Children of God; a summary of Catholic doctrine for busy people

Front matter

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Book 4

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Preface

The modern world drifted away from belief in God as the Creator of all things and as the Supreme Judge to Whom man must account for his very thoughts. The farther it drifted, the more debased it became. It is still drifting.

During the second half of the nineteenth century, men of famed name strove mightily to popularize both the denial of man's coming from God and faith in man's evolution from apes. They succeeded only too well, not in proving the forefathers of mankind to have been monkeys, but in popularizing belief in the degrading theory.

Scholars the world over proved more and more the utter folly of this poisonous superstition of unbelief; but vast multitudes relished the deadly poison and drank of it freely; for it deadens the sense of personal responsibility to God, the Eternal Judge, and opens wide the gates to the demands of riotous living. The wretched theory is a most suitable foundation for the materialism of a wealth-worshipping age, for Godlessness in education and for the worse Godlessness in shaping individual and national conduct.

The moral and spiritual harm wrought by this debasing theory and its superstructure of materialism, reveals itself in the low standards of conduct and in vi PREFACE

the conscienceless struggle for the material good things of life. Applying the grinding theory of the survival of the fittest to the concrete conditions of life, shows clearly whither mankind drifts, once it divorces itself from belief in the Personal God and His supernatural governance. Brutal selfishness banishes the charity of Christ.

How can it be otherwise ? If the differences between man and brutes are of degree only and not of kind, why expect from man anything of a higher order than what is looked for in beasts of the field? If apes are the source whence mankind came, why urge men to strive for the better things of God's supernatural world ? Streams do not rise higher than their source.

Unfortunately only too many fancy that they believe in the ape-origin of man, and live accordingly. Hence, the sublime Catholic doctrines of the Fatherhood of God and of man's supernatural adoptive divine sonship, cannot be proclaimed too often or too forcibly.

The purpose of these pages is to unfold Catholic teaching about man's coming from God and his destiny to be a member of God's family of adopted children both in time and in eternity. Hence, the main title : " Children of God." These elevating doctrines of the Catholic Church cannot be stated with even elementary fullness, without at the same time offering brief explanations of many of the more salient beliefs of the same Church. Hence, the secondary title : " A Summary of Catholic Doctrine for Busy People."

PREFACE vii

The evidence in support of the Catholic beliefs treated is barely suggested. To have attempted more, would have made the publication too bulky for Busy People who in the beginning, may be more intent on learning what is taught than weighing the reasons for the teaching. Persons to whom the teaching appeals can easily find the evidence in many learnedly written Catholic books which are readily available.

Contents

CHAPTER PAGE

I Religion 1

II God 4

Chapter I Religion

Religion is the habit of mind and heart which leads man to worship God as the Most Perfect Being, to pray to Him as the Giver of all good gifts, to thank Him for His many and great favors, to obey Him as the Supreme Lord and Master of all, and to look to Him as the Just Judge Who will render to every man according to his works, either eternal reward or eternal punishment.

Religion, therefore, is the spiritual force which maintains man in the right attitude towards his Creator. It is a soul-force like unto honesty, decency, loyalty, and other moral virtues. It is in a particular manner like unto the frame of mind and will of truly good men who are sincerely and consistently intent on giving to others what is in any manner rightfully due them. Hence, religion is the theory and practice of giving to God the best " square deal " of which man is capable. Life in accord with the requirements of the sublime doctrine of the Fatherhood of God and of the peace-begetting doctrine of the brotherhood of man, is the perfection of religion.

Religion is of two kinds, natural and supernatural. Natural religion is such as man is able to plan and practice by simply following the guidance of his native intelligence. Supernatural religion is God-given or God-revealed, religion. Assuming that God instructed mankind how to practice religion, nothing can be plainer than that man is bound in conscience to practice such God-given religion and to refrain from all that may be at variance with what God has seen fit to reveal.

The Christian world is agreed that God gave revealed religion to mankind. Jew and Christian look upon the Bible as a divinely inspired record of God's revelation. The religious literatures of the most ancient races assume such a revelation and are built thereon. The many points of similarity of these literatures with the Bible, justify the inference that they drew from a common source. Scholars of note claim this source to have been the Primitive Divine Revelation made during the infancy of the human race.

The revelation of God-given religion was progressive. The stages of the progression may be described as: first, Primitive; then, Patriarchal; later, Mosaic; next, the Prophetic; and last, the Christian revelation or the Gospel of Jesus Christ. These phases of progress were not antagonistic to one another; but the earlier were preparations for the later; for throughout it is the one and same God Who revealed all : " God, Who, at sundry times and in divers manners, spoke in times past to the fathers by the prophets, last of all in these days hath spoken to us by His Son, Whom He hath appointed heir of all

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things, by Whom He also made the world." Heb.

