the great love
Jesus and his Father have for us. Because of this love Jesus died
for us, to redeem us from our sins. (125)
What we have seen and heard
we also proclaim to you so you too may be in fellowship with us.
Our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ,
and
we are writing these things so that our joy may be complete (1 Jn
1:3-4).
24. How did the four Gospels
come to be written?
The Gospels were formed through a three-stage process: a) the
life and ministry of Jesus; b) the oral preaching of the apostles,
who proclaimed what Jesus had done and taught; c) the writing of
the
Gospels. The evangelists drew on the oral tradition to give their
specific audiences an account of Jesus' saving deeds. (126)
25. Can people make mistakes when
they try to understand the Bible?
Difficulties in translating and interpreting the language, customs
and history of the times can lead to misunderstanding biblical texts.
One of the reasons Jesus gave us the Church is to guide us in reading
the Bible. (109-119)
Jesus said to them, "Is
this not the reason you go astray, that you understand neither the
Scriptures nor the power of God?" (Mk 12:24).
There are some things in his
[St. Paul's] letters which are difficult to understand-ignorant and
unstable people distort them, just as they distort the rest of Scripture,
to their own destruction! (2 Pt 3:16).
26. Can the Church make a mistake
in interpreting the Bible?
The Church can never make a mistake in authentically interpreting
the Bible because the Holy Spirit preserves the Church from error.
(85-87)
27. What does the Church consider
in interpreting the Bible?
The Church considers the tradition of the Church Fathers and
Doctors, the original languages, literary forms, the actual text,
and historical findings. This helps to reach the true meaning which
the sacred author, under divine inspiration, had in writing and to
avoid a purely fundamentalist view which can be a false interpretation.
(111-114)
28. How is the Bible to be read?
The Bible is to be read humbly and prayerfully, with a readiness
to put God's Word into practice. (131-133)
29. What is faith?
Faith is a gift from God by which we believe what he has revealed.
By faith the whole person adheres to God in a free response of loving
trust. (91, 153-155, 176-184)
Now it is impossible to
please God without faith, because to even approach God you have to
believe that God exists and that he rewards those who seek him (Heb
11:6).
30. What is the profession of faith
we recite at Mass?
The profession of faith we recite at Mass is either the Nicene
Creed, an ancient declaration of belief in the principal truths of
faith, or the Apostles' Creed, which is used in some cases. (195)
31. Who are the faithful?
The faithful are loyal followers of the Lord Jesus. They share
in his priestly, prophetic and royal office through their Baptism.
(871-873)
Symeon Peter, a servant and
apostle of Jesus Christ, to those who have received a faith of equal
worth with ours through the saving will of our God and the Savior
Jesus Christ: may grace and peace abound to you through knowledge
of God and Jesus our Lord (2 Pt 1:1-2).
Contents
page
|
