...7. Essay The Lord’s Supper is a doctrine of grace. If Jesus’ body and blood was not sacrificed for us then we would not have hope for forgiveness and we would be doomed to eternal damnation. However, since we have been blessed with the gift of forgiveness and Jesus offered himself up on the cross for us we have hope. We remember Christ’s sacrifice during church services on Sundays when we celebrate Holy Communion. While The Lord’s Supper is one of the key doctrines of Christianity there are many questions and arguments that arise when discussing the Eucharist. Issues such as the validity of the elements actually being Christ’s body and blood, what elements to use, the debate of open verse closed Communion and various adiaphora topics arise when The Lord’s Supper is discussed. Admittedly I was not very well informed in regards to such issues until this class. However the unit on this doctrine was able to illuminate these issues and give a solid scriptural foundation for answering certain questions in regards to The Lord’s Supper. One of the largest sources of controversy when discussing the Eucharist is the issue of the elements truly being Jesus’ body and blood. This idea is almost an assault on human logic. How can something that is seemingly bread and seemingly wine be blood and flesh? The answer to this enigma is simple and one would not have to look further than the Gospel. Jesus said himself in Mark 14, “Take it; this is my body” when referring to the bread and then later...
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...Personal and Environmental Factors Influencing the High School Students’ Behavior during Eucharistic Celebration CLE AREA – High School Department I. Introduction A. The Eucharist and Canossa School Sta. Rosa The Eucharist is one of the most important and vital aspects of faith. As the Catechism of the Catholic Church proclaims it, the Eucharist is the source and summit of Christian life (cf. CCC 1324). Thus, it is just proper that a Catholic school provides regular opportunities for students to develop a loving devotion to the Holy Eucharist especially in the Celebration of the Holy Mass. The celebration of the Holy Eucharist in the campus reflects vividly Canossa School Sta. Rosa’s vision and mission that aims at the education and formation of S.M.A.R.T. Canossian with the Heart. Responding to this call of placing the Eucharist at the center of its students’ life, Canossa, with its aim to make Jesus known and loved, faithfully reminds its students to attend regularly the Sunday Mass and occasionally invites them to celebrate the Holy Eucharist inside the campus during first Fridays and during special feasts and solemnities. B. The Importance of Active Participation during the Eucharistic Celebration The Second Vatican Council states clearly that the “Mother Church earnestly desires that all the faithful should be led to that fully conscious, and active participation in liturgical celebrations which is demanded by the very nature of the liturgy. Such participation...
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...Reformed Apologetics Ministries Monday, March 17, 2014 Historical Examination of Roman Catholic Eucharist Theology Rome claims her view is historical. We will now examine if the early church writers taught transubstantiation of the bread and wine as well as the Mass being seen as an expiatory and propitiatory sacrifice. Rome has erroneously claimed her modern view has always been held by the historic church. At the Council of Trent Rome taught her belief was affirmed by “all our forefathers” (Thirteenth Session, Chapter 1, The Canons and Decrees of the Council of Trent, trans. H. J. Schroeder, [TAN Books and Publishers, 1978], p. 73), that is, church fathers. Trent also claimed, “because that Christ, our Redeemer, declared that which He offered under the species of bread to be truly His own body, therefore has it ever been a firm belief in the Church of God” (Thirteen Session, Chapter 4, The Canons and Decrees of the Council of Trent, trans. H. J. Schroeder, [TAN Books and Publishers, 1978], p. 75). We will therefore test Rome’s claims historically. Rome’s idea ahistorical & based on Aristotelian concepts adopted late by the church. Rome’s doctrine of transubstantiation is dependent on the pagan Aristotle’s philosophical idea of accidents and substance. Modern Rome’s specific view as espoused by the Fourth Lateran Council and the Council of Trent, as well as other papal documents, that the substance of the elements change into the body and blood of Christ, while the appearance...
