(S5-12-13)

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The Creed a.k.a The Profession of Faith: I believe in God

This section used in RCIA_Stuff

  • “O my God, I firmly believe that you are one God

in three divine Persons, Father Son and Holy Spirit; I believe that your divine Son became man and died for our sins, And that he will come to judge the living and the dead. I believe these and all the truths which the Holy Catholic Church Teaches Because you have revealed them, Who can neither deceive nor be deceived.” (Act of Fatih – From the US Catholic Catechism for Adults)

references/resources

Opening Prayer

Hand out Mass cards and all pray the Profession of Faith

Content

The Creed

  • Creed from the Latin Credo meaning "I believe"
  • Two Creeds
  • Development of Creeds (Tanner, 21-25), Apostles at Jerusalem, Councils of Nicaea, Constantinople
    • Apostles Creed
      • The Apostles Creed is attributed to the teachings of the Apostles.
      • The CCC uses the twelve articles of the Apostles Creed as its paradigm for presenting the faith (Part One Section Two)
    • Nicene-Constantinople Creed
      • The Nicene Creed was produced by the Council of Nicea I (325) Which was convoked to combat the heresy of Arius, who basically denied the divinity of Christ.
      • Pronounced that Jesus Christ is "consubstantial" or "one in being" with the Father.
      • Later, at the Council of Constantinople (381), the Creed was expanded to clearly define the divinity of the Holy Spirit. The new creed was called the Nicene-Constantinople Symbol was introduced into the Mass about the year 500.
  • Four sections to the creed: Father, Son, Holy Spirit and Church

I Believe

  • We are now in the Year of Faith
  • Faith as a theological virtue
  • “Religious belief” is faith… the one believed…and the message are one and the same, Jesus Christ. (Pieper VI)
  • Both a gift of God and a human act by which the believer gives personal adherence to God who invites his response, and freely assents to the whole truth that God has revealed. It is this revelation of God which the Church proposes for our belief, and which we profess in the Creed, celebrate in the sacraments, live by right conduct that fulfills the twofold commandment of charity (as specified in the ten commandments), and respond to in our prayer of faith. Faith is both a theological virtue given by God as grace, and an obligation which flows from the first commandment of God (26, 142, 150, 1814, 2087).
  • Faith and Reason Fides et ratio John Paul II, overview article
    • “Faith and reason are like two wings on which the human spirit rises to the contemplation of truth; and God has placed in the human heart the desire to know the truth — in a word, to know himself — so that by knowing and loving God, men and women can come to the fullness of the truth about themselves” (n. 1).
    • Truth is known through a combination of faith and reason. The absence of either one will diminish man’s ability to know himself, the world and God (n. 16). Human reason seeks the truth, but the ultimate truth about the meaning of life cannot be found by reason alone (n. 42).
    • Faith
      • By the revelation of Jesus Christ, God has made the truth accessible to every man and woman. Jesus Christ is not only the revelation of God to man, he is also the revelation of man to himself. In the mystery of the Incarnate Word, man can understand himself. Christ "reveals man to himself and makes clear his supreme calling, which is to share in the divine mystery of the life of the Trinity" (n. 13). Man shares in this mystery on earth through grace and in heaven by direct contemplation of God.
      • Faith is man's obedient response to God's revelation (n. 13).
    • Reason
      • Man can know that God exists by reflecting on creation.
      • Man must depend to a great extent on others as source of knowledge. He is unable to factually verify even a small part of his knowledge himself. Therefore, he must trust in the veracity of those who teach him. “This means that the human being – the one who seeks the truth – is also the one who lives by belief” (n. 31).
    • The Interaction between Faith and Reason
      • Philosophy is the study of ultimate truth under the natural light of reason.
      • Theology is the study of the Catholic faith with revelation as its first principles. The purpose of theology is to permit a greater understanding of the faith so that it can be grasped more firmly (n. 93).
      • Reason supports faith and philosophy supports theology in the following ways:
        1. Reason prepares the way to faith.
        2. Reason can show that that there is a God and can demonstrate his primary attributes such as his power and divinity. Reason lays the foundation for faith and makes revelation “credible.” Reason is thus the common ground between believers and unbelievers.
        3. Faith without reason withers into myth or superstition. Deprived of reason, faith is left with only feelings and experience. It loses its universality (n. 48).
        4. Philosophy provides a language for theology. Its concepts and patterns of thought permit theology to have a logical structure and to be a true science (n. 65). For example, while the Real Presence in the Holy Eucharist is to be believed as a matter of faith, theology attempts to make it more understandable in terms of substance, accidents, transubstantiation, etc. Philosophical language permits theology to speak about God, the personal relations within the Trinity, God’s creative activity in the world, the relationship between man and God, and Christ’s identity as true God and true man, to take a few examples (n. 66).
  • Faith is manifest in "Acts of Faith"
    • Listen to Noah: Right by Bill Cosby - Talk about the belief in God and the act of faith
    • A Man for All Seasons. Bolt, R. Act II, Chapter 20 "Ending a Friendship" 1:19 “ For me it has to be for that's myself. Only God is love right through and that's myself. I would not give in because I oppose it – I – not my in my pride, not my spleen, nor any other of my appetites, but I…”
    • The "yes" of Mary

In God

  • Proofs of God
    • Newman's discussion on conscience

Pieper – “to think a statement true and consider the stated matter real, objectively existent.” Cf. Augustine – “Belief seems to convey conviction of the statement’s truth with deep knowledge of it.”

However, experience would seem to indicate that when discussing belief we rely not only on the knowledge of the object concerned, but also on the quality of the message and messenger. (Pieper IV) “We participate in the knowledge of the knower.” (Pieper, IV.42) “Belief cannot establish its own legitimacy; it can only derive legitimacy from someone who knows the subject matter of his own accord. By virtue of contact with someone, belief is transmitted to the believer.” (Pieper 42)

Newman – the deepest point of contact between these two persons is the conscience. (Dulles p. 50 – Summary of argument from conscience) Consequently, belief demands: Freedom A personal encounter with the one whom you believe


Faith and its relationship with reason Pieper VIII – If God expects belief, then he must be (to some degree) understandable. Hahn, 15-27 JPII, Fides et ratio (recommended)

In God the Father Almighty… (see chapter V – US Cath. Cat. for Adults)

Closing Prayer

The Return of the Prodigal Son Guided Meditation The Return of the Prodigal Son - Rembrandt

Terms

Cultural Applications

  • Rembrandt – The Prodigal Son
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