Catholic Christianity - Beliefs and Teachings

Question 1

What is the Trinity?

Answer 1

Catholic belief in the three persons of God: God the father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit

Question 2

What is monotheism?

Answer 2

The belief that there is only one God

Question 3

What is the Catechism of the Catholic Church?

Answer 3

The official teachings of the Catholic Church

Question 4

What is a creed?

Answer 4

Christian statement of belief (a bit like a list of beliefs for Christians). There are two creeds: Apostle’s Creed and Nicene Creed

Question 5

What is a sacrament?

Answer 5

Religious rituals/ceremonies that allow a Catholic to receive God’s blessing and love e.g. baptism
(an outward sign of inward grace)

Question 6

What is original sin?

Answer 6

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

Question 7

What is stewardship?

Answer 7

The belief that we as humans have a responsibility to look after God’s creation

Question 8

What is omnipotence?

Answer 8

The belief that God is all-powerful

Question 9

What is omnibenevolence?

Answer 9

The belief that God is all-loving

Question 10

What is the Incarnation?

Answer 10

The belief that God became human through Jesus

Question 11

What is salvation?

Answer 11

The belief that your soul can be saved from eternal punishment and instead goes to heaven

Question 12

What does Paschal relate to?

Answer 12

This relates to Easter, when Jesus died on the cross and was resurrected

Question 13

What happened on Maudy Thursday?

Answer 13

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

Question 14

What is the Sanhedrin?

Answer 14

The Jewish authorities in Israel. Powerful men who made decisions on how Jews should live according to God’s will

Question 15

What is Purgatory?

Answer 15

Where souls go to prepare themselves for heaven. Their soul is cleansed here

Question 16

What do Catholics believe the Trinity is?

Answer 16

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

Question 17

Why do Catholics believe that God has three persons?

Answer 17

Because of what is in the Bible (Nicene Creed - In the name of the Father and Son and Holy Spirit)

Question 18

Why do we refer to God as ‘Father’?

Answer 18

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.

Question 19

What are 4 things Catholics believe about God?

Answer 19

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

Question 20

How do Catholics try to develop a close relationship with God?

Answer 20

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

Question 21

What is the name of the belief that God became human as Jesus?

Answer 21

Incarnation

Question 22

Why do Catholics believe that Jesus is God?

Answer 22

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

Question 23

Why is belief in God the Son important?

Answer 23

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

Question 24

Why do Catholics think that the Holy Spirit is?

Answer 24

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

Question 25

What do Catholics believe about the people who wrote the Bible?

Answer 25

They were guided by the Holy Spirit to reveal God’s message

Question 26

What does the Holy Spirit guide?

Answer 26

The Holy Spirit helps to guide the Pope and Bishops with decisions and Catholic teachings

Question 27

What does the Holy Spirit help Catholics get rid of?

Answer 27

The Holy Spirit helps Catholics to get rid of sin. This can be achieved through the Catholic sacraments e.g. Baptism

Question 28

What does the Holy Spirit have to do with confirmation?

Answer 28

They receive gifts from the Holy Spirit during their confirmation (the third sacrament which allows a Catholic to become a full member of the Catholic Church). These gifts help them to practice their faith in every part of their lives. They receive wisdom, understanding, knowledge and more

Question 29

Why is the belief in the Holy Trinity important for Catholics?

Answer 29

Tells them what God is like and who he is
Tells them that God cannot fully be understood but should be worshipped regardless
God is very different from human beings
It is a central belief for Christianity
Teaches them about important truths about relationship and community

Question 30

How is the belief in the Holy Trinity expressed in worship?

Answer 30

As soon as a Catholic enters a church they make the sign of the cross with holy water. This reminds them of their belief in the Holy Trinity.
At the beginning of mass, the priest greets worshippers and begins mass by saying “In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit”.
During mass, worshippers will say the Nicene Creed which expresses the belief in the Holy Trinity.
The priest ends the mass by with the words “May almighty God bless you in the name of the Father, and the Son and the Holy Spirit, Amen”.
When people are baptised, the priest will pour holy water onto their head with the words “I baptise you….(name) in the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit”

Question 31

What is Genesis?

Answer 31

Genesis is the first book in the Bible, which talks about how the world was created. Also the origin of original sin, where Eve ate the apple

Question 32

What is the importance of Genesis?

Answer 32

It shows how powerful God is, and how all-loving he is as he provided us with a home and the means to live

Question 33

Where can we see the belief in Holy Trinity in the creation story?

Answer 33

God the Father - loving God, creator (“God said let there be light, and there was light”)
God the Holy Spirit - the spirit of God (“The spirit of God was moving over the face of the waters”)
God the Son - “us” referring to the three persons (“God said let us make mankind in our own image”)

Question 34

What is a Literalist or fundamentalist Christians’ view?

Answer 34

These Christians believe that the Bible is the literal word of God. Therefore the creation stories are true and should be read as factual. So, God literally took 6 days to create the world and made Adam from dust. They do not agree with scientific explanations of the world (Big Bang and Evolution)

Question 35

What is a Liberal Christians point of view?

Answer 35

These groups of Christians believe that the Bible was written by people who had experiences of God. Therefore, the words of the Bible are more about God rather than God’s word. This means that there might be mistakes in parts of the Bible. These Christians believe that the creation story is just a story but they take away some truths from these stories e.g. God did create the world and that evil comes from human actions

Question 36

What is a Catholic Christians point of view?

Answer 36

Catholics believe that the people who wrote the Bible were inspired by God but wrote it down in their own words. Catholics believe that the creation story can teach us important truths about God’s purpose and human sinfulness. However, Catholics would argue that creation stories are not supposed to be read as factual; they are just stories with meaning. They would say that the Big Bang and Evolution are both correct but God caused the Big Bang and guided the evolution process in order to create the world and everything in it.

Question 37

What do the creation stories teach Catholics about what God is like?

Answer 37

God is a creator (God the Father) – he gives us life and creates everything that we we need to live
God is omnipotent (all-powerful) – He created everything from nothing. This is known as ex nihilo)
God is omnibenevolent (all-loving) – Everything that God created was good. His creation gives a place for us to live and He provides us with everything we need (e.g. water, food…)
God is eternal – there is no beginning to God and no end. He must have already existed before the creation of the world. Therefore, God must have no end either.

Question 38

What do the creation stories teach us about life?

Answer 38

The creation stories also teach us that life is sacred. When God creates humans, he says “Let us make man in our own image”. This means that all life is created to reflect God’s character. Therefore all life has a bit of God within them. Catholics believe that all life precious and holy and should be treated with respect