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...church is to use it wealth to feed the poor instead of giving their taxes other officials. After the indulgenced, Wycliffe’s received more attacks from the church. According to Encyclopedia of World Biography, “Wycliffe political attack against the church brought chaos in England. His attacked was on the doctrine of transubstantiation. Transubstantiation was the foundation of the Catholic Church.” To attack the church doctrine on transubstantiation was to attack the Mass of the Church. Wycliffe believed that Jesus Christ is the foundation of the church. Wycliffe’s attack started many to rebel. When the Duke of Lancaster, John Gaunt heard of the attack and he was furious with his old Chaplin John Wycliffe. Gaunt could no longer protect his friend any longer. Another writer, Christopher Lensch wrote, “Wycliffe believed that the Eucharist of the church was superstition. He rejected that the literal body of Christ was in the mass, but Christ spirit by faith was in the Eucharist.” Lensch wrote that Christ body could not actual be in the Mass but his spirit through faith was present in the Eucharist. After the attack of the doctrine of transubstantiation Encyclopedia of World Biography wrote, “France and Rome election of two rivals Pope. England and more of Europe went with Pope Urban VI in Rome while France and few allies supported Pope Clement VII in Avigon.” After this attack Wycliffe stir up a revolt. Many of the common people were tired of being taken advantage of...
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...PAPER 1 (PROTESTANT REFORMATION) DOUGLAS HOLLOWAY STUDENT ID# 23766838 CHHI 302_DO5_201340 FALL 2013 DR. KEITH GOAD LIBERTY UNIVERSITY NOVEMBER 05, 2013 As a result of increased corruption in the Catholic Church, a significant number of priests in the 16th century tried to transform Christianity back to its previous Biblical basis and simplicity. Initially, priests channeled much of their efforts in reforming the church, but they discovered that it was very challenging, and the only viable solution was to split completely from the Catholic Church. There were four movements as a result of the reformation events. They include the Anglicans, Lutherans, Reformed Tradition (Calvin), and the Anabaptists. Key figures in the Protestants or protesters included John Knox, John Calvin, Zwingli, and Martin Luther. More doctrinal distinctions became obvious, and the previously integrated Christianity split into numerous warring groups. Between the 16th and 17th centuries, thousands of individuals were murdered as a result of Christian religion. In the current world, Protestants and Catholics in the spirit of ecumenism regard themselves as “brothers in Christ”. Martin Luther was in charge of Lutheranism and Anglicanism, Ulrich Zwingli for Reformed Churches, and Anabaptist and John Calvin broke with the beliefs of the Lutherans. The prominent figures in the reformed movement are discussed in details in this paper. Martin Luther (1843-1546) Martin Luther, a German reformer...
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...Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox churches share many core beliefs regarding Jesus Christ, including his divine and human natures, his virginal birth, his death and resurrection, along with his anticipated return to earth. Both denominations also recognize the teachings expressed in the first seven ecumenical councils. At the root of the Great Schism between the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox churches was the ways in which the idea of the Trinity was expressed. While the Eastern Orthodox Church emphasized the distinct personhood of each member of the Trinity, the Roman Catholic Church emphasized the Trinity’s unity of essence (site). This division proceeded with the filioque controversy, which was another one of the primary theological triggers of the Great Schism. The churches also have different views on the perpetual virginity of Mary as well as the nature of original sin. Both churches believe in the concept of original sin, but there is a difference in consequences. Both branched hold baptism as the way to cleanse the soul of sin Saints plays a central role in the spiritual lives of Roman Catholics and Eastern Orthodox Catholics. The Greek Orthodox Church states that their practice of kneeling before or kissing the images of Mary and deceased saints is a way of showing reverence to their memories, not worshiping them. The Orthodox Church only worships God but the church does offer veneration to individuals who have been important human instruments of God in...
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...Henry always considered himself orthodox or catholic in his religious beliefs and he wished the Church of England–which he had created by the Act of Supremacy in 1534–to remain so as well. He hoped to find a Via Media, or "Middle Way" between what he considered to be the extremes of both Roman Catholicism–with its popes and devotions to the Virgin Mary and the saints–and heretical Protestantism, which denied the truth of Transubstantiation and the validity of other sacraments and which tended to de-emphasize the importance or necessity of a rigidly hierarchical, ordained priesthood in the Christian Church. His religious persecutions were carried out in the name of that Via Media. Catholics were persecuted largely on the grounds of political subversion–as allegiance to the Papacy was seen not as a legitimate religious conviction, but rather as a political sentiment which led to the subversion of the new English regime, which sought absolute independence from all human powers outside its borders. Catholics were also persecuted on grounds of "superstition"–i.e. for praying to saints and to the Virgin Mary, and for believing in the holy power of relics. Protestants, on the other hand, were persecuted for denying several teachings that the Church of England upheld as fundamental to true religion. The king viewed Protestant beliefs as subversive not to the political order, but to the moral and spiritual order, and hence they were punished not for treason but for heresy, usually by burning...
