The published catechism of the Catholic Church can easily be\ntraced to the Council of Trent. This English version from the reformation era\nhas been subsequently reprinted many many times through the work of councils,\nsynods and popes. Although the language has changed over the years to appeal to\nthe audience, the message and content has remained the same. Finding the roots\nof the Catholic Church from the time when Abram became Abraham, we can see the\nconstant conversion of humanity\u2019s world view growing from the fragmentation of\na world dominated by many gods to this post-modern era. How different this\nworld view is today from ancient times is a debate for another day. The Church\nknows the faithful of todays\u2019 societies are certainly grateful for the gifts of\nthe Holy Spirit. It is this gift which has led the laity and the Church in today\u2019s\ncontinuing conversion. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Baltimore Catechism of 1885 is certainly a product of\nthe continuing conversion, a deepening of the faith and an ever-broadening\nscope of understanding in the cherished pages of the Catechism. Like Holy\nScripture, the Catechism can be taken at face value. And like Holy Scripture, on\neach reading a deeper and more richly textured picture of love, meaning and\nunderstanding emerges. It is within this frame of reference that I offer you\nthis continuing conversion. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Catechism opens with \u201cLesson First\u201d in which the\nquestions and answers concerning God, who He is, and how He relates to the world and the humanity\nHe created are presented. And again, if we are to receive, accept and obey the\nCatechism on face value, it must be based on the objective dogma and doctrines\nof the Church as given in those pages. Broadly speaking exegesis is the process\nof drawing out the objective explanation from the text without the subjective bias\nof the reader. In the same manner, eisegesis would be bringing the readers bias\ninto the text. Both of these situations, this author is painstakingly trying to\navoid. It is my intention to show there are dual, reciprocal and complimentary interpretations.\nWhen the Catechism asks, \u201cWhy did God make you?\u201d; the definitive answer is, \u201cGod\nmade me to know Him, to love Him, and serve Him in this world, and to be happy\nwith Him forever in the next.\u201d From the created ones\u2019 point of view, this certainly\nfulfills the purpose and function for each of us. I offer you this: God made us\nbecause He loves us. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The published catechism of the Catholic Church can easily be traced to the Council of Trent. This English version from the reformation era has been subsequently reprinted many many times through the work of councils, synods and popes. Although the language has changed over the years to appeal to the audience, the message and content […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[43,13],"class_list":["post-207","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-essays","tag-baltimore-catechism","tag-catholic-faith"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.reflectionsonfaith.net\/reflections\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/207","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.reflectionsonfaith.net\/reflections\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.reflectionsonfaith.net\/reflections\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.reflectionsonfaith.net\/reflections\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.reflectionsonfaith.net\/reflections\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=207"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.reflectionsonfaith.net\/reflections\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/207\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":208,"href":"https:\/\/www.reflectionsonfaith.net\/reflections\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/207\/revisions\/208"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.reflectionsonfaith.net\/reflections\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=207"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.reflectionsonfaith.net\/reflections\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=207"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.reflectionsonfaith.net\/reflections\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=207"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}