Thursday, May 24, 2007

Catechism Essay

Why the Catechism is Important

The Catechism is important to keep us from going crazy. It does this by reminding us of what Jesus has done for us. The Commandments, Baptism, and Confession are important parts of the Catechism that do this.

The first part of the Catechism that is important is the Commandments. The Commandments are important because they tell you how you should treat your parents, not to hurt or harm your friend, to not misuse God’s name, and not to steal. We learn to do this because this is how God treats us in Jesus. The second part of the Catechism that is important is Baptism. Baptism is important because it brings you to Christ our Savior, and Jesus tells us to do it. The third part of the Catechism that is important is Confession. Confession is important because you repent of your sins and receive Absolution, that is, forgiveness.

In conclusion, the Catechism is an important book to learn. It has a lot of good things about our Lord Jesus Christ.

Fifth Grade

16 comments:

Anonymous said...

o.k right...
so tell me, what is God's name?

x
amz

come tell me at::

xlittlemizzsmalex.blogspot.com

your blog appeared to have deleted my last comment, so apologies if u gain two x

Emily Carder said...

God names himself. One of his names is Jesus Christ. It is in the man, Jesus of Nazareth, that God revealed himself to us. Jesus is God's Christ, his Annointed One.

Marie N. said...

Your fifth graders are well-taught.

Anonymous said...

yes he does name himself, his personal name is Jehovah and Jesus Christ is his only-beggotten son, his first created angel whom he sent forth as a ransom sacrifice for us. Jesus dies on the torture stake to deliver us from sin and death.

I know nothing about the catholic belief though. xx

Emily Carder said...

Jehovah is a name that has been given to God. It is not one he has taken for himself.

If by "angel" you mean that Jesus is God's messenger, then you are correct. Jesus is God's messenger, his Apostle. But if by "angel" you mean one of the created heavenly beings, then that is incorrect. God's Son is not a created being; God's Son was begotten of the Father from eternity. John tells us this in the first chapter of his Gospel.

You say you know nothing about the catholic faith, and yet what you do say reveals you know much. You know there is a God who is a Father of an only-begotten Son who was sent to die for as a ransom sacrifice to deliver us from sin and death. This means you also know we are sinners who need deliverance, and that hope is Jesus Christ. This is the the catholic faith which the Holy Spirit gives us.

Anonymous said...

actually, all the other created spirit creatures in heaven were created through jesus, this includes the earth and everything else that god made. And it is true that Jesus was a spirit creature in heaven before he came to the earth. He is Jehovah's 'anointed one' so he was given a special job or role. This is why we acknowledge him in prayer and pray through jesus to Jehovah. but it also says that jesus was created by Jehovah, as jesus himself identifies that the father is greater than the son. Only jehovah has been around from times indefinite.

i'm surprised i know anything about the catholic faith actually, it seems so difficult. I study the bible with Jehovah's Witnesses and all thier facts are proven by the bible. xx

Anonymous said...

Scriptural answers that I found for you xx

God’s name:::
Isaiah 42:8 (you can look from 5-8 if you are not satisfied with just verse 8)

“I am Jehovah. That is my name; and to no one else shall I give my own glory, neither my praise to graven images.”

Jesus being inferior to god:::
John 14:28

“YOU heard that I said to YOU, I am going away and I am coming [back] to YOU. If YOU loved me, YOU would rejoice that I am going my way to the Father, because the Father is greater than I am.”

Jesus being god’s first creation:::
Colossians 1:15-16

“He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation; 16 because by means of him all [other] things were created in the heavens and upon the earth, the things visible and the things invisible, no matter whether they are thrones or lordships or governments or authorities. All [other] things have been created through him and for him.”

