Catechism

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Paris_Blues

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Since I’m not Catholic yet obviously, who came up with this Catechism and did Jesus meant for that too? :confused:

blessings,
Nicole
 
Hey Nicole!

Just wanted to make sure you realize that the point of the Catechism is not to pull out a bunch of new stuff that nobody’s every heard of before. Actually, the Catechism is a summary of what the faith of Christ means in the present day.

Two examples of why the faith might needs refreshers of this kind:
  1. Lots of inventions/dicoveries have been made, and social developments have occurred, since Jesus’ time. How do we know, for instance, how to do God’s will when it comes time to vote for political leaders? Nobody voted for this kind of thing in 30 A.D., and so Jesus didn’t say anything directly about it. One of the Church’s jobs is to hold on to the essence of Jesus’ message, so that when new developments like this come up, we can know what’s the Christian thing to do. The Catechism is part of that.
  2. Jesus said that He would send the Holy Spirit “to lead us into all Truth.” Historically, Catholics have understood this to mean that we are supposed to reflect and pray on His message, and that the Holy Spirit will give us insights into it that we didn’t have before. Of course, it can be tough to know where your personal opinions end, and the inspiration of the Spirit begins. So Christ gave us a Church, and one of the jobs of this Church is to be the guide and the judge of Christian thought, telling us which ideas are part of God’s message and which are off the mark. The Catechism serves this function as well.
Hope that clears up a few things for you.

patricius
 
The Catechism I’m reading synthesizes all the teachings of the Church, from the Old Testament, the New, the various councils, encyclicals all the way down to writings of the current Pope. That means it includes the best interpretations by Augustine, Aquinas, Newman, and numerous popes. I can’t imagine a religion that would omit the thoughts of all its best minds over the ages. And everything you need to know for living a good life day by day is right there.

What could be better? 👍
 
Paris Blues:
Since I’m not Catholic yet obviously, who came up with this Catechism and did Jesus meant for that too? :confused:

blessings,
Nicole
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Hi Nichole, why would it be obvious that you’re not Catholic? Just curious. The Catechism is a wonderful tool used in the Church. It gives insight into the “why” we do many things as well as explaining what we do. I don’t know if you’ve ever read any of it, but I would advise you, or anyone reading the Catechism, to read and reflect on an entire section at a time. Don’t go for “quotes” as many Christians feel compelled to do with Scripture. More often than not, quoters’ take their quotes entirely out of context and as a result mislead people with their implications. Most of the misunderstandings between Christians are a result of misreading Scripture by taking it out of its original context and trying to apply only a part of the Word to a very specific topic, the concept of Sola Scriptura is an excellent example. When you read the Catechism or Scripture and something doesn’t sound right, go back and see the rest of the story, what context it’s written in, what else does it say. That’s the only way you’ll get a true understanding. I’ve read the Catechism and use it very often to research questions and to gain understanding. As far as your question about Jesus meaning to teach the Catechism, I, being Catholic, would of course say yes, He did intend us to use it. My reasoning is when He tells us He will send us an “advocate” to lead His Church to all truth; He did not infer all truth would be automatic. The Church didn’t get all the answers at once, actually it still may not have “all” the answers, but the answers it does have are true. The Spirit is still leading the Church to all truth. It’s a process, and as such develops. This development is what many non-Catholics dislike, but it’s very clear in reading Scripture that it is the way Jesus established it. The catechism gives great explanations into some very difficult questions.
Please, don’t be distraught over your confusion, simply pray for guidance. It’s God calling you in His way. May the peace and love of our Lord, Jesus the Christ, be with you.
Tom
 
Yeah, I’m thinking that it must be true because even before I read the Catechism or knew what it was about, my faith and thoughts are very similar to some of it! I never had these thoughts before until Christ came into my life approx. 9 months ago! So if that’s the case, then yes, the Holy Spirit came upon me to think like that then and when I turned to the Catechism, there was some of my deep, deep faith! 👍

