Ask a Catholic

[ding]

12 years of dealing with psycho nuns in habits was more than enough for me, thanks. My understanding was I couldn't put enough distance between me and them fast enough.

Blaming others for your failings is a textbook example of an external locus of control.

 

[ding]

...Bible's should come with warning labels.

That this is how you see what the Bible teaches only proves my point that you don't know how to be objective.

 

[ding]

yeah, actually it does because the verse is repeated several times. It's kind of the theme of the book. Israel had no King, and they variated between anarchy and Judges who were often suspect. Samson cavorted with Philistine women, Jephthah sacrificed his daughter, Deborah had a vagina.. it was pure chaos, I tell you!!!! Good thing we finally got some Kings... who by and large, weren't much better.

Joe, you are proving my point. That phrase occurs four times in the Book of Judges and all four of them are in the account of the Tribes of Dan and Benjamin.

 

[JoeB131]

That this is how you see what the Bible teaches only proves my point that you don't know how to be objective.

Naw, objective is realizing these are the myths of a bronze age people.

Non-objective is reading a book with talking snakes and giants in it and taking it totally seriously.

 

[ding]

Naw, objective is realizing these are the myths of a bronze age people.

Non-objective is reading a book with talking snakes and giants in it and taking it totally seriously.

Your boiling down the Bible down to talking snakes and giants reveals your lack of objectivity.

 

[JoeB131]

Your boiling down the Bible down to talking snakes and giants reveals your lack of objectivity.

That the book actually LEAD with the talking snake story is part of the problem.

 

[seaofnails]

.
My true and honest intention is not to disagree with you or anyone here, personal, individuality - However, this is what I believe is absolutely true and factual, based truly conteXtualizing enormous research and time orbiting the subjective whole.

We must remember the fact that for the first 1000 years after Christ, there is absolutely no surviving Hebrew Bible in existence on the planet - the earliest Complete Hebrew Old Testament Manuscripts are from the 10 th century.

This means that Trinitarians were not interested in preserving The Hebrew Old Testament. This manuscript has completely been destroyed -

The Aleppo Codex (c. 920 AD ) and Leningrad Codex ( 1008 AD ) were once the oldest known manuscripts of the Tanakh in Hebrew. The Dead Sea Scrolls are a production of an attempt to hide and preserve tiny bits and pieces of shreds, fragments, shards of the Bible - as safe - guarding uncirculated and irrelevant fragments and partial scrolls - that the Trinitarian world knew absolutely nothing about for nearly 2000 years.

THE FACT IS - the Trinitarians have just recently permitted the Jews to have their homeland and live in peace for just one single generation,- just 70 years ago -

The GODHEADIAN and TRINITARIAN world has butchered, killed, tortured and slaughtered twice as many Jews as both Islam and Adolf Hitler put together.

Their manuscripts have been manipulated and controlled and the Trinitarians outlawed and banned it illegal to even translate a bible into another language - for nearly 2000 years.

Trinitarians have accused the Jews as being under Gods curse and as being evil deceivers and worth of physical persecution and have exiled and ousted them out of every single Trinitarian country.

What I am getting at = is that after 2000 years SUDDENLY THE TRINITARIANS HAVE A NEW REVELATION SUDDENLY THE JEWS KNOW THEIR BIBLES AND ARE HEBREW EXPERTS IN THE OLD TESTAMENT. SUDDENLY THE JEWS MIRACULOUSLY BEEN FOUND WORTHY TO BE ACCEPTANCE IN COMMENTARY ON THE BIBLE

but this is such manipulation because for 2000 years the Trinitarians have prohibited the entire world from translating the Old Testament and Trinitarians - HAVE COMPLETELY DESTROYED AND ERADICATED AND SNUFFED OUT ALL OF THE ENTIRE BODY OF THE OLD TESTAMENT MANUSCRIPT THAT THE JEWS HAD ATTEMPTED TO POSSES AND PRESERVE.

AND TODAY TRINITARIANS POINT THEIR FINGER AT THE BIBLES THAT THE JEWS POSESS TODAY - and Trinitarians declare, that the fact that the Jews Bibles batch up and match up with their Trinitarian Translations - this means something special and miraculous vindicating their translations.

Yet
Less than a single generation ago the Jews had been living in persecution and under terrorism attacks at the hands of the Trinitarians for the last 2000 years. ! expelled and for 2000 years periodically continually ousted and exiled out of every Trinitarian continent on the planet and living in hiding, as animals, tormented and terrorized and manipulated in every way possible.

My point is not directed toward individual Trinitarians / Godheadians or anyone particular, but I just cannot pretend that things are as the specious appearance that is purported.

THE ENTIRE IDEA AND CONCEPT OF A COMPLETED BIBLE TRANSLATION MOVING BEYOND THE ANCIENT LATIN AND GREEK AND INTO A MODERN REAL-TIME WORLD LANGUAGE - THIS CONCEPT AND IDEA - THIS IS A TOTAL AND FREAK ACCIDENT, IN THE TRINITARIAN WORLD.

A MISTAKE - A TRINITARIAN MISTAKE, THAT SUDDENLY ACCIDENTALLY JUST HAPPENED TO ACCIDENTALLY APPEAR and OCCURE BEHIND THEIR BACKS -

nearly, 2000 years after the book was written

these tiny fragments scattered in the wind that have been accidentally found scattered across the Middle East and Europe. Before the late 1400 s.

do not exist because Trinitarians were preserving the bible -

these are random failed attempts to translate the Bible for 2000 years by hereticks who were hunted and killed. These scattered fragments - thousands of fragments accidentally found scattered throughout Europe and the Middle East - EXIST SOELY BECAUSE Trinitarians never – never NEVER intended to preserve a single page of the original Bible.

This Hebrew website ATTEMPTS TO claim that Jephthah, in fact did NOT kill his daughter, this Jewish scholar is defending Jephthah against the Trinitarian accusation by asking the question……….. “ Was it Samuel's death she { Samuels mother } was offering, or his life? Consider how she carried out the vow: “ ?

further explaining that - “ Neither Jephthah nor Samuel's mother mentioned an animal in their vow. However, when a person was given to the LORD, - it was an animal that was slain, and in the case of a burnt offering, was burnt. Likewise, WHEN SAMSON'S PARENTS WERE INFORMED THAT HE WOULD BE CONCEIVED, his father made a burnt animal sacrifice, (Judg 13:15-20).......

. .. It was a child's life that became the LORD's, NOT THEIR DEATH, and they served the LORD, (Jehovah), all of their days.
CLICK HERE

We have another Hebrew Rabbi named “ Rabbi Jonathan Magonet “ CLICK HERE -

Here, he also defends Jephthah against the Trinitarian accusation by writing the following .... “ Immediately following the statement about Jephthah fulfilling his vow, we are told that his daughter “ did not know a man. ” IF SHE IS DEAD, Then this information is hardly relevant, so presumably it belongs to some broader issue in the narrative.