These quotes are taken from 'The new world translation of the holy scriptures'.If your version of the bible does not contain the name Jehovah, that could be for one of several reasons.
Long ago certain religions removed it because they beleived it to be too holy to use. Others removed it because the bible was originally written in hebrew, Aramaic and greek and they were unsure how to pronounce it in thier tongue. But is that really a reason not to use god's name? If you were to go to france for instnace and your name was pronounced differently, you would still ask people to use it would you not? And how are you supposed to draw close to God if you do not use his personal name?

I hope you can see where i'm coming from and i hope these answers are suitable for you.

regards, amz xx

Emily Carder said...

It is very true that all things were created by, in through and for Christ. Scripture is very clear about that in both John's Gospel and Colosians.

However, the Gospel of John is also quite clear through the grammar of the Greek that the "The Word was God," not "God was the Word." He also says the Word was with God. God is from eternity. John tells us that the Word became flesh and dwelt among us. Therefore, when Christ was incarnate--conceived in Mary, God took on human flesh so he could be one of us.

The catholic faith confesses this:

So the Father is God, the Son is God, and the Holy Spirit is God; And yet they are not three Gods, but one God.

Emily Carder said...

As I noted, Jehovah is a name given to God. It is not the name he gave to himself.

There is a difference.

Anonymous said...

I'm afraid i do not agree as the scriptures that i have found say different.

Jesus was created in the image of his father--god, so he shared his fathers good qualitys. He immitated his father.He was sent forward by Jehovah (john 4:34) and (john 6:38). He was an example of fine obedience to god. He was tested by satan the devil and tempted with all the earthly kingdoms and governments. If jesus truly was Jehovah, then he would not have felt tempted at all by what satan offered, but he admits in the scriptures that he was tempted. we must mimick jesus and preach to others about god, his word and his new kingdom that he has promised.We must also be like jesus in the fact that we are long suffering. And yes he did preach the word of his father but that does not prove that jesus was god because as i have stated jesus himself identified that the father is greater than i am, and the scriptures in john that i have stated above proves that he was sent forward BY Jehovah he wasn't Jehovah himself.

i do find your faith interesting though, and your more than entitled to believe whatever you wish, it's not my place to tell you what to believe.

I just state my case after you've stated yours to see what happens. xx you seem very knowledgeable about your faith and thats great.
i do have something i feel you would perhaps be able to help me with though.

this may be a strange question but do you know anything about what happened at St. Louis university in 1949? I'm doing research on it and I think it involved some people who shared your faith. Do you know anything about what happened?

regards, amz xx

Anonymous said...

God’s name:::
Isaiah 42:8

“I am Jehovah. That is my name; and to no one else shall I give my own glory, neither my praise to graven images.”

Note the very first sentance. And the first half of the second. xx

Emily Carder said...

A literal translation of the first three Hebrew words of Is. 42:8 is, "I am YWHW." YWHW is the tetragammaton, the four-letter, unpronounceable name God gave himself. Jewish piety determined that it was improper to speak God's name at all. It wasn't until centuries later that these four letters became something else. Some translations of the Bible translate YWHW as LORD. Others prefer to use Jehovah, while others will use Adonai or Yaweh.

One could just as easily say God's name is "I Am" (Ex 3:14; John 8:58).

Emily Carder said...

BTW, please note that when Jesus says, "Before Abraham was, 'I Am," he is saying that he is God. The crowd knew it, too. No one could identify himself with the one who called himself "I Am" except one who claimed to be God. So in verse 59 they pick up stones and prepare to do the "right" thing, stone him for blasphemy. Now either Jesus is a liar, or he truly is God.

In John 10:30 Jesus says, "I and the Father are one." So if Jesus is a liar, at least he tells the same one often. This is also consistent with all that John writes in John 1 regarding the Person of Christ. Now that makes John a liar, too. Of course, it is John who characterizes Jesus as full of grace and truth (1:14), and grace and truth come with him (1:17). Jesus repeatedly says he tells the truth (1:51; 3:3,5; 8:58; and many more). John says that his witness is true, so that you may believe (19:35). So now who are you to believe? Is Jesus the greatest liar of all times, and John a close second to him?

