-  Straight to Catholics - Why I believe in What I believe  - 

                                                By His Grace Bishop Paul Tan Chee Ing, S.J. 

This belief of Saint Cyril's sounds like a paraphrase of Saint John's and Saint Paul's teaching on the Sacrament of The Holy Eucharist. Saint John's chapter 6 is also a refutation of the docetists' denial of the reality of Christ's human body. It starts with the multiplication of the loaves which has two meanings: (a) nothing is impossible for God to do and (b) symbolic reference to Christ feeding a multitude with His own body and blood.

Why do Catholic Christians receive only the bread when the Lord Jesus Christ told us to eat his body and drink his blood?

If we think of Christ's body and blood either in the cannibalistic way or in a symbolic way, then we will have a problem. But if we think of of the body and blood of Christ as the life of Christ given to us (and explained, as the Real Presence of Christ) then there is no question of splitting the Life of Christ or the Resurrected Lord into "body" and "blood" as if the "body" or the "blood" by itself does not contain the totality of Christ. The Risen Christ cannot be split. His life is totally present in the bread" as well in the "wine". This was why the early Church could send Christians out carrying only the "host" or "body" of Christ Jesus in their bosom to give it to other Christians. This is another proof that our present Catholic understanding is correct.

This does not mean that Catholics are not allowed to partake of the body and blood. In a small community and when it does not become a complicated affair, we are not only allowed but encouraged to partake of both.

                                                        -  Sacrifice of the Holy Mass  -

Why do you Catholics believe in the Sacrifice of the Holy Mass/Holy Eucharistic celebration? The Sacred Scripture/Holy Bible says that Christ Jesus was the only acceptable sacrifice offered once and for all for our sins /our iniquity. All other sacrifices are of no use. Hebrews 9:26 says: Christ Jesus "has appeared once and for all at the end of the age to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself." Again, Hebrews 10:11-12 says: "And every priests stands at his service, offering repeatedly the same sacrifice which can never take away sins. But when Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, He sat down at the right hand of God..." Question like: Your Catholic priests offer Holy Mass as a sacrifice. Is it valid? Does your sacrifice take away sins as Christ Jesus sacrifice did once and for all? But even if your Holy Mass is the sacrifice of The Lord Jesus Christ, are you not repeating Christ's sacrifice which was once and for all time? If the Holy Mass is the sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ, Christ would have to die again and again. This is absurd: The Sacred Scripture/Holy Bible says that Christ Jesus died and took away our sins once and for all. 

It is wrong to take one or two passages out of the Sacred Scripture/Holy Bible context and use them to defend one's view and attack an other's position. The Sacred Scripture/Holy Bible must be treated with great respect and care. It must be interpreted in the textual context in which it is found and it must also be taken as a whole otherwise we distort the message. First and foremost, the texts Hebrews 9:26; 10:11-12 quoted to attack the Catholic Christian position are taken out of its textual context. The author of Hebrews is comparing the sacrifices offered in the Old Testament (the Jewish sacrifices) with the sacrifice of Christ Jesus - Hebrews 9:26 - says "Nor was it to offer himself (Christ) repeatedly, as the high priest enters the Holy Place yearly with blood not his own, for then he would have had to suffer repeatedly since the foundation of the world." Obviously, Saint/Apostle Paul compares Christ Jesus to the Old Testament high priest who entered the Holy of holies once a year to offer sacrifice for sins committed by the Jew. - Hebrews 10:1 - says: "For since the laws (Torah) has but a shadow of the good things to come instead of the true form of these realities, it can never by the same sacrifices which are continually offered year after year, make perfect those who draw near." Again it is a reference to the Jewish high priest who entered the holy of holies once a year to offer sacrifice for sins committed by the Jewish people. Therefore Jesus abolishes the first (Old Testament sacrifice) in order to establish the second - Hebrews 10:9 - Then come the two lines quoted above - Hebrews 10:11-12 - It is evident, Saint Paul is not speaking of Christian sacrifice of the Holy Mass.

Besides, those who attack us do not know what we understand by the sacrifice of the Holy Mass. Our meaning comes from the same text of Hebrews which speaks of Christ's sacrifice. The meaning of Christ's sacrifice in the same textual context is not only Jesus Christ death at Calvary but His whole life in humble obedience to God's will. - Hebrews 10:5-7 - 

Christ Jesus sacrifice is the total commitment to do God's will in His life leading even to the Cross. Jesus sacrifice is not only a taking away of our sins but also a total self-giving to do God's will as always. It is not in "sin offerings" - Hebrews 10:6 - but in the offering of His total life to do God's will which led to the forgiveness of sins.

We, being the Body of Christ, share all that the Head is: Christ the High Priest, Prophet and King of Kings - 1 Timothy 6;15 - If the body does not share in/with the Head, it is no longer part of the body. Because we are members of His body, we "are a chosen race, a royal priesthood... - 1 Peter 2:9 - The Book of Revelation said that the Lord Jesus "hast made them (Christians) a Kingdom and priests to our God" - Revelation 5:10 - Our sharing in Christ's sacrifice (priesthood) is, therefore, our total daily life given to do God's will in everything. It is this understanding of sacrifice that permits Saint Paul to say - "I appeal to you, therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies (whole person) as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God which is your spiritual worship." - Romans 12:1 - How to offer ourselves as a sacrifice? To "walk in love as Christ loved us and gave Himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God." - Ephesians 5:2 - Sacrifice, therefore, in the New Testament is the offering of our entire life to God in obedience to do His will, that is, to do as God loves us.

This sharing in the mystery of Christ's priesthood must be expressed externally because we are human beings and not pure spirits (chapter 1). This is expressed in the sacrifice of the Holy Mass - our sharing in Christ's sacrifice. For this reason the One, Holy, Catholic, Apostolic Church tells us that the Holy Mass (not only the priest's) participation in Christ's priesthood. The priest at the altar represents our priesthood in Christ, the High Priest and Christ's priesthood poured into us, His body. Unless we actively participate in the Holy Mass, offering our whole life to God the Father through Christ or the Holy Mass becomes meaningless to us. Unless we try in our daily life to follow God's will (obedience) to love as He loves us, if not, our participation in the Holy Mass will becomes meaningless too. It is because of this understanding of sacrifice that Saint Peter can exhort us: "Come to Him, to that living stone, rejected by men but in God's sight: chosen and precious: and like living stones, to be yourselves that built into a spiritual house and to be a holy priesthood: to offer spiritual sacrifice acceptable to God through our Lord Jesus Christ.-  1 Peter 2:4-5 - 

Just as Christ Jesus summed up his sacrifice in the human expression of dying on the cross, so we sum up our sharing in His sacrifice in the human expression of the Holy Mass. The author or Hebrews, like Saint Peter says: "Through Christ then let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God." - Hebrews 13:15 - Holy Eucharist or holy Mass in Greek means praise. The continual offering up of a sacrifice of praise, our entire life of sacrifice, is expressed by Catholic Christians in the Holy Eucharist or Holy Mass. It is indeed, a sacrificial offering of praise to God because it is not an empty symbolic gesture through the offering of the blood of animals and other holocausts which have nothing to do with our real lives but it is an actual offering of our whole lives to God in union with the sacrifice of Christ Himself. By this we all share Christ's priesthood.

