Catechism
Part one
The Profession of Faith
INDEX
Part one
The Profession of Faith
INDEX
SECTION ONE "I BELIEVE" - "WE BELIEVE"
26 We begin our profession of faith by saying: "I believe" or "We believe". Before expounding the Church's faith, as confessed in the Creed, celebrated in the liturgy and lived in observance of God's commandments and in prayer, we must first ask what "to believe" means. Faith is man's response to God, who reveals himself and gives himself to man, at the same time bringing man a superabundant light as he searches for the ultimate meaning of his life. Thus we shall consider first that search (Chapter One), then the divine Revelation by which God comes to meet man (Chapter Two), and finally the response of faith (Chapter Three).
Chapter One: Man's Capacity for God
I. The Desire for God
II. Ways of Coming to Know Christ
III. The Knowledge of God According to the Church
IV. How Can We Speak about God
IN BRIEF
Chapter Two: God Comes To Meet Man
50 By natural reason man can know God with certainty, on the basis of his works. But there is another order of knowledge, which man cannot possibly arrive at by his own powers: the order of divine Revelation. Through an utterly free decision, God has revealed himself and given himself to man. This he does by revealing the mystery, his plan of loving goodness, formed from all eternity in Christ, for the benefit of all men. God has fully revealed this plan by sending us his beloved Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit.
Article 1 THE REVELATION OF GOD
I. God Reveals His "Plan of Loving Goodness"
II. The Stages of Revelation
III. Christ Jesus -- "Mediator and Fullness of All Revelation"
IN BRIEF
Article 2 THE TRANSMISSION OF DIVINE REVELATION
I. The Apostolic Tradition
II. The Relationship Between Tradition and Sacred Scripture
III. The Interpretation of the Heritage of Faith
IN BRIEF
I. Christ - The Unique Word of Sacred Scripture
II. Inspiration and Truth of Sacred Scripture
III. The Holy Spirit, Interpreter of Scripture
IV. The Canon of Scripture
V. Sacred Scripture in the Life of the Church
IN BRIEF
Chapter Three: MAN'S RESPONSE TO GOD
142 By his Revelation, "the invisible God, from the fullness of his love, addresses men as his friends, and moves among them, in order to invite and receive them into his own company." The adequate response to this invitation is faith.
143 By faith, man completely submits his intellect and his will to God. With his whole being man gives his assent to God the revealer. Sacred Scripture calls this human response to God, the author of revelation, "the obedience of faith".
I. The Obedience of Faith
II. "I Know Whom I Have Believed"
III. The Characteristics of Faith
I. "Lord, Look Upon the Faith of Your Church"
II. The Language of Faith
III. Only One Faith
IN BRIEF
The Credo
Article 1 "I BELIEVE IN GOD THE FATHER ALMIGHTY< CREATOR OF HEAVEN AND EARTH
Chapter Two I Believe in Jesus Christ His only Son Our Lord
ARTICLE 2 "AND IN JESUS CHRIST, HIS ONLY SON, OUR LORD"
I. Jesus
II. Christ
III. The Only Son of God
IV. Lord
IN BRIEF
Article 3 HE WAS CONCEIVED BY THE POWER OF THE HOLY SPIRIT AND WAS BORN OF THE VIRGIN MARY
Paragraph 1. THE SON OF GOD BECAME MAN
Paragraph 2. "CONCEIVED BY THE POWER OF THE HOLY SPIRIT AND BORN OF THE VIRGIN MARY"
Paragraph 3. THE MYSTERIES OF CHRIST'S LIFE
Article 4 "JESUS CHRIST SUFFERED UNDER PONTIUS PILATE, WAS CRUCIFIED DIED AND WAS BURIED
Paragraph 2. JESUS DIED CRUCIFIED
Paragraph 3. JESUS CHRIST WAS BURIED
Article 5 "HE DESCENDED INTO HELL, ON THE THIRD DAY HE ROSE AGAIN
Paragraph 1. CHRIST DESCENDED INTO HELL
Paragraph 2. ON THE THIRD DAY HE ROSE FROM THE DEAD
Article 6 "HE ASCENDED INTO HEAVEN AND IS SEATED AT THE RIGHT HAND OF THE FATHER
IN BRIEF
Article 7 " FROM THENCE HE WILL COME AGAIN TO JUDGE THE LIVING AND THE DEAD"
I. He Will Come Again in Glory
II. To Judge the Living and the Dead
IN BRIEF
ARTICLE 8 "I BELIEVE IN THE HOLY SPIRIT"
I. The Joint Mission of the Son and the Spirit
II. The Name, Titles, and Symbols of the Holy Spirit
III. God's Spirit and Word in the Time of the Promises
IV. The Spirit of Christ in the Fullness of Time
V. The Spirit and the Church In the Last Days
IN BRIEF
Article 9 "I BELIEVE IN THE HOLY CATHOLIC CHURCH"
Paragraph 1. THE CHURCH IN GOD'S PLAN
Paragraph 2. THE CHURCH - PEOPLE OF GOD, BODY OF CHRIST, TEMPLE OF THE HOLY SPIRIT
Paragraph 3. THE CHURCH IS ONE, HOLY, CATHOLIC, AND APOSTOLIC
Paragraph 4. CHRIST'S FAITHFUL - HIERARCHY, LAITY, CONSECRATED LIFE
Paragraph 5. THE COMMUNION OF SAINTS
Paragraph 6. MARY - MOTHER OF CHRIST, MOTHER OF THE CHURCH
Article 10 "I BELIEVE IN THE FORGIVENESS OF SINS
I. One Baptism for the Forgiveness of Sins
II. The Power of the Keys
Article 11 "I BELIEVE IN THE RESURRECTION OF THE BODY
I. Christ's Resurrection and Ours
II. Dying in Christ Jesus
IN BRIEF
Article 12 "I BELIEVE IN LIFE EVERLASTING
I. The Particular Judgment
II. Heaven
III. The Final Purification, or Purgatory
IV. Hell
V. The Last Judgment
VI. Hope of the New Heaven and the New Earth
IN BRIEF
"Amen"