- To gain the happiness of heaven we must know, love, and serve God in this world. Man must know, love and serve God in a supernatural manner in order to gain happiness of heaven. Man is raised to the supernatural order only by grace, a free gift of God.
- We learn to know, love, and serve God from Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who teaches us through the Catholic Church.
- In order to be saved, all persons who have attained the use of reason must believe explicitly that God exist and that he rewards the good and punishes the wicked; in practice they must also believe in the mysteries of the Blessed Trinity and the Incarnation.
- By the Blessed Trinity we mean one and the same God in three divine persons, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost.
- By the Incarnation is meant that the Son of God, retaining His divine nature, took to Himself a human nature, that is, a body and soul like ours.
- The Church is the congregation of all baptized persons united in the same true faith, the same sacrifice, and the same sacraments, under the authority of the Sovereign Pontiff and the bishops in communion with him.
- We find the chief truths taught by Jesus Christ through the Catholic Church in the Apostles' Creed.
The Commandments
- Besides believing what God has revealed, we must keep His law.
The Two Great Commandments
that contain the whole law of God are:
You shall love the Lord your God with your whole heart, and with your whole soul, and with your whole mind, and with your whole strength; you shall love your neighbor as yourself.
To love God, our neighbor, and ourselves, we must keep the commandments of God and of the Church, and perform the spiritual and corporal works of mercy.
The Ten Commandments of God according to the Christian Bible.
- I am the Lord your God; you shall not have strange gods before me.
- You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain.
- Remember to keep holy the Lord's day
- Honor your father and your mother.
- You shall not kill.
- You shall not commit adultery.
- You shall not steal.
- You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.
- You shall not covet your neighbor's wife.
- You shall not covet you neighbor's goods.
The Chief Commandments or Laws, of the Church
- To assist at Mass on all Sundays and holy days of obligation.
- To fast and abstain on the days appointed.
- To confess our sins at least once a year.
- To receive Holy Communion during the Easter time.
- To contribute to the support of the Church.
- To observe the laws of the Church concerning marriage.
When reading this, a few things stand out to me that I'd like to explore. First is the Catholic belief in how people experience eternal life and glory in heaven. It states:
1) "Man must know, love and serve God in a supernatural manner in order to gain happiness of heaven. Man is raised to the supernatural order only by grace, a free gift of God."
But then they go on to note that they way we "know, love, and serve God from Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who teaches us through the Catholic Church" Here, the church is clearly indicating that the way through Salvation is through Christ, but the way to Christ is through the Church. Therefore, am I right to assume that they believe Salvation can not be found OUTSIDE of the church? Or is this just one of many ways to know, love, and serve God?
We are then asked to follow one of God's Great commandments which is pulled directly from the Bible from Luke 10:27: "You shall love the Lord your God with your whole heart, and with your whole soul, and with your whole mind, and with your whole strength; you shall love your neighbor as yourself." But again, the follow up to this biblical commandment leads us to believe that the Church somehow needs to be inserted into this in order to actually live out this commandment. They say that in order to "love God, our neighbor, and ourselves, we must keep the commandments of God and of the Church, and perform the spiritual and corporal works of mercy." If that was the way to love God, how come the Bible didn't add that part about keeping the church's commandments? Who gave such power to the church?
I can't help but immediately wonder where the foundation of these beliefs came from and why Catholics believe that they have it right if it's not written in the Bible. Did some Prophet such as Joseph Smith tell them so? While some of their beliefs are pulled directly from the Bible, others are an interpretation of what Jesus Christ was trying to say when giving us these commandments and somehow these interpretations incorporate the NECESSITY of the Catholic Church in obtaining God's love. I can only assume then that a Catholic had to have been this great interpreter. Even in the Apostles Creed, the Catholic church is noted. What makes them so special? Why are they chosen?
Funny that this week God chose Catholic church as my next one to study. Here I am wondering if every religion can have it right....and it appears that the message from the Catholics is there is only one way to get to heaven....and it involves tithing, going to Sunday mass, fasting and receiving Holy Communion. Being "right" involves being a Catholic.
But again, maybe Catholics believe that the church can somehow multiply the presence of the Holy Spirit in their lives, and if its Truth for them, who knows if Christ is telling them one thing and me another? I know my stance here is sounding incredibly politically correct--that we're all right and know one will be judged for their beliefs. I can hear my dads voice in my head, "but Jessica, God is Just. We are not to judge, but He is. Non-believers will be judged and their name will not be written in the Book of Life." But maybe the desire to know God and work fervently to be more like Him is enough to get our names on that sacred list.
What it really all comes down to is: the more I learn, the less I know. Another statement I heard my father make just before he decided to look for answers outside of Christianity.