But we know that we do not fully live up to "doing God's will by loving as He loves us." So we attend and come to Holy Mass/Eucharist to ask (1) for God's and the Christian community's forgiveness and (2) for God's strength (love) to do better His will. It is making "my own" the power that Christ Jesus has gained for me through His eternal sacrifice. It is not a repetition of Christ's sacrifice which is once and for all. It is, rather and appropriating the fruits of Christ's sacrifice.

Remember what I have just stated about the Holy Eucharist/Holy Mass. When Christ Jesus said, "Do this in memory (anamnesis) of me", he meant us to relive in faith the memory of His life, death and resurrection in such a way that the power of His sacrifice of Himself becomes present to us here and now. In other words, it is appropriating in our lives the power of His "once-and-for-all-sacrifice." It is a sharing in His eternal sacrifice. What is the use of Christ's sacrifice if we do not claim it for ourselves? We are free. God made us so. God will not force His sacrifice on us. We have to accept it freely. The Lord Jesus Christ sacrifice is like a power station waiting to be tapped. We have to tap it for it to become effective. It is in making Christ's sacrifice of Himself efficacious in our lives that we proclaim Him. Hence, Saint Paul tells us, "For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord Jesus Christ death until he comes." - 1 Corinthians 11:26 - This is the Catholic Christian meaning of the Sacrifice of the Holy Mass which Saint Peter and Saint Paul exhort us to offer continually.

                                                       -  Sacrament of Reconciliation  -   

All of us who have received Baptism still feel the need for forgiveness because we know that we are still sinful. Although we have renounced "Satan" or Evil and turned to Christ Jesus at our baptism, we still keep falling into sins because we are weak. Hence, we need continually the forgiveness of God. (See the chapter on Sin and Love) Saint/Apostle John in his letter to his Christians said, "If we say we have no sins, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us... but if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous;" - 1 John 1:8; 2:1 - Saint/Apostle James also aware of sins committed after Baptism. He exhorted his Christians, "Therefore, confess your sins to one another" - James -5:16 - Why is it that the Old Testament and the New Testament are filled with the awareness of Man's sinfulness? It is because we fall short of God's love. Therefore, we can always say before God, "Lord, forgive me for I am a sinner." There is no real dispute on this point. All of us, if we are truthful, recognize this fact.

The bone of contention is rather "confession to a priest." As someone asked me, "Why can't I confess directly to God? Why must I go to a priest; after all he is only a man like you and I? It is God who forgives, not Man."

To this man, let us call him Mr. X, I will tell him that he has failed to understand what it is to be human, what is the meaning of sin and what it is to be a Christian. At the back of the question posed by Mr. X is the presupposition that sin hurts God: Sin as a direct offence against God, demand a direct forgiveness from Him whom we have hurt. Thus, asking for forgiveness is directed straight at God whom we have hurt and He forgive us directly. There is no need of an intermediary, a priest. But can God be hurt? If He, who is Almighty, Infinite, could be hurt by me with a small dot that disappears practically into nothingness in the Universe, then, He would no longer be Almighty or Infinite - He would be a figment of my own imagination. The Sacred Scripture/Holy Bible rightly says: "Is it I whom they provoke? says the Lord. Is it not themselves to their own confusion?" - Jeremiah 7:19 - Elihu says, "If you have sinned, what do you accomplish against Him/God? And if your transgressions are multiplied, what do you do to Him/God?... Your wickedness concerns a man like yourself..." - Jobs 35:6-8 - If God is not hurt by my sin, whom does it hurt? It hurts me and my neighbour, as Elihu says. It hurts not only the person whom I have wronged; it hurts also the whole human community. Saint/Apostle Paul in his first letter to the Corinthians expressed this idea through the analogy of the human body. This can be understood only in the context of the notion of solidarity (Cf. chapter 1) Because the Body is a unity of many parts, if one part, for example, my hand is hurt, the whole body feels it. And if one part, for example, my heart, is in good conditioned, the whole body profits from it. Since we are all united in the one life of Christ, in His Body, if one of us sins, he/she hurts the whole body of Christ. "If one member is honoured, all rejoice together." - 1 Corinthians 12:26 -

If sin is a refusal to love and by nature I am made to love, sin hurts first and foremost, myself. G. K. Chesterton rightly said that sin is "that whatever I am, I am not myself." - Orthodoxy. Union Books, Sheed & Ward, 1939, p. 273 - Then again, it hurts the person whom I have offended. This has its repercussions and the whole Body of Christ, the Church, is hurt. And only indirectly is God hurt because He who creates us loves us and is "sad" speaking in human terms, that we harm each other. From another point of view, God is indirectly hurt because He is the Source of life, the love that brings forth life and sustains it, any destruction of it affects Him. Sin is a destruction of life. Through my sin, I harm the relationship between me and myself, between the community and me and between God and I. 

Reconciliation is precisely the mending or healing of the "strained" or "broken" relationships. If I were to confess my sorrow directly to God, I would take into account only my relationship with God. How about my relationship to the Christian community? Saint /Apostle John said: "If anyone says, 'I love God', and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen, cannot love God whom he has not seen." - 1 John 4:20 - Logically, Saint/Apostle John could have continued and said as well, "If anyone says, 'God has forgiven me because I have asked God for forgiveness' and fails to ask for forgiveness of his brother whom he has hurt, he is a liar; for he who sins against his brother and asks not for forgiveness, cannot ask for forgiveness from God whom he has not seen nor hurt directly." Reconciliation taken in its full sense, is the restoration of the three "broken" relationships because Christian love is a three dimensional relationship: God and I, others and I, myself and I. To express fully this sorrow for my sins in a human way, it is necessary to go through a material form (Cf. chapter 1) that takes into account all the three relationships. The Lord Jesus Christ, who made us and knew our need, gave us the sacrament of Reconciliation (traditionally called "Confession") a concrete confirmation,........ - P A G E  O N E -         

    

-     WELCOME TO SACRED SCRIPTURE / WORD OF GOD / HOLY BIBLE READER'S COMMUNITY     - 

Wishing you, 'Happy Reading', and may God, the Father, the Son of the living God, Jesus Christ, fills your heart, mind, thoughts, and grants you: The Holy Spirit, that is, Wisdom, Knowledge, Understanding, Counsel, Piety, Fortitude, Fear of the Lord, and also His fruits of the Holy Spirit, that is, Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Trustfulness, Gentleness and Self-Control. Amen! God blessing be upon you!

