Catholic Christianity: Triune God Flashcards
What is the Trinity?
The father, The son and The holy spirit
What is Triune God?
A term that shows god is a “community of people”
What is Baptism?
Becoming a child of God
What is Consubstantial?
Of one being, showing that the Father, Son and Holy Spirit are not separate entities but one God
Explain the Authority of the Magisterium
- “You are Peter, and upon this rock I shall build my church”
- Peter was the first Pope and was ordained by Jesus
What does the Sacrament of Baptism symbolise?
- A new stage of life as a Christian
- The joining in with Jesus’ death and resurrection (submerging under the water symbolises joining Jesus in the tomb, then rising from the Water symbolises Jesus’ resurrection)
- Committing the person’s life to God
What is the importance of The Sacrament of Baptism?
- Christians share in Christs victory over sin and death
- A pledge that the person will join God in heaven after death
- It cleanses the person of their sins
- They are filled with the holy spirit, giving them strength to resist evil
What does the Nicene Creed teach about the Father?
- That God the Father is the almighty creator of all things, the source of all life: “Maker of heaven and Earth”
- God is one: “I believe in one God the Father almighty”
- God is almighty: “The Father almighty”
What does the Nicene Creed teach about the Son?
- The Son is eternally begotten from the Father - confirming that the Son is eternal and born before all ages
- The Son is true God “consubstantial with the father”, stresses that there is no distinction in nature between the Father and The Son
- The son took on the limitations of human nature. “By the Holy Spirit was incarnate of the virgin Mary”, this stresses that God the Son did not have an earthly father (but did have a human Mother)
What does the Nicene Creed teach about the Holy Spirit?
- The Spirit of God gives life to all things
- The Spirit comes from both the Father and the Son, Uniting them in love
- The Spirit is equal in majesty, power and worship to the Father and the Son
- The spirit inspires people to know the will of God
Explain St Augustine’s point for understanding the Trinity.
- “God is love”
- However love cannot exist on its own, it needs a person who loves, a person who is loved, and the love itself.
- He concluded that the trinity is 3 persons united in love
- The Holy Spirit pours Gods love into the heart and lives of believers. Love is always sharing, self-giving and creative
Explain Catherine La Cugna’s point for understanding the Trinity.
- The Trinity is 3 persons united in love - the holy spirit is the love that unites the Father and the Son
- Gods love constantly flows from the Trinity to believers
- The Son came to earth to bring people in the relationship with the Father
- La Cugna thought the whole action and being of God is relational
What are the similarities between St Augustine’s and Catherine La Cugna’s point on understanding the Trinity?
- The trinity is 3 persons united in love
- God’s love constantly flows through the holy spirit to believers
What are the differences between St Augustine’s and Catherine La Cugna’s point on understanding the Trinity?
- St Augustine focuses more on the relationship within the Trinity. He acknowledges that this flows outwards into the lives of believers, but believes it is the inner relationship of the Trinity that is essential
- La Cugna stresses that humans can know the Trinity through what the Trinity reveals: its Outward effects. This allows humans to share in the life of the Trinity
How is the Triune God explained in the Old Testament?
- “Hear O Israel, The Lord our God, The Lord is One” Despite there being 3 distinct persons, there is 1 God
- “God created the heavens and the earth” - this refers to the Father, he is the creator but not alone in this creative act
- “A wind from God”, the Hebrew word for “wind” can also be translated as spirit. The presence of the Holy Spirit was involved in the act of creation.
- God created by his word. God the Son is also known as “The Word of God”, the creative power coming forth from the Father, but distinct from the Father and the Spirit
How is the Triune God explained in the New Testament?
- Matthew describes the Baptism of Jesus. When Jesus came up from under the water, John the Baptist heard the voice of God saying, “This is my blessed Son, In whom I am well pleased” as a white dove is seen above
- Jesus is present - The Son of God
- The Holy spirit is present - in the form of a dove flying above
- The Father is present - his presence is felt through the voice heard
How is Jesus’ Baptism important?
- It shows Jesus is the Messiah, The Son of God
- It shows god in 3 persons
- The 3 persons are separate yet united
- God has fulfilled his promise to send a Messiah
- Baptism is the beginning point for a Christian
Explain the Council of Nicea.
- At he beginning of the fourth century there was a Heresy called Arianism. The priest Arius taught that only God the Father was eternal, he said the Son had a beginning
- The Bishops of the Church met at a council in the Turkish town of Nicaea to discuss the idea, which they decided to reject
- The Bishops at Nicea devised a creed - a statement that of the Catholic faith that all believers accept