What Catholics worship as their "God"

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As a Roman Catholic I can assure you without a shadow of a doubt the we worship a Who, not a What. We worship God, the Father, the Son of God; Jesus Christ and the Holy Ghost, the triune God. One God, three Divine “natures” or Persons, if you will. You see God the Father during creation and walking with Adam, in the burning bush talking with Moses, You see our Blessed Lord in the 33 years of his life, sent by the father for the remission of sin and you see the Holy Ghost decending as a dove and at Pentecost.](Douay-Rheims Bible, John Chapter 4)

We appear to be in total agreement (except I’ve read from a few translations of sacred scripture which I personally found to be much more [ahem] grievous than the NAB … I don’t suggest anyone go looking for them ).

If you might be patient enough with me to consider the following as it pertains to the above quote. I’m sure it is inadvertent and that the wording was not meant in this sense,however there is a potential for error introduced when we say :

"One God, three Divine ‘natures’ or Persons, if you will."

In order to make the above statement clear, the word ‘natures’ needs to be removed. Otherwise it conveys the impression of an error. I certainly don’t claim to be any expert in philosophy but those philosophers who were bold and enlightened enough to express the triune unity of the Godhead say that, by definition : God is one being and the three persons of the Holy Trinity share one Divine nature.

A few linked excerpts to illustrate:

newadvent.org/cathen/06612a.htm …

 **Unity or unicity of God**

Obviously there can be only one infinite being, only one God. If several were to exist, none of them would really be infinite, for, to have plurality of natures at all, each should have some perfection not possessed by the others. This will be readily granted by every one who admits the infinity of God, and there is no need to delay in developing what is perfectly clear. It should be noted, however, that some Theistic philosophers prefer to deduce unicity from self-existence and infinity from both combined, and in a matter so very abstract it is not surprising that slight differences of opinion should arise. But we have followed what seems to us to be the simpler and clearer line …

ewtn.com/faith/teachings/GODA22.htm …
**
The Holy Trinity
by Rev. William G. Most**

Perhaps the deepest, the most profound of all mysteries is the mystery of the Trinity. The Church teaches us that although there is only one God, yet, somehow, there are three Persons in God. The Father is God, the Son is God, the Holy Spirit is God, yet we do not speak of three Gods, but only one God. They have the same nature, substance, and being.
We came to know this immense mystery because Christ revealed it to us …

• Notable below is that the vision of the Orthodox Church on this truth is seamlessly compatible with that of the Catholic Church :

oca.org/OCchapter.asp?SID=2&ID=33 …

*What the Father is, the Son and the Spirit are also. This is the Church’s teaching. The Son, born of the Father, and the Spirit, proceeding from Him, share the divine nature with God, being “of one essence” with Him.

Thus, as the Father is “ineffable, inconceivable, invisible, incomprehensible, ever-existing and eternally the same” (Divine Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom), so the Son and the Spirit are exactly the same. Every attribute of divinity which belongs to God the Father – life, love, wisdom, truth, blessedness, holiness, power, purity, joy – belongs equally as well to the Son and the Holy Spirit. The being, nature, essence, existence and life of God the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit are absolutely and identically one and the same.*

So the Persons of the Most Holy Trinity share one Divine Nature. It is why we say, " In the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit…", as opposed to “in the names of the Father…etc…”

Removing the word “natures” would be a safer way to word that particular quote above, in my limited opinion.

God bless

 

[n4mgr]

We appear to be in total agreement (except I’ve read from a few translations of sacred scripture which I personally found to be much more [ahem] grievous than the NAB … I don’t suggest anyone go looking for them ).

If you might be patient enough with me to consider the following as it pertains to the above quote. I’m sure it is inadvertent and that the wording was not meant in this sense,however there is a potential for error introduced when we say :

"One God, three Divine ‘natures’ or Persons, if you will."

In order to make the above statement clear, the word ‘natures’ needs to be removed. Otherwise it conveys the impression of an error. I certainly don’t claim to be any expert in philosophy but those philosophers who were bold and enlightened enough to express the triune unity of the Godhead say that, by definition : God is one being and the three persons of the Holy Trinity share one Divine nature.