We also have a Hebrew Scholar named : Levi Ben Gershon “ from 1288 - 1344
Here, the Scholar insists that Jephthah only kept his daughter in seclusion.
CLICK HERE

Regarding Jephthah’s vowel to offer up and confront the iniquity and wickedness concerning his daughter sexual immorality…..
Furthermore you can go directly to these websites that clearly demonstrate that the Hebrew word “ עולה׃ “ means injustice, iniquity and unrighteousness
והיה היוצא אשׁר יצא מדלתי ביתי לקראתי בשׁובי בשׁלום מבני עמון והיה ליהוה והעליתהו עולה׃

https://biblehub.com/hebrew/5766.htm
& https://www.kgbc.com/html/dict/strongs/H5766.html
& https://hermeneutics.stackexchange.com/questions/50891/some-isaiah-618-translations-use-phrase-burnt-offering-as-opposed-to-wrong

& here is an excellent website that proves exactly that this Hebrew word means evil, injustice, iniquity and unrighteousness. IN THE HEBREW LANGUAGE
Click here -


The Trinitarian world is a blackened bottomless pit that seeks to undermine the Old Testament in any way possible HERE IS ANOTHER TRINITARIAN MISTRANSLATION in Exo 21: 20 -21


Exo 21:20 And if a man smite his servant, or his maid, with a rod, and he die under his hand; he shall be surely punished.
:21 Notwithstanding, IF HE CONTINUE A DAY OR TWO, HE SHALL NOT BE PUNISHED: FOR HE IS HIS MONEY.

The Trinitarian Translators indeed make it sound like that the MANUSCRIPTS are actually saying that SOMEONE is allowed to beat their slave to death - JUST SO LONG AS IT TAKES LONGER THAN A DAY FOR THE DEATH

But when we look at the Hebrew manuscripts, this is not at all the message - here is exactly word for word the exact message in the manuscript.

Exo 21:20 וכי FOR - יכה STRIKING - אישׁ A MAN - את HIMSELF - עבדו A SERVANT - או OR - את HIMSELF - אמתו A MAID - בשׁבט WITH A ROD - ומת AND DIES - תחת UNDER - ידו HIS HAND - נקם AVENGE - ינקם׃ THIS VENGANCE

:21 אך BUT - אם IF - יום A DAY - או OR - יומים TWO DAYS - יעמד HE RISE - לא NOT - יקם AVENGE / ESTABLISH - כי THAT - כספו HIS MONEY - הוא׃ IS

In fact - the manuscripts are saying that if a worker is hurt because he is being abused by his boss and become injured for just a brief day or two - and is unable to work, the boss is obligated and Commanded To Pay The Worker The Wages For The Days He Is Unable To Work. This is exactly what the manuscripts are saying - word for word…….

Exo 21:20 FOR STRIKING A MAN HIMSELF A SERVANT OR HIMSELF A MAID WITH A ROD AND DIES UNDER HIS HAND AVENGE THIS VENGANCE

:21 BUT IF A DAY OR TWO DAYS HE RISE NOT, AVENGE / ESTABLISH THAT HIS MONEY IS HIS

The previous verses above are saying the exact message - confirming the same exact EXAMPLE referring to two men who are fighting among one another and one of the men becomes injured.

Exo 21:18 And if men strive together, and one smite another with a stone, or with his fist, and he die not, but keepeth his bed:
:19 If he rise again, and walk abroad upon his staff, then shall he that smote him - ………. ……… HE SHALL PAY FOR THE LOSS OF HIS TIME, AND SHALL CAUSE HIM TO BE THOROUGHLY HEALED.

And then the very next :21 is referring to A BOSS injuring his worker - AGAIN explaining - IF A DAY OR TWO DAYS HE RISE NOT, AVENGE / ESTABLISH THAT HIS MONEY IS HIS

To establish that the workers money and wages are paid to him - the worker - who was unable to work BECAUSE HIS BOSS INJURED HIM. The Trinitarians twist the passage to say that SOMEONE is allowed to beat their worker to death -
AND IT IS ALL OK - JUST AS LONG AS THE WORKER DIES A SLOW PLAINFUL DEATH OVER THE COURSE OF A DURATION OF A FEW DAYS - if it takes TWO DAYS FOR THE WORKER TO SLOWLY DIE - THEN THE BOSS HAS NO LIABILITY - nor responsibility for killing and murdering his worker.

The Trinitarians go through the Translation insinuating and suggesting that GOD himself is labeling WORKERS and BOND SERVANTS as “ SLAVES “ - yet they also have the commandment from God commanding that Hebrew are to receive a FULLY AUTOMATC death penalty for enslaving others. Everything is a twisted contradiction, designed to pervert and castigate the characters of the Old Testament in the most barbaric, perverted and brutish, beastly ideology - as if they are a bunch of confused, puzzled perverts and reprobates

This is completely absurd. But this is what Trinitarians are doing through the entire Old Testament. Projecting the Trinitarian Faith System directly upon the characters of the Old Testament.

In conclusion to the never ending contradictions within the Trinitarian world, - let’s look at - Gen 30:8

Here is – Martian Luther’s Bible - and - The Latin Vulgate - and - Douay Rheims translations

Gen 30:8 For whom Rachel said: GOD hath compared me with my sister, and I have prevailed: and she called him Nephthali.

BUT

The protestant - TRINITARIAN TRANSLATION - K.J.V translate Gen 30:8 - as

:8 And Rachel said, With “ GREAT “ wrestlings have I wrestled with my sister, and I have prevailed: and she called his name Naphtali.

The Protestants have deleted the word ELOHEEM “ God “ -
But here - we find the original Hebrew manuscripts


GEN 30:8 ותאמר SAID - רחל RACHEL,, - נפתולי ENTWINED - אלהים ELOHEEM / GOD - נפתלתי HAS ENTWINED ME - עם WITH - אחתי MY SISTER - גם ALSO - יכלתי I CAN - ותקרא CALL - שׁמו HIS NAME - נפתלי׃ NAFTALI.

Manuscript word for word - exactly.

GEN 30:8 SAID RACHEL, ENTWINED ELOHEEM / GOD - HAS ENTWINED / INTERWEAVED ME WITH MY SISTER, ALSO I CAN CALL HIS NAME NAFTALI.

Trinitarian theology is not bible translation but deliberation of eternal intentional contradictory perversity.

With “ GREAT “ wrestling’s GOD hath compared me with my sister and I have wrestled with my sister, and I have prevailed over my sister,

What Jew is willing to oppose the Trinitarian world view of their Old Testament

THE JEWS HAVE NOT EVEN BEEN ALLOWED TO LIVE IN FREEDOM FOR MORE THAT A SINGLE GENERATION ... Not even a single generation has passed - since jews have been granted rights to live in freedom. In just a span of 70 short years - the Jews are willing to dare oppose and object to the Trinitarian bible translation, after being terrorized and exterminated and exiled from every Trinitarian continent on the planet for the last 2000 years ? ? ? ?

SUDDENLY, EVERY JEW IS A BIBLE EXPERT - if they agree with a Trinitarian translation .

This is called survival expertise “ survival scholars “

 

[ding]

That the book actually LEAD with the talking snake story is part of the problem.

The problem is your lack of effort in trying to understand something that is so obviously allegorical that it might as well be the nose on your face. Your inability to decipher its meaning is entirely of your own making.

