Intro Section-Section 01
Relating to or proceeding directly from God
divine
A person who believes in a personal and provi-dent God. However, a theist may believe in one god or many gods.
The central mystery of the Christian faith; there are Three Divine Persons in one God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
Holy Trinity
Worshiping something or someone other than the true God.
idolatry
A term meaning “one who is sent.” Jesus called twelve of his disciples to become his Apostles, chosen witnesses of his Resurrection, and the foundation on which he built the Church. As Jesus was sent by the Father, so he sent his chosen disciples to preach the Gospel to the whole world.
Apostle
The forty-six books of the Bible that record the history of Salvation from Creation through the old alliance or covenant with Israel, in preparation for the appearance of Christ as Savior of the world.
Old Testament
A person who practices a form of atheism that often expresses an indifference to the search for God. In some cases, they may make no judgment of God’s existence while declaring it impossible to prove, affirm, or deny. When it rejects God and the religious and moral truths attainable through human reason, like atheism, is a serious sin.
agnostic
From the Greek words monos (one) and theos (God); the belief in one all-powerful God.
monotheism
The assumption of a human nature by Jesus Christ, God’s eternal Son, who became man in order to save humankind from sin. The term literally means “being made flesh.”
incarnation
The written transmission of the written transmission of the writtenChurch’s Gospel message found in the Church’s teach-ing, life, and worship. It is faithfully preserved, handed down, and interpreted by the Church’s Magisterium.
Sacred Scripture
An indifference to religion and a belief that religion should be excluded from civil affairs and public education.
secularism
Sacred Scripture; the books that contain the truth of God’s Revelation and were composed by human writ-ers inspired by the Holy Spirit.
Bible
The story of God’s saving action in human history.
Salvation History
A Greek translation of the Hebrew Messiah, which means “anointed one.” It became the name proper to Jesus because he accomplished perfectly the divine mission of the priest, prophet, and king, signified by his anointing as Messiah.
Christ
The living transmission of the Church’s living transmission of the Church’s livingGospel message found in the Church’s teaching, life, and worship. It is faithfully preserved, handed down, and interpreted by the Church’s Magisterium.
Sacred Tradition
A person who denies in theory and/or practice that God exists. Itis a sin against the virtue of reli-gion, a requirement of the First Commandment.
atheist
A title officially conferred on a saint by the pope or by a general council declaring that person to be holy, wise, learned, and therefore a source of sound theological teaching for the Church.
Doctor of the Church
The belief, in opposition to Christian doctrine, that there are many gods.
polytheism
The rising of Jesus from the dead on the third day after his Death on the Cross. Jesus was able to conquer death because he is God.
resurrection
"The heritage of faith contained in Sacred Scripture and Sacred Tradition, handed down in the Church from the time of the Apostles, from which the Magisterium draws all that it proposes for belief as being divinely revealed” (Catechism of the Catholic Church, Glossary).
Deposit of Faith
The knowledge of the existence of God and his basic attributes that can be derived by human reason while reflecting on the created order.
Natural Revelation
The way God communicates knowledge of himself to humankind, a self-communication realized by his actions and words over time, most fully by his send-ing us his divine Son, Jesus Christ.
Divine Revelation
A binding and solemn agreement between human beings or between God and people, holding each other to a particular course of action.
A Greek word that means “fiftieth day.” On this day, the Church celebrates the descent of the Holy Spirit upon Mary and the Apostles. It is often called the “birth-day of the Church.”
Pentecost
The official teaching authority of the Church. Christ bestowed the right and power to teach in his name on Peter and the Apostles and their successors.
Magisterium