Our Loving God:

Father and Creator

From the Apostles Creed:

I believe in God, the Fatheralmighty; creator of heaven

and Earth

Father and CreatorWhere are we going this chapter?

•Faith and Reason

•Proofs for God’s Existence

•Revelation

•Covenants

•After Jesus how is revelation being passed on and protected…

•What are the attributes of God?

•God as Father

•God as Creator

Father and Creator•“We know that all things work for good for those who love God, who are called according to his purpose.”- Romans 8:28

•A.C.T.S Prayer•Adoration- Praise God for who He is, His attributes, His Character, not just for what He has done for you.

•Confession- Review your day. Are there any sins you have committed today that you need to confess? Ask for forgiveness.

•Thanksgiving- Now thank him for all the many blessings He has given you today. As St. Ignatius teaches, gratitude is the foundation for love. Our love for God will grow as the measure of our gratitude for God grows.

•Supplication (and Intersession)- Humbly ask God to provide for your needs and the needs of others.

-Monotheistic

-Polytheistic

-Deism

-Agnostic

-Atheist

-Secular Humanism

B. Faith and ReasonHow do we know things? The “3 eyes”1st eye:

-know that fire is hot, sky is blue2nd eye:

-Help us know math, logic, scientific principals, etc3rd eye:

-is needed in relationships. Faith is like trusting in and loving someone. The more you trust and love them the more the relationship grows.

How do we know God?

Most people say they believe in God because of faith, which is good. But we need to take the next step.

Faith and Reason: Fr. Barron: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GcH_5Iecu5s

Discussion

1. Have you ever questioned God’s existence? What prompted this questioning?

2. If someone asked you to give him reasons for why he should believe in God, what would you say?

See CCC 50

What are the signs around us that point to God? See CCC 31-35

1. Physical World: “Starting from movement, becoming, contingency, and the world’s order and beauty, one can come to a knowledge of God as the origin and the end of the universe.” (CCC32)

- Who is St. Thomas Aquinas? - St. Thomas Aquinas’s 5 Proofs for God’s Existence

2. Human Experience: “The desire for God is written in the human heart, because man is created by God and for God.”

C. Proofs of God’s Existence

Version 2: First Cause Argument1. Does the universe contain dependent beings (things that need other things for its existence) or

independent beings (don’t need other things for its existence)? -

2. Can dependent beings cause their own existence? -

3. If dependent beings cannot cause their own existence, they therefore need what? -

4. We call this independent being that caused dependent beings into existence, what?-

5. If I tried to deny that there was no independent being at the beginning of all dependant beings, I would be claiming, what?

-

Proof looks like this: 6. _______________________________________(things that need other things for its

existence). 7. _____________________________________________________________________

______________________________________(something doesn’t come from nothing). 8. -.

C. Proofs of God’s Existence:1st Cause Argument

Version 1: First Cause Argument (Cosmological Argument):1. Does whatever begin to exist have a cause? -

2. Can it be scientifically proven that the world had a beginning? -3. Since the World began to exist, it therefore needs a _____________? -4. What is the world’s cause?

Was the world’s cause powerful? Why?Was the world’s cause beyond time? Why?Was the world’s cause uncaused? Why? We call the powerful, timeless, uncaused creator who?

Proof looks like this:1. _______________________________________(something can’t come from nothing)2. __________________________________(this has been scientifically proven. The world is not infinite years old)3. __________________________________(it exist so it must have a cause)(4. _________________________________________________)

.

C. Proofs of God’s Existence:1st Cause Argument

Fine Tuning Argument (similar to design argument): 1. What does it mean to say the universe is “finely tuned?”

-

2. What was responsible for our finely tuned universe? -

3. Why was it not due to physical necessity?- -

4. Why was it not due to chance? - - What are the chances for the universe to be in perfect alignment for life to exist?

- Putting it into perspective: What are the chances of firing a bullet toward the other side of the universe, 20 billion light years away, and nailing a one-inch target?

