Study of Catholicism

Some general beliefs of the Catholics are that they believe God created everything, also that Jesus is the Son of the God and he is the Messiah. They believe that Mary is the Mother and that she remained a virgin. They believe that Jesus Christ founded the Church. They believe that life is everlasting. They believe that baptism is to give you life to the Holy Spirit. They use crucifixes and rosary beads.

The church has changed significantly across the years. Different pope’s and era’s of the church and its history show how far it has advanced since its beginnings. These changes has helped it become more open to all kinds of people and cultures. I believe this gives hope to the catholic church’s faithful as the history of the pope’s and the church show that it’s willing to be more open to the people that follow the religion that goes with it.

This Latin Catholicism was similar to Eastern Orthodoxy in that they both tried to link to the Classical Era and to reconcile the Roman Empire.

The Human Journey Seminars provides students with a historical understanding of the basis of the Catholic Intellectual Tradition. The course goes into depth, conveying the roots of Catholicism between thinkers, writers, artists, while portraying the life they had lived. Aside from this, the main point of each learning assignment is to generate questions about God, humanity, society and nature. The course was able to do this through readings from Plato, Aristotle, Genesis, Exodus, Matthew, Augustine, Aquinas, and Dante. These texts represented the four fundamental claims of the Catholic Intellectual Tradition; the most important being the idea of God’s presence in the world being mediated through nature and reality.

Representing the Jewish Faith in today’s society, it was fascinating to read in particular about the differences between two forms of Christianity. I used to think that Christianity was one religion, but it is fascinating to find out that it takes many forms and has many different belief systems, just like Judaism. While I do not necessarily “agree” or “conform” to either of the faiths, I feel that the if I am purely choosing a faith based on our previous learning, I would take the choice of favoring the Catholic Church’s belief system. The Catholic Church and Lutheranism proclaimed completely different views on the Pope’s power and authority, how Christians should view and concede to God’s treasures and the consequences of sins, and how individuals should practice the religion as a whole. While there are a number of vast differences between these two entities, a few in particular intrigued me, and led me to believe the Catholic Church is more realistic based on what we’ve learned so far in the course.

The meaning and purpose in Catholicism is to carry on Jesus’ teachings and traditions or practices. This is achieved through preaching the Word of God and the Gospel, for example through the sacrament of Eucharist which is celebrated at Church. People learn to know, love, and serve God from Jesus Christ who guides us through the Catholic Church. Catholicism invites others to Christ and form unity within the community. All persons must serve and fulfil others as it is part of the great commandments cited by Jesus.

Roman Catholicism, one of Germany’s two major religions, originated there due to the eighth-century missionary work of Saint Boniface. In the next centuries, Roman Catholicism spread eastward. In 1517, however, Martin Luther challenged the Catholic authority. In the process, Luther changed the course of European and world history and established the second major faith in German

One of the key teachings from the Catholic Church is that all human life is sacred. We know this because we are all created in the image and likeness of God. In Genesis 1:26-27 it reveals, "Then God said, 'Let us make man in our image, in our likeness' ... So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them”. This means that we are what we are because of God, we are spiritual because God is spirit: "The Spirit of God was hovering over the waters" (Genesis 1:2)This is one of the many examples of how we are all created in the image of God. We are all created to have the potential to express these godlike capacities distinctively because God has made us all unique. As we are created in the image and likeness of God we reflect God’s sacredness.

To me, to be a Catholic member of the Body of Christ means to express my gratitude for Christ every day even if it is just the small things. Like going to church every Sunday because the Catholic Church teaches us that every time we receive the Body of Christ we are letting Christ into our heart and connecting more with him in a spiritual sense. I also think that Christ willed the Church to be our salvation because every time we go to Church and we hear the word of God, it makes us reflect on what we have done and all the sins we have committed. It also reminded us of what we can do to fix that.

In the monograph entitled, Architects of Catholic Culture, Thomas Cook (2011) notes that there is a “configuration of core beliefs and values that distinguish Catholicism from other Christian denominations.” (p. 17). Among these beliefs is the attitude that community strengthens the individual’s relationship with Jesus, and as such, it is an integral part of faith formation. Additionally, Gospel values inform the catechesis of elementary schools, which frequently include faith, service, courage, and social justice, among others.

Coming from an Eastern Orthodox Church, I had very little knowledge of Catholicism. I decided to take Basics of Catholic Faith course in order to have an understanding of the Catholic Church and their teachings. In today’s world, there are many religions that teach different aspects of God. Catholic teachings offer a lot of moral and spiritual guidance that other Churches narrows down. Catholic Church says “Jesus is good news, and Catholic faith means graciously accepting that good news and sharing it with others.” This base idea of Catholicism is what people might get, that they can’t get from anywhere else.

Similar to that of the rise of classical liberal theology and Protestantism, the Roman Catholic Church experienced a change in theological thought. “Modernism” led to increased biblical criticism and called for Catholic theologies to adapt to the surrounding modern world. Just like those who opposed liberalism, this new way of thinking was also faced with many within the church who opposed it. In 1959 however, John XXIII was elected as the new pope who would set out to bring the church up to speed with the modern world. The result was the formation of the Second Vatican Council also commonly referred to as the “Vatican II.” Theologians Karl Rahner and Hans Küng’s attendance to the council had a major impact because their ideas helped to advance a Catholic theology which focused on bridging the gap between the church and contemporary culture.

Catholics are a Christian sect and believe in one God. Like other Christians, they believe that Jesus is God's Son which goes hand-in-hand with the belief in the Holy Trinity. God the Father, The Son, and the Holy Spirit

In this essay I am going to look at the questions raised by Kung and

Catholicism: The Catholics believe that Jesus became man, body and soul, participating fully in human life, and remaining incarnate to unite humanity with God forever. This teaches us that He was, is and always will be God with the Father and the Holy Spirit. He is begotten not made, a divine person, not a created person like us. All created things came to be through him. The divinity and humanity of Jesus Christ were progressively revealed throughout his life.