 

[rightnow909]

Does anyone have any questions or concerns about the Catholic faith?

yes

Why aren't priests telling people about the Real Presence and the Rosary?

I haven't heard / read of such in years... kind of odd. I think a lot of them belong to the secret societies... some of which are anti-Catholic.

 

[ding]

Why aren't priests telling people about the Real Presence

Maybe they have lost faith and don't believe it. Maybe they do and we just don't know it. Who knows?

 

[JoeB131]

The problem is your lack of effort in trying to understand something that is so obviously allegorical that it might as well be the nose on your face. Your inability to decipher its meaning is entirely of your own making.

Or sometimes a cigar is just a cigar.

A book of bronze age supersitions is nothing more than what it appears.

 

[ding]

Or sometimes a cigar is just a cigar.

A book of bronze age supersitions is nothing more than what it appears.

I don't see anyone having diametrically different views on cigars.

Again... The problem is your lack of effort in trying to understand something that is so obviously allegorical that it might as well be the nose on your face. Your inability to decipher its meaning is entirely of your own making.

 

[JoeB131]

My true and honest intention is not to disagree with you or anyone here, personal, individuality - However, this is what I believe is absolutely true and factual, based truly conteXtualizing enormous research and time orbiting the subjective whole.

We must remember the fact that for the first 1000 years after Christ, there is absolutely no surviving Hebrew Bible in existence on the planet - the earliest Complete Hebrew Old Testament Manuscripts are from the 10 th century.

This means that Trinitarians were not interested in preserving The Hebrew Old Testament. This manuscript has completely been destroyed -

Yeah, your novel of Conspiracy theories aside... that assumes a huge effort that doesn't really make sense. How did they get the Jews to go along with it, including Jews who didn't reside in the Christian/Trinitarian World?

 

[Meriweather]

yes

Why aren't priests telling people about the Real Presence and the Rosary?

I haven't heard / read of such in years... kind of odd. I think a lot of them belong to the secret societies... some of which are anti-Catholic.

The Real Presence not being brought up surprises me, because it is something I hear quite often. As for the Rosary....Growing up, we always prayed the rosary as a family. When my mom died a few years ago, we showed up to the viewing with our rosaries and shocked the Deacon who was officiating. He said most families no longer "bothered". He tried to joke. "How long did it take you to find your Rosaries?" Wasn't funny, because most of us kept them on a bedside table.

But it did occur to me that the Rosary had always been a family thing for us--we seldom prayed it in church.

 

[JoeB131]

The Real Presence not being brought up surprises me, because it is something I hear quite often. As for the Rosary....Growing up, we always prayed the rosary as a family. When my mom died a few years ago, we showed up to the viewing with our rosaries and shocked the Deacon who was officiating. He said most families no longer "bothered". He tried to joke. "How long did it take you to find your Rosaries?" Wasn't funny, because most of us kept them on a bedside table.

But it did occur to me that the Rosary had always been a family thing for us--we seldom prayed it in church.

Um, okay. Maybe the church realizes that old rituals are kind of meaningless in the modern world.

 

[seaofnails]

At least 50 - 70 years after God's great servant the mighty Jephthah passed away, the Israelites found themselves facing a horrible situation as a man from The Godly Concentrated Levi Priestly tribe was passing as a sojourner as an alien or a stranger and a foreigner through another land to bring back one of his wives visiting with her father back to his home city.

On his journey back, he had no place to stay and was wandering the streets of the city of Gibeah looking for a place to sleep and wash up and eat.

A kind elderly man saw him, approached him, and said that he would take him into his home, saying I can take care of anything you want - but do not lodge or stay the night in the street.

:21 The man fed his donkeys and let him and his wife wash their feet. But soon a violent mob of homosexual men gathered outside the home and surrounded it and began loudly yelling and beating upon the house as they demanded that kind man hand over his guest so that they could take him and enjoy him in a sexual orgy of rape and violent lust.

The man stated that if they were going to rape someone, that it would be better that they rape his own daughter or the man’s wife rather than to rape another male.

So the homosexuals accepted the option of raping the man’s wife as the man presented his wife to the gays, probably never imagining that they would actually rape her or have any heterosexual interests in her.
This was the way that sexually transmitted diseases, illnesses, symptoms and many incurable sickness were spread, and male on male sex, in this primitive society was seen as one of the most dirty, horrid, evil and inconceivable act that someone could do

The homosexual’s gang raped and abused his wife all through the night, which led to her tragic and violent agonizing death. Her organs and system was completely torn, frayed, flared outward, turned inside out and damaged and she died shortly thereafter.

The Israelites went hunting for these men, which leads to very big battle described in - Judges 20:

The Israelites are facing a city of violent attackers who are upset that they would demand that they hand over their special favorite, popular and darling homosexual citizens.

Israel defends herself by fighting back but Israel is unsure and uncertain as whom exactly they are fighting and whom among their own Israelite people are fighting them in favor of the city and who among the Benjamite tribesmen are against them.

So all of Israel makes a pronouncement that each leader makes a vow and promise, to swear to gather their people after the battle and they swore that they would all meet at a meeting place located in a place called " Mizpeh " that after the battle, all those who on their side would meet at Mizpeh.

And they all swore that if they did not come to the meeting that would mean that they were not on their side and not among the defenders of Israel and this would mean that whomever did not meet there, had not joined them in the battle, the defense and the justice of finding these men who raped and murdered the woman.

So you can read the story, but when we come to - Jdg 21:11 -

this verse is completely mistranslated by the Trinitarian Translators.

We find that in verse : 10 - the inhabitants of Jabeshgilead did not appear at the special meeting place where that every one swore and vowed to meet - saying " whoever is not there = after the battle " then this means that they will also die as they are among the enemy, because it means that they are not with us in the battle.

So the Israelites are upset and think that the inhabitants of Jabeshgilead are their enemies and think they have sided with the city of Gibeah. So certain of them say that they will go and fight, attack and hit or / smite the inhabitants of Jabeshgilead with the edge of the sword, with the women and the children.

But they change their mind and decide not to kill everyone in the city, - which the city of Jabeshgilead also has homosexuals among them as well, so the Israelites still do not know if they have found the guilty men who killed the woman - as we further read in verse :11

:11 - they decided upon a new plan - saying - :11 AND THIS IS THE THING THAT YE SHALL DO, Ye shall “ H2763 - châram - “ separate, seclude, divide, blockade, boycott, enclose, quarantine, screen, segregate or withdraw every male homosexual that’s been with another man - also every woman that’s been with a male.

The bible never says that they actually killed a single person among the people of Jabeshgilead. But it says that they went in and separated the virgins from the homosexuals and other non – virgin women and took them away and out - from the city.

The Trinitarian Translators changed the bible in - Jdg 21:11 - to say that the Israelites slaughtered and killed every woman and infant in the city. But this is not what the word means.

