Principles Of The Church

Within Christian communities, enthusiasm to respond to injustice around the world with compassion continues to increase. Regrettably, well-meaning people who have good intentions but neglect to consider best practice principles are ultimately doing a disservice to the individuals and communities they intended to help. Moreover, a lack of understanding of holistic social action results in dependency and disregards the dignity of the poor. In From the Roots Up, Dr. JoAnn Butrin challenges Christians, both individually and as the larger body of Christ- the church, to respond to injustice thoughtfully and holistically. Butrin (2010) asserts:

As Jesus continued instructing the apostles in John 15:1-16:4, attention was turned to the apostle’s present condition and how the “great commission” could be fulfilled (Pentecost, 1981). In the metaphor of the vine and branches (John 15:5), Christ

Who is the Gospel for? As you read through Luke 4:16-30 and get to verse 18 you see the Jesus is reading from the Book of Isaiah, specifically Isaiah 61:1 which says, “The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me to bring good news to the afflicted; He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to captives and freedom to prisoners;” (Isaiah 61:1, New American Standard Bible). Jesus very clearly is telling all those who are listening to him in the synagogue that they are too take the message of God out to all people. They are to specifically, teach the Word of God to those who are hurt, who have found themselves in times of trouble. But how does this tie into social justice? First let’s look at what social justice

Society has thrived against adversity with virtues of hope, fueled by the belief of a higher power. In The Book of Martha, by Octavia Butler, the protagonist, Martha, seeks a solution to end humanity’s greed, which will eventually lead to their inevitable demise. For centuries, religion has had an impact in the way societies view ethical and moral issues. Human kindness has always been at the core of each act behind religious beliefs. These acts of kindness have been made with the intention to progress ourselves as a society and as a community. An interview with Father Jesus de la Tapia, from The Parish of Santa Rosa, highlighted the social impact that these acts of kindness can bring to our community. Although Martha’s actions are those set in a fictional story, her belief in God and ability to bring humanity together, are actions which can be seen in our community, making it a better place.

of oppression, understanding the central core of the Gospels as Jesus' identification with the poor

The life and teachings of Jesus Christ call us to work for justice, peace and human rights. In the Gospel of Luke, Jesus describes this mission in the following way:

Over the past years of my life I have seen many changes, some for the good and others not as good. Change can be demanding and also crucial. The early believers would encounter this. One can see that significant change happened, when reading through the gospels and the book of acts it is obvious to the reader that the believers who followed Jesus would never be the same again.

Jesus' decision to physically cast out the moneylenders from the temple stands as one of the most interesting events of his life, because it represents what seems to be the only moment in the Gospel narratives where he becomes visibly angry to the point of physical action. While one could argue that Jesus is frequently (and justifiably) angry with the disciples from time to time, this is the only moment that Jesus' anger moves him to physical force. Although the event is recorded in all four of the Gospels, this study will focus specifically on its rendering in Matthew, because when considered in the context of Matthew's larger narrative, one can see how Jesus' decision to cleanse the temple does not represent an aberration in either his character or theological message, but rather the natural culmination of Jesus' life and works prior to that point, and demonstrates a kind of revolutionary, anti-authoritarian element of Jesus' message of salvation that is all too often overlooked by Christians and critics alike.

A popular idea about Jesus throughout our society today, is that ‘he was an admirable man who made unbelievable sacrifices for the betterment of the world, but his actions would be unrealistic today’. Why would Jesus’ actions be unrealistic today many might ask, and the answer would be people think that the time has changed, and the world is so different now that it would be impossible to make the same decisions Jesus did. But is it any different? Just because situations may be different, that does not mean that the results should be. Jesus acted out of love and compassion, which shouldn’t cause for change even over 2000 years. Walter Brueggemann in his book The Prophetic Imagination, talks about a “new history” that Jesus inaugurates for all people, but especially for the ones who were marginalized (Brueggemann, 113). CJ Furness writes about how Jesus does offer a practical argument of nonviolence even in today’s world and today’s circumstances in John Yoder’s book What Would You Do? (Yoder, 55) Both of these claims by Brueggemann and Furness have practical relevance to Jesus’ recommendations, and prove that they should still be relevant today.

Just as Rees had lived away from the spotlight for a time, the majority of Jesus’ life was not lived before people; His public ministry lasted only for three years of His life. Jesus spent the majority of His life in secret, living before the Father just as Rees had done. Additionally, in the same manner that Rees brought others’ needs before the Throne, Jesus also represents us before our Father as our Intercessor.

It has long been considered a taboo to question the actions or beliefs of leaders. However, when one blindly accepts these actions or beliefs, one creates an institution for immoral actions which become increasingly more complicated to overcome. Can authority be trusted, or should it be questioned? One can look back throughout history and literature to see a plethora of cases where the trust conferred onto authority was abused. During the fifteenth century, Galileo questioned the roman catholic church. Martin Luther also questioned the Catholic church in the sixteenth century, and in George Orwell 's Animal Farm, the animals questioned their human masters.

Jesus’s actions for the marginalised groups in Jesus’s time were radical and unorthodox. Jesus helped many groups that were considered second class citizens, but the three main groups, were Women, Samaritans and Outcasts including Tax Collectors and the Poor. The working of Jesus with these groups was recorded in the Gospel of Luke.

Jesus Christ of Nazareth was the supreme preacher of all time. The Son of God serves as an example for us to follow in pastoral ministry. During his earthly ministry, Jesus called down the false teaching of the Religious leaders of his days. In fact, Christ was crucified by the Religious leaders for preaching the true doctrines of God’s Word.

The four marks of our church are what we believe as Roman Catholics our church to be. We state these beliefs in the Nicene Creed and they are also shown in many other parts of our faith. Only the Roman Catholic Church reflects the fullness of these marks. It is through these marks that salvation can be achieved. These marks include One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostalic.

There are going to be times in our lives when we disagree with what someone says or another person’s opinions on a particular matter. It’s unlikely that we will agree and be content with everything that happens in our lives as we do not live in a utopian world. It is also inevitable at one time or another that we will disagree with what the Church is teaching us especially when it comes to moral issues such as divorce, birth control, and abortion. This is called non-reception. When non-reception ensues in the Church, the teaching in question is ineffectively expressed or judged to be unbelievable by a large population of good, faithful Catholics (Kennedy).