Beliefs about the relationship between Ultimate Reality and Humanity - Christology
For all Christians and so for Roman Catholics the key to understanding the relationship between ultimate reality and humanity is the person and the mission of Jesus who is known in Christian faith as the Christ. Adherents hold that Jesus is the eternal word and only son of God, full human and fully divine, who came into the world as the revelation of the Father, whose work he accomplishes. Jesus secures the connection of humanity and God in his ministry, his death and resurrection and in the sending of the spirit that gives life. (John 6:63). As John’s gospel expresses it, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” John 3:16
Given the centrality of this mystery of faith that is at the heart of the divine-human nexus it is not surprising that all aspects of the Roman Catholic Church are engaged in the expression this belief in an integrated way. The directive from Pope John XXIII was that the Vatican Council II fathers return to the source of faith, ressourcement. Christology became a significant theological topic in the decades that followed the Council.
The sacred text are clear about both the humanity and the divinity of Jesus. There are several lines of evidence in the New Testament which converge to prove that from a biblical point of view Jesus was truly and thoroughly human. Jesus had human names and was from a known place (Jesus, Nazareth), was experienced by others as a human being (John 9:16), seen with the eyes of witnesses (I John 1:1), spoke normal human language(s), referred to himself as a man of truth (John 8:40); experienced life as a human being including such limitations as hunger (Matthew 4:2), thirst (John 19:28), tiredness (John 4:6) and intense sorrow and distress (John 11:35; Luke 13:34-35).
There are also several lines of evidence in the bible which converge to demonstrate that the writers regarded Jesus as more than human as well. John says he was divine word that dwelt among us (John 1:1, 14). He does the works of God, including creating (John 1:3; Col. 1:15-20) and sustaining all things (Hebrews 1:3-4). He is Emmanuel, God with us (Matthew 1:23), sending the Spirit (a work assigned to the father as well; see John 14:26; 15:26).
The scriptural record became a matter for debate with the Church in the story of Christianity in the 4th and 5th centuries as heresies or extreme views about Jesus is needed to be addressed using the Greek categories of the day. “God from God, Light from Light, True God from True God, begotten not made.” Nicea-Constantinopolitan Creed (325CE and 381CE respectively). These were the first and second ecumenical councils where the leaders of the church need gather in debate and discussion to be sure that the faith was expressed with precision. Later councils at Ephesus 431CE and Chalcedon 451CE were needed to bring even greater exactness to how Jesus Christ could be spoken of as our bridge with the divine.
Already there were many Christians who had given their life ahead of renouncing relationship that Jesus and the Father in the Spirit make with humanity. These are remembered as martyrs and saints of the Church and many of these have found there was into the liturgical calendar as saints’ feast days. Time too is made sacred in the expression of the relationship between humans and ultimate reality. The Compendium to the Catechism of the Catholic Church puts it this way: “In the liturgical year the Church celebrates the whole mystery of Christ from his Incarnation to his return in glory.” CCCC 242 Sacred architecture is also impacted by the same relationship between humans and God in Christ found in the communion of the saints. There are many sacred places dedicated to these witnesses. For example, St. Stephen's Basilica in north of the Old City in Jerusalem recalls the martyrdom of the Greek Christian Stephen reported in the Acts of the Apostles. (7:54-60). The current basilica was dedicated in 1900 demonstrating the ongoing concern for the sacredness of the witness to the what God has done in Christ and the demands that it makes on followers.
A key expression of this faith is found in the sacramental character of Roman Catholic ritual. For Catholics the sacraments are real symbols of that relationship between ultimate reality and humanity. The seven sacraments celebrated through the revised rites of the Second Vatican Council are celebrations in word and symbol reminding Roman Catholics of what God and Jesus have done for humanity. The Sacraments are about initiation, healing and commitment in the community of the Roman Church. These seven sacraments are understood by Latin Catholics to come from Christ and enact the Church’s common life in Christ. It is the way that Catholics express that relationship most acutely and practically. Individual spiritual experiences are often associated with sacramental moments in Roman Catholic tradition and stem from their essential acceptance of the divine-human relationship in Baptism. The paschal character of this can be seen in the identification of Jesus with the lamb of the Passover by giving his life for the sin of the world. In the baptismal rite the candidate is plunged into the waters in the acceptance of Christ to be reborn sinless as members of the community of Christ’s disciples. It is integral to the conversion at the heart of the sacramental system.
The relationship between humans and ultimate reality has ethical significance within the Roman Catholic tradition. As God’s son Jesus shows humanity the way to be in the world through radical acceptance of the sinner and the downtrodden and even love of enemies. In Matthew’s Gospel Jesus is preaching on a mountain entreats those assembled to “Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be children of your Father in heaven …” (5:44-45). And in a similar vein, Luke’s Jesus reminds those gathered on the plain that the poor are blessed are to receive the kingdom of God. (6:20) Concern for the other and dignity of the poor are at the heart of the Christian and Catholic social teaching and practice. The relationship between humans and God provides the inspiration for the service of many religious orders in health, education and the service of the poor. It also underlines the practical efforts of the Roman Catholic relief organisation Caritas International and its local agencies.