Why do you call Me, "Lord, Lord" and not do what I say?' "Everyone who comes to Me and listens to My words and acts on them - I will show you what he/she is like. He/She is like a man/woman who when he/she built his/her house dug, deep, and laid the foundations on rock; when the river was in flood it bore down on that house but could not shake it, it was so well built. But the one who listens and does nothing is like the man/woman who built his/her house on soil, with no foundations: as soon as the river bore down on it, it collapsed; and what a ruin that house became!" - Luke 6:46-49 - 

If we live by the truth and in love, we shall grow in all ways into Christ Jesus, who is the head by whom the whole body is fitted and joined together, every joint adding its own strength, for each separate part to work according to it function. So the body grows until it has built itself up, in love." - Ephesians 4:15-16 - 

I still have many things to say to you but they would be too much for you now. But when the spirit of truth comes, he will lead you to the complete truth, since he will not be speaking as from himself, but will say only what he has learnt; and he will tell you of the things to come. He/She will glorify me, since all he/she tells you will be taken from what is mine. Everything the Father has is mine; that is why I said: all he/she tells you will be taken from what is mine." - John 16:12-15 -        

- THE CITY OF GOD - BY SAINT AUGUSTINE OF HIPPO - "HERE is a book that written over fifteen hundred years ago by a mystic in North Africa. Yet to those who have ears to hear, it has a great deal to say to many of us who are mystic, today in America... THE CITY OF GOD is the autobiography of the Church written by the most CATHOLIC of her GREAT SAINTS....... THE CITY OF GOD, FOR THOSE WHO CAN UNDERSTAND IT CONTAINS THE SECRET OF DEATH AND LIFE, WAR AND PEACE, HEAVEN AND EARTH." -

- Whether those who received heretical baptism, and have afterwards fallen away to wickedness of life; or those who have received catholic baptism but have afterwards passed over to heresy and schism; or those who have remained in the catholic Church in which they were baptised but have continued to live immorally - may hope through the virtue of the sacraments for the remission of eternal punishment -  P A G E  7  -

But let us now reply to those who promise deliverance from eternal fire, not to the devil and his angels (as neither do they of whom we have been speaking) nor even to all men whatever but only to those who have been washed by the baptism of Christ and have become partakers of His body and blood, no matter how they have lived, no matter what heresy or impiety they have fallen into. But they are contradicted by the apostle, where he says, "Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, idolatry, witchcraft hatred, variances, emulations, wraths, strife, heresies, envy, drunkenness, revellings and the like: of the which I tell you before, shall not inherit the kingdom of God." - Galatians 19:21 - Certainly this sentence of the apostle is false, if such person shall be delivered after any lapse of time and shall then inherit the kingdom of God. But as it is not false, they shall certainly never inherit the kingdom of God. And if they shall never enter that kingdom, then they shall always be retained in eternal punishment; for there is no middle place where he/she may live unpunished who has not been admitted into that kingdom.

And therefore we may reasonably inquire how we are to understand these words of the Lord Jesus: "This is the bread which come down from heaven that a man may eat thereof and not die. I am the living bread which came down from heaven. If any man/woman eat of this bread, he/she shall live forever." - John 6:50-51 - And those indeed, whom we are now answering, are refuted in their interpretation of this passage by whom we are shortly to answer and who do not promise this deliverance to all who have received the sacraments of baptism and the Lord Jesus Christ body but only to the Catholics, however, wickedly they live; for these, say they, have eaten the Lord Jesus body not only sacramentally but really, being constituted members of His body of which the apostle says, "We being many are one bread, one body." - 1 Corinthians 10:17 - He/She then who is in the unity of Christ's body (that is to say, in the Catholic Christian membership) of which body the faithful have been wont to receive the sacrament at the altar, that person is truly said to eat the body and drink the blood of Christ. Consequently, heretics and schismatics being separate from the unity of this body are able to receive the same sacrament but with no profit to themselves - nay, rather to their own hurt, so that they are rather more severely judged than liberated after sometime. For they are not in that bond of peace which is symbolized by that 'Sacrament.'

But again, even those who sufficiently understand that he/she who is not in the body of Christ Jesus cannot be said to eat the body of Christ, are in error when they promise liberation from the fire of eternal punishment to persons who fall away from the unity of that body into heresy or even into heathenish superstition. For in the first place, they ought to consider how intolerable it is and how discordant with sound doctrine, to suppose that many, indeed, or almost all, who have forsaken the Universal/Catholic Church and have originated impious heresies and become heresiarchs, should enjoy a destiny superior to those who never were Catholics but have fallen into the snares of these others; that is to say, if the fact of their Catholic baptism and original reception of the sacrament of the body of Christ in the true body of Christ Jesus is sufficient to deliver these heresiarchs from eternal punishment. For certainly he/she who deserts the faith and from a deserted becomes an assailant, is worse than he/she who has not deserted the faith he/she never held. And in the second place, they are contradicted by the apostle, who after enumerating the works of the flesh, says with reference to heresies, "They who do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God."

And therefore neither ought such persons as lead an abandoned and damnable life to be confident of salvation, though they persevere to the end in the communion of the Catholic Church and comfort themselves with the words: "He that endureth to the end shall be saved." By the iniquity of their life they abandon that very righteousness of life which Christ Jesus is to them, whether it be by fornication or by perpetrating in their body the other unclean which the apostle would not so much as mention or by a dissolute luxury or by doing anyone of those things of which he says: "They who do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God." Consequently, they who do such things shall not exist anywhere but in eternal punishment since they cannot be in the kingdom of God. While they continue in such things to the very end of life, they cannot be said to abide in Christ Jesus to the end; for to abide in Him is to abide in the faith of Christ Jesus. And this faith, according to the apostle's definition of it - Galatians 5:6 - And "love" as he elsewhere says: do no evil. - Romans 13:10 - Neither can these persons be said to eat the body of Christ, for they cannot even be reckoned among His members. For not to mention other reasons, they cannot be at once the members of Christ and the members of a harlot. In fine, He Himself, when He says: He/She who eat my flesh and drink my blood, dwell in me and I in him/her. - John 6:56 - Accordingly, they who are not baptized in the name of the Father, and the Son and the Holy Spirit, in other words: They who make themselves members of a harlot, are not members of Christ unless they have penitently abandoned that evil and have returned to this good and to be reconciled to God.              

   - WELCOME TO SACRED SCRIPTURE / WORD OF GOD / HOLY BIBLE READER'S COMMUNITY -

Wishing you, 'Happy Reading', and may God, the Father, the Son of the living God, Jesus Christ, fills your heart, mind, thoughts, and grants you: The Holy Spirit, that is, Wisdom, Knowledge, Understanding, Counsel, Piety, Fortitude, Fear of the Lord, and also His fruits of the Holy Spirit, that is, Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Trustfulness, Gentleness and Self-Control. Amen! God blessing be upon you!