This word is = H2763 - תחר מו - châram - khaw-ram' - Meaning = To seclude, separate or to specifically (by a ban) to consecrate or - devote - or to take away ). It also means = To blockade, boycott, enclose, quarantine, screen, segregate or withdraw from.

for example in most of the Biblical passages where the translators say " utterly destroy " all women and children

Jdg 21:11 And this is the thing that ye shall do, Ye shall utterly destroy every male, and every woman that hath lain by man.

Anytime you see the words " UTTERLY DESTROY " this word means to seclude, separate or to specifically (by a ban) to consecrate or - devote - or to take away ). It also means = To blockade, boycott, enclose, quarantine, screen or segregate

the châram were also referred to the particular sacrificed beasts that were consecrated to the Lord - châram to the Lord. The Trinitarians change the manuscripts to depict the Israelites going through and just slaughtering women and children every time they go to war. This is a complete lie. There were a few instances where women and children were killed but this is a different Hebrew word

When the Benjamites who were dwelling at Gibeah did not have enough wives because the elders convinced the other Tribes to make a vow that they would not allow their daughters to marry the Benjamite men.

but .. the elders of Israel afterwards changed their mind and allowed the Benjamites to marry the daughters of other tribes

they then were instructed

Jdg 21:21 ....WHEN the daughters of Shiloh come out to dance in dances, . catch you every man his wife of the daughters of Shiloh, and go to the land of Benjamin.

Anytime you see the words " UTTERLY DESTROY " this word means to seclude, separate to consecrate or - devote - or to take away ). boycott, enclose, quarantine, screen or segregate.

The Trinitarians go through the entire Bible altering and changing sentences, ideas, words and phrases to depict the most perversity upon the characters of the scriptures.

Basically the tribes of Israel, here, were aligning themselves to completely rid themselves of the homosexuals in the cities of Jabeshgilead and Gibeah because they brutally raped a woman to death, all other tribes and cities nearby who refused to assist - were punished - this is where the virgin woman were confiscated and taken out and away from the destruction.

There was no King at this time - however the Tribes Of Israel acted in perfect and honorable justice in removing evil from among them.

This is all Catholic propaganda that takes every opportunity to castigate the Jews as evil, perverted psychopaths and mentally deranged beasts. The KJV is copied from the Catholic translation word for word exactly.

 

[JoeB131]

This is all Catholic propaganda that takes every opportunity to castigate the Jews as evil, perverted psychopaths and mentally deranged beasts. The KJV is copied from the Catholic translation word for word exactly.

Actually, if you want to see the source of Christian anti-Semitism, you need go no further back than the Gospel of John, which demonizes the Jews and actually presents the Romans in a favorable light. The problem here was when the Christians established themselves as a separate sect, they needed to distance themselves from the OG sect...

Which Christians have been doing over and over again, which is why you have thousands of sects of Christianity.

 

[kjw47]

Does anyone have any questions or concerns about the Catholic faith?

When the bible clearly teaches--Do not call any man Father on earth-Matt 23:9-- not talking about dads, its talking about a spiritual teacher--Why does catholicism say no to God and do it anyways?
Why is the Pope elevating himself into Gods position by being called-Holy Father?
When the bible condemns-statues, icons, and graven images, Why are their churches and homes filled with all 3?
Why do they show Jesus bringing dishonor to his Fathers name in their pictures of him with long hair? 1Corinthians11:14-- proving they do not know Jesus.

 

[ding]

When the bible clearly teaches--Do not call any man Father on earth-Matt 23:9-- not talking about dads, its talking about a spiritual teacher--Why does catholicism say no to God and do it anyways?
Why is the Pope elevating himself into Gods position by being called-Holy Father?
When the bible condemns-statues, icons, and graven images, Why are their churches and homes filled with all 3?
Why do they show Jesus bringing dishonor to his Fathers name in their pictures of him with long hair? 1Corinthians11:14-- proving they do not know Jesus.

PART ONE
THE PROFESSION OF FAITH
SECTION TWO
THE PROFESSION OF THE CHRISTIAN FAITH

CHAPTER TWO
I BELIEVE IN JESUS CHRIST, THE ONLY SON OF GOD

ARTICLE 2
"AND IN JESUS CHRIST, HIS ONLY SON, OUR LORD"

I. JESUS

430 Jesus means in Hebrew: "God saves." At the annunciation, the angel Gabriel gave him the name Jesus as his proper name, which expresses both his identity and his mission.18 Since God alone can forgive sins, it is God who, in Jesus his eternal Son made man, "will save his people from their sins".19 In Jesus, God recapitulates all of his history of salvation on behalf of men.

431 In the history of salvation God was not content to deliver Israel "out of the house of bondage"20 by bringing them out of Egypt. He also saves them from their sin. Because sin is always an offence against God, only he can forgive it.21 For this reason Israel, becoming more and more aware of the universality of sin, will no longer be able to seek salvation except by invoking the name of the Redeemer God.22

432 The name "Jesus" signifies that the very name of God is present in the person of his Son, made man for the universal and definitive redemption from sins. It is the divine name that alone brings salvation, and henceforth all can invoke his name, for Jesus united himself to all men through his Incarnation,23 so that "there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved."24

433 The name of the Savior God was invoked only once in the year by the high priest in atonement for the sins of Israel, after he had sprinkled the mercy seat in the Holy of Holies with the sacrificial blood. The mercy seat was the place of God's presence.25 When St. Paul speaks of Jesus whom "God put forward as an expiation by his blood", he means that in Christ's humanity "God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself."26

434 Jesus' Resurrection glorifies the name of the Savior God, for from that time on it is the name of Jesus that fully manifests the supreme power of the "name which is above every name".27 The evil spirits fear his name; in his name his disciples perform miracles, for the Father grants all they ask in this name.28

435 The name of Jesus is at the heart of Christian prayer. All liturgical prayers conclude with the words "through our Lord Jesus Christ". The Hail Mary reaches its high point in the words "blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus." The Eastern prayer of the heart, the Jesus Prayer, says: "Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner." Many Christians, such as St. Joan of Arc, have died with the one word "Jesus" on their lips.

II. CHRIST

436 The word "Christ" comes from the Greek translation of the Hebrew Messiah, which means "anointed". It became the name proper to Jesus only because he accomplished perfectly the divine mission that "Christ" signifies. In effect, in Israel those consecrated to God for a mission that he gave were anointed in his name. This was the case for kings, for priests and, in rare instances, for prophets.29 This had to be the case all the more so for the Messiah whom God would send to inaugurate his kingdom definitively.30 It was necessary that the Messiah be anointed by the Spirit of the Lord at once as king and priest, and also as prophet.31 Jesus fulfilled the messianic hope of Israel in his threefold office of priest, prophet and king.

