WHAT DO CATHOLICS BELIEVE?
DISCLAIMER
This little page does not pretend to be a comprehensive study of Catholicism. The best place to look for a summary of Catholic beliefs is the CATECHISM OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH. There are other books which offer information of varying depth on Catholic beliefs. Another good online source is the traditional BALTIMORE CATECHISM.
This page merely outlines some issues of particular importance for those who are curious, whether they are Catholic or not. I am not a theologian: if anything here conflicts with the official Catholic teaching, then it is my bad.
Satisfaction is not guaranteed, but if you have any questions, suggestions, or complaints, feel free to email me.
I. GOD: WHO, WHAT, WHERE, WHEN and WHY?
Catholics believe in one God. We believe that God has always existed and will always exist. We believe that God does not change. Since time is a measurement of change, it stands to reason that God exists outside of time.
God created the world from nothing. He made angels (spiritual beings), animals (physical beings) and men (spiritual and physical beings.)
Our vision of God encompasses and greatly expands upon the God of the philosophers. With them we proclaim that God is the First Cause, the Supreme Good, and the only Being that exists which MUST exist (I Am That Which Is, God said to Moses), and that God is Truth.
We believe further that God is Love, and that "God so loved the world that he sent his only begotten Son" to die for a world that had died to God.
Catholics are Trinitarian Christians. This does not mean that we believe in three Gods. Rather, it means that we believe in one God in three Divine Persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. This relationship was revealed in the New Testament. See, for instance, the poem which begins the Gospel of John.
II. MAN: THE SLOW LEARNER
God made men with free will. The first men excercised this free will and chose to disobey God. This was stupid, but not the stupidest thing in the history of the universe. We'll get to that in a moment.
Man's first disobedience is "the fall." The effects of the Fall are death, corruption, and the desire to sin, which we Catholics call concupiscence. At this point I'd like to remark that some Christians do not distinguish between sin and the corruption of nature, caused by the fall, which can lead to sin, as James illustrates: "God is not subject to temptation to evil, and he himself tempts no one. Rather, each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. Then desire conceives and brings forth sin, and when sin reaches matruity it gives birth to death." James 1:14 The desire to sin --concupiscence-- may LEAD to sin, but it is not sin. Wherever you stand on this issue, your understanding of Catholicism will be greatly aided if you realize that Catholics hold this definition of sin: "For one who knows the right thing to do and does not do it, it is sin." James 4:17. Sin is choosing to disobey God. In Catholic theology, sin is not the flawed human nature we all possess; that is one of the effects of sin, but not sin itself.
The worst thing about the Fall is that it separated us from God. God wanted a way to close the gap. So He did something really quite generous. He became a human being and came to earth to heal the wound by giving us his life, so that we could be Children of God again.
In order to give us his life (John 6) he had to give UP his life (Luke 22). Christ promised eternal life, and so the people crucified him. That was the stupidest thing in the history of the universe. It was also the greatest, for Christ's death is salvation for us all.
III. SWEET SALVATION
Wait, you may say. Catholics don't believe that we are saved by Christ's death. They believe that we can earn our salvation through works! If you say this, you are probably chuckling a little of the stupidity of those Catholics, for Paul plainly said that works could not save anyone.
But maybe you are a little more enlightened than that. Maybe realize that Catholics believe that we are saved by grace alone (we cannot earn our salvation) and by Christ alone (He is the Way, and the Truth, and the Light. There is only one Way.)
Then what was the big argument with Luther? Why don't Catholics believe that we are justified by faith alone, if they believe that we are justified by grace alone? Well, the number one reason is because the Bible says quite emphatically that this is not true. Take a look at James 2:24. It may help you to realize that the Catholic definition of faith is "assent in truths revealed by God." This kind of faith is not enough to save us. What is needed are the virtues of hope and love, as well. As the Baltimore Catechism put it: "We must worship God by faith, hope and charity; that is we must believe in Him, hope in Him, and love Him with all our heart." Sometimes other Christians use the word "faith" to mean all the same thing Catholics mean when we say "faith, hope and love". So in this sense, there really isn't as much disagreement between Catholics and Protestants as there appears to be!
Catholics believe, along with the apostle John, that those who love God will keep His commandments. We believe that sin is a rejection of God; that is our definition of sin, really, since sin means choosing that which we know to be against the will of God. So we believe that we can lose our justification through sin -- specifically, through "sins unto death" which we call mortal sins.
IV. SIGNS TO LIVE BY
Human beings are made of flesh and spirit. It is not that surprising, then, that God has tended to communicate with human beings through physical signs. Circumsion as a sign of the covenant, the burning bush which Moses saw, and the bronze serpent which healed the Israelites in the desert, are all Old Testament examples of objects God used to communicate with.
2,000 years ago God communicated with us using a different sort of object: His Son, the Word Incarnate.