A few linked excerpts to illustrate:

newadvent.org/cathen/06612a.htm …

 **Unity or unicity of God**

Obviously there can be only one infinite being, only one God. If several were to exist, none of them would really be infinite, for, to have plurality of natures at all, each should have some perfection not possessed by the others. This will be readily granted by every one who admits the infinity of God, and there is no need to delay in developing what is perfectly clear. It should be noted, however, that some Theistic philosophers prefer to deduce unicity from self-existence and infinity from both combined, and in a matter so very abstract it is not surprising that slight differences of opinion should arise. But we have followed what seems to us to be the simpler and clearer line …

ewtn.com/faith/teachings/GODA22.htm …
**
The Holy Trinity
by Rev. William G. Most**

Perhaps the deepest, the most profound of all mysteries is the mystery of the Trinity. The Church teaches us that although there is only one God, yet, somehow, there are three Persons in God. The Father is God, the Son is God, the Holy Spirit is God, yet we do not speak of three Gods, but only one God. They have the same nature, substance, and being.
We came to know this immense mystery because Christ revealed it to us …

• Notable below is that the vision of the Orthodox Church on this truth is seamlessly compatible with that of the Catholic Church :

oca.org/OCchapter.asp?SID=2&ID=33 …

*What the Father is, the Son and the Spirit are also. This is the Church’s teaching. The Son, born of the Father, and the Spirit, proceeding from Him, share the divine nature with God, being “of one essence” with Him.

Thus, as the Father is “ineffable, inconceivable, invisible, incomprehensible, ever-existing and eternally the same” (Divine Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom), so the Son and the Spirit are exactly the same. Every attribute of divinity which belongs to God the Father – life, love, wisdom, truth, blessedness, holiness, power, purity, joy – belongs equally as well to the Son and the Holy Spirit. The being, nature, essence, existence and life of God the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit are absolutely and identically one and the same.*

So the Persons of the Most Holy Trinity share one Divine Nature. It is why we say, " In the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit…", as opposed to “in the names of the Father…etc…”

Removing the word “natures” would be a safer way to word that particular quote above, in my limited opinion.

God bless

You make a very good point and I appreciate your pointing out the err of my careless use of the English language. I wrote that without any reference materials, straight from the heart so I guess the saying, “to err is human, to forgive divine” would apply here.

The doctrine of the most Holy Trinity is one of the most profound, most oft misunderstood doctrines in Christianity. There have only been a few who truly grasped this doctrine. I believe St. Thomas Aquinas(one of my favorite by the way) laid out the doctrine of the most the best of anyone in the Summa Theologica(which I unfortunately have not read, yet).

 

[bnj003]

I am a little confused over the Jews. God had a Covenant with the Jews, they were also His Chosen People. Yes the Covenant was fulfilled with the Death and Resurrection of Christ, but does the Bible or Church say that the Jews are no longer God’s Chosen People. Since we know Enoch and Moses are in Heaven how do we know that God doesn’t have a special place in His Heart for the Jews as He was a Jew. I understand that we as Christians are also God’s Chosen People.

I am not sure they fit into the same category as the Muslims or others who don’t accept Christ.

What does the Church say on this? I surely am not going to judge the Jews nor will I judge anyone else as only Our Lord can do this. Thank God I am not responsible for judging others salvation. I believe that we as Catholics should share Christ with all people and pray for them to accept Him as truely God, but I will leave it up to God to make the final decision.

Yours in the Hearts of Jesus and Mary

Bernadette

Are u saying that even though the Jews do not believe that Jesus is the Son of God they are still christians, even though they believe like the muslims that he is only a prophet?

Yes, they are still God’s chosen people.
Also, you hve a moral obligation to judge the actions and words of others. How else can u say what is right and what is wrong, u have to make a choice. While only God can judge the intent or what is in the heart you have to judge an action say of murder, abortion, rape, etc… is it right or is it wrong. Only u can judge. Granted the lines are becoming blurred by that does not grant us an excuse not to judge the actions of words of others.

 

[NeedImprovement]

You make a very good point and I appreciate your pointing out the err of my careless use of the English language. I wrote that without any reference materials, straight from the heart so I guess the saying, “to err is human, to forgive divine” would apply here.

The doctrine of the most Holy Trinity is one of the most profound, most oft misunderstood doctrines in Christianity. There have only been a few who truly grasped this doctrine. I believe St. Thomas Aquinas(one of my favorite by the way) laid out the doctrine of the most the best of anyone in the Summa Theologica(which I unfortunately have not read, yet).

I would hesitate to call it careless use. Nature is a word we use everyday. It’s more that philosophers use/adopt particular words for a unique and explicit purpose thus providing such words with more than one definition. So when we come to certain dogmatic and doctrinal principles, we are obliged to follow an obstacle course (probably better labeled an obstacle avoidance course ) as it pertains to particular words and meanings currently in use.

Another example would be the word passion, which the oxford dictionary defines as strong emotion. In philosophy it has a different meaning and in philosophy relating to Christ, this same meaning is elevated to its holiest possible level.

( I also have a hard cover Douay-Rheims Version beside me at my desk. I particularly like the explanatory foreword provided at the beginning of the Holy Gospel Of Jesus Christ According to St. John [which appears just before the beginning of the Prologue, Chapter One] - relating the events which directly preceded the writing of this Gospel, as related by St. Jerome . I’ve never read this in any other bible to date.)