437 To the shepherds, the angel announced the birth of Jesus as the Messiah promised to Israel: "To you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord."32 From the beginning he was "the one whom the Father consecrated and sent into the world", conceived as "holy" in Mary's virginal womb.33 God called Joseph to "take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit", so that Jesus, "who is called Christ", should be born of Joseph's spouse into the messianic lineage of David.34

438 Jesus' messianic consecration reveals his divine mission, "for the name 'Christ' implies 'he who anointed', 'he who was anointed' and 'the very anointing with which he was anointed'. The one who anointed is the Father, the one who was anointed is the Son, and he was anointed with the Spirit who is the anointing.'"35 His eternal messianic consecration was revealed during the time of his earthly life at the moment of his baptism by John, when "God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power", "that he might be revealed to Israel"36 as its Messiah. His works and words will manifest him as "the Holy One of God".37

439 Many Jews and even certain Gentiles who shared their hope recognized in Jesus the fundamental attributes of the messianic "Son of David", promised by God to Israel.38 Jesus accepted his rightful title of Messiah, though with some reserve because it was understood by some of his contemporaries in too human a sense, as essentially political.39

440 Jesus accepted Peter's profession of faith, which acknowledged him to be the Messiah, by announcing the imminent Passion of the Son of Man.40 He unveiled the authentic content of his messianic kingship both in the transcendent identity of the Son of Man "who came down from heaven", and in his redemptive mission as the suffering Servant: "The Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many."41 Hence the true meaning of his kingship is revealed only when he is raised high on the cross.42 Only after his Resurrection will Peter be able to proclaim Jesus' messianic kingship to the People of God: "Let all the house of Israel therefore know assuredly that God has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified."43

III. THE ONLY SON OF GOD

441 In the Old Testament, "son of God" is a title given to the angels, the Chosen People, the children of Israel, and their kings.44 It signifies an adoptive sonship that establishes a relationship of particular intimacy between God and his creature. When the promised Messiah-King is called "son of God", it does not necessarily imply that he was more than human, according to the literal meaning of these texts. Those who called Jesus "son of God", as the Messiah of Israel, perhaps meant nothing more than this.45

442 Such is not the case for Simon Peter when he confesses Jesus as "the Christ, the Son of the living God", for Jesus responds solemnly: "Flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven."46 Similarly Paul will write, regarding his conversion on the road to Damascus, "When he who had set me apart before I was born, and had called me through his grace, was pleased to reveal his Son to me, in order that I might preach him among the Gentiles. . ."47 "And in the synagogues immediately [Paul] proclaimed Jesus, saying, 'He is the Son of God.'"48 From the beginning this acknowledgment of Christ's divine sonship will be the center of the apostolic faith, first professed by Peter as the Church's foundation.49

443 Peter could recognize the transcendent character of the Messiah's divine sonship because Jesus had clearly allowed it to be so understood. To his accusers' question before the Sanhedrin, "Are you the Son of God, then?" Jesus answered, "You say that I am."50 Well before this, Jesus referred to himself as "the Son" who knows the Father, as distinct from the "servants" God had earlier sent to his people; he is superior even to the angels.51 He distinguished his sonship from that of his disciples by never saying "our Father", except to command them: "You, then, pray like this: 'Our Father'", and he emphasized this distinction, saying "my Father and your Father".52

444 The Gospels report that at two solemn moments, the Baptism and the Transfiguration of Christ, the voice of the Father designates Jesus his "beloved Son".53 Jesus calls himself the "only Son of God", and by this title affirms his eternal pre-existence.54 He asks for faith in "the name of the only Son of God".55 In the centurion's exclamation before the crucified Christ, "Truly this man was the Son of God",56 that Christian confession is already heard. Only in the Paschal mystery can the believer give the title "Son of God" its full meaning.

445 After his Resurrection, Jesus' divine sonship becomes manifest in the power of his glorified humanity. He was "designated Son of God in power according to the Spirit of holiness by his Resurrection from the dead".57 The apostles can confess: "We have beheld his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth."58

IV. LORD

446 In the Greek translation of the Old Testament, the ineffable Hebrew name YHWH, by which God revealed himself to Moses,59 is rendered as Kyrios, "Lord". From then on, "Lord" becomes the more usual name by which to indicate the divinity of Israel's God. The New Testament uses this full sense of the title "Lord" both for the Father and - what is new - for Jesus, who is thereby recognized as God Himself.60

447 Jesus ascribes this title to himself in a veiled way when he disputes with the Pharisees about the meaning of Psalm 110, but also in an explicit way when he addresses his apostles.61 Throughout his public life, he demonstrated his divine sovereignty by works of power over nature, illnesses, demons, death and sin.

448 Very often in the Gospels people address Jesus as "Lord". This title testifies to the respect and trust of those who approach him for help and healing.62 At the prompting of the Holy Spirit, "Lord" expresses the recognition of the divine mystery of Jesus.63 In the encounter with the risen Jesus, this title becomes adoration: "My Lord and my God!" It thus takes on a connotation of love and affection that remains proper to the Christian tradition: "It is the Lord!"64

449 By attributing to Jesus the divine title "Lord", the first confessions of the Church's faith affirm from the beginning that the power, honor and glory due to God the Father are due also to Jesus, because "he was in the form of God",65 and the Father manifested the sovereignty of Jesus by raising him from the dead and exalting him into his glory.66

450 From the beginning of Christian history, the assertion of Christ's lordship over the world and over history has implicitly recognized that man should not submit his personal freedom in an absolute manner to any earthly power, but only to God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ: Caesar is not "the Lord".67 "The Church. . . believes that the key, the center and the purpose of the whole of man's history is to be found in its Lord and Master."68

451 Christian prayer is characterized by the title "Lord", whether in the invitation to prayer ("The Lord be with you"), its conclusion ("through Christ our Lord") or the exclamation full of trust and hope: Maran atha ("Our Lord, come!") or Marana tha ("Come, Lord!") - "Amen Come Lord Jesus!"69

IN BRIEF

452 The name Jesus means "God saves". The child born of the Virgin Mary is called Jesus, "for he will save his people from their sins" (Mt 1:21): "there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved" (Acts 4:12).

453 The title "Christ" means "Anointed One" (Messiah). Jesus is the Christ, for "God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power" (Acts 10:38). He was the one "who is to come" (Lk 7:19), the object of "the hope of Israel" (Acts 28:20).

454 The title "Son of God" signifies the unique and eternal relationship of Jesus Christ to God his Father: he is the only Son of the Father (cf. Jn 1:14, 18; 3:16, 18); he is God himself (cf. Jn 1:1). To be a Christian, one must believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God (cf. Acts 8:37; 1 Jn 2:23).

455 The title "Lord" indicates divine sovereignty. To confess or invoke Jesus as Lord is to believe in his divinity. "No one can say 'Jesus is Lord' except by the Holy Spirit'" (1 Cor 12:3).