Jesus established seven physical signs through which He communicates grace. These signs are called sacraments or mysteries. Baptism is the sacrament by which we are reborn as children of God. The Eucharist feeds us. Reconciliation heals our spiritual wounds. Confirmation strengthens us to live as adult Christians. Holy Orders sets apart those who serve God as priests. Through marriage, couples receive the grace needed for family life. Anointing of the Sick provides spiritual and/or physical healing to those who are ill or in danger of death.
The Sacraments do not make void Christ's death because they are not a substitute for Christ's death, which is the only thing that can save us. Rather, they are the means by which we participate in Christ's one-time sacrifice and in eternal life. They are not works which we do to earn our salvation. Actually, Christ is the one at work in the Sacraments. They are the means through which He carries on His work of sanctifying the world.
IV. COMPANIONS FOR THE JOURNEY
Catholics do not believe that religion is just about "Jesus and me." Rather, we believe that all the members of Christ's Church -- all the baptized faithful -- are spiritually connected. We are part of the mystical body of Christ, and you can no more do away with the rest of the Church than you could cut away all but one of the body's organs and expect it to survive.
This connection between the members of the church, called the Communion of Saints, is stronger than death: for God is the God of the living, and not the dead. Therefore, we believe that those who have passed from this life are still connected to us. And just as they prayed for us when they were living on earth, they pray for us now that they are living with God (2 Maccabees 15: 11-15). So we ask for the prayers of both those living on earth and those in Heaven, whom we call saints. We have a special affection for the Blessed Virgin Mary. But we do not worship Mary or any of the saints.
Christ is the head of the Church, and He is the Good Shepherd who cares for His sheep. But before he ascended into Heaven, Christ appointed the apostle Peter to look after His sheep. (John 21:15-18). After Peter's death, he was succeeded by Linus, who was succeeded by Anacletus, who was succeeded by Clement . . . and so on down to John Paul II, current pope.
The pope is the rock on which the infallible church stands (Matthew 16:16). We know that a house built on shaky ground will not stand, so it stands to reason that the pope is guided by the Holy Spirit in a special way. The Holy Spirit protects the Pope from teaching error in the matter of faith and morals when the pope speaks officially and definately. This does NOT mean that the pope is perfect, or that he does not sin. There have been popes who were very great sinners.
V. FIRST CAUSE AND FINAL END
We're back where we started: God. Just as God is the source of all that exists, so is He the goal of every life. We are made to be with God, as Augustine said, and we will not be happy until we are in His presence.
To be in the presence of God is Heaven; to be away from God is Hell. But what determines whether we will go to Heaven or Hell?
We determine it.
Frightening as it may seem, the fate of our eternal souls is in our hands. Christ died so that all might live. We could never have earned the salvation which He paid for with His Blood, but we are free to reject it. God calls us to Him, but we can turn away. We can ignore Him.
That is the greatest tragedy in the world.
There is no need for anyone to be seperated from God for all eternity. His grace is freely available. All you have to do is accept that grace, and then to live as God wants us to live so as not to lose it.
As has been previously stated, Catholics believe the we are reborn through the Sacrament of Baptism. Baptism washes away our sins, including Original Sin, but it does not remove the tendancy to sin. After baptism, we may turn away from God. We may lose the divine life within us which Catholics call sanctifying grace.
If we die without this supernatural life, we are unable to exist in the presence of God. We are therefore damned -- not by God, but by ourselves.
But Christ, Who understood human nature so well, knew that His followers would stumble and fall as they ran the race for the laurel crown. Therefore He gave the apostles the power to forgive sins (John 20:22-23). The Church excercises this power through the sacrament of Reconciliation, also called Confession. Confession is important because when we sin, we do not just hurt ourselves, we also hurt the body of Christ, the Church. Confession reconciles us back to the Church and restores the supernatural life within us.
If we die with sanctifying grace, but still have impurities and minor sins on our soul, they will be burnt away. (1 Corinthians 3: 10-15). This is called Purgatory. Purgatory is not a "second chance to choose God." Those in Purgatory have already chosen God, and they are already guaranteed a place in Heaven. Purgatory is merely a place of cleansing, for "nothing unclean will enter" Heaven (Revelations 21:27).
The people in Purgatory are part of the Church, part of the Communion of Saints. Since this is true, we may pray for them. Catholics, like the early Christians, therefore pray for their deceased relatives and friends.
Physics tells us that the universe is constantly losing order, due to entropy. In other words, this world is dying, and someday it will come an end.
Catholics believe that Christ will come again, and that this world will pass away, to be replaced by a new heaven and a new earth. Since Christ told us that "we do not know the hour or the day" we do not try to figure out when the end of the world will be. It could be tomorrow. It might be a thousand years from now, or more. In the meantime, we try to live our lives prayerfully and charitably, as God calls us to live.
