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NeedsFaith
Guest
Can someone explain the “Jesus is God” concep to a lost catholic?
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quasimodo
Guest
That’s rather like asking someone to explain matter and energy. We can talk about it, but explanations are going to require a great deal more than can be presented on a discussion board.
I recommend you read Frank Sheed’s Theology for Beginners.
I recommend you read Frank Sheed’s Theology for Beginners.
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East_and_West
Guest
Jesus has two natures. One human and one divine. The two natures are united in one person without comingling.
The act of God the Son, the second person of the Blessed Trinity, taking on a human nature (becoming man) is called the incarnation becuase Divinity took on flesh.
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teachccd
Guest
First of all, there is much to apprehend concerning the fact that Jesus is God but we can comprehend little. Jesus, Himself, claims that He is God. In John 1:1 we know that John’s whole gospel emphasizes this fact that Jesus is God.
There is no one who can go over this in its entirety on this forum. But I recommend that you find a copy of the Catechism of the Catholic Church and find (not only this answer) the many answers that a Catholic who considers him/herself lost may want.
This is not the foundational teaching of just the Catholic Christian Church but of all Christianity. One cannot identify themself as a Christian and at the same time deny the divinity if Christ. This dogma is universally accepted by both Catholic and Protestant alike.
Find someone, like a priest, and have them guide you to the answers to your questions. There are many clear indications that Jesus claims to be God both in Scripture and in the many writings of the early Christian Church. So don’t give up. You are in my prayers…teachccd
There is no one who can go over this in its entirety on this forum. But I recommend that you find a copy of the Catechism of the Catholic Church and find (not only this answer) the many answers that a Catholic who considers him/herself lost may want.
This is not the foundational teaching of just the Catholic Christian Church but of all Christianity. One cannot identify themself as a Christian and at the same time deny the divinity if Christ. This dogma is universally accepted by both Catholic and Protestant alike.
Find someone, like a priest, and have them guide you to the answers to your questions. There are many clear indications that Jesus claims to be God both in Scripture and in the many writings of the early Christian Church. So don’t give up. You are in my prayers…teachccd
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Nickkname
Guest
Jesus is God Incarnate.
For example, in the Icon, “the Lord wearing a red garment covered with a blue cloak conveys the meaning of Divinity (red) was covered with humanity (blue)…”
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Padilla7921
Guest
Exactly.
Think of it like this (might be a bit too complex for a desired answer, sorry in advance): In the Old Testament, God manifested Himself as an angel, a could/pillar of fire (burning bush, etc), or however He was in the Holy of Holies (there are more, but I’m simplifying). In the New Testament, God manifested Himself as Jesus, son of Joseph. After the Ascension, God manifested Himself as the Holy Spirit, and still does.
Each manifestation is still God, just in different “forms.”
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Charlemagne_II
Guest
NeedsFaith
I am a Catholic revert, and this always became a central issue for unbelief in my apostate days.
But now I look at it this way. Once you believe in the existence of God, anything is possible that is the will of God. If God could create the universe, why could He not, if He so wished, enter His own creation in the person of Jesus? That we are not to understand how this is possible goes without saying, just as we are not to understand *how *the universe was created.
God is entitled to His secrets which are far beyond our capacity to know. The doctrine of the Trinity is another one that baffles, the intellect, so much so that Isaac Newton himself rejected it (while still maintaining a Unitarian position). But the demand that we be able to understand everything before we believe would make faith itself altogether redundant. A god that was entirely knowable would not be God, the beatific vision notwithstanding.
I am a Catholic revert, and this always became a central issue for unbelief in my apostate days.
But now I look at it this way. Once you believe in the existence of God, anything is possible that is the will of God. If God could create the universe, why could He not, if He so wished, enter His own creation in the person of Jesus? That we are not to understand how this is possible goes without saying, just as we are not to understand *how *the universe was created.
God is entitled to His secrets which are far beyond our capacity to know. The doctrine of the Trinity is another one that baffles, the intellect, so much so that Isaac Newton himself rejected it (while still maintaining a Unitarian position). But the demand that we be able to understand everything before we believe would make faith itself altogether redundant. A god that was entirely knowable would not be God, the beatific vision notwithstanding.
