Chapter Ten

1. Chapter Ten The First Commandment

2. Questions to Ponder: • Why does the Catholic Church teach that human beings have an obligation to worship God? • How does the Christian’s relationship with God differ from that of the followers of other religions? • What is the relationship between love of God and love of neighbor?

3. Introduction

4. Task of the Theologian • To connect God to mankind through religion • The one and True God

5. God’s Love • Reflected in… • The Commandments • We return God’s love by OBEYING Him • Can someone sincerely love God and willing disobey Him? • NO?!

6. Section One God the Foundation of Human Existence: the Virtue of Religion

7. Foundational Human Obligation • To acknowledge the existence of God • To worship God • Without each, life lacks meaning • Does it really? • Do atheists and Agnostics lead meaningless lives? • How do Christians respond to those who claim that they do not?

8. The Christian God • Is NOT the same God of other religions • Why? • His relationship with humanity differs • He reacts favorably to His people • John 3:16 • B/C this is God’s intention, we CANNOT act passive • Must believe, trust, and hope in Him

9. Section Two Worship of God as a Practical Exercise of the Theological Virtues

10. Three Basic Attitudes of Human Existence • Believing • Trusting • Loving • Made possible by… • Sanctifying Grace

11. Theological Virtues • Faith • Hope • Love (Charity)

12. Faith • Cannot be saved without Faith • Does NOT contradict reason (Aquinas) • Theo. –faith seeking understanding • Once the Truth is revealed/accepted, we try to understand it • Fundamental Attitudes (Approach to) • Receiving it with humility • Intellectually cultivating it

13. Faith • Additional duties • Safeguarding • Communicating • Emet (Aramaic) • “to sustain”

14. Faith • Sins against • Voluntary Doubt • Involuntary Doubt • Atheism • Heresy • Apostasy • Schism

18. How to Respond to Atheism • Don’t be afraid to admit that you have faith • Don’t assume that you atheist friend is secretly angry at God, etc. • Don’t quote the Bible, but know the Bible • Don’t fell that you have to tell all the answers right then and there • Explain the BIG picture • Be logical • Realize that your ONLY goal is to plant a seed • Don’t use a lot of Christian Catchphrases • PRAY!

19. Hope • Even though God reprimands His people, He fosters the hope of them • Covenants • Includes Fear of punishment • A Son’s trust does not ignore a Father's justice

20. Hope • Sins Against • Despair • Presumption

21. Love (Charity) • Love of God • He is our Creator, Father, and Savior • That’s why we should love Him

22. Love (Charity) • Sins Against • Indifference • Ingratitude • Lukewarmness • Acedia • Hatred of God

23. Love (Charity) • Love of neighbor • Whoever does not love, does not know God • Love of self • Our bodies and souls were created for eternal glory • Treat them with RESPECT!

24. Section Three The Relationship Between the Love of God and Neighbor

25. Which comes first…? • The love of God or the love of our neighbor? • God! • Should be our first love • Loving God above all leads us to love our neighbor • Does it really? Are there times when loving God above all leads us to a hatred of our neighbors?

26. Veritatis Splendor …[the unity of our love for God and our neighbors] is attended to by Christ in His words and by His very life: His mission culminates in the Cross of our Redemption (Jn 3:14-15)

27. Section Four Worship of God: The Virtue of Religion

28. Participation in Mass and Prayer • Fulfills the req. of Catholics to worship God • Acts of the Virtue of Religion • Adoration • Atonement • Petition • Thanksgiving

29. Section Five Sins Against the Virtue of Religion

30. Five Forms of False Religiosity • Idolatry • Superstition • Divination Magic • Irreligion

31. The New Age Movement • Not “new” • God is an idea –not a “person” • Encourages “your own type of spirituality” • God is within • Not transcendent

33. The New Age Movement • Centering Prayer • Fr. Thomas Keating • Used E. technique to inspire people to get back to their Christian roots

35. The New Age Movement • What is contemplative prayer? • St. Teresa answers: "Contemplative prayer [oracion mental] in my opinion is nothing else than a close sharing between friends; it means taking time frequently to be alone with him who we know loves us."6 Contemplative prayer seeks him "whom my soul loves."7 It is Jesus, and in him, the Father. We seek him, because to desire him is always the beginning of love, and we seek him in that pure faith which causes us to be born of him and to live in him. In this inner prayer we can still meditate, but our attention is fixed on the Lord himself.

36. The New Age Movement • What’s the problem w/ the centering prayer? • Finding God in the center of your own being • God not viewed in a relational way • “Forcing God” to grant you a state of contemplation

37. The New Age Movement • Yoga • Hindu Meditation • God within • Forbidden to practice it?

38. Section Six Biblical Condemnation of All Forms of Superstition

39. Both the OT and NT • Condemn superstition • In the NT, Idols are not just referred to as objects, but as pagan values!

40. Conclusion

41. Final Thoughts • There is no way to fully understand God’s love for us • It is a grave insult to God to turn away from Him and towards creatures/pleasures/things of limited value

42. Bibliography • Anderson, Jason, and Jennifer Fulwiler. "Apologetics: How to Talk to an Atheist about Christianity :: Catholic News Agency (CNA)." Catholic News Agency. http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/resource.php?n=512 (accessed January 4, 2012). • Concerned Catholics . "New Age Movement." What Catholics Should Believe. http://www.concernedcatholics.org/newage.htm (accessed January 9, 2012). • Our Moral Life in Christ . United States : Midwestern Theological Seminary , 2006.