The Gospel of Jesus Christ is the final stage of God's revelation to mankind for the days of pilgrimage in mortal flesh : " But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach a gospel to you besides that which we have preached to you, let him be anathema. . . . For I give you to understand, brethren, that the gospel which was preached by me is not according to man. For neither did I receive it of man, nor did I learn it; but by the revelation of Jesus Christ. ,, Gal. i. 8: n-12. No substitutes for Christ's Gospel can save mankind.

No one who neglects religion, can be truly honorable; for he is faithless to the chief and most sacred of all duties. No one Who is disloyal to his family or country, can possibly be decent and respectable, however good he may be otherwise. Much less can any one be decent, respectable, and honorable, who is disloyal to God. Neglect of religion is disloyalty to God.

To ignore the religion given by God, seals the fate of the guilty one : "... Go ye into the whole world, and preach the gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is baptized, shall be saved: but he that believeth not, shall be condemned." Mark XVI. 15-16.

Chapter II God

The word " God " is the English name for the Self- Existent Spirit Whose being, intelligence, will, and attributes, are infinitely perfect; Who, of His own free choice and not driven thereto by any kind of necessity, created the universe and all that it contains; Who in like manner formed the laws and forces which control the universe in all its phases; and Who by His providence constantly cares for the creatures made by Him.

Hence, God was not created, made, produced or evolved out of anything. He always was as He is now and always shall be. All things are dependent on Him, but He is not dependent on anything. All intelligent beings are accountable to Him; but He is accountable to no one. Though God is everywhere, He is not part of anything, nor is He in any way the soul of the universe or of any part of it. Being the Most Perfect Spirit, God is not tied down to the conditions of matter, such as time, space, motion, and the like. Wherefore, God is necessarily super-natural, that is, He is entirely above and apart from all nature, as the maker is apart from and above the work of his hands.

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Our limitations compel us to speak of God as we speak of men and even of lesser creatures. This is due to the fact that human thought and speech constantly involve the imagery of the fancy. Because intelligent believers realize fully that God has not any kind of bodily form, they readily catch the figurative meaning of such speech. Nothing is farther from their thoughts than believing God to be a magnified man. If they could speak a spirit-language, they would not use such expressions; but they are men; therefore, notwithstanding their belief in the spirit-nature of the Personal God, they must speak of Him in their own language. Jas. J. Fox writes : " The Bible, especially the Old Testament, abounds in anthropomorphic expressions. Almost all the activities of organic life are ascribed to the Almighty. He speaks, breathes, sees, hears; He walks in the garden; He sits in the heavens, and the earth is His footstool. It must, however, be noticed that Bible locutions of this kind ascribe human characteristics to God only in a vague, indefinite way. He is never positively declared to have a body or a nature the same as man's; and human defects and vices are never even figuratively attributed to Him. The metaphorical, symbolical character of this language is usually obvious. The all-seeing eye signifies God's omniscience; the everlasting arms, His omnipotence; His sword, the chastisements of sinners; when He is said to have repented of having made man, we have an extremely forcible expression conveying His abhorrence of sin. The justification of this language is found in the fact that truth can be conveyed to men only through the medium of human ideas and thoughts, and is so to be expressed only in language suited to their comprehension. The limitations of our conceptual capacity oblige us to represent God to ourselves in ideas that have been originally drawn from our knowledge of self and the objective world. The Scriptures themselves amply warn us against the mistake of interpreting their figurative language in too literal a sense. They teach us that God is spiritual, omniscient, omnipresent, ineffable. Insistence upon literal interpretation of the metaphorical led to the error of the Anthropomorphites." Cath. Ency. Vol. I., page

Chapter III The Blessed Trinity

Whilst there can be one God only, yet in God there are Three Divine Persons. They are : the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost. The how of this Trinity in Unity and Unity in Trinity, we do not understand; but the fact itself we know through revelation. Human intelligence did not, neither could it, discover even the fact itself; but God made it known. " And Jesus coming, spoke to them, saying : All power is given to me in heaven and in earth. Going therefore, teach ye all nations ; baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you : and behold I am with you all days, even to the consummation of the world." Matth. XXVIII. 18-20. In his first letter St. John wrote : " And there are three who give testimony in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost. And these three are one." V. 7.