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...The Great Schism of 1054 is the split between the Orthodox and Catholic Church. The Orthodox Church originates from Constantinople after the fall of the Roman Empire. Their church believes that authoritative power should not be assigned to one person like the Catholic Church does with the pope. Due to this contrasting belief, they created a Council of Bishops to create a balance of power between people. Their holy works are based mostly around the Holy Spirit, while Catholics have the bible as their main holy work. Orthodoxs believe and teach that the reason they have kept traditions is due to the Holy Spirit. Also, without the Holy Spirit they would not know which works are truly apostolic and which can be used in their worship. They also...
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...The Christian church that has been an influential spiritual vigor in Western civilization’s history and alongside with Protestantism and Eastern Orthodoxy, one of the three main aspects of Christianity, the Roman Catholic Church follows its past to Jesus Christ and his Apostles. In excess of centuries, Catholicism has built up an extremely refined theology and an intricate clerical composition regulated by the papacy, which is the oldest enduring definitive dominion in the world. In retrospect, the explanation of Roman Catholicism is directly linked as a relation of Christianity. In its individual analysis of history, Roman Catholicism was created in the actual rise of Christianity (Fairchild, 2011). An indispensable element of the characterization of any of the other domains of the Christian countries and groups in addition to its association to Roman Catholicism, how did Roman Catholicism and Eastern Orthodoxy happen to divide? Was the split among Rome and the Church of England predestined? On the contrary, these questions could be vital to the explanation of Roman Catholicism itself. Such a description that remains rigorously to the authoritative Roman Catholic examination a general consensus in which the Roman Catholic Church has preserved a steady continuity from the time of the Apostles, all the while other religious groups, from the earliest Coptic to the modern church are a divergence from it. Now, the belief of faith that is shared by Christian churches is embedded...
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...spread like wildfire soon after colonization. Christianity is defined as an “Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ as presented in the New Testament and sacred tradition” (1) and makes up approximately 78% of the religious preference of United States citizens according to the 2007 study conducted by the Pew Forum. (2) Other religious groups in America are Jews (1.7%), Buddhists (0.7%) and Muslims (0.6%) and 16.1% of Americans declared themselves to have no religion. (3) Christianity is comprised of three main branches, Roman Catholicism, Eastern Orthodoxy, and protestant. Roman Catholicism was first developed in Western Europe and is lead by the pope. Their beliefs are “the doctrines of Transubstantiation and Purgatory, and distinctive practices include devotion to the saints and Mary and use of the rosary (Christian Denominations).” The Catholic Church was founded by Jesus Christ in the 1st century. (4) Religious diversity in America heavily influences political debates, social status, and even racial discrimination amongst citizens. Christianity especially causes debates regarding homosexuality, abortion, and drug use in America. After September 11, 2001 discrimination against Muslims and Islamic/Mediterranean Americans began because of the “terrorist attack”...
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...Protestant & Catholic Reformation On October 31st 1517, Martin Luther started the beginning of the Protestant Revolution by posting his 95 theses at Wittenberg’s castle. These 95 theses argued on the power and efficacy of indulgences and explained the fundamentals of justification by faith. Thus opened the eyes of the people who had begun to question centuries of Catholic beliefs. Luther and his supporters believed that the Church had been corrupted by power and wealth and therefore it needed to change for the better, however, the Church held strong to their own beliefs. With the constant attacks from the Protestants they fought back in what is known as the Counter-Reformation, also known as the Catholic Reformation. The goal of both reformations was to change the same basic cores of the Church that had been lost. The Protestant Revolution depicts the church as ruled in a totalitarian and authoritarian way by corrupt popes. They viewed the selling of indulgences, which had been initially given to people who went on the crusades, as a commercial exploitation to raise funds for non-religious purposes. The Catholic Church on the other hand, viewed this practice as a way of salvation for the community of Christian believers. Most of the funds raised by the selling of indulgences were used to build St. Peter’s Church. Luther’s followers and other Protestants believed that this was not a religious cause but a way to please the pope’s desire to show his superiority. Luther’s belief...
