1.  monotheism The belief that there is only One God  The Trinity The distinctly Christian monotheism—God is Three Persons in One God  polytheism The belief that there is more than one god  henotheism the belief that God is the supreme God over all the other gods

2.  Deism: the belief that God created the universe but takes no personal interest in it.  pantheism: The belief that everything is God; God and the universe are equivalent  atheism: The belief that there is no God  agnosticism: The belief that God’s existence is in doubt because it cannot be known for certain

3.  God is Transcendent God is a being who is entirely above or other than the created universe God is beyond our knowledge and experience

4.  God is Immanent the idea that God is a being who exists within the created universe God can be experienced through nature, other people, events, music, etc.

5.  Because God is transcendent, we cannot prove there is a God any more than an atheist can prove there is no God.  Yet we can use our intellects to reasonably conclude that there is a God (the five intellectual proofs)

6.  Because God is immanent, we cannot really see God in creation (we are not pantheists).  Yet we can still experience God’s presence in creation with our senses and hearts (the four heartfelt proofs)

7.  Though God is beyond human comprehension, we believe that God has revealed himself to us.  Revelation means “unveiling”  This is different from the biblical Book of Revelation, which details a specific revealing of the future to St. John  Why would God do this? Because God created us and wants to be in a relationship with us.  The Bible (Hebrew and Christian Scriptures, Old and New Testaments) details God’s relationship with us.

8.  Judaism: the Torah, Prophets, other Writings  Traditional Christianity: the Gospels, Epistles, other books of the New Testament  Islam: the Qur’an  Other faiths with Scriptures: Latter-Day Saints (Mormons), Hinduism A page from the Holy Qur’an

9.  The Bible is the Word of God  Written by human beings  Inspired by the Holy Spirit (God)  Truth: Three types  Literal truth  Scientific truth  Divine or Religious Truth  According to Catholic teaching, the Bible is divinely true, but NOT NECESSARILY scientifically or literally true

10.  Fundamentalism: The belief that Scriptures are literally true.  There are Christian fundamentalists, Islamic fundamentalists, Jewish fundamentalists, etc.  Fundamentalist extremists  Catholics are not fundamentalists, but there are fundamentalist Catholics  The Creation Story, Adam and Eve, the Flood:  True stories in the religious sense, not necessarily in the scientific or literal sense.

11.  Two of the many ways God is revealed in the Scriptures are the most important:  Yahweh (Hebrew Scriptures)  When Moses asks God who for his name, God says, “I AM WHO AM.” In Hebrew, the letters of these words are YHWH.  abba (Christian Scriptures)  When Jesus was asked how he prays to God, he revealed that to him God is abba, a loving father or “daddy” in Aramaic, the language Jesus spoke.

12.  Yet there are many other ways God is revealed in Scripture, using a variety of different images.  Psalm 24:8-10  Isaiah 49:15  Deuteronomy 32:11  Hosea 5:12,14  Hosea 13:6-8  Hosea 11:3-4 Fragment of the Book of Hosea from the Dead Sea Scrolls

13.  Yet there are many other ways God is revealed in Scripture, using a variety of different images.  Isaiah 42:14  Acts 2:2-4  Matthew 23:37  John 1:4-5

14.  The Christian Creeds only refer to God’s omnipotence  “The Father (the) Almighty”  But according to St. Thomas Aquinas (who wrote the 5 intellectual proofs), God has the following attributes (characteristics) in Scripture: 1. God is unique 2. God is infinite and omnipotent (almighty) 3. God is eternal 4. God is immense 5. God contains all things

15.  According to St. Thomas Aquinas (who wrote the 5 intellectual proofs, God has the following 9 attributes (characteristics) in Scripture: 6. God is immutable 7. God is utterly simple—pure Spirit 8. God is personal 9. God is holy

16.  1 John 4:16: God is Love.  Probably the MOST important image of God in the Scripture.  The story of God in the Bible is the story of God’s LOVE RELATIONSHIP with his people.  God CREATED us out of love and wants to be in a relationship with us.

17.  According to Scripture and the Creed, God created “heaven and earth”  Humans are the pinnacle of God’s creation  Two Creation Stories in Genesis (Chapters 1 & 2) Genesis 1: Humans created in the image and likeness of God Genesis 2: God fills humans with his own breath  God wanted a love relationship with humans, and humans rejected God’s offer of love

18.  The Fall of Humanity  Adam and Eve, the Snake, the Garden of Eden.  Symbolic Story with a Religious Truth: God gave humans the freedom to accept or reject his offer of a relationship. Humans rejected the offer by their disobedience Sin became part of the human condition. Original Sin: The fallen state of human nature  Yet in the Scriptures, God continually reaches out to sinful humanity.  He offers them a relationship in the form of a covenant.

19.  A covenant: an agreement between God and his people in which God makes certain promises and requires certain behavior from them in return  Testament is another word for Covenant  Covenant with Noah  Sign: rainbow  Covenant with Abraham  Sign: circumcision of males  Covenant with Moses  Sign: Sabbath

20.  Jesus Christ is the New Covenant  If you believe in Jesus Christ, you will be saved from your sinful nature.  Sign: Baptism  Jesus Christ IS God  God became one of us, a human  Jesus is the human image of God