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Henning
Guest
2 Corinthians 4:4
“…Christ, who is the **image **of God”
Colossians 1:15
Who (Jesus) is the **image **of the invisible God…"
“…Christ, who is the **image **of God”
Colossians 1:15
Who (Jesus) is the **image **of the invisible God…"
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M0nkey
Guest
I was going to put this in my sig., but they do not give you enough room. 
***But he was silent and answered nothing. Again the high priest asked him and said to him, “Are you the Messiah, the son of the Blessed One?”
Then Jesus answered, “I AM; and ‘you will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of the Power and coming with the clouds of heaven.’” (Mark 14:61-62)***
Before Abraham, before the prophets, I AM that I AM, he says.
***But he was silent and answered nothing. Again the high priest asked him and said to him, “Are you the Messiah, the son of the Blessed One?”
Then Jesus answered, “I AM; and ‘you will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of the Power and coming with the clouds of heaven.’” (Mark 14:61-62)***
Before Abraham, before the prophets, I AM that I AM, he says.
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joseph_virgen
Guest
phillip said, “Lord, show us the Father and that will be enough for us.”
Jesus answered," Don’t you know me, phillip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say , 'Show us the Father? Don’t you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me? The words I say to you are not just my own. Rather it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work. Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me."
Jesus answered," Don’t you know me, phillip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say , 'Show us the Father? Don’t you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me? The words I say to you are not just my own. Rather it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work. Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me."
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FightingFat
Guest
Here’s my take on it-
In the beginning was the Word, through whom all things were made, God spoke His Word and we were created. The Jews had this Word in the Torah- the Law. This Law- God’s Word to His people became flesh, in the way that the Vineyard owner sends his own son Matt 21:33-46
Jesus, the Holy Spirit and God the Father are three people in an eternal relationship. They are the same substance (God) but three distinct persons. Jesus is God’s Word, through whom the world was created. God can never be without His Word, any more than the light can cease to shine or the river source to flow. Hence the Son must exist eternally alongside the Father. The explanation of this is that His generation is an eternal process;* “just as the Father is always good by nature, so He is by nature always generative”*. It is entirely correct to call Him the Father’s eternal offspring, for the Father’s being was never incomplete, needing an essential feature to be added to it; nor is the Son’s generation like a man’s from his parent, involving His coming into existence after the Father. Rather He is God’s offspring, and since God is eternal and He belongs to God as Son, He exists from all eternity. It is characteristic of men, because of the imperfection of their nature, to beget in time; but God’s offspring is eternal, His nature always being perfect.
The Trinity is therefore the Archetype of unity-in-love-without-rivalry. This I think, is God’s challenge to us, His invitation and what He is drawing us into.
In the beginning was the Word, through whom all things were made, God spoke His Word and we were created. The Jews had this Word in the Torah- the Law. This Law- God’s Word to His people became flesh, in the way that the Vineyard owner sends his own son Matt 21:33-46
Jesus, the Holy Spirit and God the Father are three people in an eternal relationship. They are the same substance (God) but three distinct persons. Jesus is God’s Word, through whom the world was created. God can never be without His Word, any more than the light can cease to shine or the river source to flow. Hence the Son must exist eternally alongside the Father. The explanation of this is that His generation is an eternal process;* “just as the Father is always good by nature, so He is by nature always generative”*. It is entirely correct to call Him the Father’s eternal offspring, for the Father’s being was never incomplete, needing an essential feature to be added to it; nor is the Son’s generation like a man’s from his parent, involving His coming into existence after the Father. Rather He is God’s offspring, and since God is eternal and He belongs to God as Son, He exists from all eternity. It is characteristic of men, because of the imperfection of their nature, to beget in time; but God’s offspring is eternal, His nature always being perfect.
The Trinity is therefore the Archetype of unity-in-love-without-rivalry. This I think, is God’s challenge to us, His invitation and what He is drawing us into.
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warpspeedpetey
Guest
the catholic answers page at the top of this site provides information on all the common questions. welcome home brother:thumbsup:
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Dan86
Guest
The Holy Trinity is made up of three distinct persons: God the Father, God the Son (Jesus), and God the Holy Spirit. The best explanation for the Trinity is found in Saint Anselm’s Monologion.
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