Roman Catholic history and theology

Roman Catholicism is the oldest of the Christian faiths. It is a direct descendent of the institutions put in place by the disciples of Jesus. The first leaders of what later became Catholicism were the twelve apostles. Originally, these men set-up organizations in various towns and cities across the Roman Empire to spread the word of their God, and in so doing, became the first bishops and saints. Roman Catholic bishops, cardinals, and popes of today can still trace their succession back to the apostles.

Christianity itself grew out of the Jewish faith. "Christianity was one form of the faith of the Jews, and not only in its first years. Jesus was a Jew." (Chadwick 10). The God of the Jews also the God of the Christians but the interpretations of the nature of the Lord, and most particularly, the divinity of Christ are where these two religions first split.

The first Christians were persecuted by Roman Emperors. For hundreds of years the religion was outlawed and thousands died as martyrs in the Roman gaming arenas. In 324 A.D. Constantine became the first Christian Emperor. Soon after, "The Emperor Theododius I banned paganism, made Christian heretics liable to penalties, and forbade sacrifices." (Chadwick 58). The bishops were given status, and the Christian church became a formalized institution with power throughout the empire. Thus, the Holy Roman Empire was born, and the Christian faith became dominated by Roman Catholicism.

The most basic world view held by Roman Catholics consists of three general beliefs: "The Universe has not always existed, and will not exist forever in its present form"; "The universe has not come into being by chance; it was created by a personal God and in continually held in being by him"; and, "People have much in common with animals, but are unique because they have been created to enjoy a special relationship with their creator." (Packer 12). This relationship, most importantly for Catholics, is exemplified by God's sacrifice of his only son -- Jesus -- to forgive the sins of man.

The notion of the afterlife grows out of God's sacrifice of Jesus. Catholics believe that after Jesus died he rose from the grave and ascended into heaven, or eternal paradise. This reward awaits all those who follow the word of God and live their lives according to his will. All Christian faiths believe this but Catholicism has had, for hundreds of years, church officials in place to interpret specifically how the word of God and the scriptures are to be understood. Where the other Christian faiths were seeded was over conflicting interpretations of the Bible, the path to heaven, or were simply revolts against the established church and the pope.

Mainly, the variety of faiths that exist today came about through varying interpretations of the Holy Scriptures. The first writings that were later put into the bible were written by the disciples of Jesus. These writings lay the framework for the Christian faith but have not gone unchallenged. The role of Mary, the divinity vs. The humanity of Christ, and the path to heaven are just of few of the issues where biblical scholars have had disagreements. In fact, on numerous occasions the pope has called upon learned clergymen to convene and directly decide which interpretation of the scriptures should be accepted in the Roman Catholic faith. Most of these matters were of the philosophical nature, so logic and deduction have commonly been used to decide issues in Christianity.

The question arises, however, how is one supposed to truly believe in God and the scriptures? Is God absolute or nothing? Is He finite or infinite? "St. Augustine says: 'The finest thing that we can say of God is to be silent concerning him from the wisdom of inner riches.' Be silent therefore, and do not chatter about God, for by chattering about him, you tell lies and commit a sin. If you wish to be perfect and without sin, then do not prattle about God. Also you should not wish to understand anything about God, for God is beyond all understanding. A master says: If I had a God that I could understand, I would not regard him as God. If you understand anything about him, then he is not in it, and by understanding something of him, you fall into ignorance" (Davies 236-7). The arguments surrounding the existence of God and the understanding of God have usually ended in these sorts of logical contradictions. Yet, it has generally been agreed that when discussing an all-powerful and all-knowing being like a God contradictions are inherent and unavoidable. Clearly, St. Augustine was a follower of the Catholic faith and his philosophy was that of an unquestioning belief.

However, there have been others of the Catholic persuasion who were not contented to recognize the logical flaws in faith and instead tried to prove the existence of God with philosophy. Saint Anselm in the late eleventh century tried to do just this. He put forth the "Ontological Argument for the Existence and Nature of God." Simply put, he asserted that God must exist because if He is the greatest thing that the human mind can comprehend, he must exist outside of the mind; this is because existing outside of the mind is greater than just being a figment of the mind (Feinberg 6-7). This argument ultimately failed because although it is logically self-consistent, its premise that being of reality is greater than being of the mind is not plainly true.