The Blessed Trinity

The Blessed Trinity and Our Christian Vocation

The Blessed Trinity Chapter 3

Chapter 3 God the Father

Chapter Objectives The student will be able to understand: • God as Father • Creation ex nihilo • Why God created the universe • What reason and Revelation say about creation • The beginning of time • God’s good creation • God’s preservation, providence, and government of the universe • Creation and evolution • Angels • Devils • Guardian angels • Man’s composite nature • The goodness of the human body • The human soul • The sacredness of the human person • Man’s original condition • Stewardship • Marriage • Original Sin • Baptism

Keys to Chapter 3 • God is Father of all his creatures, of his adopted children, and, uniquely, of his only Son. • Everything God creates is good. • Science, properly understood, and Revelation, properly understood, are not in contradiction. • God created the angels before man, and they are part of the cosmic struggle of good vs. evil. • Body and soul are part of man’s intrinsic dignity as made in the image of God. • Man is a co-creator with God. • Baptism restores a person to the original dignity for which he or she was intended, but life remains a struggle to seek and maintain holiness.

For Discussion: • What is the Christian understanding of God as Father? • What is the relationship between God the Father and his Son, Jesus Christ? • What is the meaning of creation as found in the Book of Genesis? • Why did God create man? continued

For Discussion: • Who is Satan? What is his role in God’s plan? • What was the original condition of mankind in the Garden of Eden? • What is Original Sin, and what effect does it have on us? • What is the role of angels in the Christian life?

God the Creator Father Lesson Objectives God as Father Creation ex nihilo

God the Creator Father Basic Questions In what sense is God a Father? • God is Father as Creator of the universe and man; he is the adoptive Father of every Christian incorporated into the Mystical Body of Christ, the Church; and he is uniquely the Father of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.

God the Creator Father Basic Questions How does God’s creation differ from man’s? • God the Almighty Father created Heaven and earth out of nothing, whereas man creates from preexisting things.

Anticipatory Set • Write about what you would choose if your were granted three wishes and then discuss: • Does each person try to construct a Heaven on earth for him- or herself?

Guided Exercise • Conduct a think/pair/share based on the Introduction (pp. 88-89) using the following question: • What new dimensions of the idea of God’s Fatherhood did Christ introduce?

Focus Question • If God is everywhere, why do Christians pray to God in Heaven? • While God, indeed, is everywhere, Christians pray to God in Heaven in order to lift their sights from this earthly exile to their true home in Heaven.

Focus Question • Why did the Israelites wish to return to Egypt, where they had been slaves? • They preferred the idea of being slaves with full bellies.

Focus Question • What does the text mean when it refers to grace, glory, and temples? • It is drawing an analogy between life on earth and life in Heaven. On earth, people can live in a state of grace, but, if they are fortunate enough to merit Heaven, they will live in a state of glory. Christians are his temples, but in Heaven, he will be the temple. Now he lives in the hearts of his people, but in Heaven they will live in him.

Focus Question • How is God seen as Father in the Old Testament? • The title Father seldom appears in the Old Testament with respect to God. God was transcendent, dwelling in the Holy of Holies of the Temple, which only the high priest could enter once a year. Thus, there was a barrier between God and Israel.

Focus Question • What new understanding of God did the Incarnation of Christ reveal? • The Blessed Virgin Mary was told her child would be called Son of the Most High. Thus, God the Father was revealed to have a Son.

Focus Question • What familiar term did Christ use to refer to his Father? • He used Abba, which is the Aramaic word children used, akin to the English dad or daddy.

Focus Question • How did many Israelites act to Christ when he referred to himself as the Son of God or speaking of God as Abba? • This kind of language sounded shocking and blasphemous.

Focus Question • How did Christ teach his disciples to think of God? • He taught them to think of God as and to call God “Our Father.”

Focus Question • How is God’s Fatherhood of Christ different from his fatherhood of human beings? • Christ is God the Father’s Only-Begotten Son. Human beings can become God the Father’s adoptive children through Baptism into the Mystical Body of Christ.