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...I visited St. Francis Xavier Catholic Church on Sunday, October 28th at the 6pm mass. From the outside, St. Francis Xavier looked like a normal Catholic church. It wasn’t just a free standing square, but you could tell that a lot went into the design, like most Catholic churches. However, once inside, I noticed that it is shaped like a fish. During Jesus’ time, Christians used the Greek word for “fish” as an acronym for Jesus Christ God’s Son, Savior. The crucifix that hangs above the altar looked like a “space Jesus” to me, but I’m sure that doesn’t really have a meaning. The people participating in this ritual believe that there is one God. He is the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit: The Trinity. They believe that He is the creator of all things visible and invisible. The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit are one and the same divine being. They are far beyond what we can conceive as humans. Catholics believe that the Son is begotten by the Father, and the Holy Spirit is begotten by the Son. To start off the ritual, everyone stands and the procession begins. There are usually two or three servers; they enter first, one carrying the cross, then the one or two lectors and the priest and/or deacon follow. The priest begins with the sign of the cross that everyone does with him, then he says a greeting, and then the congregation states the act of penitence and the priest concludes it with a prayer of absolution. Next is the kyrie eleison, which is Greek for “Lord have...
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...Saturday/Sunday worship is a significant practice within the Christian community. Even though the aspects and structure of the worship service varies between each domination they all expresses and acknowledge the beliefs and values of Christianity and is a time for communal worship. Saturday/Sunday worship was founded within the Jewish practice in honouring the Sabbath and was originally practiced on Saturday. However, as Christianity expanded into the Hellenic work and become immersed in Roman society it changed to Sunday, as some wished to distanced themselves from the Jewish community. LINK Christian worship services have a common structure. This includes introduction rites, Liturgy of the Word and Eucharist, Eucharistic Pray, Holy Communion and Post-communion. However, each denomination will have worship services which vary. Catholics have mass performed by an ordained male priest, Orthodox have Divine Liturgy performed by an ordained male priest and protestants have mass that may be performed by either an ordained male or female priest. However, the common aspect of their services is that they provide adherents with the opportunity to connect with god, to reflect personally and on ethical direction, but also to feel a sense of community. During the worship services the belief of the humanity and divinity of Jesus Christ is expressed. Through the Liturgy of the Word, which are biblical reading from the Psalms, The New Testament and Gospels the life, healing and miracles...
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...Name of the Church: Aglipayan Church (Iglesia Filipina Independiente) Short History of the Church: The Iglesia Filipina Independiente was formed in the beginning of the twentieth century as part of the broad nationalist struggle against Spanish colonialism and American imperialism. It traces its origin from the struggle of the Filipino clergy against racial discrimination and friar domination within the Roman Church in the 19th century, which, consequently, transformed into a nationalist crusade for the absolute Filipinization of the Church in the twilight years of the 20th century. Fr. Gregorio Aglipay played an important role in the revolutionary war to overthrow Spanish rule and in the struggle for the Filipinization of the Church. In his capacity as Military Vicar of the Revolutionary Government, he gathered Filipino priests to a special meeting on October 1898 to lay down the organizational foundation of the Filipino Church. The formal institution of the Philippine Church was however prevented by the intrusion of the United States of America in the course of the revolutionary war against Spain. Iglesia Filipina Independiente, also known as the Philippine Independent Catholic Church) is a Christian Protestant denomination of the catholic tradition in the form of a national church in the Philippines. Its separation from the Catholic Church was proclaimed in 1902 by the members of the Union Obrera Democratica Filipinadue to the alleged mistreatment of Filipinos by Spanish...
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...have altered throughout the progression of time and growth of the religion. Firstly, some associated characteristics of Catholicism have some unique similarities with many of the other World’s religions. Roman Catholic beliefs do not differ drastically from those of the other major branches of Christianity, Greek Orthodoxy and Protestantism. All three main branches hold to the doctrine of the Trinity, the divinity of Jesus Christ, the inspiration of the Bible, and so on. But on other doctrinal points, there are clear Catholic distinctive in belief. Distinctive Roman Catholic beliefs include the special authority of the pope, the ability of saints to intercede on behalf of believers, the concept of purgatory, and the doctrine of transubstantiation - that is, that the bread used in the Eucharist becomes the true body of Christ when blessed by a priest. (Catholic Beliefs, 2015) So it is apparent that the Catholic religion has some common ties with other major religions. Secondly the Catholic religion rises to modern hurdles with direct and appropriate measures, this is what Mary Ann Glendon a professor of Law at Harvard had to say in relation to this matter. The Church's work in the ever-changing world is thus perhaps best regarded as an ongoing...
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