Q72 What does the name “Jesus” mean?
Jesus means in Hebrew “God saves.” [430-435, 452] In the Acts of the Apostles Peter says, “There is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12) This is essentially the message that all missionaries brought to people.Continue Reading
Q71 Why are the reports about Jesus called “the Gospel”, “the Good News”?
Without the Gospels we would not know that God sent his Son to us men out of his infinite love, so that despite our sins we might find our way back to eternal fellowship with God. [422-429] The reports about the life, death, and the Resurrection of Jesus are theContinue Reading
Q70 How does evil draw us out of the whirlpool of evil?
God does not just look on as man gradually destroys himself and the world around him through the chain of reaction of sin. He sends us Jesus Christ, the Savior and Redeemer, who snatches us from the power of sin. [410-412, 420-421] “No one can help me” – this maximContinue Reading
Q69 Are we compelled to sin by original sin?
No. Man is deeply wounded by original sin and is incline to sin. Nevertheless, with God’s help he is capable of doing good. [405] In no single case are we obliged to sin. In fact, however, we sin again and again, because we are weak, ignorant, and easily misled. AContinue Reading
Q68 Original sin? What does the Fall of Adam and Eve have to do with us?
Sin in the strict sense implies guilt for which one is personally responsible. Therefore the term “Original Sin” refers, not to a personal sin, but rather to the disastrous, fallen state of mankind into which the individual is born, even before he himself sins by a free decision. [388-389, 402-404]Continue Reading
Q67 What is sin?
At the core of sin is a rejection of God and the refusal to accept his love. This is manifested in a disregard for his commandments. [385-390] Sin is more than incorrect behavior; it is not just a psychological weakness. In the deepest sense every rejection or destruction of somethingContinue Reading
Q66 Was is part of God’s plan for men to suffer and die?
God does not want men to suffer and die. God’s original idea for man was paradise: life forever and peace between God and man and their environment, between man and woman. [374-379, 384, 400] Often we sense how life ought to be, how we ought to be, but in factContinue Reading
Q65 What about people who feel they are homosexual?
The church believes that, in the order of creation, man and woman are designed to need each other’s complementary traits and to enter into a mutual relationship so as to give life to children. That is why homosexual practices cannot be approved by the Church. Christians owe all persons respectContinue Reading
Q64 Why did God create man male and female?
God, who is love and the archetype of community, created man male and female so that together they might be an image of his nature. [369-373, 383] God made man in such a way that he is male or female and longs for fulfillment and completion in an encounter withContinue Reading
Q63 From where does man get his soul?
The human soul is created directly by God and is not “produced” by the parents. [366-368, 382] Man’s soul cannot be the product of an evolutionary development out of matter or the result of a generative union of the father and mother. With every man, a unique, spiritual person comesContinue Reading