Focus Question • What is the divine economy? • While particular works are ascribed to one of the Persons of the Blessed Trinity, in fact, all three Persons act according to his own unique property.

Focus Question • What was God’s motivation when he created Heaven and earth? • He wanted to express his love.

Focus Question • In what does the contemplation of creation result? • It results in an acknowledgement of God’s transcendence and omnipotence.

Focus Question • In what sense can every human being refer to God as Father? • God created each person, so he or she can rightly call him Father.

Guided Exercise • Conduct a think/pair/share using the following question: • How are man’s and God’s acts of creation radically different?

God’s Good Creation Lesson Objectives Why God created the universe What reason and Revelation say about creation The beginning of time continued

God’s Good Creation Lesson Objectives God’s good creation God’s preservation, providence, and government of the universe Creation and evolution

God’s Good Creation Basic Questions Why did God create the universe? • God creates all things out of a perfectly free act of love in order to share his happiness with creatures and manifest his glory.

God’s Good Creation Basic Questions What do reason and Revelation say about creation? • Reason and Revelation agree God is the Creator of the world.

God’s Good Creation Basic Questions When did time begin? • Time began when creation began.

God’s Good Creation Basic Questions What does it mean to say everything that exists is good? • All God creates is good.

God’s Good Creation Basic Questions What are God’s preservation of, providence toward, and government of creation? • God preserves and guides creation according to his wisdom toward an end he has in mind.

God’s Good Creation Basic Questions What does the Church teach about evolution? • The Church supports the scientific study of the origin of the universe and man but rejects false positions that contradict the truths of the Faith.

Anticipatory Set • Incorporate a contemplative praying of the Lord’s Prayer into the Opening Prayer.

Focus Question • What does it mean to say creation is ordained to the glory of God? • God created the world to show his perfection through the good things he communicates to his creatures.

Focus Question • How is God’s glory related to his love? • Out of love, God (who is love) desired to create all things in order to enable his creatures to share in his love and happiness.

Focus Question • Has God gained anything from creating the universe? • No; he is all-perfect and has need of nothing. He did not create in order to obtain some perfection he does not eternally possess. He would not have been less God, less perfect, or less good had he not carried out the work of creation.

Focus Question • Why did the Fathers of the First Ecumenical Council of the Vatican (cf. p. 93, DS 3002) affirm God’s creation was “a completely free decision?” • God had no compulsion to create; neither did he have anything to gain from creating.

Guided Exercise • Conduct a think/pair/share using the following question: • Why might God’s decision to manifest his glory through creation require the creation of rational beings such as angels and human beings?

Focus Question • What very simple arguments demonstrate the universe has a creator? • Something cannot come from nothing. Everything that moves is set in motion by something else. Thus, the universe must have an uncreated creator and unmoved mover, who is God.

Focus Question • When was the beginning of time? • Time began with creation.

Focus Question • Was the universe created in six days as Genesis records? • The creation story in Genesis is part of the inerrant word of God and therefore true. However, Sacred Scripture is not a scientific journal. God was not trying to reveal how he created so much as why he created.

Focus Question • What are some of the truths the story of creation teaches? • God reveals who he is, who man is, and the meaning of existence. It teaches about the origin of sin and people’s relationships with God and with each other.

Focus Question • What does Genesis affirm about the things God created? • God says each part of his creation is good and all of it is very good.

Focus Question • How did Christ affirm the inherent goodness of matter? • God uses material creation as an instrument of redemption, first in his Incarnation—when he took on a human nature with a human body—and later in the Sacraments, which use matter to confer grace.

Guided Exercise • Conduct a think/pair/share using the following question: • According to the Catechism, no. 390, what does the Book of Genesis teach about Original Sin?

Guided Exercise • Review the material in Chapter 2 of the text on Manichaeism (p. 70) and then write on the grave error of this heresy in light of God’s good creation.

Focus Question • In what sense could one say God continuously created the universe at every moment? • Because God has created everything out of nothing, if he did not continually preserve it in existence, it would immediately revert to its origin; nothingness.

Focus Question • Must human beings follow God’s providence and governance? • No, because of free will, they can choose to act against God’s will.

The Blessed Trinity