---

18 Cf. Lk 1:31.
19 Mt 1:21; cf. 2:7.
20 Deut 5:6.
21 Cf. Ps 51:4,12.
22 Cf. Ps 79:9.
23 Cf. Jn 3:18; Acts 2:21; 5:41; 3 Jn 7; Rom 10:6-13.
24 Acts 4:12; cf. 9:14; Jas 2:7.
25 Cf. Ex 25:22; Lev 16:2,15-16; Num 7:89; Sir 50:20; Heb 9:5,7.
26 Rom 3:25; 2 Cor 5:19.
27 Phil 2:9-10; cf. Jn 12:28.
28 Cf. Acts 16:16-18; 19:13-16; Mk 16:17; Jn 15:16.
29 Cf. Ex 29:7; Lev 8:12; 1 Sam 9:16; 10:1; 16:1,12-13; 1 Kings 1:39; 19:16.
30 Cf. Ps 2:2; Acts 4:26-27.
31 Cf. Isa 11:2; 61:1; Zech 4:14; 6:13; Lk 4:16-21.
32 Lk 2:11.
33 Jn 10:36; cf. Lk 1:35.
34 Mt 1:20; cf. 1:16; Rom 1:1; 2 Tim 2:8; Rev 22:16.
35 St. Irenaeus, Adv. haeres. 3,18,3G 7/1,934.
36 Acts 10:38; Jn 1:31.
37 Mk 1:24; Jn 6:69; Acts 3:14.
38 Cf Mt 2:2; 9:27; 12:23; 15:22; 20:30; 21:9,15.
39 Cf. Jn 4:25-26; 6:15; 11:27; Mt 22:41-46; Lk 24:21.
40 Cf. Mt 16:16-23.
41 Jn 3:13; Mt 20:28; cf. Jn 6:62; Dan 7:13; Isa 53:10-12.
42 Cf. Jn 19:19-22; Lk 23:39-43.
43 Acts 2:36.
44 Cf. Deut 14:1; (LXX) 32:8; Job 1:6; Ex 4:22; Hos 2:1; 11:1; Jer 3:19; Sir 36:11; Wis 18:13; 2 Sam 7:14; Ps 82:6.
45 Cf. 1 Chr 17:13; Ps 2:7; Mt 27:54; Lk 23:47.
46 Mt 16:16-17.
47 Gal 1:15-16.
48 Acts 9:20.
49 Cf. 1 Thess 1:10; Jn 20:31; Mt 16:18.
50 Lk 22:70; cf. Mt 26:64; Mk 14:61-62.
51 Cf. Mt 11:27; 21:34-38; 24:36.
52 Mt 5:48; 6:8-9; 7:21; Lk 11:13; Jn 20:17.
53 Cf. Mt 3:17; cf. 17:5.
54 Jn 3:16; cf. 10:36.
55 Jn 3:18.
56 Mk 15:39.
57 Rom 1:3; cf. Acts 13:33.
58 Jn 1:14.
59 Cf. Ex 3:14.
60 Cf. 1 Cor 2:8.
61 Cf. Mt 22:41-46; cf. Acts 2:34-36; Heb 1:13; Jn 13:13.
62 Cf Mt 8:2; 14:30; 15:22; et al.
63 Cf. Lk 1:43; 2:11.
64 Jn 20:28,21:7.
65 Cf. Acts 2:34-36; Rom 9:5; Titus 2:13; Rev 5:13; Phil 2:6.
66 Cf. Rom 10:9; 1 Cor 12:3; Phil 2:9-11.
67 Cf. Rev 11:15; Mk 12:17; Acts 5:29.
68 GS 10 § 3; Cf. 45 § 2.
69 1 Cor 16:22; Rev 22:20.

Catechism of the Catholic Church - PART 1 SECTION 2 CHAPTER 2 ARTICLE 2

 

[ding]

When the bible clearly teaches--Do not call any man Father on earth-Matt 23:9-- not talking about dads, its talking about a spiritual teacher--Why does catholicism say no to God and do it anyways?
Why is the Pope elevating himself into Gods position by being called-Holy Father?
When the bible condemns-statues, icons, and graven images, Why are their churches and homes filled with all 3?
Why do they show Jesus bringing dishonor to his Fathers name in their pictures of him with long hair? 1Corinthians11:14-- proving they do not know Jesus.

PART ONE
THE PROFESSION OF FAITH
SECTION TWO
THE PROFESSION OF THE CHRISTIAN FAITH

CHAPTER ONE
I BELIEVE IN GOD THE FATHER

ARTICLE I
"I BELIEVE IN GOD THE FATHER ALMIGHTY, CREATOR OF HEAVEN AND EARTH"

Paragraph 2. The Father

I. "IN THE NAME OF THE FATHER AND OF THE SON AND OF THE HOLY SPIRIT"

232 Christians are baptized "in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit"53 Before receiving the sacrament, they respond to a three-part question when asked to confess the Father, the Son and the Spirit: "I do." "The faith of all Christians rests on the Trinity."54

233 Christians are baptized in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit: not in their names,55 for there is only one God, the almighty Father, his only Son and the Holy Spirit: the Most Holy Trinity.

234 The mystery of the Most Holy Trinity is the central mystery of Christian faith and life. It is the mystery of God in himself. It is therefore the source of all the other mysteries of faith, the light that enlightens them. It is the most fundamental and essential teaching in the "hierarchy of the truths of faith".56 The whole history of salvation is identical with the history of the way and the means by which the one true God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, reveals himself to men "and reconciles and unites with himself those who turn away from sin".57

235 This paragraph expounds briefly (I) how the mystery of the Blessed Trinity was revealed, (II) how the Church has articulated the doctrine of the faith regarding this mystery, and (III) how, by the divine missions of the Son and the Holy Spirit, God the Father fulfills the "plan of his loving goodness" of creation, redemption and sanctification.

236 The Fathers of the Church distinguish between theology (theologia) and economy (oikonomia). "Theology" refers to the mystery of God's inmost life within the Blessed Trinity and "economy" to all the works by which God reveals himself and communicates his life. Through the oikonomia the theologia is revealed to us; but conversely, the theologia illuminates the whole oikonomia. God's works reveal who he is in himself; the mystery of his inmost being enlightens our understanding of all his works. So it is, analogously, among human persons. A person discloses himself in his actions, and the better we know a person, the better we understand his actions.

237 The Trinity is a mystery of faith in the strict sense, one of the "mysteries that are hidden in God, which can never be known unless they are revealed by God".58 To be sure, God has left traces of his Trinitarian being in his work of creation and in his Revelation throughout the Old Testament. But his inmost Being as Holy Trinity is a mystery that is inaccessible to reason alone or even to Israel's faith before the Incarnation of God's Son and the sending of the Holy Spirit.

II. THE REVELATION OF GOD AS TRINITY

The Father revealed by the Son

238 Many religions invoke God as "Father". The deity is often considered the "father of gods and of men". In Israel, God is called "Father" inasmuch as he is Creator of the world.59 Even more, God is Father because of the covenant and the gift of the law to Israel, "his first-born son".60 God is also called the Father of the king of Israel. Most especially he is "the Father of the poor", of the orphaned and the widowed, who are under his loving protection.61

239 By calling God "Father", the language of faith indicates two main things: that God is the first origin of everything and transcendent authority; and that he is at the same time goodness and loving care for all his children. God's parental tenderness can also be expressed by the image of motherhood,62 which emphasizes God's immanence, the intimacy between Creator and creature. The language of faith thus draws on the human experience of parents, who are in a way the first representatives of God for man. But this experience also tells us that human parents are fallible and can disfigure the face of fatherhood and motherhood. We ought therefore to recall that God transcends the human distinction between the sexes. He is neither man nor woman: he is God. He also transcends human fatherhood and motherhood, although he is their origin and standard:63 no one is father as God is Father.