If we live by the truth and in love, we shall grow in all ways into Christ Jesus, who is the head by whom the whole body is fitted and joined together, every joint adding its own strength, for each separate part to work according to it function, so the body grows until it has built itself up, in love. - Ephesians 4:15-16 -

I STILL HAVE MANY THINGS TO SAY TO YOU BUT THEY WOULD BE TOO MUCH FOR YOU NOW. BUT WHEN THE SPIRIT OF TRUTH COMES, HE WILL LEAD YOU TO THE COMPLETE TRUTH, SINCE HE WILL NOT BE SPEAKING AS FROM HIMSELF, BUT WILL SAY ONLY WHAT HE HAS LEARNT; AND HE WILL TELL YOU OF THE THINGS TO COME.

HE WILL GLORIFY ME, SINCE ALL HE TELLS YOU WILL BE TAKEN FROM WHAT IS MINE. EVERYTHING THE FATHER HAS IS MINE; THAT IS WHY I SAID: ALL HE TELLS YOU WILL BE TAKEN FROM WHAT IS MINE. - JOHN 16:12-15 - 

                                         -  Straight to Catholics - Why I believe in What I believe  - 

                                                By His Grace Bishop Paul Tan Chee Ing, S.J. 

                                                  ---              S A C R A M E N T S             ---

This belief of Saint Cyril's sounds like a paraphrase of Saint John's and Saint Paul's teaching on the Eucharist. Saint John's chapter 6 is also a refutation of the docetists' denial of the reality of Christ's human body. It starts with the multiplication of the loaves which has two meanings: (a) nothing is impossible for God to do and (b) symbolic reference to Christ feeding a multitude with His own body and blood.

After this, came the miracle of Christ's walking on the waters ( Saint John chapter 6 - vv. 16-21) which to the Jews, was a proof of divine power. Then comes the central message. Christ compared himself to the ancient "manna from heaven" which fed the Jews in the desert, asserting that He is the true bread which comes from God and give live - John 6:33 - The ancestors of the Jews ate "manna in the wilderness and they died" but those who eat the bread from heaven will never die. It is in this context, gradually leading His disciples that Jesus Christ asserted that He is "the bread which came down from heaven" - John 6:41 - Immediately the Jews murmured in protest. Jesus repeated in strong terms, "and the bread which I shall give for the life of the world is my flesh" - John 6:51 - The Jews became impatient and disputed among themselves, "How can this man give us his flesh to eat?" The Jews were scandalized because the Mosaic Law forbade the drinking of blood. They obviously took Jesus at His words - that Jesus was not speaking in a parable or figuratively. At this point, Jesus did not try to correct them by saying that he was only speaking symbolically or metaphorically. On the contrary, Jesus went much further and said, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat of the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you..." - John 6:53f - Now the Jews took offence - John 6:61 - and Jesus knew it. Still Jesus did not withdraw what He had said. Jesus continued in the same strain and "many of his disciples left him and no longer went about with Him" - John 6:66 - Jesus turned to his Apostles, the closest to him and asked: "Do you wish also to go away?" Jesus did not wave down his assertion. Instead Jesus challenged his closest associates to believe in what He had said. Peter Simon taking the lead among the Apostles said: "Lord to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life" - John 6:68 - This was also the confession of faith of Saint John and His disciples. They believed in the true presence of the Lord Jesus Christ in their "breaking of the bread" (the Eucharist).

Saint Paul also believed in the presence and the real communion of Christ Jesus. "Is not the chalice of benediction which we bless, the communion of the blood of Our Lord Jesus Christ? Is not the bread we break the partaking of the body of Our Lord Jesus?" - 1 Corinthians 10:16 - Only this belief could justify the severity of Saint Paul's warning: "Whoever eats this bread or drinks the cup of the Lord unworthily will be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. For he/she who eats and drinks unworthily without discerning (discovering) the body, eats and drinks judgement to himself/herself" - 1 Corinthians 11:27, 29 - To make it more real, Saint Paul compared the Christian Sacrifice and meal to those of the Jews and pagans. Both the Jews and pagans offered real sacrificial victims and shared in the divinity. The Christians were forbid-doing, they shared in the divinity. The Christians were forbidden to participate in the Jewish and pagan sacrifices because they held the one true sacrifice, Christ, which was acceptable to God. There is no evidence that Paul believed in the symbolic presence. If there is any evidence, it is proof to the contrary: the Real communion with the body and blood of Christ.

Besides this, the background to the whole Passover of Christ or as Saint Paul puts it, the New Pasch - 1 Corinthians 10:14, 21 - is the Jewish "Passover" which they celebrate in such a way that God's past saving action becomes present to them here and now. - See article: "Do this in Memory of Me" by Monsignor Peter Coughlan, IF, 1981 - Saint/Apostle Paul chose the Greek word anamnesis to express this reality - 1 Corinthians 11:24, 26 - Unfortunately we do have an equivalent word that captures all the nuances of anamnesis. Hence it is translated as "Do this in memory of me, or in memorial of me". Anamnesis is a Greek word taken from a stage play. When a play is acted out on stage, it becomes alive so much so that the audience seem to live the play. They become so involved emotionally in the play that, at the end, they experience a "purging of their emotions" (Katharsis) and become better people. Of course, when St. Paul used the word anamnesis his background was Jewish rather than Greek. Yet, this was the closest Greek word that he could find to bring out the reality of what Jesus meant. When Jesus said: "Do this in anamnesis of me," he meant to tell us to relive his death and resurrection in the Eucharistic meal. (The Last Supper) in such a way that He/Jesus is present in the bread and wine, that His past saving power is present here and now in the bread and wine, so that we, who go with faith, to receive Him will experience His saving power (making it our own, the power that is His). How are we to translate the richness of the meaning behind the word anamnesis into English?

I, therefore, personally believe that the Catholic understanding of Christ's true presence in the bread and wine is the correct interpretation because it can trace its Tradition right back into the earliest Church, to the New Testament. What other guarantee is there? Anyone can take a passage from the Sacred Scripture/Holy Bible and interpret it the way he/she sees it? There are many interpretations. Who is to say which is the right interpretation? Even non-Christians use scriptural texts to attack Christians. Where is the truth if not in the interpretation that can be traced right back into history to the early Church to the New Testament.

