The Gospel in a nutshell (RCC view)?

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What would be a faithful Roman Catholic short summary (elevator pitch if you like) of “The Gospel”?
 
jasev said:
What would be a faithful Roman Catholic short summary (elevator pitch if you like) of “The Gospel”?
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We believe in one God
the Father, the Almighty,
maker of heaven and earth,
of all that is seen and unseen.

We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ,
the only Son of God,
eternally begotten of the Father,
God from God, Light from Light,
true God from true God,
begotten not made, one in Being with the Father.
Through him all things were made.
For us men and our salvation
he came down from heaven:
by the power of the Holy Spirit
he was born of the Virgin Mary, and became man.

For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate;
he suffered, died, and was buried.
On the third day he rose again
in fulfillment of the Scriptures;
he ascended into heaven
and is seated at the right hand of the Father.
He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead,
and his kingdom will have no end.

We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life,
who proceeds from the Father and the Son.
With the Father and the Son he is worshiped and glorified.
He has spoken through the Prophets.
We believe in one holy Catholic and apostolic Church.
(The Nicene Creed)
 
Several CD’s in your briefcase. If they are protestant give a Scott Hahn CD, If they are baptist give a Steve Ray CD. If they are fallen away Catholic a Father Larry Richards or Father Corapi. etc etc
 
Hmmm. Not exactly what I was looking for. Can you assume your audience has no prior biblical knowledge or church background? What exactly is good news and why is it good?

(Please note - not trying to bait anyone to an answer only to beat them over the head a more correct answer. Just trying to understand what Catholics believe The Gospel itself is.)
 
CalCatholic said:
We believe in one God
the Father, the Almighty,
maker of heaven and earth,
of all that is seen and unseen.

We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ,
the only Son of God,
eternally begotten of the Father,
God from God, Light from Light,
true God from true God,
begotten not made, one in Being with the Father.
Through him all things were made.
For us men and our salvation
he came down from heaven:
by the power of the Holy Spirit
he was born of the Virgin Mary, and became man.

For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate;
he suffered, died, and was buried.
On the third day he rose again
in fulfillment of the Scriptures;
he ascended into heaven
and is seated at the right hand of the Father.
He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead,
and his kingdom will have no end.

We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life,
who proceeds from the Father and the Son.
With the Father and the Son he is worshiped and glorified.
He has spoken through the Prophets.
We believe in one holy Catholic and apostolic Church.
(The Nicene Creed)
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Here is the part that I left off:

We acknowledge one baptism for the forgiveness of sins.
We look for the resurrection of the dead,
and the life of the world to come. Amen.

(This is what happens when you are tired :()
 
I’d probably start with God’s existence. ‘In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth’.

Then what God proceeded to do. ‘In the beginning was the Word, teh Word was with God and the Word WAS God … and the Word became flesh and dwelt among us’.

Then explain that the Word-made-flesh was Jesus - a name which literally means ‘God saves’ - “for I have seen Your salvation, a light to the Gentiles and the glory of Your people Israel”.

Then explain His mission - ‘I have come that you may have life and have it to the full’. And the Father’s involvement in this mission, and how it was carried out through His passion and death - ‘for God so loved the world …’

Then what response is required of us - first by means of the two great commands and the Golden rule, then citing ‘if you love Me you will keep My commands’.

Then explain how the authority of the Church comes into it - ‘You are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church’, ‘whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven …’ and ‘whoever hears you hears Me, whoever rejects you rejects Me’ - and Apostolic succession.

Better hope it’s a long elevator trip!
 
" ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments" (Matthew 22:37-40 NIV).

In my opinion this is Christianity in a nutshell. Studying for a test I have tomorrow on a biblical interpretations throughout history, I am reminded of Augustine’s “rule of faith.” Every passage in the Bible should encourage love of God, love of neighbor, or both. If a passage in the Bible does not encourage either of these things, you are interpreting it wrong. Even Augustine understood that this is what Christianity is all about.
 
jasev said:
What would be a faithful Roman Catholic short summary (elevator pitch if you like) of “The Gospel”?
Click to expand...
It is an error to try to put the Gospel in a nutshell. In fact you need more than just the Gospels, you need the entirety of Holy Scripture to avoid erroneous interpretation.
 
jasev said:
Hmmm. Not exactly what I was looking for. Can you assume your audience has no prior biblical knowledge or church background? What exactly is good news and why is it good?

(Please note - not trying to bait anyone to an answer only to beat them over the head a more correct answer. Just trying to understand what Catholics believe The Gospel itself is.)
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The good news in a nutshell is this: we were lost and separated from God by sin but we have been found and reconciled back to God by Jesus Christ.
 
Chesster said:
The good news in a nutshell is this: we were lost and separated from God by sin but we have been found and reconciled back to God by Jesus Christ.
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But that is not the Good News of Catholicism…because the Church, as I understand it, teaches that if we persist in a state of grace until death then, and only then, we can be reconciled back to God through Christ. But to say that we in fact have already been, or will certainly be, is the sin of presumption (which could in and of itself land us in hell for eternity).