So yes, the same Holy Spirit that came upon those who wrote the Catechism with the thoughts came up upon me because that’s how I thought!!! Wow! This is a mystery! :eek: 🙂

blessings,
Nicole
 
Just keep in mind, Jesus is leaving the Holy Spirit with the Church, His audience at the last supper was His Church leaders, not the multitudes, the Spirit leads the Church to all truth. Some feel the Holy Spirit leads individuals to this truth, again that is taking Scripture out of context. The Spirit leads the Church to all truth, this is one reason there are over 35,000 different Christian churches teaching what they believe is the truth. Unfortunately there is only one “truth” and it’s found in the Church He established, the Catholic Church. When you don’t agree with a teaching of His Church, which one is the Holy Spirit leading ? you or the Church? Just a question to ponder.
Love Tom
 
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Tom:
Just keep in mind, Jesus is leaving the Holy Spirit with the Church, His audience at the last supper was His Church leaders, not the multitudes, the Spirit leads the Church to all truth. Some feel the Holy Spirit leads individuals to this truth, again that is taking Scripture out of context. The Spirit leads the Church to all truth, this is one reason there are over 35,000 different Christian churches teaching what they believe is the truth. Unfortunately there is only one “truth” and it’s found in the Church He established, the Catholic Church. When you don’t agree with a teaching of His Church, which one is the Holy Spirit leading ? you or the Church? Just a question to ponder.
Love Tom
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Hi Tom,

I’m not quite understanding what you are saying about that. Are you saying that the Holy Spirit was found in His disciples only and never the multitudes of people then? If that’s the case and you say that “Some feel the Holy Spirit leads individuals to this truth, again that is taking Scripture out of context”, then if the Holy Spirit doesn’t lead individuals into that truth then, then why are there a lot of people in the CC then? They didn’t just show up because they felt like it…they had to have had the faith!

Please show what scripture you’re talking about please. :confused:

blessings,
Nicole

P.S. Or am I taking what you said out of context? LOL!
 
Paris Blues:
Hi Tom,

I’m not quite understanding what you are saying about that. Are you saying that the Holy Spirit was found in His disciples only and never the multitudes of people then? If that’s the case and you say that “Some feel the Holy Spirit leads individuals to this truth, again that is taking Scripture out of context”, then if the Holy Spirit doesn’t lead individuals into that truth then, then why are there a lot of people in the CC then? They didn’t just show up because they felt like it…they had to have had the faith!

Please show what scripture you’re talking about please. :confused:

blessings,
Nicole

P.S. Or am I taking what you said out of context? LOL!
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Tom is referring to a special charism (spiritual gift) of the Holy Spirit, that of infallibility. The Holy Spirit gives different gifts to different people, as St. Paul says 1 Corinthians chapter 12. The Holy Spirit does not guarantee that everyone is capable of knowing the truth inherently without error. Yet we know that Christ prayed that the Church as a whole will not be lead into error. It is when people take it upon themselves to interpret Scripture without the help of the Church that they can be lead into error. This is why there are so many Protestant denominations, each with a wholly different view of the Bible.
 
Dr. Colossus:
Tom is referring to a special charism (spiritual gift) of the Holy Spirit, that of infallibility. The Holy Spirit gives different gifts to different people, as St. Paul says 1 Corinthians chapter 12. The Holy Spirit does not guarantee that everyone is capable of knowing the truth inherently without error. Yet we know that Christ prayed that the Church as a whole will not be lead into error. It is when people take it upon themselves to interpret Scripture without the help of the Church that they can be lead into error. This is why there are so many Protestant denominations, each with a wholly different view of the Bible.
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Ahhh! Gotcha!!! All right then I must join the CC to learn then! 👍