There is a further theological point I would like to add. Those Christians who claim that Christ is only symbolically or nominally present have failed to understand the full meaning of God's unlimited love. As I have explained in the previous chapter on the Triune God, God has done the impossible for love of us because He is Infinite (All Powerful) and He is Love. Out of Love for us, He gave His life by dying for us. "No greater love has a man than to lay down his life for us." But we Catholic Christians claim that after laying down His life, He was not satisfied because of his infinite love. He gives, the last that He has of Himself - His own life, his body and blood given to us as food so that we are nourished, then, we will stand up and walk as true human beings for which He has created us. It is the ultimately impossibility: God the Infinite gives His life for us as food. He knows that we as poor humans are weak. So He gives us His very life in order that we may be nourished and be strengthened to live a life worthy of our name as humans. Beyond giving His own life to be eaten by us, there is nothing left. His infinite love for us is completed. His Love is equal to His infinite Power.............   ---  P A G E   T W O  ---  

 .............  This belief of Saint Cyril's sounds like a paraphrase of Saint John's and Saint Paul's teaching on the Eucharist. Saint John's chapter 6 is also a refutation of the docetists' denial of the reality of Christ's human body. It starts with the multiplication of the loaves which has two meanings: (a) nothing is impossible for God to do and (b) symbolic reference to Christ feeding a multitude with His own body and blood.  ---  P A G E   O N E  ---

  - WELCOME TO SACRED SCRIPTURE / WORD OF GOD / HOLY BIBLE READER'S COMMUNITY -

Wishing you, 'Happy Reading', and may God, the Father, the Son of the living God, Jesus Christ, fills your heart, mind, thoughts, and grants you: The Holy Spirit, that is, Wisdom, Knowledge, Understanding, Counsel, Piety, Fortitude, Fear of the Lord, and also His fruits of the Holy Spirit, that is, Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Trustfulness, Gentleness and Self-Control. Amen! God blessing be upon you!

If we live by the truth and in love, we shall grow in all ways into Christ Jesus, who is the head by whom the whole body is fitted and joined together, every joint adding its own strength, for each separate part to work according to it function, so the body grows until it has built itself up, in love. - Ephesians 4:15-16 -

I STILL HAVE MANY THINGS TO SAY TO YOU BUT THEY WOULD BE TOO MUCH FOR YOU NOW. BUT WHEN THE SPIRIT OF TRUTH COMES, HE WILL LEAD YOU TO THE COMPLETE TRUTH, SINCE HE WILL NOT BE SPEAKING AS FROM HIMSELF, BUT WILL SAY ONLY WHAT HE HAS LEARNT; AND HE WILL TELL YOU OF THE THINGS TO COME.

HE WILL GLORIFY ME, SINCE ALL HE TELLS YOU WILL BE TAKEN FROM WHAT IS MINE. EVERYTHING THE FATHER HAS IS MINE; THAT IS WHY I SAID: ALL HE TELLS YOU WILL BE TAKEN FROM WHAT IS MINE. - JOHN 16:12-15 -       

                                        -  Straight to Catholics - Why I believe in What I believe  - 

                                                By His Grace Bishop Paul Tan Chee Ing, S.J. 

                                                  ---              S A C R A M E N T S             ---

All Creation as an expression of God's Love is a sacrament. It is the outward sign of an inner reality The outward sign is all creation. The inward grace (or reality) is God's love which we cannot see, touch, hear, taste or smell. Yet through our senses as the Universe unfolds itself before us, our intellect is capable of leading the soul to affirm the existence of its Creator, God: and for us Christians, (Catholic Christian) of God's love. Through sin, Man/Human Being destroys the basis of existence itself - love. Therefore God, whose infinite love cannot be thwarted, came in a visible form that Human being can understand: Incarnation, God-made-man. The Lord Jesus Christ, came to show us the unconditional or limitlessness of God's love by His life which led to His death, killed by sinful men. "God loves us so much that He sent His Son to us." He taught us love by laying down His life for us - 1 John 3:16 - Therefore the fullest expression of the infinite love of God in visible form that we can see and touch, is the Son of God made Man, Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ is, in the fullest sense, the Sacrament.

Before Jesus left this world, He knew that we who come after Him still need a concrete sign of God's love. Hence, He formed around Him a group of Apostles and disciples, the Church, to carry on this message of His Father's love. The Church (Christians who believe in Christ and who live and speak of His love) becomes a continuing sign and agent of God's love for all people ("Dogmatic Constitution of the Church", Vatican Council II). The Church is the continuing sacrament coming from the Chief Sacrament, Jesus Christ. She draws her sacramental life from the Lord who lives in her and promises to be with her till the end of the world so that the "gates of hell shall not prevail against" her - Matthew 16:18; 28:20 - The concrete experience of the Lord's presence in the gathering of the first Christian community was the out-pouring of the Holy Spirit upon the Apostles at Pentecost. Filled with the Holy Spirit, fear left the Apostles and they went out to preach and to bear witness to the Lord. If we read the Acts of the Apostles and the Epistles we will be struck by the constant awareness of the presence of the Lord's Spirit in the Church. In Saint Paul's Epistles the parallel between the Holy Spirit and the Lord Jesus is a unique feature. The presence of the Holy Spirit in the Church is the guarantee of the Lord's presence. The experience of the Holy Spirit is an internal reality that breaks forth into the exterior life of Christians. It is a movement from the inward (Spiritual reality) to the outward (life).

But human beings also have and need the other movement - from the outward to the inward. As explained in chapter 1, it is through matter that we get to know about things and move to the Spiritual plane of values and meanings. The Lord Jesus Christ knows that we need some physical expression of His infinite Love for us so that through it our soul will rise up to the spiritual reality of His love. The physical expression through which we can move to the reality of Christ's love are the seven Canonical Sacraments - "Canonical" is used in the sense that they are officially recognized by the teaching of the Catholic Church as such as (Sacraments.) I will not go into the "dispute" on whether or not there can be more than seven sacraments. - They take their existence from the Church, the Sacrament, the Body of Christ - 1 Corinthians 12 - the continuing presence of the Risen Lord Jesus, the CHIEF Sacrament. Hence each Sacrament must have the following elements: (1) the communal aspect (the Church) (2) the physical or tangible aspect, for examples: water in Baptism (3) faith of the Church in which an individual Christian shares and (4) the Spiritual reality of Christ's love.

- A - In fact, all the Seven Canonical Sacraments take their existence from the Sacrament of the Church, the Body of Christ. Hence, the communal aspect of each Sacrament is essential. Like the Eucharist, the other canonical Sacraments express the life of the Church which comes from Christ Jesus and nourish her members. - They all share in the three dimensional relationships - I and myself, I and others (Church) and I and God - in an indivisible unity of love which has its roots in the perfect communion of Love in the Triune God Himself. A Christian is not a person who has only a direct line to God: the "I and God" relationship without other lines of relationship. A Christian does not work out his/her salvation alone. ( This is not Christian ). His/her own salvation is inextricably linked to that of others. At Baptism, it is not only a turning to God alone but also a turning to his people, the Church. This is why at Baptism, a Christian is received into the Church. In the Eucharistic Celebration, when I go to receive the Lord Jesus, I do not assimilate Christ Jesus into me - the "I and Christ" relationship alone - but Christ assimilates me deeper into the mystery of His Body, the Church: - It is Saint Augustine who said this - I, in relationship with others (Body of Christ) in the Lord (Head of the Body). In the Sacrament of reconciliation, I do not go straight to God alone and be reconciled to Him alone. I go and meet Christ (God) in His Body, the Church, and with myself. We cannot separate the Head (Christ Jesus) from His Body. (More of this later).

