Official list of beliefs

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Cashue

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Hello,

I don’t know if this is the right forum… my question is:

Is there an official list of catholic beliefs available online (not pages and pages just the list of simply presented)?

thank you.
 
Cashue said:
Hello,

I don’t know if this is the right forum… my question is:

Is there an official list of catholic beliefs available online (not pages and pages just the list of simply presented)?

thank you.
Click to expand...
I think the best answer to this is, no, there is not. It sounds like you’re just looking for, basically, a complete bullet-point list of beliefs numbered 1 to however many? No such luck, unfortunately, and even if there were such a list, it would be a really long one – “pages and pages,” I’m sure.

I’d point you to the Catechism of the Catholic Church, which would be a good starting place, but even the Catechism is nothing approaching a complete catalog of Catholic beliefs.
 
O geez, that’s a tough one. As Mark points out the CCC is the most comprehensive work to date and even that is not all. The CCC was written in a very specific format to align with with specific topics. I can give you a list of specific branches of Religious Studies; but you would have to go through all of them to cover everything. Does anyone have that much time on their hands?

Scripture
Systematic Theology
Mystical Theology
Moral Theology
Eccleisiology
Sacramental Theology
Liturgy
Canon Law
Church History
Religious Psychology
Spiritual Theology
Philosophy of Truth
Eschatology
Dogmatic Theology
Hagiography
Mariology

I’m sure that I left something out. But these are the most common branches of theology. Those of us who study theology get a taste of each area in a course or two to get an M.Div. Then if you want to become an “expert”, notice the quotation marks, you have to get an STD (no not a disease). You can only get an STD in one at a time. Each STD takes from three to five years, after a four-year masters program.

Good luck on that. Been there, done that. Don’t want to do it again. My brain was fried after the first time around. LOL

Fraternally,

Br. JR, OSF 🙂
 
Thank you for replying so quickly.

Yes, I can understand that a brief clear list of beliefs is impossible and it is for the best; I trust the Holy church in its wisdom in not producing such a list.

Thank you for the link it is most helpful.
 
Cashue said:
Yes, I can understand that a brief clear list of beliefs is impossible
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Well, you can have a list that’s brief and clear – it’s just that the Catholic faith is deep and complex enough that a list that’s brief will not be remotely complete, and a list that’s complete will not be remotely brief. And there’s tension between brevity and clarity too: it’s brief to say that the Son is “consubstantial with the Father,” but it may not be very clear what that means unless you already have some solid theological knowledge.
 
MarkThompson said:
Well, you can have a list that’s brief and clear – it’s just that the Catholic faith is deep and complex enough that a list that’s brief will not be remotely complete, and a list that’s complete will not be remotely brief. And there’s tension between brevity and clarity too: it’s brief to say that the Son is “consubstantial with the Father,” but it may not be very clear what that means unless you already have some solid theological knowledge.
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OK Mark, that’s as clear as a sunny day in London. Have you ever seen one of those? LOL

Fraternally,

Br. JR, OSF 🙂
 
MarkThompson said:
Well, you can have a list that’s brief and clear – it’s just that the Catholic faith is deep and complex enough that a list that’s brief will not be remotely complete, and a list that’s complete will not be remotely brief. And there’s tension between brevity and clarity too: it’s brief to say that the Son is “consubstantial with the Father,” but it may not be very clear what that means unless you already have some solid theological knowledge.
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Yes, thank you for your explanation, you seem to be very knowledgable, it is good to have people like you to help us because I am less educated and do not have theological knowledge.

thanks again
 
JReducation said:
O geez, that’s a tough one. As Mark points out the CCC is the most comprehensive work to date and even that is not all. The CCC was written in a very specific format to align with with specific topics. I can give you a list of specific branches of Religious Studies; but you would have to go through all of them to cover everything. Does anyone have that much time on their hands?

