Who do you think I am?

[MaxRosen]

I’ve been following the Adam and Eve thread and the participants seem quite divided about whether Catholics are bound to believe in a literal Adam and Eve. However I assume Catholics have to believe in a literal Jesus.

Well how would you explain Jesus to someone who knows nothing about him?

 

[Aelred_Minor]

Very difficult question! How would you respond if someone asked you “how would you explain God to someone who knows nothing about him?” Where would you begin?

I’ll give it some thought and maybe respond later, and I’ll be interested in what other people write.

 

[jochoa]

I’ve been following the Adam and Eve thread and the participants seem quite divided about whether Catholics are bound to believe in a literal Adam and Eve. However I assume Catholics have to believe in a literal Jesus.

Well how would you explain Jesus to someone who knows nothing about him?

I would adjust and paraphrase my explanation to fit the person who does not know Jesus, based on the following principles:
If, for any moment, you want greater peace, you must learn greater patience.
If, for any moment, you want greater happiness, you must learn greater kindness.
If you want greater energy, you must learn greater motivation.

Jesus is the Best Role Model for Patience, Kindness, and Motivation. To initially perceive the quality of Jesus’ patience, kindness, and energy, study His Crucifixion (The Passion of the Christ is an excellent source to physically see the quality).

Every day I learn more about Him, His Teachings, and His Methods, I am able to practice patience, kindness, and motivation (Loving God) better. And without a doubt, every time I grow in my practice of Loving God with All my being, my life and relationships are filled with greater peace, happiness, and energy.

Excellent Question! I greatly appreciate your time and consideration, for I have grown in understanding and grace through pondering. I hope you share your thoughts, so I may grow further in perspective, consideration, and understanding!

 

[MaxRosen]

Aelred Minor

Jochoa

Thank you for your responses.

Am I correct in thinking Catholics believe that Jesus was, simultaneously, a man, God incarnate and the Son of God?

Just to be clear, I have no ulterior motive in asking these question. I am not trying to trap anyone. I really am trying to understand Catholic beliefs about Jesus.

 

[Mintaka]

Yes, you’re correct. Check out the Nicene Creed:

"I believe in one Lord Jesus Christ,
the Only Begotten Son of God,
born of the Father before all ages.
God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God,
begotten, not made,
consubstantial with the Father;
Through Him all things were made.

For us men and for our salvation
He came down from heaven,
and by the Holy Spirit
was incarnate
of the Virgin Mary,
and became man."

Hope this helps!

 

[rcjones]

I’ve been following the Adam and Eve thread and the participants seem quite divided about whether Catholics are bound to believe in a literal Adam and Eve. However I assume Catholics have to believe in a literal Jesus.

Well how would you explain Jesus to someone who knows nothing about him?

I would begin by saying that what we know of God comes to us in three types of revelation, His Word, Works, and Life. This is the full revelation of God to man. He revealed himself through His word through Moses, his Works through the history of Israel, and through life in the person of Jesus.

In his word he says ‘bereshit bara Elohim’ In the beginning God created…

bara means ‘create’ but since God speaks to create it it the Word which creates.
Bara is in the word bereshit. So I would say ‘In the beginning was the Word. in bereshit is embedded bara.
Bara is next to Elohim, so I would say, The word was with God.
Bara describes God as the creator, so I would say, The was was God.
Bara also contains bar meaning ‘son of’’, so I would say that the Word was the Son of God. Because the bara is God, I would say that the Son is God.
Elohim has a pun, 'l’chaim meaning life, so I would say he is the Life
Elohim has a pun alo khoom meaning, not dark, so I would say he is the Light.
Since bereshit shares gematria with three which are one, I would agree with the rabbi’s which say his nature is triune, but that he retains his essential unity.

His word continues in such shadow declarations of Christ throughout the Words of Moses.