- B - As explained in chapter 1, I, a human being is spirit rooted in matter in such a way that we cannot know without the mediation of matter and we cannot express ourselves without going through matter. This is how God has made us. Jesus, who is God, knew and knows us for what we are. So He chose human beings, His disciples, to continue His spiritual work. In His life, He also made use of matter to communicate His power. Water was one of the material objects used. After Jesus was baptized in water by John the Baptist, the Holy Spirit came/descended upon Jesus - Mark 1:9-11 - All Christians use water in baptism as a sign of cleansing and a turning to Christ. Jesus often touched people when He healed them. In Mark 8:22-26 - Jesus spat on the eyes of a blind man, laid his hands upon him and cured him. Jesus breathed upon the Apostles to give them the Holy Spirit - John 20:22 - Under the form of bread and wine, Jesus gave to His disciples his own body and blood. The Church is only following Christ Jesus when she uses material things as signs of God's saving love or power. The immediate disciples of the Lord after Christ's ascension also employed matter. They anointed the sick with oil - James 5:14 - They laid hands on people and prayed for them to receive the Holy Spirit - Acts 6:3-6 - And of course they made use of bread and wine for the "breaking of bread" - (The Holy Eucharist).

- C - The Sacrament is no magic. It is not a recitation of a magic formula and a performing of a ritual. It depends on the faith of the Universal Church and of those who partake of the sacrament. Without faith, the ritual is meaningless.

- D - This faith should lead one to meet Christ Jesus and of those who partake of the sacrament. It is after all the spiritual reality of Christ's saving love that is most essential. Without "experiencing in one way or other" the saving power of Christ, there is no sacrament.

- Objection - The word "Sacrament", say some Christians, is not found in the Sacred Scripture / Holy Bible. Hence the Catholic Christian Sacraments are man-made. It is not from Christ, they say.

- Response - It is a wild and stupid objection that does not really deserve an answer. What is a word? It is a human symbol pointing to some reality. The word "tree" as I have said in chapter 1, points to a reality that is communicated to me through my senses. What is important is not the word but the reality as such. I can use another symbol "arbre" to mean the same reality as "tree". Besides, if we take the objection seriously, we should be using the Greek language of the original New Testament, not English since none of the English words are found in the original Greek New Testament.

Can any Christian deny the reality of Christ as the fullest expression of God's love through matter - God made man? This is what we mean by Sacrament: the spiritual reality behind the material symbol. And it is this that is important. To confuse the reality with the symbol that signifies it, is a fault of thinking. It is to confuse the accidentals with the essentials. The accidentals are, so to say, the trimmings. There are many types, shapes and colours of human beings, yet they are all human beings. It is the "humanness" in all of us that makes us human beings, not our different colours or shapes. It is a failure to think clearly that has led a number of people into superficial objections.

                                                            -   The Holy Eucharist   - 

People accuse us Catholics of being cannibals, eating the "body" and drinking the "blood" of the Lord Jesus Christ. - The Holy Eucharist is so rich that one can write volumes on it. Here I am only dealing with one aspect of it that has been attacked by non-Catholics: the "REAL PRESENCE" of Christ Jesus under the form of bread and wine. Fearing that they might be accused of cannibalism, they believe that the bread and wine are mere symbols or signs. A rose representing my love is not my love; it is only a symbol of my love.

We, Catholics do not believe that we eat the "body" and drink the "blood" of Christ, as we eat the roasted flesh of an animal or drink its blood (as some people do.) The wine still tastes of wine and the bread of bread. We do believe, however, that, after consecration, when we take the bread and the wine, we partake of something if that something is not actually there? Hence, Christ Jesus is truly present under the form of bread and wine. He is not symbolically present as my love is symbolically represented in the rose. He is not there in physical flesh and blood as an animal that has just been killed. He, as the resurrected Lord, is there in a spiritual way.

Our belief in the "Real Presence" of Christ under the form of bread and wine goes right back in the faith of the Church into the Apostolic Tradition of the early Universal Church to the New Testament. The change in belief that Christ Jesus is truly present in the bread and wine came about in the 16th Century with the Protestant Reformation. Martin Lurther himself believed in the real presence and argued against Calvinist and Zwingli who taught that Christ Jesus was only nominally present. He condemned them saying, "You are of the devil." Do you think the Lord Jesus who promised to be with His Church till the end of the world would allow His Church to go wrong on such a crucial point of faith? If so, the Lord Jesus would have told a lie; or rather, we would be accusing the Lord Jesus of being a liar.

It was this belief in the true presence of the Lord Jesus that made many Christians risk their lives carrying the "Consecrated bread" in their bosom to distribute the "Lord" to other Christians. This was during the time of great persecution under the Roman Empire when Christians live in catacombs to hide from persecution. In fact, a young boy called Saint Tarcisius was stoned to death by his peers because he refused to give up to them the "Lord" whom he was carrying in his bosom.

Saint Ignatius of Antioch (c.110 A.D), who came immediately after the Apostles, believed in the "real presence" of the Lord Jesus. He attacked the Docetists - Docetists believed that matter is evil. How could God who was all good came through evil (matter)? Therefore, to them, Christ Jesus who was God, came not in matter (human body) but in an illusion of a human body - who "hold aloof from the Eucharist and prayers because they do not believe that the Eucharist is the flesh of our Saviour, Jesus Christ", (Letter to the Smyrneans 7:1; Quasten Mon E336). Saint Cyrill of Jerusalem (d.c. 386) said, "Since He (Christ) has said and asserted 'this is my body,' who dares doubt that it is His blood? Christ Jesus once changed water into wine which is akin to blood. Shall we not therefore believe, when He changes wine into blood?

....... And so we continue these with perfect certainty that they are the body and blood of Christ Jesus, since under the appearance of bread the body is given to us, and the blood under the appearance of wine; so that when you have taken the body and blood of Christ, you become participants in His very Body and Blood." (Mystagogical Catechesis 401-3;F.L. Cross, St. Cyril of Jerusalem's lectures on the Christian Sacraments, London 1951.) - Taken from New Catholic Encyclopedia, vol. 5, 1967 Ed., p. 604 - 

This belief of Saint Cyril's sounds like a paraphrase of Saint John's and Saint Paul's teaching on the Eucharist. Saint John's chapter 6 is also a refutation of the docetists' denial of the reality of Christ's human body. It starts with the multiplication of the loaves which has two meanings: (a) nothing is impossible for God to do and (b) symbolic reference to Christ feeding a multitude with His own body and blood.  ---  P A G E   O N E  ---

  - WELCOME TO SACRED SCRIPTURE / WORD OF GOD / HOLY BIBLE READER'S COMMUNITY -

Wishing you, 'Happy Reading', and may God, the Father, the Son of the living God, Jesus Christ, fills your heart, mind, thoughts, and grants you: The Holy Spirit, that is, Wisdom, Knowledge, Understanding, Counsel, Piety, Fortitude, Fear of the Lord, and also His fruits of the Holy Spirit, that is, Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Trustfulness, Gentleness and Self-Control. Amen! God blessing be upon you!

