1. In this is love: not that we have loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as expiation for our sins. 1 John. 4 Lord, it was you who loved us first. We did not earn your love. May we remember that we are called to love others, even if they did not earn our love. Amen.

2. Chapter 1: God’s Revelation and Our Response

3. God is both … Transcendent and Immanent “The teaching that God, by nature, is beyond this world and beyond the comprehension of human beings.” “A trait of God which refers to his intimate union with and total presence to his creation…”

4. The Existence of God Human beings search for meaning in their lives. We ask questions and look to different things to satisfy our search.

5. Only when we find God will we find true happiness. “You have made us for yourself, and our heart is restless until it rests in you.” St. Augustine

6. Where can we find God? God can be found in his creation. He can be found in the world and in the human person.

7. Human beings are the peak of God’s creation on earth. We have been created in God’s image. We have a spiritual nature as well as a physical, which includes the ability to reason, an appreciation for truth and beauty, and a sense of moral goodness. This spiritual nature—our soul—shares in God’s own eternal nature.

8. Not everyone believes in God. Both atheists and agnostics fail to recognize God’s existence. Agnostics refuse to take a stand on whether God exists or not. Atheists believe that there is no God.

9. Some reasons Atheists do not believe in God:  Will only accept material reality, and deny the existence of the spiritual.  The problem of human suffering in the face of an all good God.  Not willing to change behavior to accommodate belief in God.  Indifference or laziness.

10. Divine Revelation Our human reason is capable of coming to the conclusion that God exists, and even that God is infinite. But the human mind is limited, and the true nature of God is beyond human understanding. We need the gift of God’s self-communication. This is called divine revelation.

11. By word and deed, God makes himself known to us. Divine Revelation is the story of God’s saving acts in human history. Salvation history is the story of God’s saving love for his people. From the time of our creation, God has shown us his goodness and love for us.

12. Through a series of covenants, God committed himself to human beings forever. A covenant is a solemn agreement or contract between God and his people. Noah Abraham Moses

13. After the great flood, God established a covenant with Noah, and promised never again to destroy the earth with a flood To Abraham, God promised a multitude of descendants. He would be their God, and they would be his chosen people. Through Moses, God gave his people the Ten Commandments—the Law—and a fuller sense of what they must do to abide by his covenant with them.

14. In many ways, God revealed himself to Israel as abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness. God made Israel a holy nation, he freed them from slavery in Egypt and Babylon, gave them the Promised Land, and guided them with prophets and the Law.

15. God’s revelation reached its climax in the coming of Jesus Christ. Jesus commanded his apostles to spread the Good News—to go out and make disciples of all nations.

16. Jesus’ followers obeyed his command. Strengthened by the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, they spread the Good News, first orally and then in writing. The apostles also appointed successors, called bishops, who would see to it that the faith would continue to be handed on. Through apostolic succession, the popes and bishops of the Church continue to spread the Good News today.

17. Faith: Our Response to Revelation By faith, we give our assent to God as the revealer. We submit our intellect and our will to God.

18. Like hope and charity (love), faith is one of the theological virtues. A virtue is an habitual disposition to do good. They make it possible for us to live a morally good life. The theological virtues are infused into our souls as God’s gift to us. Conferred by our baptism, faith enables us to believe in God and to respond positively to what he gives us as a recipe for happiness.

19. Religion is our set of beliefs, practices, and values that binds us in a relationship with God and other believers. Faith is personal (“I believe”), but it is also communal—something we share with a community of believers, as part of the Church.

20. Two important models of faith for us are Abraham from the Old Testament and Mary from the New. They both set an example for us about saying “yes” to God and doing his will in our lives.

21. The Catholic Church and Faith Jesus ushered in the Kingdom of God. By his death, Resurrection, and Ascension, he accomplished the salvation of the world. While here on earth, Jesus established the Church to continue his mission of bringing all people to eternal salvation.

22. “ You are Peter; and on this rock I will build my Church, and the jaws of death shall not prevail against it. I give you the keys of the Kingdom of Heaven. Whatever you bind on earth, will be bound in heaven. Whatever you loose on earth, will be loosed in heaven. ” (Mt 16:18-19) In Matthew chapter 16, we read how Jesus appointed Peter to be the first leader of his Church on earth— the first pope.

23. The Marks of the Church: ONE HOLY CATHOLIC APOSTOLIC

24. One Unity is the essence of the Church. We are unified by our one Profession of Faith, and our common worship in the Sacraments.

25. Holy By Baptism, we are joined to Christ, and we receive his Holy Spirit.

26. Catholic “ Catholic ” means “ universal. ” The Church is open to all people, and embraces all that is true. Christ is present in the Church, so it contains the fullness of the means of salvation.

27. Apostolic The Church has its roots in the apostles – the men to whom Jesus entrusted the spread of the Gospel. Their authority has been directly passed down for generations in the Church. This is called Apostolic Succession.

28. How can we know that God really exists?  We can know through reason.  We can know through ordinary experience.  We can know by the witness of those we trust.

29. Our own logic leads us to conclude that God exists. The great philosopher, St. Thomas Aquinas developed five demonstrations or proofs for God’s existence that rest on human reason. Reason

30. St. Thomas Aquinas 5 Proofs for the Existence of God: 1. Motion 2. Cause 3. Possibility and Necessity 4. Perfection 5. Intelligence

31. Several of these proofs are based on a basic principle that we all understand: That everything has a beginning – every effect has a cause. For anything to exist, it all must have been created by someone or something that, is, itself its own cause for existence—God.

32. We all have experiences that lead us to conclude the existence of God if we pay attention. We have desires and aspirations that can not be explained without taking our divine creator into account. Spiritual qualities like love and justice, as well as our own freedom and intelligence, must have an origin beyond material reality. Experience

33. Not only do we have the testimony of trusted people whom we love and admire that leads us to believe in God, but we must also consider the witness of the holy martyrs. These are heroic people who lived and died for their belief in God, when they had nothing to gain by claiming a false belief.Witness