Given the centrality of this mystery of faith that is at the heart of the divine-human nexus it is not surprising that all aspects of the Roman Catholic Church are engaged in the expression this belief in an integrated way. The directive from Pope John XXIII was that the Vatican Council II fathers return to the source of faith, ressourcement. Christology became a significant theological topic in the decades that followed the Council.
The sacred text are clear about both the humanity and the divinity of Jesus. There are several lines of evidence in the New Testament which converge to prove that from a biblical point of view Jesus was truly and thoroughly human. Jesus had human names and was from a known place (Jesus, Nazareth), was experienced by others as a human being (John 9:16), seen with the eyes of witnesses (I John 1:1), spoke normal human language(s), referred to himself as a man of truth (John 8:40); experienced life as a human being including such limitations as hunger (Matthew 4:2), thirst (John 19:28), tiredness (John 4:6) and intense sorrow and distress (John 11:35; Luke 13:34-35).
There are also several lines of evidence in the bible which converge to demonstrate that the writers regarded Jesus as more than human as well. John says he was divine word that dwelt among us (John 1:1, 14). He does the works of God, including creating (John 1:3; Col. 1:15-20) and sustaining all things (Hebrews 1:3-4). He is Emmanuel, God with us (Matthew 1:23), sending the Spirit (a work assigned to the father as well; see John 14:26; 15:26).
The scriptural record became a matter for debate with the Church in the story of Christianity in the 4th and 5th centuries as heresies or extreme views about Jesus is needed to be addressed using the Greek categories of the day. “God from God, Light from Light, True God from True God, begotten not made.” Nicea-Constantinopolitan Creed (325CE and 381CE respectively). These were the first and second ecumenical councils where the leaders of the church need gather in debate and discussion to be sure that the faith was expressed with precision. Later councils at Ephesus 431CE and Chalcedon 451CE were needed to bring even greater exactness to how Jesus Christ could be spoken of as our bridge with the divine.
Already there were many Christians who had given their life ahead of renouncing relationship that Jesus and the Father in the Spirit make with humanity. These are remembered as martyrs and saints of the Church and many of these have found there was into the liturgical calendar as saints’ feast days. Time too is made sacred in the expression of the relationship between humans and ultimate reality. The Compendium to the Catechism of the Catholic Church puts it this way: “In the liturgical year the Church celebrates the whole mystery of Christ from his Incarnation to his return in glory.” CCCC 242 Sacred architecture is also impacted by the same relationship between humans and God in Christ found in the communion of the saints. There are many sacred places dedicated to these witnesses. For example, St. Stephen's Basilica in north of the Old City in Jerusalem recalls the martyrdom of the Greek Christian Stephen reported in the Acts of the Apostles. (7:54-60). The current basilica was dedicated in 1900 demonstrating the ongoing concern for the sacredness of the witness to the what God has done in Christ and the demands that it makes on followers.
A key expression of this faith is found in the sacramental character of Roman Catholic ritual. For Catholics the sacraments are real symbols of that relationship between ultimate reality and humanity. The seven sacraments celebrated through the revised rites of the Second Vatican Council are celebrations in word and symbol reminding Roman Catholics of what God and Jesus have done for humanity. The Sacraments are about initiation, healing and commitment in the community of the Roman Church. These seven sacraments are understood by Latin Catholics to come from Christ and enact the Church’s common life in Christ. It is the way that Catholics express that relationship most acutely and practically. Individual spiritual experiences are often associated with sacramental moments in Roman Catholic tradition and stem from their essential acceptance of the divine-human relationship in Baptism. The paschal character of this can be seen in the identification of Jesus with the lamb of the Passover by giving his life for the sin of the world. In the baptismal rite the candidate is plunged into the waters in the acceptance of Christ to be reborn sinless as members of the community of Christ’s disciples. It is integral to the conversion at the heart of the sacramental system.
The relationship between humans and ultimate reality has ethical significance within the Roman Catholic tradition. As God’s son Jesus shows humanity the way to be in the world through radical acceptance of the sinner and the downtrodden and even love of enemies. In Matthew’s Gospel Jesus is preaching on a mountain entreats those assembled to “Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be children of your Father in heaven …” (5:44-45). And in a similar vein, Luke’s Jesus reminds those gathered on the plain that the poor are blessed are to receive the kingdom of God. (6:20) Concern for the other and dignity of the poor are at the heart of the Christian and Catholic social teaching and practice. The relationship between humans and God provides the inspiration for the service of many religious orders in health, education and the service of the poor. It also underlines the practical efforts of the Roman Catholic relief organisation Caritas International and its local agencies.
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