If we live by the truth and in love, we shall grow in all ways into Christ Jesus, who is the head by whom the whole body is fitted and joined together, every joint adding its own strength, for each separate part to work according to it function, so the body grows until it has built itself up, in love. - Ephesians 4:15-16 -

I STILL HAVE MANY THINGS TO SAY TO YOU BUT THEY WOULD BE TOO MUCH FOR YOU NOW. BUT WHEN THE SPIRIT OF TRUTH COMES, HE WILL LEAD YOU TO THE COMPLETE TRUTH, SINCE HE WILL NOT BE SPEAKING AS FROM HIMSELF, BUT WILL SAY ONLY WHAT HE HAS LEARNT; AND HE WILL TELL YOU OF THE THINGS TO COME.

HE WILL GLORIFY ME, SINCE ALL HE TELLS YOU WILL BE TAKEN FROM WHAT IS MINE. EVERYTHING THE FATHER HAS IS MINE; THAT IS WHY I SAID: ALL HE TELLS YOU WILL BE TAKEN FROM WHAT IS MINE. - JOHN 16:12-15 - 

 - THE CITY OF GOD -  THE  OMNIPOTENCE  OF  THE  CREATOR -  BY SAINT AUGUSTINE OF HIPPO -

- Against those who are of opinion that the punishment neither of the devil nor of wicked men shall be eternal - P A G E 6 -

First of all, it behoves us to inquire and to recognise why the Church has not been able to tolerate the idea that promises cleansing or indulgence to the devil even after the most severe and protracted punishment. For so many holy men, imbued with the spirit of the Old and New Testament did not grudge to angels of any rank or character that they should enjoy the blessedness of the heavenly kingdom after being cleansed by suffering but rather they perceived that they could not invalidate nor evacuate the divine sentence which the Lord predicted that He would pronounce in the judgement, saying, "Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels." - Matthew xxv. 41 - For here it is evident that the devil and his angels shall burn in everlasting fire. And there is also that declaration in the Apocalypse, "The devil their deceiver was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where also are the beast and the false prophet. And they shall be tormented day and night for ever." - Revelation xx. 10 - In the former passage "everlasting" is used, in the latter "for ever" and by these words Sacred Scripture is wont to mean nothing else than endless duration. And therefore no other reason, no reason more obvious and just, can be found for holding it as the fixed and immovable belief of the truest piety, that the devil and his angels shall never return to the justice and life of the saints, than that Scripture, which deceives no man, says that God spared them not, and that they were condemned beforehand by Him and cast into prisons of darkness in hell - 2 Peter ii. 4 - being reserved to the judgement of the last day, when eternal fire shall receive them, in which they shall be tormented world without end. And if this be so, how can it be believed that all men or even some, shall be withdrawn from the endurance of punishment after some time has been spent in it? How can this be believed without enervating our faith in the eternal punishment of the devils? For if all or some of those to whom it shall be said, "Depart from me, ye cursed into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels" - Matthew xxv. 41 - are not to be always in that fire, then what reason is there for believing that the devil and his angels shall always be there? Or is perhaps the sentence of God which is to be pronounced on wicked men and angels alike, to be true in the case of the angels, false in that of men? Plainly it will be so if the conjectures of men are to weigh more than the word of God. But because this is absurd, they who desire to be rid of eternal punishment ought to abstain from arguing against God, and rather, while yet there is opportunity, obey the divine commands.

Then what a fond fancy is it to suppose that eternal punishment means long-continued punishment, while eternal life means life without end, since Christ in the very same passage spoke of both in similar terms in one and the same sentence, "These shall go away into eternal punishment but the righteous into eternal life! - Matthew xxv. 46 - If both destinies are "eternal," then we must either understand both as long-continued but as last terminating, or both as endless. For they are correlative - on the one hand, punishment eternal, on the other hand, life eternal. And to say in one and the same sense life eternal shall be endless, punishment eternal shall come to an end, is the height of absurdity. Wherefore, as the eternal life of the saints shall be endless, so too the eternal punishment of those who are doomed to it shall have no end.

- Against those who fancy that in the judgement of God all the accused will be spared in virtue of the prayers of the saints - 

And this reasoning is equally conclusive against those who, in their own interest but under the guise of a greater tenderness of spirit, attempt to invalidate the words of God and who assert that these words are not true, not because men shall suffer those things which are threatened by God, but because they deserve to suffer them. For God, they say, will yield them to the prayers of His saints, who will then the more earnestly pray for their enemies, as they shall be more perfect in holiness and whose prayer will be the more efficacious and the more worthy of God's ear because now purged from all sin whatsoever. Why then, if in that perfected holiness their prayers be so pure and all-availing will they not use them on behalf of the angels for whom eternal fire is prepared, that God may mitigate His sentence and alter it and extricate them from that fire? Or will there, perhaps, be more one hardy enough to affirm that even the holy angels will make common cause with holy men (then become the equals of God's angels) and will intercede for the guilty, both men and angels that mercy may spare them the punishment which truth has pronounced them to deserve? But this has been asserted by no one sound in the faith nor will be. Otherwise there is no reason why the Church should not even now pray for the devil and his angels, since God her Master has ordered her to pray for her enemies. The reason, then, which prevents the Church from now praying for the wicked angels whom she knows to be her enemies, is the identical reason which shall prevent her, however, perfected in holiness, from praying at the last judgment for those men who are to be punished in eternal fire. At present, she prays for her enemies among men because they have yet opportunity for fruitful repentance. For what does she especially beg for them but that "God would grant them repentance," as the apostle says, "that they may return to soberness out of the snare of the devil, by whom they are held captive according to his will?" - 2 Timothy 2:25-26 - 

But if the Church were certified who those are, who, though they are still abiding in this life are yet predestined to go with the devil into eternal fire, then for them she could no more pray than for him. But since she has this certainty regarding no man, she prays for all her enemies who yet live in this world; and yet she is not heard in behalf of all. But she is heard in the case of those only who though they oppose the Church, are yet predestined to become her son through her intercession. But if any retain an impenitent heart until death and are not converted from enemies into sons, does the Church continue to pray for them, for the spirits, that is, of such persons deceased? And why does she cease to pray for them, unless because the man who was not translated into Christ's kingdom while he was in the body, is now judged to be of Satan's following?