If one reject the mystery of the Blessed Trinity, the New Testament becomes simply unintelligible. Faith in the Trinity of Persons in One God, is the very soul of the Christian religion. Whoever rejects it, can at best be a Christian only in name.

Chapter IV Creation

Universe is the collective name for all beings which are not God. All such beings are creatures. They are so called, because they were either created or made by God Who is the Creator of all things visible and invisible.

Creatures are divided into three classes: material beings, purely spiritual beings, and the two combined in one. Man is this combination; for he is partly spiritual and partly material. He is the point of contact between the visible and invisible departments of the universe. Purely spiritual beings are named angels. Material beings and man we know from daily experience; but our more definite and more reliable knowledge about angels is derived from God's revelation.

Time began with creation. Before that was eternity and God was the only being : " In the beginning God created heaven and earth. ,, Gen. I. I. We do not know how far back this beginning dates. It may be billions of years ago since the first beings were created. God alone can tell us when this occurred. So far He has not told us. Until He does see fit to reveal it, all fixing of dates for creation, or for different phases of it, is play of scholarly fancy. The disagree-

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ments of scientists about the age of this earth of ours, are the clearest evidence that the data for fixing the age of creation are indefinite and most uncertain. The inquiry itself is nothing better than scientific curiosity.

Creatures which were not made out of any available material were created. This is creation proper. It is sometimes described as immediate creation. Creatures produced out of material previously provided by the Creator, were made. This is sometimes named mediate creation. The first creature being or beings were certainly created; for there was nothing out of which to make them. Not all creatures, however, are the product of immediate creation; for the Bible tells us that many things were simply made by the Creator; among these man's body is mentioned: "And the Lord formed man of the slime of the earth; and breathed into his face the breath of life, and man became a living soul. ,, Gen. II. 7. Neither science nor revelation teaches us the extent of either immediate or mediate creation. Neither does one or the other tell us definitely whether or not mediate creation was performed by way of God's simple almighty fiat or by natural forces created by Him. For our spiritual betterment it is not necessary or even particularly useful that we should know. Satisfying scientific curiosity is not necessary for salvation.

Theories of unbelieving evolution, like that of Darwin, are not built on verified facts and still less on scientific principles. Until now, not so much as one thoroughly authenticated fact of specific evolution has been produced. Variations within species are many and pronounced; but transitions from species to species are unknown to genuine science. Hence, it is not surprising that scholars are becoming more and more emphatic in their rejection of Darwinism.

Believers are not required to reject evolution in its entirety. What they do insist on, is that God is the author of the forces which do the evolving, assuming that there was and is such a process as evolution. In a very faint manner the Bible appears to suggest some kind of evolution: "God also said: Let the waters bring forth the creeping creature having life, and the fowl that may fly over the earth under the firmament of heaven. . . . Let the earth bring forth the living creature in its kind, cattle and creeping things, and beasts of the earth, according to their kinds. And it was done." Gen. I. 20-24. But this is far from saying that the Bible teaches any one of the many evolutionary hypotheses. The Sacred Writings were not meant to be scientific treatises. They were published for the spiritual guidance of the people at large, and not for scholars only.

Catholics firmly believe that all spiritual beings, the souls of men included, are the product of immediate creation. They are not made or in any manner evolved out of matter, neither can they be; for the chasm between matter and spirit is impassable. So in like manner do Catholics believe that man's body was made by the Creator and that it was not evolved from lower forms.

Chapter V The Supernatural

The word supernatural occurs often in Catholic books of instruction. Non-Catholics frequently use it in a sense different from the meaning which Catholics attach to it Hence, the propriety of mentioning some items which will enable inquirers to get at the Catholic meaning.

Its primal meaning refers to God's distinctive sphere of being, existence, and operations. God is necessarily above nature, that is supernatural. The creature whatever its kind or degree, is necessarily natural. God can stoop to the natural and do for it what it cannot possibly do for itself; but the natural cannot by its own unaided effort, rise above its own sphere. God, however, can lift it up to His own distinctive sphere; for He alone can admit creatures to greater and higher degrees of created participation in the supernatural conditions of His divine being, existence, and operations.

Hence, the word supernatural is much used by Catholics to describe divine favors which are in no wise due to nature or within its native reach. The word designates especially those divine favors by which men and angels are in some finite way lifted into a sphere of being, existence, activities, and destiny, higher than is due to their nature. This sphere itself is a created sharing in God's own distinctive existence, life, and operation. St. Peter thus wrote the inspired description of the supernatural: "Grace to you and peace be accomplished in the knowledge of God and of Christ Jesus our Lord : as all things of His divine power which appertain to life and godliness, are given us, through the knowledge of Him Who hath called us by His own proper glory and virtue. By Whom He hath given us most great and precious promises : that by these you may be made partakers of the divine nature : flying the corruption of that concupiscence which is in the world." II. Pet. I. 2-4. The Vulgate has it: " Made consorts of the divine nature."