I think the Good news of Catholicism is simply this: Do everything the Pope tells you, keep the entire deposit of the faith faithfully, attend mass as frequently as possible, go to confession daily (or as nearly daily as possible), and devote your life to good works, sacrifice, and chaste detachment from physical pleasure of any kind (including chaste marriage)…and you’ll probably be o.k. in the hereafter.
 
HereticalTheist said:
But that is not the Good News of Catholicism…because the Church, as I understand it, teaches that if we persist in a state of grace until death then, and only then, we can be reconciled back to God through Christ. But to say that we in fact have already been, or will certainly be, is the sin of presumption (which could in and of itself land us in hell for eternity).

I think the Good news of Catholicism is simply this: Do everything the Pope tells you, keep the entire deposit of the faith faithfully, attend mass as frequently as possible, go to confession daily (or as nearly daily as possible), and devote your life to good works, sacrifice, and chaste detachment from physical pleasure of any kind (including chaste marriage)…and you’ll probably be o.k. in the hereafter.
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This is intentionally disingenuous and your negative feelings toward the Church are subtle, yet obvious.
 
Murphs10 said:
This is intentionally disingenuous and your negative feelings toward the Church are subtle, yet obvious.
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I stand by what I said. Are all of the things I mentioned not the teachings of the Church? Does the Church not tell us that in order to obtain Heaven we must do and believe all that the Pope tells us to do and believe (and not only the Pope but the Bishops as well), keep the entire deposit of faith, attend Mass and the Sacrament of Reconciliation as frequently as physically possible, devote our lives to good works, and cultivate a chaste detachment from all physical pleasure?

Which of these things is not required for salvation? Which can can be safely omitted from the Gospel?
 
HereticalTheist said:
I stand by what I said. Are all of the things I mentioned not the teachings of the Church? Does the Church not tell us that in order to obtain Heaven we must do and believe all that the Pope tells us to do and believe (and not only the Pope but the Bishops as well), keep the entire deposit of faith, attend Mass and the Sacrament of Reconciliation as frequently as physically possible, devote our lives to good works, and cultivate a chaste detachment from all physical pleasure?

Which of these things is not required for salvation? Which can can be safely omitted from the Gospel?
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Your response is disingenous because it approaches the question from the wrong direction. We can use your line of thinking to describe any Christian in such a way. You can say that the Good News according to a Bible Christian is to go to church every Sunday and sometimes Wednesday, attend Bible studies as often as possible, pray and evangelize. But, this does not answer the question in that case either and it comes off in a negative tone in light of the question. This is not what the Bible Christian teaches about the Good News of Jesus, but how their faith manifests itself and the many instruments that they use to live the Christian life. They don’t believe that simply the act of physically going to church is what is beneficial, but the hearing and understanding the Good News is.

You are not answering the question of what the Catholic Church teaches about the Good News.
 
Murphs10 said:
Your response is disingenous because it approaches the question from the wrong direction. We can use your line of thinking to describe any Christian in such a way. You can say that the Good News according to a Bible Christian is to go to church every Sunday and sometimes Wednesday, attend Bible studies as often as possible, pray and evangelize. But, this does not answer the question in that case either and it comes off in a negative tone in light of the question. This is not what the Bible Christian teaches about the Good News of Jesus, but how their faith manifests itself and the many instruments that they use to live the Christian life. They don’t believe that simply the act of physically going to church is what is beneficial, but the hearing and understanding the Good News is.

You are not answering the question of what the Catholic Church teaches about the Good News.
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But Catholics do believe that the act of physically participating in the Eucharist, and Confession, are “what is beneficial” for the believer. In fact any Catholic worth his salt will tell you that the Eucharist is the Catholic Faith. It is the Gospel. So are the other 7 sacraments. Without them, the Catholic believes, one is eternally damned.
 
HereticalTheist said:
But Catholics do believe that the act of physically participating in the Eucharist, and Confession, are “what is beneficial” for the believer. In fact any Catholic worth his salt will tell you that the Eucharist is the Catholic Faith. It is the Gospel. So are the other 7 sacraments. Without them, the Catholic believes, one is eternally damned. This is false
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Absolutley! But a presentation of the Good News of Jesus would explain why the Eucharist is so important and what Christ did to give us the gift of forgiveness. There is no Eucharist without the actions of Christ, which is what the Good News (Gospel) is.

Your original statement:

*“I think the Good news of Catholicism is simply this: Do everything the Pope tells you, keep the entire deposit of the faith faithfully, attend mass as frequently as possible, go to confession daily (or as nearly daily as possible), and devote your life to good works, sacrifice, and chaste detachment from physical pleasure of any kind (including chaste marriage)…and you’ll probably be o.k. in the hereafter.” *

…is cynical and is not the “Gospel in a nutshell” to a Catholic. The Gospel would explain why it is important to celebrate Christ through the mass and live a life of obedience to Him and his Church. And, the goal is not to go to confession as often as possible, it is to not need to go to confession at all.

The Gospel in a nutshell is the Creed.
 
[The Gospel in a nutshell (RCC view)?

(First of it is the Catholic Church…not the RCC :)…)

answer:

*Jesus Christ

and life in him.
 
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