5. Since it wasn’t due to physical necessity or chance, than it was due to?

6. When we see design we rightly assume there is a what?

C. Proofs of God’s Existence:Fine Tuning Argument

Proof: Fine Tuning Argument (similar to design argument): 1. The fine-tuning of the universe is due to either physical necessity, chance, or

design.2. It is not due to physical necessity or chance.3. Therefore, it is due to design.4. (A design needs a designer)

C. Proofs of God’s Existence:Fine Tuning Argument

Moral Argument1. -2. -3. -

Supporting points:4. if there is no God then anything is permitted5. If we are really honest with ourselves, we really sense that certain values and

duties are right and wrong.

Recent Convert to Catholicism:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3czEocSLT7w&list=FLxvuAamfCz5Lf06A1G_Bzhw

C. Proofs of God’s Existence:Moral Argument

Argument from Desire:

1. -2. -3. -4. -

5. -

1. What proof of God’s existence did you find most convincing? Why?

But what about the variety of religions? Does the fact that there are so many varying beliefs about God and differences in worship and doctrine disprove God’s existence?

-

Why?

-God is truly a mystery- mystery-

-Revelation literally means “unveiling”-Divine Revelation -

-Is your understanding of God made in HIS image or YOUR image?

-God is not necessarily who you think he is.

-Salvation History-

God established a series of covenants to reveal (show) himself to his people

-Covenant-

-The Bible records many covenants. The most important ones are:1. Covenant with

2. Covenant with

3. Sinai Covenant with

4. Jesus Christ, the New, Everlasting Covenant

-There is no longer a need for other Covenants

Covenant Mediator

Adam Noah Abraham Moses David Jesus

Covenant Form

Marriage Household Tribe Nation Kingdom Church

Covenant Sign

Sabbath Rainbow Circumcision Passover Temple & Throne

Eucharist

In giving us his Son, his only Word (for he possesses no other), he spoke everything to us at once in this sole Word - and he has no more to say. . . because what he spoke before to the prophets in parts, he has now spoken all at once by giving us the All Who is His Son. Any person questioning God or desiring some vision or revelation would be guilty not only of foolish behavior but also of offending him, by not fixing his eyes entirely upon Christ and by living with the desire for some other novelty.27 – CCC 65 quote from St. John the Cross

- The Word of God (Jesus Christ) has come to reveal who God is… After Jesus ascended to heaven, how is the Gospel being handed on? See CCC 76

- "by the apostles who handed on, by the spoken word of their preaching, by the example they gave, by the institutions they established, what they themselves had received - whether from the lips of Christ, from his way of life and his works, or whether they had learned it at the prompting of the Holy Spirit";33

- "by those apostles and other men associated with the apostles who, under the inspiration of the same Holy Spirit, committed the message of salvation to writing".34 -CCC76

What do we call the oral and written form of the God’s revelation?

1-What is the written form of the Word of God? Sacred Scripture:

-

2-What is the oral form of the Word of God? Sacred Tradition: -

What is the difference between Sacred Tradition and small “t” tradition? S.T- small t-

What is Dogma?

3- What helps make sure we have the correct interpretation of the Word of God? Magisterium:What role does the magisterium of the church have?

-

What special gift was the magisterium given? -

What does infallibility mean? -

Can you give me an analogy? ---

Who gave them this gift? -

Who makes up the magisterium? -

Who was the first magisterium-

If you want a proper understanding of how God revealed himself, then you will need what 3 “tools”?

-What is the single deposit of Faith?

-Protestants believe that the Sacred Scripture is the

What is Jesus’ prayer for His Church? “My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, 21 that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. 22 I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one— 23 I in them and you in me—so that they may be brought to complete unity. Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me. - Jesus in Gospel of John 17:20

1. What is a dogma? How does it relate to the magisterium? (See pg 30 in OCF if you don’t know)

2. Is there a church teaching you find difficult in believing? Why? Have you ever researched why the church believes what she teaches?

-God revealed his name to Moses - Yahweh, “I am”-

-What are some of God’s attributes?