Paul tells us all scripture is inspired by the Holy Spirit (2Tim 3:16). So even though there are human authors involved, scripture's divine authorship ensures their ability to convey the truth (John 14:26).

Rather than think Jesus is a liar, and John one with him, it would seem that Jesus is telling the truth. He is God. He and the Father are one. How is it that the Father is greater than he? Heb 2 tells us that for a little while we saw Jesus made a little lower than the angels. Therefore according to his humility while Jesus was among us as a man from his incarnation until his death, he was less than his Father. Still, according to his divinity Jesus and his Father are one even during his humility. The Godhead is undivided. It is a mystery we cannot understand; we can only confess it because it is what Jesus says of himself.

Anonymous said...

Are you syaing that the bible contredicts itself then? As the scriptures you and i have both found, contredict the others teachings. Unless one of us is possibly misinterpreting? Is that what your trying to say?
I only study so i cannot answer everything you tell me as i still have much more to learn, but i remain confident from a substantial amount of evidence that i really do not agree with you.

If you don't trust my judgement or whatever i say, why don't you check out this site so you can see for yourself the other scriptures that may answer what you say::

www.watchtower.org

then it won't be me demanding you to litsen because i have respect for other peoples faiths and i don't like doing that. xx

i very much enjoyed talking with you and looking at your blog but perhaps i'm not knowledgeable enough about the whole bible to talk about it with you as i only study, i can only answer what i have learned so far. The site i have suggested will be able to answer much more of what you may think are my strange ideas, but maybe it'll help you to see where i'm coming from.

i feel i've grown in knowledge and understanding about your beliefs and i feel this will come in very handy as extra knowledge in the future.

thank you for helping to make me wiser xx

regards,
xx
amz

Emily Carder said...

No, the Bible does not contradict itself. The Holy Spirit is the author of all languages. God is creator of our intelligence. It is the Holy Spirit who calls us to faith in Jesus Christ through his Word. If there is anything we do not understand in scripture, it is due to our own lack of understanding or ability in languages, not to what the Holy Spirit has given or God has created.

The catholic faith confesses what Jesus says of himself. He is both divine and human. The divine and human in Jesus cannot be separated, one from the other, nor must they be mixed. Before his incarnation in Mary's womb, God's Son existed from eternity in the Godhead, for he is God. He leaves no doubt that he and his Father are one, and that he is God. Even so, Jesus can die because his humanity allows it. Phillipians 2:5-11 says that though he was God he emptied himself of all in order to become human out of obedience to his Father so that he could die on the cross. In John 3:16 Jesus says that his Father loves the world in this way: He sent his only-begotten Son to die. Col 2:9 says that in him, Jesus, the fullness of the deity (God) dwells bodily. So in the man Jesus the fullness of the Godhead lives.

The catholic faith embraces what appear to be contradictions in the Bible as paradoxes. They aren't either/or; they are both/and. Jesus is both human and divine. According to his divine nature he rules as co-equal in the Godhead; according to his humanity he subjects himself to the authority of his Father and suffers death on the cross. For this reason Jesus can truly suffer temptation for our sakes, yet also overcome that temptation like we cannot.

The night Jesus was betrayed he prayed the cup he was about to suffer be taken from him. He asked his Father to remove it, if he was willing. Still, he submitted himself to his Father's will, not demanding his own. This is the humility Paul speaks of in Phil 2. This is the reason God sent his Son Jesus spoke to Nicodemus in John 3. The fullness of the deity dwelt in him, but Jesus did not use it to assert his own will. Rather, he submitted to his Father's will in faith. This does not mean he was any less God.

Thank you for pointing me to the Watchtower page. I have studied their religion previously.

Anonymous said...

in that case your already well informed. I will continue to visit heare to read your page as i find it interesting.
have a good day and keep up the interesting posts! I love them!

xx