I would then show how Abraham, Isaac and Jacob reveal the nature of God as Father, Son and Holy Ghost. How Moses was a prophetic type of Christ as were each of the judges, prophets, kings and priests, revealing God through the Works in Israel. I would show how the genealogy of the Messiah reveals him to be the usurping second son, the only begotten son and the unbegotten only son. I would show how his bride is obtained by three women at the same well. Rebeckah chosen by the father, Rachel wooed and worked for by the Son, and finally the church gathered by the Holy Spirit at Sychar.

Then I would show how Jesus, the bara Elohim, revealed God in living flesh as our redeemer Kinsman. How he nailed our sins to the cross as foretold by the brazen serpent lifted up in the desert, how he died and rose again as foretold by the prophet Jonah and others. And how he intercedes for us as the eternal High Priest as foreshadowed by Melchizadek.

If the person who was asking was still with me, I would show how every verse of every book of the Old Testament contributes to a prophetic picture of Christ and how the New Testament teaches us to see them.

 

[Aelred_Minor]

Here’s one way to think about Jesus.

For all of history human beings in general have had the intuition that we do not come from ourselves. We can’t give ourselves existence or hold ourselves in existence. We, and indeed all the things in the universe, rely on something other, something hidden and mysterious, for their existence.

All the magic and mythology, all the rituals and mysticisms, all the sacrifices and prayers of the world’s religions were different ways, some more direct and others less so, of trying to make a connection, to build a bridge between this ordinary world we live in and that mysterious Other. But none were really successful. The most they could do was represent our desire for communion with this Other. Or else they could produce alternate states of consciousness that might be confused with such a communion, or delude us in some other way.

Then a man came along and said that he, he himself as a person, was the path, the bridge to God, the one and only real way to get there.

 

[jochoa]

Aelred Minor

Jochoa

Thank you for your responses.

Am I correct in thinking Catholics believe that Jesus was, simultaneously, a man, God incarnate and the Son of God?

Just to be clear, I have no ulterior motive in asking these question. I am not trying to trap anyone. I really am trying to understand Catholic beliefs about Jesus.

I greatly appreciate your questions! They definitely help me grow in perspective and understanding.

Please Note: The following simplified understanding of God’s Being is a personal idea and is only presented as a means to help accept the Mystery of God’s Being, and is not anything concrete, for I have yet to fulfill complete alignment with Church Teachings.

To begin to perceive how Jesus can eternally be God and become Man, one must have a working understanding of the Holy Trinity.
According to the Greatest Commandment and Scripture, a human is created in the image and likeness of God and has heart, mind, strength, and soul. I find the following equivalences:
Heart=Body, Mind=Thoughts, Strength=Interactions between mind and body and being to another being, Soul=Essence
Please follow the example:
A part of the body=your foot, A part of the mind=a thought of yours, a part of Interactions=your reply, and Essence=“you.”
Although your foot, thought, and reply are distinctly different entities, if you only considered one entity, it is still completely “you.” However, every action/part of each entity is necessary to complete “you,” therefore “you” are completely all entities…
To relate this to the Holy Trinity:
Body=Jesus, Mind=Father, Interactions=Holy Spirit, Essence=God

Now to apply this to God becoming Man, the Son of God and the Son of Man, Human Will and God’s Will, Fully God and Fully Man
The body of God is Fully God, therefore, when Jesus was conceived, the body was begotten of the Father, through the interactions of the Holy Spirit. Therefore Jesus is the Son of God.
The mind of Jesus is Fully Man, in that His mind must learn to do God’s Will.
Jesus is also the Son of Man, in that He was born of Man (Woman).
The body is capable of telling the mind what it feels, and the mind is capable of telling the body what it thinks, therefore, Jesus had both Human Will and God’s Will.
Since the body of Jesus is Fully God, and the mind and strength of Jesus must be of the same essence, and since the mind is Fully of Man, the body and strength of Jesus must be of the same essence, God became Man, and Jesus the Man is God.

I hope this sheds light on a perspective that leads you to accept and embrace the Mystery of the Holy Trinity of God. Please let me know where I need to heighten my consideration and understanding. Thank you for your time and consideration.