It is natural for men and angels to know God in accordance with their native ways of knowing all else which comes within the ordinary sphere of their knowledge; but it is above their nature or supernatural for them to know God face to face after the manner of God's knowing Himself. It is natural for man to be a creature of God; but it is supernatural for Him to be an adopted child of God, destined to intimate companionship with Him in heaven. It is natural for man to find his happiness in God by the native exercise of his intelligence and will; but it is supernatural to find the greater happiness in God through revealed religion here on earth and in heaven through the beatific vision. It is natural to be just a good man; but it is

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supernatural to be a good man sanctified by the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ.

The pouring of water and the speaking of the appointed words in conferring the Sacrament of Baptism, are a very natural operation; but the being born spiritually thereby and that into the family of God's adopted children, is supernatural. The bread of the Sacrifice of the Mass and the speaking the words of Consecration, are indeed very natural facts; but it is wonderfully supernatural that a rightfully ordained priest's speaking these words over the bread, meaning to do what Christ ordained, should change the substance of the bread into the Living Body of Christ. It is a very natural performance for the sinner to tell his sins with sorrow of heart to a fellow man; but it is supernatural that the sins thus told should be forgiven through an authorized priest's speaking the words of pardon or absolution. These natural operations are sacramental symbols or signs; but the grace of adoption, the forgiveness of sins, and the changing of the substance of the bread and wine into the Body and Blood of Christ Jesus, etc., are supernatural effects of which God alone is the author. The natural facts are the visible and audible elements which God uses as ministerial agencies.

So in like manner are supernatural all those deviations from the normal course of nature, of which God alone can be the author. In this sense, giving sight to one born blind by a mere touch or command, restoring to life one certainly dead, foretelling future free human conduct, and so many other incidents recorded in the Bible, are supernatural; for no creature nor force of nature can either produce them in the way in which they were produced, or produce them at all. In the Catholic understanding of the supernatural, there is nothing at variance with God's use of creature instrumentalities in the production of supernatural results.

The supernatural, therefore, does not mean the merely super-sensible, still less the abnormal and unnatural. It is not even necessarily miraculous. Miracles are in some way supernatural : but not everything supernatural is miraculous. God is supernatural; but He is not a miracle. The intelligent creature's admission to created participation in what is distinctively God's own is supernatural. The name is also applied to what is over and above God's ordinary way of providing for His creatures. Thus, giving sight to the man born blind was the bestowal of a gift very natural in itself, but the manner of imparting it was above the powers of nature. This form of the supernatural is at times named the preternatural. Hence, Catholics not unfrequently grade the works of God into natural, preternatural, and supernatural.

Chapter VI Angels

Chief among the creatures of God are the beings called angels. Orderly gradation among creatures seems to call for their existence. This line of thought, however, is not necessarily conclusive. It furnishes probabilities; but it does not prove the actual existence of the angelic world; for as the Lord was not obliged to create at all, so neither was He compelled to observe any theories of gradation which may appeal to human intelligence. His own divine choice was the sole factor which determined what beings were to be created and which ones were to remain among the possibilities. — Hence, our more reliable information about angels comes to us from divine revelation and through scientific deductions from revealed truths.

Angels are entirely spiritual beings without the admixture of anything material. Like unto man, they are endowed with intelligence, free will, and power; but their endowments are much greater than man's. Though they are so exalted, they are creatures. They are not lesser gods. By nature they are no more supernatural than man is; but, like man they were raised by God to a supernatural sphere of existence,

IS life, activity, and destiny. They did not lift themselves thereto; for this they could not do, any more than man can. God elevated them. Their elevation or uplift was a grace or gratuitous favor, freely bestowed by God. He could have withheld this favor without depriving them of anything due them by nature.

Angels were created to • glorify God by the sublimity of their being and by the intensity of their superior worship, to minister to the Lord in the governance of the universe, to be guardians of men, and to be eternally happy with God through the beatific vision.

The number of angels is exceedingly great, as may be gathered from the Scriptures. From the same source of information one may infer that they are graded into nine choirs, as follows: Angels, Archangels, Virtues, Powers, Principalities, Dominations, Thrones, Cherubim, and Seraphim. Apparently they are graded according to the character of their ministry; but wherein they differ from one another, has not been clearly revealed.