240 Jesus revealed that God is Father in an unheard-of sense: he is Father not only in being Creator; he is eternally Father in relation to his only Son, who is eternally Son only in relation to his Father: "No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and any one to whom the Son chooses to reveal him."64

241 For this reason the apostles confess Jesus to be the Word: "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God"; as "the image of the invisible God"; as the "radiance of the glory of God and the very stamp of his nature".65

242 Following this apostolic tradition, the Church confessed at the first ecumenical council at Nicaea (325) that the Son is "consubstantial" with the Father, that is, one only God with him.66 The second ecumenical council, held at Constantinople in 381, kept this expression in its formulation of the Nicene Creed and confessed "the only-begotten Son of God, eternally begotten of the Father, light from light, true God from true God, begotten not made, consubstantial with the Father".67

The Father and the Son revealed by the Spirit

243 Before his Passover, Jesus announced the sending of "another Paraclete" (Advocate), the Holy Spirit. At work since creation, having previously "spoken through the prophets", the Spirit will now be with and in the disciples, to teach them and guide them "into all the truth".68 The Holy Spirit is thus revealed as another divine person with Jesus and the Father.

244 The eternal origin of the Holy Spirit is revealed in his mission in time. The Spirit is sent to the apostles and to the Church both by the Father in the name of the Son, and by the Son in person, once he had returned to the Father.69 The sending of the person of the Spirit after Jesus' glorification70 reveals in its fullness the mystery of the Holy Trinity.

245 The apostolic faith concerning the Spirit was confessed by the second ecumenical council at Constantinople (381): "We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord and giver of life, who proceeds from the Father."71 By this confession, the Church recognizes the Father as "the source and origin of the whole divinity".72 But the eternal origin of the Spirit is not unconnected with the Son's origin: "The Holy Spirit, the third person of the Trinity, is God, one and equal with the Father and the Son, of the same substance and also of the same nature. . . Yet he is not called the Spirit of the Father alone,. . . but the Spirit of both the Father and the Son."73 The Creed of the Church from the Council of Constantinople confesses: "With the Father and the Son, he is worshipped and glorified."74

246 The Latin tradition of the Creed confesses that the Spirit "proceeds from the Father and the Son (filioque)". The Council of Florence in 1438 explains: "The Holy Spirit is eternally from Father and Son; He has his nature and subsistence at once (simul) from the Father and the Son. He proceeds eternally from both as from one principle and through one spiration. . . . And, since the Father has through generation given to the only-begotten Son everything that belongs to the Father, except being Father, the Son has also eternally from the Father, from whom he is eternally born, that the Holy Spirit proceeds from the Son."75

247 The affirmation of the filioque does not appear in the Creed confessed in 381 at Constantinople. But Pope St. Leo I, following an ancient Latin and Alexandrian tradition, had already confessed it dogmatically in 447,76 even before Rome, in 451 at the Council of Chalcedon, came to recognize and receive the Symbol of 381. The use of this formula in the Creed was gradually admitted into the Latin liturgy (between the eighth and eleventh centuries). The introduction of the filioque into the Niceno-Constantinopolitan Creed by the Latin liturgy constitutes moreover, even today, a point of disagreement with the Orthodox Churches.

248 At the outset the Eastern tradition expresses the Father's character as first origin of the Spirit. By confessing the Spirit as he "who proceeds from the Father", it affirms that he comes from the Father through the Son.77 The Western tradition expresses first the consubstantial communion between Father and Son, by saying that the Spirit proceeds from the Father and the Son (filioque). It says this, "legitimately and with good reason",78 for the eternal order of the divine persons in their consubstantial communion implies that the Father, as "the principle without principle",79 is the first origin of the Spirit, but also that as Father of the only Son, he is, with the Son, the single principle from which the Holy Spirit proceeds.80 This legitimate complementarity, provided it does not become rigid, does not affect the identity of faith in the reality of the same mystery confessed.

III. THE HOLY TRINITY IN THE TEACHING OF THE FAITH

The formation of the Trinitarian dogma

249 From the beginning, the revealed truth of the Holy Trinity has been at the very root of the Church's living faith, principally by means of Baptism. It finds its expression in the rule of baptismal faith, formulated in the preaching, catechesis and prayer of the Church. Such formulations are already found in the apostolic writings, such as this salutation taken up in the Eucharistic liturgy: "The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all."81

250 During the first centuries the Church sought to clarify her Trinitarian faith, both to deepen her own understanding of the faith and to defend it against the errors that were deforming it. This clarification was the work of the early councils, aided by the theological work of the Church Fathers and sustained by the Christian people's sense of the faith.

251 In order to articulate the dogma of the Trinity, the Church had to develop her own terminology with the help of certain notions of philosophical origin: "substance", "person" or "hypostasis", "relation" and so on. In doing this, she did not submit the faith to human wisdom, but gave a new and unprecedented meaning to these terms, which from then on would be used to signify an ineffable mystery, "infinitely beyond all that we can humanly understand".82

252 The Church uses (I) the term "substance" (rendered also at times by "essence" or "nature") to designate the divine being in its unity, (II) the term "person" or "hypostasis" to designate the Father, Son and Holy Spirit in the real distinction among them, and (III) the term "relation" to designate the fact that their distinction lies in the relationship of each to the others.

The dogma of the Holy Trinity

253 The Trinity is One. We do not confess three Gods, but one God in three persons, the "consubstantial Trinity".83 The divine persons do not share the one divinity among themselves but each of them is God whole and entire: "The Father is that which the Son is, the Son that which the Father is, the Father and the Son that which the Holy Spirit is, i.e. by nature one God."84 In the words of the Fourth Lateran Council (1215), "Each of the persons is that supreme reality, viz., the divine substance, essence or nature."85

254 The divine persons are really distinct from one another. "God is one but not solitary."86 "Father", "Son", "Holy Spirit" are not simply names designating modalities of the divine being, for they are really distinct from one another: "He is not the Father who is the Son, nor is the Son he who is the Father, nor is the Holy Spirit he who is the Father or the Son."87 They are distinct from one another in their relations of origin: "It is the Father who generates, the Son who is begotten, and the Holy Spirit who proceeds."88 The divine Unity is Triune.