Scripture
Systematic Theology
Mystical Theology
Moral Theology
Eccleisiology
Sacramental Theology
Liturgy
Canon Law
Church History
Religious Psychology
Spiritual Theology
Philosophy of Truth
Eschatology
Dogmatic Theology
Hagiography
Mariology

I’m sure that I left something out. But these are the most common branches of theology. Those of us who study theology get a taste of each area in a course or two to get an M.Div. Then if you want to become an “expert”, notice the quotation marks, you have to get an STD (no not a disease). You can only get an STD in one at a time. Each STD takes from three to five years, after a four-year masters program.

Good luck on that. Been there, done that. Don’t want to do it again. My brain was fried after the first time around. LOL

Fraternally,

Br. JR, OSF 🙂
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Thank you for the information but I don’t have the education to be able to understand all that. I think it is best to let the experts study things and then to believe what my priest tells me to. They have studied everything and are the experts. I was just wondering if there was like a simplified version for ordinary people like me.

Thank you anyway for your research.
 
Cashue said:
Thank you for the information but I don’t have the education to be able to understand all that. I think it is best to let the experts study things and then to believe what my priest tells me to. They have studied everything and are the experts. I was just wondering if there was like a simplified version for ordinary people like me.

Thank you anyway for your research.
Click to expand...
Bold is mine. First of all, you’re vey welcome. Secondly, no, priests are not experts. Most priests are not theologians. Priests have advanced degrees in general theological studies. In the USA priests have a Master’s or its equivalent, four years of theology. They do not become theologians, because most of them don’t want to be theologians or experts in theology. They want to do ministry. They do what everone else does, they refer to theologians when they have a question.

Obviously, they know more theology than the man in the pew, but not always. There are many theologians who are not priests. A theologian is an expert in one of the branches of theology that I listed above. No theologian knows every branch of theology. We (including me) specialize in one area. For example, I studied Mystical Theology. I know a lot about the soul, the journey to God, prayer, grace, truths revealed to the mystics of the Church, how the sould journeys toward God, the effects of sin and grace on the soul and anything that has to do with the soul.

But I know as much about the Bible as your average parish priest does, because I’m not an expert in scripture and neither is he. We took the same two years of scripture in the semianry. I know every little about any of the other branches of theology, just like you priest does. We all take course in each branch of theology to get our Master’s degree. Some courses are just one semester long, that’s about 11 weeks. The longest courses are scripture. Those are two years, because they break up the scriptures into four parts, at leas that’s how they did it where I went to school.

For example, my parish priests would answer questions on the things they know about. When a question comes up on the life of prayer or the soul they would ask someone like me to explain it to them so they can help their parishioner. I work in Respect LIfe, so I have a strong background in the Gospel of Life. I get many questions fromt he parish priests on abortion, euthanasia and end-of life decisions, topics that they don’t cover in depth in a Master’s program. But I have to go to someone else to find out what is appropriate for a liturgy. I know just enough, but when there are very unusual questions, I’m not a liturgist.

What we have in the Church is a web where we help each other and we help the parish priests. Not all theologians are priests. Many theologians are priests, but there are also brothers, sisters, and lay men and women theologians. Even the Vatican employs married women theologians who are experts in certain parts of the faith. Even the pope does not know every area of theology. He asks questions when there is something that comes up outside of his area of expertise. He has consultants for this. Some are priests, brothers, sisters and lay people.

For example, Pope Benedict is not a Canon Lawyer, but his secretary is. When he wants to know more about canon law or wants to make a change to canon law he discusses it with someone who can advise him on whether or not it’s a good idea. Ultimately, he has to make the decision. He’s the pope. But he does not have all this knowledge in his head. He uses experts to advise him, so does your priest and your bishop. And so do the rest of us. We’re a web that forms one community of believers.

Fraternally,

Br. JR, OSF 🙂
 
Cashue said:
Hello,

I don’t know if this is the right forum… my question is:

Is there an official list of catholic beliefs available online (not pages and pages just the list of simply presented)?

thank you.
Click to expand...
The Credo has a pretty good summary of the basics.
 
I was wondering when the “Credo” was going to be mentioned. That is the sum & substance of Catholic belief.

