Stay on target! Beware of false teachings!

[Scott1]

Superstition

2111 Superstition is the deviation of religious feeling and of the practices this feeling imposes. It can even affect the worship we offer the true God, e.g., when one attributes an importance in some way magical to certain practices otherwise lawful or necessary. To attribute the efficacy of prayers or of sacramental signs to their mere external performance, apart from the interior dispositions that they demand, is to fall into superstition.41

Idolatry

2112 The first commandment condemns polytheism. It requires man neither to believe in, nor to venerate, other divinities than the one true God. Scripture constantly recalls this rejection of "idols, [of] silver and gold, the work of men's hands. They have mouths, but do not speak; eyes, but do not see." These empty idols make their worshippers empty: "Those who make them are like them; so are all who trust in them."42 God, however, is the "living God"43 who gives life and intervenes in history.

2113 Idolatry not only refers to false pagan worship. It remains a constant temptation to faith. Idolatry consists in divinizing what is not God. Man commits idolatry whenever he honors and reveres a creature in place of God, whether this be gods or demons (for example, satanism), power, pleasure, race, ancestors, the state, money, etc. Jesus says, "You cannot serve God and mammon."44 Many martyrs died for not adoring "the Beast"45 refusing even to simulate such worship. Idolatry rejects the unique Lordship of God; it is therefore incompatible with communion with God.46

2114 Human life finds its unity in the adoration of the one God. The commandment to worship the Lord alone integrates man and saves him from an endless disintegration. Idolatry is a perversion of man's innate religious sense. An idolater is someone who "transfers his indestructible notion of God to anything other than God."47

Divination and magic

2115 God can reveal the future to his prophets or to other saints. Still, a sound Christian attitude consists in putting oneself confidently into the hands of Providence for whatever concerns the future, and giving up all unhealthy curiosity about it. Improvidence, however, can constitute a lack of responsibility.

2116 All forms of divination are to be rejected: recourse to Satan or demons, conjuring up the dead or other practices falsely supposed to "unveil" the future.48 Consulting horoscopes, astrology, palm reading, interpretation of omens and lots, the phenomena of clairvoyance, and recourse to mediums all conceal a desire for power over time, history, and, in the last analysis, other human beings, as well as a wish to conciliate hidden powers. They contradict the honor, respect, and loving fear that we owe to God alone.

2117 All practices of magic or sorcery, by which one attempts to tame occult powers, so as to place them at one's service and have a supernatural power over others - even if this were for the sake of restoring their health - are gravely contrary to the virtue of religion. These practices are even more to be condemned when accompanied by the intention of harming someone, or when they have recourse to the intervention of demons. Wearing charms is also reprehensible. Spiritism often implies divination or magical practices; the Church for her part warns the faithful against it. Recourse to so-called traditional cures does not justify either the invocation of evil powers or the exploitation of another's credulity.

 

[Scott1]

Irreligion

2118 God's first commandment condemns the main sins of irreligion: tempting God, in words or deeds, sacrilege, and simony.

2119 Tempting God consists in putting his goodness and almighty power to the test by word or deed. Thus Satan tried to induce Jesus to throw himself down from the Temple and, by this gesture, force God to act.49 Jesus opposed Satan with the word of God: "You shall not put the LORD your God to the test."50 The challenge contained in such tempting of God wounds the respect and trust we owe our Creator and Lord. It always harbors doubt about his love, his providence, and his power.51

2120 Sacrilege consists in profaning or treating unworthily the sacraments and other liturgical actions, as well as persons, things, or places consecrated to God. Sacrilege is a grave sin especially when committed against the Eucharist, for in this sacrament the true Body of Christ is made substantially present for us.52

2121 Simony is defined as the buying or selling of spiritual things.53 To Simon the magician, who wanted to buy the spiritual power he saw at work in the apostles, St. Peter responded: "Your silver perish with you, because you thought you could obtain God's gift with money!"54 Peter thus held to the words of Jesus: "You received without pay, give without pay."55 It is impossible to appropriate to oneself spiritual goods and behave toward them as their owner or master, for they have their source in God. One can receive them only from him, without payment.

