RCIA – Class 2 The Existence of God

1. RCIA – Class 2The Existence of God Do you know what the Catholic Church teaches about: The Existence of God The Blessed Trinity The Perfections and Attributes of God

2. Let’s begin with a prayer: these are the petitions that you might have • To become a Catholic and a better Catholic • To gain a better understanding and practice of the faith • For a better understanding of the faith • For our families • For a desire to learn • To be a good example • For our relationships • To be a disciple of Jesus • Stronger marriage • For fertility

3. House Keeping Details • 3 Ring Binder • Pen and paper • Catechism, Catholicism for Dummies (loan), and New American Bible • Any New Comers handouts from week 1 and syllabus • Consider who your sponsor is – let Ashlie or Fr. Pfeifer know by week 7 • Class time Saturday’s 9-11 AM • Questions – paper in the middle of the table or feel free to ask

4. Attendance policy • Starting this week, if you know you will not be present for class, please let Fr. Pfeifer know before Saturday morning. 772-2624 • Sickness • Without calling in, we will not run after you and we don’t want unexcused absences. • Recorded lectures available with directed questions

5. Before we begin: let us review • The sign of the cross: • Last week we asked you to learn the sign of the cross • Some of you might not be familiar with how to make the Sign of the Cross • even though it’s not necessarily just a Catholic thing to do. • Many other Christians do also make the Sign of the Cross. • It actually ties in very well with the Trinity, because every time we make the Sign of the Cross, it reminds us that we believe in One God, and yet Three Divine Persons

6. What do we say in making the sign of the cross? • The Sign of the Cross is made by saying • “In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.” • Notice we say, “In the Name” because there’s only One God, and yet we say “Father, Son, and Holy Spirit,” • Because there are Three Persons in One God.

7. Aren’t there motions for making the sign of the cross? • Yes, we trace an invisible Cross upon ourselves. • It reminds us that we as Christians believe that Jesus died on the Cross for each one of us. • It reminds us of the fact that • The vertical bar represents our love for God, • The horizontal bar represents our love for others.

8. The Faith summarized • The whole Christian faith is summarized in two points: • Love of God • Love of Neighbor. • In fact, all the Ten Commandments can be summarized in those two things: • Love of God • Love of Neighbor.

9. Where do we touch? • Think about the three places that we touch: • The forehead, • The heart, • The shoulders, • This represents the Blessed Trinity: • The Father, • The Son, • The Holy Spirit

10. Why the forehead, the heart, and the shoulders? • This reminds us that when • We touch our forehead, • We are called to love God with all of our mind, • We touch our heart, • We are called to love God with all of our heart, • We touch our shoulders • We are called to love God with all of our strength. • The shoulders are a sign of strength. We love God, as the Bible says, with our whole mind, heart, and strength.

11. Just a little etiquette… • Sometimes, for those that aren’t Catholic, it might seem a little bit strange or uncomfortable making the Sign of the Cross. • Some people do it very quickly; • Some people do it irreverently; • To some it might look like they are swatting flies • When we pray take the time to focus on God, and be reverent.

12. Practice makes perfect… • So why don’t we practice making the Sign of the Cross. • It’s a very beautiful prayer to say whenever we begin to pray. • It helps us to remember our baptism • So we say, “In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.”

13. The Sign of the Cross…

14. The sign of the Cross • It is a neat way to start our prayers. • It’s not necessarily just a Catholic thing. • Many other denominations, make the Sign of the Cross as well. • Anglicans and Episcopalians, • The sign of the cross reminds us of three things: • Our belief in the Unity and the Trinity, • Our belief in the Divinity of Christ, • Our belief that Jesus died on the Cross for each one of us.

15. Our First Topic:The Existence of God! • Let’s start by looking at a couple of definitions • 1. The word “religion” • The word “religion” comes from two Latin words, Re Ligio, • These two words mean “to join together” or “to connect us.” • The “lig” in Latin means a joint or a ligament. • Example - Our ligaments in our legs are named after this Latin word which means “a joint”. • Religion is “what joins us or connects us to God.” That’s why we want to delve into religion and study our faith so we can become closer to our God, who made us.

16. Two questions to ponder: • Why are we here? • What’s the purpose of our life? • These two questions can easily be summarized that our purpose in life is: • “to come to know, love and serve God.” • And that’s why we are here. • The more we know about God, the more we can love Him, and the more we love Him, the more we want to serve Him, so that we’ll be happy forever for all eternity.

17. Why did God make us? • He made us to be perfectly happy with Him for all eternity. • God did not need to make us. • He did not need to make the human race. • God is infinitely perfect and happy in and of Himself. • He did not make us because He was lonely. • He made us to share in His love • God is pure happiness, pure beauty, truth, and goodness. • He lacks nothing

18. If God does not need us, why did He create us? • He created us for two reasons: • To share His love with His creatures, • so that one day we would be forever in Heaven with Him for all eternity. • Our destiny, our purpose in life is happiness, perfect happiness with God in Heaven.