Anything else just amplifies the Credo. (particularily those dogmas relating to the BVM)
 
corsair said:
I was wondering when the “Credo” was going to be mentioned. That is the sum & substance of Catholic belief.

Anything else just amplifies the Credo. (particularily those dogmas relating to the BVM)
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There’s a certain poetry to putting it this way, maybe, but in practical terms it’s unfortunately not true at all. That’s why I linked to the Credo above with the comment that, while brief, it’s not remotely complete. Just as an easy example, the doctrine of the Assumption of Mary, which was not dogmatically defined until 1,625 years after the adoption of the Credo, involves substantially more than just “amplifying” the words “was born of the Virgin Mary” (or “was incarnate of the Virgin Mary,” if you like).

Likewise, the spectrum of “Catholic beliefs” will include the Church’s teachings on abortion, sexuality, telling lies, the Sacraments (the Credo mentions only baptism), the primacy of Peter, and a zillion and one other things. You need to do a little bit more work than “turning up the volume” on the Credo to figure these things out!

For the original poster, the Catechism, which I also linked above, contains a full discussion of the implications of all the lines of the Credo (the Nicene Creed), and also discussions of the Sacraments, the Church, and a pretty good variety of other things. Instead of sounding dismissive of the idea that someone could collect “all the beliefs” of the Church in one place, I should have said that the Catechism does a pretty good job of collecting all the beliefs that you need to know about to live the average Catholic life. If you’ve got deeper questions, that’s what your priest (and boards like this one!) are for.
 
Cashue said:
Hello,

I don’t know if this is the right forum… my question is:

Is there an official list of catholic beliefs available online (not pages and pages just the list of simply presented)?

thank you.
Click to expand...
JL: I recommed the Compendium Catechism of the Catholic Church. It has simple questions and answers on the teachings of the Church. You can get used copies for a couple bucks on Amazon.

amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/1574557203/ref=sr_1_1_olp?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1272306228&sr=1-1&condition=used
 
While I said above that the Credo had a pretty good summary of the basics, I did not mean to imply that is was complete. There have, of course, been some doctrines defined since that time.
I think that we have to distinguish between basic Catholic belief (the Credo and defined doctrine) which does not change and Catholic liturgical practice, matter and form of the Sacraments, discipline, scriptural interpretation and interpretation of moral issues which can and do change.
 
Cashue said:
Hello,

I don’t know if this is the right forum… my question is:

Is there an official list of catholic beliefs available online (not pages and pages just the list of simply presented)?

thank you.
Click to expand...
Please look up:

The Apostles Creed and
The Nicene Creed.
 
is there an official list of rules in your family of how birthday parties are organized, run, and how dinner is served and behaviors are supposed to be maintained in your house? Probably not.; it would be too confining. You know those things, almost innately when you are in the family. The same thing goes for the family of God - the Church.
 
I don’t mean to be rude; please don’t take it that way. The Creeds (Nicea and Apostles’) were meant to be summaries for the common man. Originally, they were not prayers. They were professions of faith used when a person was received into the Church and also required to resolve the problem with heretics. It was like an oath. It was later added to the liturgy in the Roman Church.

Today some of the Eastern Catholic Churches also include it in their Divine Liturgy. It was never intended to be a comprehensive summary of the faith. If you observe very carefully, it addresses the major heresies that cropped up between the first and fourth century. It does not speak about those points that were never in dispute. Some of the Eastern Churches do not use the Creed of Nicea, because of the Filioque, some do and others just skip over that sentence. The wording of the processions has always been a tough one to get it written in such a way so that it sounds right to East and West.

If one wants to know everything that the Universal Church believes and teaches one would have to study every branch of theology, history, law, liturgy and scripture. I don’t think anyone has that kind of time and money. That’s why even the Holy Father relies on theologians who serve as consultants in their areas of expertise. He is the final arbiter when there are disagreements between theologians. But he is not an expert in every area of the faith. However, he has the authority to settle disputes and make a final decree in a dispute.

Fraternally,

Br. JR, OSF 🙂
 
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