2122 The minister should ask nothing for the administration of the sacraments beyond the offerings defined by the competent authority, always being careful that the needy are not deprived of the help of the sacraments because of their poverty."56 The competent authority determines these "offerings" in accordance with the principle that the Christian people ought to contribute to the support of the Church's ministers. "The laborer deserves his food."57

 

[Scott1]

Atheism

2123 "Many . . . of our contemporaries either do not at all perceive, or explicitly reject, this intimate and vital bond of man to God. Atheism must therefore be regarded as one of the most serious problems of our time."58

2124 The name "atheism" covers many very different phenomena. One common form is the practical materialism which restricts its needs and aspirations to space and time. Atheistic humanism falsely considers man to be "an end to himself, and the sole maker, with supreme control, of his own history."59 Another form of contemporary atheism looks for the liberation of man through economic and social liberation. "It holds that religion, of its very nature, thwarts such emancipation by raising man's hopes in a future life, thus both deceiving him and discouraging him from working for a better form of life on earth."60

2125 Since it rejects or denies the existence of God, atheism is a sin against the virtue of religion.61 The imputability of this offense can be significantly diminished in virtue of the intentions and the circumstances. "Believers can have more than a little to do with the rise of atheism. To the extent that they are careless about their instruction in the faith, or present its teaching falsely, or even fail in their religious, moral, or social life, they must be said to conceal rather than to reveal the true nature of God and of religion."62

2126 Atheism is often based on a false conception of human autonomy, exaggerated to the point of refusing any dependence on God.63 Yet, "to acknowledge God is in no way to oppose the dignity of man, since such dignity is grounded and brought to perfection in God. . . . "64 "For the Church knows full well that her message is in harmony with the most secret desires of the human heart."65

 

[Scott1]

Agnosticism

2127 Agnosticism assumes a number of forms. In certain cases the agnostic refrains from denying God; instead he postulates the existence of a transcendent being which is incapable of revealing itself, and about which nothing can be said. In other cases, the agnostic makes no judgment about God's existence, declaring it impossible to prove, or even to affirm or deny.

2128 Agnosticism can sometimes include a certain search for God, but it can equally express indifferentism, a flight from the ultimate question of existence, and a sluggish moral conscience. Agnosticism is all too often equivalent to practical atheism.

 

[Scott1]

For further study, a great resource is the Encyclical Letter of John Paul II: The Splendor of Truth



http://www.vatican.va/edocs/ENG0222/_INDEX.HTM



also Jesus Christ The Bearer of the Water of Life, a Christian reflection on the "New Age".



http://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/pontifical_councils/interelg/documents/rc_pc_interelg_doc_20030203_new-age_en.html



Peace, Scott

 

[Mr Spinkles]

I have a question about the Church's teaching on atheism: doesn't God have to reveal Himself for people to believe in Him? How can I believe in God if He hasn't revealed Himself to me?

Is it a sin to be Muslim or Hindu? If not, I don't see why atheism would be a sin...

 

[Scott1]

First of all, let me state that this thread was not meant to insult anyone.....

I don't think anyone here would respect me if I did not want to defend what I believe in or post in the Catholic section items that I think will help guard against doubt for those Catholics that wander in and see so many atheists etc.

Secondly...... this should be a different thread..... but here you go anyhow:

I have a question about the Church's teaching on atheism: doesn't God have to reveal Himself for people to believe in Him? How can I believe in God if He hasn't revealed Himself to me?

II. WAYS OF COMING TO KNOW GOD

31 Created in God's image and called to know and love him, the person who seeks God discovers certain ways of coming to know him. These are also called proofs for the existence of God, not in the sense of proofs in the natural sciences, but rather in the sense of "converging and convincing arguments", which allow us to attain certainty about the truth. These "ways" of approaching God from creation have a twofold point of departure: the physical world, and the human person.

32 The 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.

As St. Paul says of the Gentiles: For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. Ever since the creation of the world his invisible nature, namely, his eternal power and deity, has been clearly perceived in the things that have been made.7 And St. Augustine issues this challenge: Question the beauty of the earth, question the beauty of the sea, question the beauty of the air distending and diffusing itself, question the beauty of the sky. . . question all these realities. All respond: "See, we are beautiful." Their beauty is a profession [confessio]. These beauties are subject to change. Who made them if not the Beautiful One [Pulcher] who is not subject to change?8

 

[Scott1]

33 The human person: with his openness to truth and beauty, his sense of moral goodness, his freedom and the voice of his conscience, with his longings for the infinite and for happiness, man questions himself about God's existence. In all this he discerns signs of his spiritual soul. The soul, the "seed of eternity we bear in ourselves, irreducible to the merely material",9 can have its origin only in God.

34 The world, and man, attest that they contain within themselves neither their first principle nor their final end, but rather that they participate in Being itself, which alone is without origin or end. Thus, in different ways, man can come to know that there exists a reality which is the first cause and final end of all things, a reality "that everyone calls God".10

35 Man's faculties make him capable of coming to a knowledge of the existence of a personal God. But for man to be able to enter into real intimacy with him, God willed both to reveal himself to man and to give him the grace of being able to welcome this revelation in faith. The proofs of God's existence, however, can predispose one to faith and help one to see that faith is not opposed to reason.



