Catholic Christianity - Beliefs and Teachings Flashcards
What is the Trinity?
Catholic belief in the three persons of God: God the father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit
What is monotheism?
The belief that there is only one God
What is the Catechism of the Catholic Church?
The official teachings of the Catholic Church
What is a creed?
Christian statement of belief (a bit like a list of beliefs for Christians). There are two creeds: Apostle’s Creed and Nicene Creed
What is a sacrament?
Religious rituals/ceremonies that allow a Catholic to receive God’s blessing and love e.g. baptism
(an outward sign of inward grace)
What is original sin?
When the first humans (Adam and Eve) broke God’s commandment and ate the forbidden fruit. Catholics believe that we inherit (receive) original sin when we are born and we have to wash it away (through baptism) to begin our relationship with God
What is stewardship?
The belief that we as humans have a responsibility to look after God’s creation
What is omnipotence?
The belief that God is all-powerful
What is omnibenevolence?
The belief that God is all-loving
What is the Incarnation?
The belief that God became human through Jesus
What is salvation?
The belief that your soul can be saved from eternal punishment and instead goes to heaven
What does Paschal relate to?
This relates to Easter, when Jesus died on the cross and was resurrected
What happened on Maudy Thursday?
The day before Good Friday. This is when Jesus had his Last Supper with his disciples, then he was arrested and put on trial before the Sanhedrin
What is the Sanhedrin?
The Jewish authorities in Israel. Powerful men who made decisions on how Jews should live according to God’s will
What is Purgatory?
Where souls go to prepare themselves for heaven. Their soul is cleansed here
What do Catholics believe the Trinity is?
Catholics believe there is only one God. They believe that God has revealed himself in three persons:
God the father – who created the universe.
God the Son – who lived on earth as a human called Jesus.
God the Holy Spirit – who came down to earth after Jesus rose to heaven to help strength people’s faith
Why do Catholics believe that God has three persons?
Because of what is in the Bible (Nicene Creed - In the name of the Father and Son and Holy Spirit)
Why do we refer to God as ‘Father’?
This is because God creates us and provides for us, just like a loving father creates children and provides for them. He teaches us right from wrong and guides us and protects us.
What are 4 things Catholics believe about God?
God is in heaven, but is always with us
God provides us what we need to live (both on earth and what we need to get to heaven)
God is forgiving
God protects us from doing evil
How do Catholics try to develop a close relationship with God?
Through prayer and worship. By praying often, Catholics believe that they are talking to God and He is listening to them. Catholics believe that he can help them, support and guide them no matter what they are going through in life
What is the name of the belief that God became human as Jesus?
Incarnation
Why do Catholics believe that Jesus is God?
Mary became pregnant without ever having sex. She was made pregnant by the Holy Spirit. This is an important belief in Christianity.
Jesus resurrected – he came back after being dead for three days
Jesus performed miracles – natural miracles like calming the storm and healing miracles like healing the blind.
He also admitted he was the Son OF God when he was put on trial. He was asked “Are you the Messiah, the Son of the Blessed one?” and Jesus replied “I am” - Mark 14:61
Why is belief in God the Son important?
It allows Catholics to understand what God might be like. Jesus was very caring and compassionate.
It shows Catholics that God wants a relationship with humans. He chose to reveal himself as a human in order to spread His teachings and show how people should live their lives.
Catholics believe that their sins used to stop them from going to heaven. If they did something wrong, they would have to make a sacrifice in order to make it up to God. But God sent his only son as the ultimate sacrifice so that all sins were forgiven. Jesus’ death allows everyone to go to heaven.
Jesus’ presence can be experienced in mass when they eat bread and drink wine
Why do Catholics think that the Holy Spirit is?
Catholics believe that God communicates with humans through the Holy Spirit. They believe that the Holy Spirit is God’s presence on earth which cannot be seen, only felt. The disciples felt the presence of the Holy Spirit during the festival of Pentecost “Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting” – Acts 2: 2