19. How do we get to heaven? • We get to heaven by: • Coming to know God, • Loving God, • Serving God in this life, • If we do these things, we will be perfectly happy with Him for all eternity in the next life. • All of us are made for God

20. A Famous Quote… • St. Augustine said that, • “Our hearts are restless until they rest in God.” • All of us have this great longing for happiness, but it can never be fully satisfied in this world.

21. The problem is… • People try to satisfy their desire for happiness in seeking different pleasures of this world. • Some people try to seek their happiness through: • Money, • Drugs, • Alcohol, • Possessions. • But all of those things will come up empty in our lives.

22. The Things of the world… • They will never satisfy the deepest longing of the human heart. • The deepest longing of any human heartis to see God face-to-face, the Beatific Vision. • To see God in Heaven will make us perfectly happy, and only then will we have complete and perfect happiness.

23. God made us to be with HIM… • That is why religion is very important, • Religion enables us to be joined and connected to God. • We’re created for happiness. • There’s no lasting happiness in this changing world

24. “Our hearts are restless until they rest in you, O Lord!” • Bruce Springsteen has a song titled “Hungry Heart”. • The lyrics are “Everybody has a hungry heart.” • Do any of you recognize that song? • It’s the same idea. • People search for happiness and love, but only God can fulfill that.

25. How do we explain the existence of God?... • To unbelievers or agnostics? • Sometimes you’ll meet people that call themselves atheists, • What is an atheist? • An atheist is somebody who denies the existence of God. • The word theoin Latin and in Greek is God

26. So what is the difference? • An atheist is “one who does not believe in God.” • An agnosticis one who’s not sure. • The word knossis means knowledge. • An agnostic means • “one who is without knowledge,” • one who doesn’t know whether or not God exists. • In America, ten percent of the population considers themselves to be atheists or agnostics, which of course means that 90 percent of our country is a God-believing.

27. How do we deal with those who question? • We have agnostics and atheists nearby. • How do we explain to them our belief that God exists, • How do we explain that we believe in a Supreme Being, a Supreme God who is in Heaven, who created all things?

28. Before we talk about God’s existence,…. • Let’s start with our definition of who God is • The best definition of who God is, must include these four points – • Godis • A Supreme Being, • Infinitely perfect, • The Creator and maker of all things • The Being that keeps all things in existence.

29. God is Creator of all • Not only did God make all things, but He keeps and holds everything in existence. • We call this Creation and Conservation • If: • God decided not to think about something for a split second, or if… • God forgot to think about something, it would cease to exist. • It would be annihilated. • It would go back into oblivion

30. Let’s look at this practically speaking… • If God, for an instant, forgot to hold one of these tables in existence, the papers that are laying on top of them would fall to the floor. • If for a moment, He forgotto hold you or me in existence, we would disappear and be annihilated. • How much does God loves us? • So much so that He keeps every one of us in existence. • He not only creates, but He conserves all Creation, and keeps it always in His loving thoughts

31. Interesting point… • I believe, every human heart believes in the existence of God. Some deny it! • According to one study that was done a few years ago, • Anybody who was ever asked in a lie detector test whether or not you believed in God, • They always answered that in their heart they did believe in God. • Even if they said no, the lie detector said they were lying.

32. God is the Supreme Being • God is the Supreme Being. • He is a pure spirit. • How is he different than you and I? • You and I are made up of body and spirit. • We have a body, but we also have a soul, where God does not have a body. • He is pure spirit

33. God is neither male nor female! • Why then do we call him “Father”? • We call God “Father,” because Jesus said, “When you pray, say ‘Our Father, who art in Heaven.’” – Matt. 6:9-13 • But God as God is pure spirit. • He’s neither male nor female. • He’s a pure • Being of love, • Being of essence, • Being of existence.

34. Why is HE not male or female? • He’s neither male nor female, because it’s the human body that determines our sex whether we are male or female. • God as God is pure spirit; He does not have a body. • In the hierarchy of Creation, • God is at the top as Creator of all, and He is pure spirit. • He is uncreated. • He always did exist, • He always will exist. • He never had a beginning, and He doesn’t have an end.

35. Order of CreationGod’s hierarchy! God is at top of Creation Angels are second – they see God face to face! Human Beings are third – made up of Body and Soul; know and love Animals are fourth – they react out of instinct Plants are fifth – they do not move, but need water, light. Bottom is rocks, and non living things

36. In the hierarchy of creation • God is on top as Creator • Underneath Him in the hierarchy are Angels. • Angels, which we’ll talk about in a few weeks, are pure spirits as well, but they’re created. • At one time, angels did not exist, • God created them. • They will also live forever

37. Under God and angels,is us, mankind! • The third thing in the order of hierarchy is mankind. • Man and woman are both body and soul, or body and spirit. • At one time, we did not exist. • God created us, but we too will live forever. • How? Our bodies will die and go back to the earth, be cremated, or disintegrate or be buried; but our spirits, our souls, will live forever. • Human beings are immortal, and we will live forever.