Scott

 

[Mr Spinkles]

Don't worry SOGFPP, I'm not insulted, and I respect your desire to express your beliefs.

My question is, what if even after an honest consideration of the above arguments, a Christian still finds his faith in God lacking? What I'm trying to say is, it doesn't seem to me that believing in something is a choice...you can choose to make an honest attempt to consider both sides. But if you don't believe, it seems like there really isn't anything you can do about it, save hope for God to reveal Himself to you. In that context, how can that be a sin?

In addition to Church teaching, your personal views are welcome.

 

[Scott1]

Mr S.,

My question is, what if even after an honest consideration of the above arguments, a Christian still finds his faith in God lacking?

Well, I have reservation with the choice of the word "consideration"..... faith requires something more than a factual study...more than an intellectual ascent towards the divine. That being said, if after the same "consideration" is taken with also the humility of knowing that God is a mystery beyond our understanding.... and you still find your faith lacking...... SO WHAT? You still have the desire for faith.... you are searching.... I don't think any athiest can say for SURE there is no God (yes, the reverse is true, but we just covered that) , so there is always hope that the Holy Spirit will bless the person with the grace to understand.
I believe that only doubt and sin can keep someone from truly accepting God's gift of eternal salvation... with prayer and a contrite heart, the light will finally shine through the darkness of that persons sinful heart.

In that context, how can that be a sin?

It's not...... because the person is honestly seeking.
1281 Those who die for the faith, those who are catechumens, and all those who (this would conver the person we are talking about), without knowing of the Church (having faith in God) but acting under the inspiration of grace (God is always reaching out... fighting against our nature to be evil and reject Him) , seek God sincerely and strive to fulfill his will, can be saved even if they have not been baptized (have faith in Christ and seek baptism as part of that faith) (cf. LG 16).
(My words in black....)

Peace,
Scott

oh... forgot this:

Is it a sin to be Muslim or Hindu? If not, I don't see why atheism would be a sin...

Kinda goes with what I said above.... a Hindu or Muslim is searching for the truth... searching for God. We believe that all that is pure and true in any faith is a pathway to salvation, and a prelude to the full revelation of the Gospel as found in the One, Holy, catholic, and apostolic Church.
Atheism is a sin because is presupposes that the person has done his/her "homework", but usually (like I said above) does not do so in humility, truly searching for the truth, but takes it up like a fact-finding mission, and without "hard evidence" or a burning bush...think that they have everything figured out and there must not be a God.

 

[Mr Spinkles]

I'm not trying to debate or anything, I'm just interested in your (personal, Catholic) opinions here. Now, you say atheism is a sin because it presupposes that one has already seen all the evidence...but in denying Jesus' divinity, don't Muslims and Hindus do the same thing? And what if an atheist does not think he/she has everything figured out, and does search for the truth with humility? Is that like in a different category from the kind of atheism you are talking about...

I hope you don't take these questions as a passive form of debate...I honestly just am interested in understanding what your religion, as well as you personally, believe.

 

[Scott1]

Mr. S.

Now, you say atheism is a sin because it presupposes that one has already seen all the evidence...but in denying Jesus' divinity, don't Muslims and Hindus do the same thing?

Being an atheist means believing that there is NO god/God/higher power... right? To deny the divinity of Christ would make you a non-Christian, not an athiest. Muslims and Hindus believe in the divine, even if they believe differently that I do.

And what if an atheist does not think he/she has everything figured out, and does search for the truth with humility? Is that like in a different category from the kind of atheism you are talking about...

Different category? Not really, but does this sound familiar: "Agnosticism is all too often equivalent to practical atheism."
To me, an athiest is and end result of a decision..... a finished work, so to speak. To be searching for the truth, means you are NOT an athiest in my book.... you are just on your way to a decision.

For instance:
The sun will "rise" tomorrow, of this I am sure..... I do not speculate if it will or not on a daily basis..... I am not searching for this truth, I have made a choice about this reality (right or wrong) in my life.
The theological equivalent to this would be an athiest........ a decision, a finished work is the standard of thought.

I hope you don't take these questions as a passive form of debate...I honestly just am interested in understanding what your religion, as well as you personally, believe.

I know you won't break the rules Mr Moderator! You should know that you have my respect...... ask anything you'd like.

Scott

 

[Mr Spinkles]

Thanks Scott, I appreciat you taking the time to share your thoughts with me. Have a smiley.