Catholic Christianity: Beliefs and Teachings

• Christians believe that God manifests himself in three persons: the Father, the Son (Jesus Christ) and the Holy Spirit.
• 1. gives Catholics a sense that God is active and present in the world
  2. teaches that Catholics must work together to bring God's love into the world

  ( how belief in the trinity is reflected in the life of a catholic today)
• The Nicene Creed states that Christians believe in one God who exists in three distinct but equal parts - the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
• The doctrine of the Trinity helps Christians to understand how they can relate to God as individuals and as part of a community
• the doctrine of the incarnation teaches that jesus became human so he could understand what it means to be human and show us how we can live as humans
• Christians only worship one God because it is a teaching of the Bible, Jesus taught there is only 1 God, Gods unity is a teaching of the Nicene Creed.
• The Trinity is reflected in worship and belief through the use of the Nicene Creed which worshippers recite their belief in during mass, mass begins with the welcome in the name of the Trinity, main belief of the Nicene Creed.
• The threefold nature of God is hinted at in the Old Testament in Genesis, God speaks the Word to create and the Spirit hovers over creation.
• God as the Trinity is shown in the New Testament in Jesus' final words in Matthew are to make disciples, baptising them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
• Belief in God as the Trinity is important for Catholics as it helps understands the different ways that God has shown his presence: The Father (understand God's power/creativity), the Son (understand love of God+sacrifice-salvation), the Holy Spirit (understand presence of God in the world)
• Adoptionism is the belief that Jesus was an ordinary man who became Christ and Son of God at his baptism.
• Arianism is the belief that the Son was created by the Father at the beginning of the universe.
• The Councils of Nicaea and Constantinople explained the doctrine of the Trinity and formulated the Nicene Creed.
• 'Let us make man in our image' - Genesis
• 'God saw all that he made and it was very good' - Genesis
• The Catholic Church believes that the Bible writers were inspired by God. Catholics accept the scientific view of creation but believe Genesis reveals the truth that creation came from God.
• Catholics interpret 'let us make man in our image' as meaning humans are like God because they have free will, reason, and can love.
• Humans are called to be stewards of the earth and care for nature.
• Humans are called to be stewards of the earth and care for its resources.
• Creation shows that God is creator who created the heavens and the earth.
• Creation shows that God is omnipotent because he created the universe out of nothing (ex-nihilo)
• Creation shows that god is benevolent because he created the world for humans
• Creation shows that God is eternal because he had no beginning.
• Fundamentalist Protestants believe that the Bible is the word of God so Genesis is factually true and do not accept the Big Bang.
• Catholics, Orthodox Christians and Anglicans interpret Genesis as an account of creation rather than literal truth
• Mainstream Protestants believe the Bible is the Word of God but not his actual words. They regard Genesis 1 as fairly factual with days as billions of years. They accept the Big Bang theory.
• Liberal Protestants believe the Bible is people's words about God rather than the words of God. the importance of God's creation is the truth that the universe was created by God. They accept the Big Bang theory and evolution.
• Genesis teaches that God created humans in his image, they have free will, reason and a conscience. They are capable of self-knowledge.
• Genesis teaching reminds Catholics that each human is special, humans are more than animals and humans have fundamental human rights such as freedom of conscience, expression, food etc
• Being made in God's image gives humans a huge responsibility to care for the planet
• God gave humans dominion over the earth,
• God gave humans stewardship to look after creation, no exploitation of creation and resources shared fairly.
• Humanists believe that reason and science teach them that people need to care for and look after the planet.
• Other non-religious have different views: preserve the environment; enjoyed by how people want.
• 'God gave humans control of the living things in the earth' Genesis 1