39. The hierarchy continues… • And then, underneath humans are animals, • Underneath animals are the plants and then minerals and other things. • Now, this is the hierarchy in creation. • God – pure spirit • Angels – pure spirit • Human Beings – rational beings – body and soul • Animals – react out of instinct • Plants – respond to light and water • Rocks, minerals, and anything else without life.

40. A quick review… • God is pure spirit. • He always has existed, and always will exist. • He even answered Moses, in Exodus 3:14, • Moses asked him, • “Who are you?” • God’s answer was, • “I am who Am.”

41. “I AM Who AM?” • In other words, • I am pure existence. • I always have existed, • I will always will exist. • And they say you can tell that God is not from the Deep South, because He didn’t say, “I is who I Is.” • He said, “I am who Am.” He’s from the North, apparently! • So, God is who He is, because He will always be. He always was, and He is and always will be.

42. God is infinitely flawless • God is perfect, whole and complete – found only in God! • Now, we believe that God is infinitely perfect, • He does not have any limits. • He’s unchangeable. • He is infinite, (no beginning or end) • His perfections make him eternal, • What perfections? • He’s all-good, • He’s all-knowing, • He’s all-present, • He’s almighty

43. How Do I Know God Exists - Handout • Let’s look at part II • There are different proofs for the existence of God. • These are very good to share with people who might not believe in the existence of God. • We can know and discover the existence of God, not only because God revealed Himself to us, but even without God revealing Himself to us. • We can know this through the light of natural reason, that God exists

44. Let’s look at these arguments • 1. The first argument for God’s existence is called the Argument by Design; the beauty of the created world. • On the handout, it talks here about a Catholic and an atheist working together in a car factory. • The Catholic says, “Isn’t it great that a new car came together by accident.” • The atheist protests, “What do you mean, accident? There are many years of research, design, computers, and craftsmanship built into that car.” • The Catholic said, “Then by what logic do you conclude that the universe, which is much more advanced, is an accident? The intelligence of the design points to the intelligence of the Designer, namely God.”

45. The Argument by Design • The pagan Cicero, who lived long before Christ, said, • “When we contemplate the heavens, we arrive at the conviction that they are all guided by a Being of surpassing skill.” • That was a pagan (a non-believer) who said that, before the time of Christ. • He said, “By gazing upon the heavens, we can be convinced that there must be a Creator, a Being of surpassing skill.”

46. 1st Argument – by design • Another interesting example – • There was an astronomer named Kurtcher, who had a friend who denied the existence of God. • One day during a visit, Kurtcher’s friend saw a globe in his study that was hand-carved. • He said, “That’s an incredibly beautiful and interesting globe. Who made it?” • And Kurtcher the astronomer said, “Nobody – it just made itself.” And then he gave his friend a little elbow in the side, and he said the friend had a hearty laugh at the idea. • But Kurtcher the scientist asserted, “It’ll be much easier for a little globe like that to make itself than for the immense globe of the Earth to create itself.” • Common sense tells us that if you see a beautiful piece of craftsmanship, maybe like this building or a globe, if somebody had to make that, and that is rather simple, compared to the Earth, then a conscious, intelligent Being must have made the larger globe, which we call the Earth.

47. Argument by design – 1st proof of God’s existence • Another example is if you look at your watch, and you can see how the second hand moves around, and the minute hand, and when you see this, you know that there must have been somebody intelligent to create something like the watch. • The numbers just don’t line up by themselves???

48. Watch vs. the universe • But what about the planets going around the sun? It would make sense that, if we believe that something intelligent made something as simple as a watch, that an intelligent creator would have certainly had to make something as complex as the galaxy, solar system, the planets, and the sun.

49. Beauty and Design illustrate a Creator • When we see the footprints in the sand, we know that somebody has passed by. The universe is filled with footprints of our Supreme Creator. Even a candle cannot light itself – it has to be lit. • What about the sun? Who created the sun? Who lit and ignited the sun countless thousands or tens of thousands of years ago? So by looking at our created world, we can conclude that since there is Creation, there must be a Creator. Since there’s the beauty and design of Creation, there must be an intelligent Creator behind it

50. 2nd proof for God’s existence – Argument from Dependency • The argument from dependency says that everything that exists must have either come from itself, or from something else. • Since all things we see in nature are not self-causing beings, there must ultimately be a Being which depends only upon Himself