Creed: The Structure and Primary Beliefs

1. Creed: The Structure and Primary Beliefs

3. CREED • Structure: “I believe…” • God the Father • God the Son (Jesus) Trinity • God the Holy Spirit • The Church

4. TRINITY The Trinity is ONE GOD, THREE DIVINE PERSONS. A MYSTERY!!!

5. MYSTERY!!!

6. TRINITY • Central mystery of the Christian faith • It can be known by faith yet never completely comprehended. • How do we know? • Because God revealed himself as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and taught us from the beginning of his revelation to the Israelites that He is the ONE True God, NOT 3 gods. • This truth is foreshadowed in the Old Testament and fully revealed in the New Testament.

7. TRINITY The Trinity is CONSUBSTANTIAL: belief that the three persons of the Blessed Trinity are distinct and one of the same substance. That means we believe that what they (Father, Son, and Spirit) are made of, what they are at their very core, is the same, just as Jesus Himself said: 'The Father and I are one' (John 10:30). This was declared at the Council of Nicaea 325AD

8. IMAGES of the TRINITY

9. GOD as PARENT WHY? • To draw on our human experience… parents are our first representation of God.

10. GOD the FATHER By calling God the “Father”, we indicate two things: • He is the origin of everything and has authority. • He is goodness and provides loving care for his children.

11. Creator of everything • Sent Jesus into the world • Source of love • Speaks through Jesus • Author of Scripture

13. "For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one." 1 John 5:7 "I and my Father are one." John 10:30 "Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost." - Matthew 28:19 “And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth." - Genesis 1:26

14. The Second Part of the TRINITY:JESUS CHRIST

15. WHAT’S in a NAME? • “Jesus” means: “God saves” in Hebrew • “Christ” means: according to the Greek translation of the Hebrew word messiah, it means “anointed”

16. WHAT’S in a NAME? • “Son of God”: indicates the uniquely, intimate and eternal relationship with Jesus and the Father • “Lamb of God”: Jesus willingly accepts suffering and death for our sins: an act of sacrificial love • “New Adam” Jesus’ obedience on the Cross makes up for Adam’s disobedience in the garden

17. WHAT MAKES JESUS HUMAN? • He experienced birth • He experienced hunger and thirst • He experienced human emotion: joy, sadness, fear, wonder, anger, etc. • He experienced human relationship

18. JESUS takes on human nature and is a HUMAN PERSONWhat is the difference between human nature and a human person? NATURE: “what makes anything or anyone to be what it is, and to act according to what it is” It answers the questions, “What is this? What is this that is acting?” PERSON: “what makes someone who is endowed with intelligence and free will…different from others of the same nature and responsible for his own actions” – Who is this? Who is this that is acting? TB:37

19. WHAT MAKES JESUS DIVINE? Holy Scripture Reveals this to us: • He performs miracles • He speaks and teaches like no other • He claims to be one with the Father • The Resurrection

20. PRAYER TO THE HOLY TRINITY

21. HOLY SPIRIT • Proceeds from the Father and the Son • Inspires the Scriptures • Intercedes for us in prayer • Actively present in and through the Sacraments • Dwells within the Magisterium, Tradition, and Holy people of the Church. • Awakens faith within all people

22. HOLY SPIRIT FRUITS and GIFTS of the Holy Spirit • GIFTS are what we are GIVEN by God to participate and grow in the Trinity • FRUITS are what we EXPRESS as a result of our faith and love.

23. Isaiah 11:1-3 A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse;    from his roots a Branch will bear fruit.The Spirit of the Lord will rest on him—    the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding,    the Spirit of counsel and of might,    the Spirit of the knowledge and fear of the Lord—and he will delight in the fear of the Lord. He will not judge by what he sees with his eyes,    or decide by what he hears with his ears; Galatians 5:19-24 The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.

24. GIFTS OF THE HOLY SPIRIT …make us attentive to the voice of God, which render us susceptible to the workings of actual grace, which make us love the things of God, and, consequently, render us more obedient and docile to the inspirations of the Holy Spirit.

25. GIFTS of the Holy Spirit W: perfection of faith; loves things of heaven U: contemplates the complexities of God C: perfection of prudence; judge rightly F: strength K: perfection of faith; sees God’s purpose in life P: reverence and prayerful FoL: sees God’s authority and power Wisdom Understanding Counsel Fortitude Knowledge Piety Fear of the Lord

26. FRUITS OF THE HOLY SPIRIT those supernatural works that are done joyfully and with peace of soul. St. Thomas Aquinas

27. The Creed was written because of heresies that were against the Trinity & doctrine of the Church Why the Creed? • Heresy: denial by a baptized person of a truth held by the Church • Doctrine: a truth of the faith that must be adhered to by the faithful.

28. 2 Main Heresies against the doctrine of the Trinity that are Addressed in the Creed • Gnosticism: foundation of many heresies…attempts to undermine most Christian beliefs. • Many Gnostics believed that human beings had two parts, body and spirit. • They believed: body=evil and spirit=good True Christians believed that human beings are made up of two inseparable parts, body and spirit; and both parts are essentially good although flawed by sin. • The Christians who accepted Gnostic beliefs began to question whether or not the spirit of Jesus ever really inhabited a human body. • They addressed this heresy by emphasizing in the Creed that Jesus was FULLY human and FULLY God. “Who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried.”

29. 2 Main Heresies against the doctrine of the Trinity that are Addressed in the Creed 2. Arianism: 3rd and 4th Century heresy formulated by Arias. This heresy denied Jesus’ divinity. • Arius and other Christians in the early Church went too far with the emphasis on Jesus’ human nature and began to question his divine nature. • Arius who taught that Jesus was not equal in divinity with God the Father. He believed that Jesus was created like other beings on earth. Faithful Christians opposed Arius. They believed that even though Jesus was conceived and born like other humans, he pre-existed with God the Father before his birth from all eternity. The Church’s opposition to Arius can be detected in the Nicene Creed.

30. Key Questions/Concepts? • What is the Trinity? • Who makes up the Trinity? • What are the primary qualities/roles of each part of the Trinity? • What is the difference between having human nature and being a human being?...in regards to Jesus? • What makes Jesus both human and divine? • Identify and define the fruits and gifts of the Holy Spirit.