255 The divine persons are relative to one another. Because it does not divide the divine unity, the real distinction of the persons from one another resides solely in the relationships which relate them to one another: "In the relational names of the persons the Father is related to the Son, the Son to the Father, and the Holy Spirit to both. While they are called three persons in view of their relations, we believe in one nature or substance."89 Indeed "everything (in them) is one where there is no opposition of relationship."90 "Because of that unity the Father is wholly in the Son and wholly in the Holy Spirit; the Son is wholly in the Father and wholly in the Holy Spirit; the Holy Spirit is wholly in the Father and wholly in the Son."91

256 St. Gregory of Nazianzus, also called "the Theologian", entrusts this summary of Trinitarian faith to the catechumens of Constantinople:

Above all guard for me this great deposit of faith for which I live and fight, which I want to take with me as a companion, and which makes me bear all evils and despise all pleasures: I mean the profession of faith in the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. I entrust it to you today. By it I am soon going to plunge you into water and raise you up from it. I give it to you as the companion and patron of your whole life. I give you but one divinity and power, existing one in three, and containing the three in a distinct way. Divinity without disparity of substance or nature, without superior degree that raises up or inferior degree that casts down. . . the infinite co-naturality of three infinites. Each person considered in himself is entirely God. . . the three considered together. . . I have not even begun to think of unity when the Trinity bathes me in its splendor. I have not even begun to think of the Trinity when unity grasps me. . .92

IV. THE DIVINE WORKS AND THE TRINITARIAN MISSIONS

257 "O blessed light, O Trinity and first Unity!"93 God is eternal blessedness, undying life, unfading light. God is love: Father, Son and Holy Spirit. God freely wills to communicate the glory of his blessed life. Such is the "plan of his loving kindness", conceived by the Father before the foundation of the world, in his beloved Son: "He destined us in love to be his sons" and "to be conformed to the image of his Son", through "the spirit of sonship".94 This plan is a "grace [which] was given to us in Christ Jesus before the ages began", stemming immediately from Trinitarian love.95 It unfolds in the work of creation, the whole history of salvation after the fall, and the missions of the Son and the Spirit, which are continued in the mission of the Church.96

258 The whole divine economy is the common work of the three divine persons. For as the Trinity has only one and the same nature, so too does it have only one and the same operation: "The Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit are not three principles of creation but one principle."97 However, each divine person performs the common work according to his unique personal property. Thus the Church confesses, following the New Testament, "one God and Father from whom all things are, and one Lord Jesus Christ, through whom all things are, and one Holy Spirit in whom all things are".98 It is above all the divine missions of the Son's Incarnation and the gift of the Holy Spirit that show forth the properties of the divine persons.

259 Being a work at once common and personal, the whole divine economy makes known both what is proper to the divine persons, and their one divine nature. Hence the whole Christian life is a communion with each of the divine persons, without in any way separating them. Everyone who glorifies the Father does so through the Son in the Holy Spirit; everyone who follows Christ does so because the Father draws him and the Spirit moves him.99

260 The ultimate end of the whole divine economy is the entry of God's creatures into the perfect unity of the Blessed Trinity.100 But even now we are called to be a dwelling for the Most Holy Trinity: "If a man loves me", says the Lord, "he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him, and make our home with him":101

O my God, Trinity whom I adore, help me forget myself entirely so to establish myself in you, unmovable and peaceful as if my soul were already in eternity. May nothing be able to trouble my peace or make me leave you, O my unchanging God, but may each minute bring me more deeply into your mystery! Grant my soul peace. Make it your heaven, your beloved dwelling and the place of your rest. May I never abandon you there, but may I be there, whole and entire, completely vigilant in my faith, entirely adoring, and wholly given over to your creative action.102

IN BRIEF

261 The mystery of the Most Holy Trinity is the central mystery of the Christian faith and of Christian life. God alone can make it known to us by revealing himself as Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

262 The Incarnation of God's Son reveals that God is the eternal Father and that the Son is consubstantial with the Father, which means that, in the Father and with the Father the Son is one and the same God.

263 The mission of the Holy Spirit, sent by the Father in the name of the Son (Jn 14:26) and by the Son "from the Father" (Jn 15:26), reveals that, with them, the Spirit is one and the same God. "With the Father and the Son he is worshipped and glorified" (Nicene Creed).

264 "The Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father as the first principle and, by the eternal gift of this to the Son, from the communion of both the Father and the Son" (St. Augustine, De Trin. 15, 26, 47: PL 42, 1095).

265 By the grace of Baptism "in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit", we are called to share in the life of the Blessed Trinity, here on earth in the obscurity of faith, and after death in eternal light (cf. Paul VI, CPG § 9).

266 "Now this is the Catholic faith: We worship one God in the Trinity and the Trinity in unity, without either confusing the persons or dividing the substance; for the person of the Father is one, the Son's is another, the Holy Spirit's another; but the Godhead of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit is one, their glory equal, their majesty coeternal" (Athanasian Creed: DS 75; ND 16).

267 Inseparable in what they are, the divine persons are also inseparable in what they do. But within the single divine operation each shows forth what is proper to him in the Trinity, especially in the divine missions of the Son's Incarnation and the gift of the Holy Spirit.

---

53 Mt 28:19.
54 St. Caesarius of Arles, Sermo 9, Exp. symb.:CCL 103,47.
55 Cf. Profession of faith of Pope Vigilius I (552)S 415.
56 GCD 43.
57 GCD 47.
58 Dei Filius 4S 3015.
59 Cf. Deut 32:6; Mal 2:10.
60 Ex 4:22.
61 Cf. 2 Sam 7:14; Ps 68:6.
62 Cf. Isa 66:13; Ps 131:2.
63 Cf. Ps 27:10; Eph 3:14; Isa 49:15.
64 Mt 11-27.
65 Jn 1:1; Col 1:15; Heb 1:3.
66 The English phrases "of one being" and "one in being" translate the Greek word homoousios, which was rendered in Latin by consubstantialis.
67 Niceno-Constantinopolitan Creed; cf. DS 150.
68 Cf. Gen 1:2; Nicene Creed (DS 150); Jn 14:17, 26; 16:13.
69 Cf. Jn 14:26; 15:26; 16:14.
70 Cf. Jn 7:39.
71 Nicene Creed; cf. DS 150.
72 Council of Toledo VI (638): DS 490.
73 Council of Toledo XI (675): DS 527.
74 Nicene Creed; cf. DS 150.
75 Council of Florence (1439): DS 1300-1301.
76 Cf. Leo I, Quam laudabiliter (447): DS 284.
77 Jn 15:26; cf. AG 2.
78 Council of Florence (1439): DS 1302.
79 Council of Florence (1442): DS 1331.
80 Cf. Council of Lyons II (1274): DS 850.
81 2 Cor 13:14; cf. 1 Cor 12:4-6; Eph 4:4-6.
82 Paul VI, CPG § 2.
83 Council of Constantinople II (553): DS 421.
84 Council of Toledo XI (675): DS 530:26.
85 Lateran Council IV (1215): DS 804.
86 Fides Damasi: DS 71.
87 Council of Toledo XI (675): DS 530:25.
88 Lateran Council IV (1215): DS 804.
89 Council of Toledo XI (675): DS 528.
90 Council of Florence (1442): DS 1330.
91 Council of Florence (1442): DS 1331.
92 St. Gregory of Nazianzus, Oratio 40,41: PG 36,417.
93 LH, Hymn for Evening Prayer.
94 Eph 1:4-5,9; Rom 8:15,29.
95 2 Tim 1:9-10.
96 Cf. AG 2-9.
97 Council of Florence (1442): DS 1331; cf. Council of Constantinople II (553): DS 421.
98 Council of Constantinople II: DS 421.
99 Cf. Jn 6:44; Rom 8:14.
100 Cf. Jn 17:21-23.
101 Jn 14:23.
102 Prayer of Blessed Elizabeth of the Trinity.

Catechism of the Catholic Church - PART 1 SECTION 2 CHAPTER 1 ARTICLE 1 PARAGRAPH 2