blessings,
Nicole
 
Dr. Colossus:
Tom is referring to a special charism (spiritual gift) of the Holy Spirit, that of infallibility. The Holy Spirit gives different gifts to different people, as St. Paul says 1 Corinthians chapter 12. The Holy Spirit does not guarantee that everyone is capable of knowing the truth inherently without error. Yet we know that Christ prayed that the Church as a whole will not be lead into error. It is when people take it upon themselves to interpret Scripture without the help of the Church that they can be lead into error. This is why there are so many Protestant denominations, each with a wholly different view of the Bible.
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Ahhh! Gotcha!!! All right then I must join the CC to learn then! 👍

blessings,
Nicole
 
Thanks Dr, and yes that is what I was saying. It doesn’t mean the Holy Spirit does not lead you to the truth, but, that there is no guarantee other than was given to the Church. If I feel the Holy Spirit has lead me to the truth about the true presence (or not) of our Lord in the Eucharist, the one and only way I have for sure of knowing if it is indeed true is to check my beliefs against the official teachings of the Catholic Church. So I did, and yep, the Holy Spirit had indeed lead me to the truth, if what I felt was true, was not what the Catholic Church officially taught, guess what, I got it wrong, because the official teaching of the Church is what was guaranteed to be true, not what I feel the Holy Spirit leads me to believe. It does not mean we become mindless followers of the Church teaching, it means we are driven to find the truth in the Churchs’ teaching.
 
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Tom:
Thanks Dr, and yes that is what I was saying. It doesn’t mean the Holy Spirit does not lead you to the truth, but, that there is no guarantee other than was given to the Church. If I feel the Holy Spirit has lead me to the truth about the true presence (or not) of our Lord in the Eucharist, the one and only way I have for sure of knowing if it is indeed true is to check my beliefs against the official teachings of the Catholic Church. So I did, and yep, the Holy Spirit had indeed lead me to the truth, if what I felt was true, was not what the Catholic Church officially taught, guess what, I got it wrong, because the official teaching of the Church is what was guaranteed to be true, not what I feel the Holy Spirit leads me to believe. It does not mean we become mindless followers of the Church teaching, it means we are driven to find the truth in the Churchs’ teaching.
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And that’s what I’m trying to do!
🙂 Right now, I feel like I COULD belong to the CC because the kind of truth I had matches what the CC has but I can’t say for sure because I don’t know a lot of Catholicism plus I was taught too in a Protestant church but still learning and the more I learn, the more I’ll understand! 👍

I guess you could consider me a “Protestant-that-thinks-like-a-Catholic-yet-a-Protestant!” LOL!!!

blessings,
Nicole
 
Fr. John Corapi, a wonderful Catholic priest and theologian, has a videotaped series on the Catechism that is wonderful. If there is a Catholic library or bookstore near you, sometimes they will lend out copies for free.

He says very clearly that the Holy Catholic Church is like a three-legged stool, the legs being the Sacred Scriptures, the Catechism, and the Magisterium (teaching authority of the Church given by Jesus to His apostles and passed down through apostolic succession). They all go together; they all support what the other is saying and never contradict each other; they make a firm foundation for our faith. If you remove one of the legs of this three-legged stool, it falls over. We need all three.
 
Nicole,

I’d like to echo what Didi suggested: by all means, listen to Fr. Corapi’s series on the Catechism. If you have Catholic radio in your area (you can find out by calling the office—“chancery” —of your local diocese, or someone at your local Church might know), see if they play Fr. Corapi’s programs. Here in Minnesota, we have Relevant Radio, and they broadcast his series on the Catechism. Also, if you would like a free tape or DVD of his conversion story (which is pretty amazing), go to Catholicity.com, and on the left click on “free Catholic DVDs and tapes”. The Dr. Scott Hahn conversion story is good too—oh, and get the one called “Marriage and the Eucharist” by Christopher West! It’s great. They’re all free (though they would be happy if you donated whatever you can).

Best wishes to you, Nicole. Be sure to ask more questions as they arise.
 
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