-Omnipresent - (

- Omnipotent - (

-Omniscient-

-Transcendent -

- Eternal-

Principle #3: God’s AttributesWhat are the five main attributes of God?The five main attributes of God is that He is All-Good, All-Knowing, All Present, All-Powerful, and Eternal. What does each of the five main attributes mean and how do they demonstrate God’s love for us?All-good: God is infinite love and the source of all goodness. God only allows things to happen that will help us obtain eternal life with Him in Heaven, which many times due to our limited knowledge may not make sense to us, especially when suffering is involved. All Knowing: God knows all things, past, present, and future, even our most secret thoughts, and actions. God’s perfect and complete knowledge of us shows He is concerned about the smallest details of our lives and is at all times ready to help us.All Present: God is present everywhere, all of the time. God chooses to be present everywhere because He loves us so much that He never wants us to be alone.Eternal: God has always existed and always will be. He is unchanging, thus His love for us will never not be. All-powerful: God has infinite power to create and sustain everything in the natural world and beyond, therefore God can always brings good out of any evil.

Misguided Understanding:Deism: believes that God is an impersonal, powerful force that created the world and walked away from it to let it run itself, like a windup toy, with no more personal involvement or concern given to it.

Scripture verse:“We know that all things work for good for those who love God, who are called according to his purpose.”- Romans 8:28

Meditation:1. Why do you think many people are attracted to the Deism view of God? 2. What two things you can do this week to better orientate your understanding of God to resemble the true understanding of God professed by the Church? 3. When you go through a hard time, how can knowing God’s attributes help you to get through it?

1. Which attribute of God is hardest for you to understand? Why?

2. What questions do you have about the origins of the world?

3. Describe your relationship with your father.

The Father is the first, second or third person of the Trinity?

-What is the central truth of revelation?

-Jesus taught us to pray to Abba, which means?

-It is right and proper to call God “Father”

-God is beyond the biological distinction of male and female (CCC#239)-The two main things indicated by our calling God Father

1-2-

-What does the image of motherhood express about God

B. Faith and Reason

Should Faith and Reason (or science) ever contradict each other?

Why?1. -2. -3. - 4. But what if there is an apparent contradiction?

Quotes:“Though faith is above reason, there can never be any real discrepancy between faith and reason. Since the same

God who reveals mysteries and infuses faith has bestowed the light of reason on the human mind, God cannot deny himself, nor can truth ever contradict truth.”

“[f]aith 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 a desire to know the truth – in a word, to know himself – so that, by knowing and loving God, men and women may also come to the fullness of truth about themselves.”

What is creationism?

-the belief that God created the world as described in the Bible and that __________________ _______________________. Sometimes includes a very young earth compared to evolutionary theories and man didn’t evolve.

What is evolution?

a theory that the differences between modern plants and animals are because of changes that happened by a natural process over a very long time

Can Catholics in good conscience believe in evolution?

Yes

-, and subject to any future judgment of the Church (Pius XII’s 1950 encyclical Humani Generis 36–37).

-- We don’t believe in a atheistic evolution, but a theistic evolution.

What do Catholics believe about the truthfulness of the bible?

-

Creation Story of Genesis

Was the book of Genesis trying to teach us science?

How do we know that to be true?

-

How do we know that to be true?

What do you mean by Literary Genre?

- Biological view of the eye (doctor) vs. poetic (spouse) view -

- See CCC 337 & CCC 362

Therefore book of Genesis trying to teach us the “Why” not “How.”

Since it wasn’t trying to teach us science, what are some things the book of Genesis was trying to teach us?

-

-

-

-

Principal #4: Original SinWhat is Original Sin and what are its five main consequences?Original Sin is the sinful state we are born in that we inherited through our first parent's (Adam & Eve) disobedience to God. The five main consequences of original sin are ignorance, suffering, perishable body that leads to death, attraction to sin (concupiscence) and separation from God.