Chapter VII Devils

Continued possession of God's supernatural gifts must in some way be merited or deserved by intelligent creatures. Hence, for men and angels a period of trial or probation. They must deserve admission to life everlasting by truly virtuous conduct under trial. Such are the general lines of God's plans as made known to us by Himself through divine revelation. He might have adopted a different plan, had He willed to do so.

The precise nature of the trial to which angels were subjected has not been definitely made known; but from divers passages of the Bible, it is legitimate to infer that the transgression of the offending angels was one of pride. If so, then angels were put to the test of humility. The offense of the prevaricating angels was the being so well satisfied with the excellence of their sublime nature, that they failed to appreciate the superior excellence of God and of the greater supernatural gifts which He had in store for them. They were content to be just themselves, and slighted the greater favors which the Lord was prepared to lavish on them. Wherefore, they who so sinned, were among the angelic hosts what Rationalists are among men. Rationalists are men and women who are so well satisfied with mere humanity that they rebel against the supernatural gifts which God offers them through revealed religion.

Exceedingly great as the number of offending angels appears to be, we are not in a position to state how great it really is. The Scriptures speak of them as many; but they do not tell us definitely how many they are.

The proper generic name for fallen angels, is devil or devils. The Bible refers to them also by names like the following: demons; evil spirit; unclean spirit; and "... our wrestling is not against flesh and blood; but against principalities and powers, against the rulers of the world of this darkness, against the spirits of wickedness in high places." Eph. VI. 12. From these words of the Apostle, it may justly be inferred that there is some kind of organization for evil among them. Their chief is designated by different names, such as: the Prince of this world; Satan; Devil; the Prince of devils, the god of this world ; the " great dragon . . . that old serpent, who is called the devil and Satan. . . . " Apoc. XII. 9.

By their fall the devils were not deprived of the natural endowments of their being nor of their immortality as spirits; but they were hardened in malice. They were not given a chance to repent, because their superior gifts deprived them of the shadow of an excuse. Hatred of God and of His supernatural

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plans especially in regard to mankind, is the chief characteristic of their malice. They were the first sinners. Their incessant labor is to increase the number of sinners and reprobates among men : " Be sober and watch : because your adversary, the devil, as a roaring lion, goeth about seeking whom he may devour." I. Pet. V. 8.

A great triumph of Satan over man is undermining belief in the existence of devils, and making little of their terrible work of ruin among the children of men. This unbelief results in a state of habitual unpreparedness against a most powerful enemy who scouts fair play and respects no law except that of might and deceit.

Chapter VIII Man As A Creature Of God

Man as a mere creature of God is the connecting link between the universe of matter and the universe of spirit; for man is partly animal and partly spirit or angel. His animal nature is called his body, and his spirit nature, his soul. The two natures are not mixed, neither are they transformed one into the other: they are simply united, each one maintaining its own natural identity; but their union is substantial. Were it not for the soul, man would be an out and out animal. So, too, were it not for its destiny to be the life-giving principle of the human body, the soul of man would be an angelic spirit. However, the soul is not a foreign resident and still less a prisoner in the human body. It is an essential part and also the determining part of human nature. As the body alone does not make man, so neither does his soul; but the two combined give us the complete composite being which is called man.

Because man is such a composite being, does he occupy so unique a place in the universe. He is exceedingly above all material beings, even the highest; but he is lower than the angels : " What is man that Thou art mindful of him? or the son of man that

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Thou visitest Him ? Thou hast made him a little less than the angels, Thou hast crowned him with glory and honor: Thou hast set him over the works of Thy hands." Ps. VIIL 5-6. As far as his body is concerned, he is very much like all orders of lower beings, and especially like unto the higher animals, subject to the conditions of their bodily structure and life. It is his soul which establishes the impassable chasm between him and all lower creation. His intelligence, free will and other distinctively spiritual endowments, come to him from his soul, and not from his body. Thus, too, is it his body which separates him from the angelic world. Hence, man is a divinely made epitome of the entire universe, as St. Gregory the Great expresses it.

Owing to these conditions man's way of knowing is also peculiar to himself. Animals do not know as he does, neither does he know as angels do. His way of knowing combines the two; for his animal senses, experiences, and fancy, furnish the material, but his soul elaborates out of this material the distinctively human knowledge which is called science. This explains why human thoughts and speech even about what is entirely immaterial and spiritual, abound in words whose meaning involves material conditions. The how of human knowledge is one of the mysteries of nature.