What is a description of each of these consequences of Original Sin and how does each one make life difficult?Separation from God: This means that we lost saving grace that allowed us to have a clear awareness and intimate friendship with God. Ignorance: This means we need to learn and struggle to understand important truths about God, the world and ourselves. This makes life more difficult because we frequently limit what is real to what we can perceive by our natural senses, thus making God and the spiritual world easy to forgot about and even deny. We also frequently choose what is not the best for us (like not obeying God, unhealthy habits), and thus suffer the consequences. Suffering: This means that we will experience pain and hardship in life and have to struggle to achieve anything. This makes life more difficult because many times this suffering robs us from comfort and pleasure our nature desires.Perishable Body: This means that our bodies are weak, prone to disease and will eventually decay and die. This makes life more difficult because when our bodies are not healthy this causes a great burden in accomplishing what we seek out to do.Attraction to Sin: This means we have a tendency to desire sin (i.e. the things that are contrary to God’s will and design). This makes our life more difficult because we constantly have to battle with this very alluring and tempting option that appears on the surface to bring us happiness yet in reality will eventually bring us misery.

Misguided Understanding:Materialism: this false view believes that only the material exists and there is no spiritual or immaterial reality, therefore God does not exist because He is not of a material reality and tangible by our natural senses.

Scripture Verse:“For just as through the disobedience of one person the many were made sinners, so through the obedience of one the many will be made righteous.” -Romans 5:17

Meditation:1. In what ways, if any, do you find it difficult to believe in God and His actions since He is not tangible by our natural senses? 2. How can you increase your awareness of God's presence throughout your day? Name two ways. 3. In what ways does knowing about original sin help us understand why the world is messed up?

Adam and Eve: Their story and our story is a story about trusting God. Do you trust God?

If God is so good and powerful, why is there suffering in the world?

1. God is the source of life and all that is good. When our original parents disconnected from the source of life (__________________ ), suffering and death entered our world.

1. Example: God is like Life Support. When we disconnected from life support things get messed up and we slowly die.

2. My ankle

2. Yes, God created all things, but God didn’t create evil. Evil isn’t a thing. Evil is the result of the misuse of our free will. A lot of the suffering in the world is result of our ___________________________

1. Example: If I picked up a rock and threw it at you. The rock nor my arm is evil, but the act of hitting is.

3. Why does God still allow suffering? In specific instances, we might not know for sure, but we do know that a lot of our suffering is caused by our and other’s sin. God would have to take away our free will to end that, but he doesn’t want to do that because then he would end our opportunity for love. 1. We would be like _____________________________

What is God’s actively doing about suffering?

1. ____________________________. 1. God is actively working to stop suffering. God “is not like the absentee landlord ignoring our mess, but is like a garbage man who came into our mess to clean it up.” God through JC is working to restore all things back to Himself.

1. Our part is to repent, believe and help him help others in clean up duty.

2. ________________________________. 1. We know that sometimes we can learn important life lessons when we suffer. We also know that God promised to bring good out of the bad like he did with Jesus death.

2. “We know that all things work for good for those who love God, who are called according to his purpose.”- Romans 8:28

If you are going through the storms of life, please remember…..1. _________________________________________________.

1. Jesus’ death and resurrection proves this. So whatever the reason for your suffering it isn’t because God doesn’t love you.

2. ____________________________. He will carry you if necessary.1. “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.” – Heb 13:52. Footprints story3. Story of young girl

3. ________________________________1. My story2. Helicopter story

If you are going through the storms of life, please remember…..

4. God will never allow you to go through more than you can handle. 1. “God is faithful; he will not let you be tested beyond what you can bear” -1

Cor 10:13

5. In the Our Father we pray, “thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” a. Sometimes God’s will doesn’t happen on earth. Sometimes God didn’t will a certain suffering or problem to come into your life.

6. ______________. We are to God like an ant is to us. We cannot know all God’s reasons, but we can trust that He is good, will take care of and be with us always.

a. child in burning building story

7. Use your suffering for good- sacrificial suffering.

8. Pray for healing!