It is then, I say the same reason which prevents the Church at anytime from praying for the wicked angels which prevents her from praying hereafter for those men who are to be punished in eternal fire; and this also is the reason why though she prays even for the wicked so long as they live, she yet does not even in this world pray for the unbelieving and godless who are dead. For some of the dead, indeed, the prayer of the Church or pious individuals is heard; but it is for those who, having been regenerated in Christ, did not spend their life so wickedly that they can be judged unworthy of such compassion, nor so well that they can be considered to have no need of it. As also, after the resurrection, there will be some of the dead to whom, after they have endured the pains proper to the spirits of the dead, mercy shall be accorded and acquittal from the punishment of eternal life. For were there not some whose sins, though not remitted in this life, shall be remitted in that which is to come, it could not be truly said, "They shall not be forgiven, neither in this world, neither in that which is to come." - Matthew 12:32 - But when the Judge of quick and dead has said, "Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world," and to those on the other side, "Depart from me, ye cursed, into the eternal fire, which is prepared for the devil and his angels," and "These shall go away into eternal punishment but the righteous into eternal life" - Matthew 25:34, 41, 46 - it were excessively presumptuous to say that the punishment of any of those who God has said shall go away into eternal punishment shall not be eternal and so bring either despair or doubt upon the corresponding promise of life eternal.

Let no man then so understand the words of the Palmist, "Shall God forget to be gracious? shall He shut up His anger His tender mercies?" - Psalms 1xxvii. 9 - as if the sentence of God were true of good men, false of bad men or more true of good men and wicked angels but false of bad men. For the Psalmist's words refer to the vessels of mercy and the children of the promise of whom the prophet himself was one; for when he said, "Shall God forget to be gracious? shall He shut up His anger His tender mercies?" and then immediately subjoins." And I said, Now I begin: this is the change wrought by the right hand of the Most High" - Psalms 1xxvii. 10 - he manifestly explained what he meant by the words, "Shall He shut up in His anger His tender mercies?" For God's anger is this mortal life in which man is made like to vanity and his days pass as a shadow. - Psalms cxliv. 4 - Yet in this anger God does not forget to be gracious, causing His sun to shine and His rain to descend on the just and the unjust; - Matthew v. 45 - and thus He does not in His anger cut short His tender mercies and especially in what the Psalmist speaks of in the words, "Now I begin: this change is from the right hand of the Most High;" for He changes for the better the vessels of mercy, even while they are still in this most wretched life which is God's anger and even while His anger is manifesting itself in this miserable corruption; for "in His anger He does not shut up His tender mercies." And since the truth of this divine canticle is quite satisfied by this application of it, there is no need to give it a reference to that place in which those who do not belong to the city of God are punished in eternal fire. But if any persist in extending its application to the torments of the wicked, let them at least understand it so that the anger of God which has threatened the wicked  with eternal punishment, shall abide but shall be mixed with mercy to the extend of alleviating the torments which might justly be inflicted; so that the wicked shall neither wholly escape, nor only for a time endure these threatened pains but shall be less severe and more endurable than they deserve. Thus the anger of God shall continue and at the same time He will not in this anger shut up His tender mercies. But even this hypothesis I am not to be supposed to affirm because I do not positively oppose it." - It is the theory which Chrysostom adopts -

As for those who find an empty threat rather than a truth in such passages as these: "Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire:" and "These shall go away into eternal punishment;" - Matthew xxv. 41, 46 - and "They shall be tormented for ever and ever; " - Revelation xx. 10 - and "Their worm shall not die and their fire shall not quenched" - Isaiah 1xvi. 24 - such persons, I say, are most emphatically and abundantly refuted, not by me so much as by the divine Scripture itself. For the men of Nineveh repented in this life and therefore their repentant was fruitful, inasmuch as they sowed in that field which the Lord meant to be sown in tears that it might afterwards be reaped in joy. And yet who will deny that God's prediction was fulfilled in their case, if at least he observes that God destroys sinners not only in anger but also in compassion? For sinners are destroyed in two ways - either, like the Sodomites, the men themselves are punished for their sins or like the Ninevites, the men's sins are destroy by repentance. God's prediction, therefore, was fulfilled - the wicked Nineveh was overthrown and a good Nineveh built up. For its wall and houses remained standing; the city was overthrown in its depraved manners. And thus, though the prophet was provoked that the destruction which the inhabitants dreaded because of his prediction, it did not take place, yet that which God's foreknowledge had predicted, it did take place, for He is foretold the destruction knew how it should be fulfilled in a less calamitous sense.

But that these perversely compassionate persons may see what is the purport of these words, "How great is the abundance of Thy sweetness, Lord, which Thou hast hidden for them that fear Thee" - Psalms xxxi. 19 - let them read what follows: "And Thou hast perfected it for them that hope in Thee." For what means, "Thou hast hidden it for them that fear Thee," "Thou hast perfected it for them that hope in Thee" unless this, that to those who through fear of punishment seek to establish their own righteousness by the law, the righteousness of God is not sweet, because they are ignorant of it? They have not tasted it. For they hope in themselves not in Him; and therefore God's abundant sweetness is hidden from them. They fear God, indeed, but it is with that servile fear "which is not in love; for perfect love casteth out fear." - 1 John iv. 18 - Therefore to them that hope in Him He perfecteth His sweetness, inspiring them with His own love, so that with a holy fear, which love does not cast out but which endureth forever, they may, when thy glory , glory in the Lord. For the righteousness of God is Christ, "who is of God made unto us," as the apostle says, "wisdom and righteousness and sanctification and redemption: it is written. He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord." - 1 Corinthians i. 30-31 - This righteousness of God which is the gift of grace without merits, is not known by those who go about to establish their own righteousness and are therefore not subject to the righteousness of God which is Christ. - Romans x. 3 - But it is in this righteousness that we find the great abundance of God's sweetness of which the psalm says, "Taste and see how sweet the Lord is." - Psalms xxxiv. 8 -And these we rather taste than partake of to satiety in this our pilgrimage. We hunger and thirst for it now, that hereafter we may be satisfied with it when we see Him as He is and that is fulfilled which is written, "I shall be satisfied when Thy glory shall be manifested." - Psalms xvii 15 - It is thus that Christ perfects the great abundance of His sweetness to them that hope in Him. But if God conceals His sweetness to them that hope in Him. But if God conceals His sweetness from them that fear Him in the sense that these our objectors fancy, so that men ignorance of His purpose of mercy towards the wicked may lead them to fear Him and live better, and so that there may be prayer made for those who are not living as they ought, how then does He perfect His sweetness to them that hope in Him, since if their dreams be true, it is this very sweetness which will prevent Him from punishing those who do not hope in Him? Let us then seek that sweetness of His, which He perfects to them that hope in Him, not that which He is supposed to perfect to those who despise and blaspheme Him; for in vain after this life, does a man seek for what he has neglected to provide while in this life.

Then, as the saying of the apostles, "For God hath concluded all in unbelief, that He may have mercy upon all," - Romans xi. 32 - it does not mean that He will condemn no one; but the foregoing context shows what is meant. The apostle composed the epistle for the Gentiles who were already believers; and when he was speaking to them of the Jews who were yet to believe, he says, "For as ye in times past believed not God, yet have now obtained mercy through their belief; even so have these also now not believed, that through your mercy they also may obtain mercy." Then he added the words in question with which these persons beguile themselves: "For God concluded all in unbelief that He might have mercy upon all." All whom, if not all those of whom he was speaking, just as if he had said, "Both you and them?" God then concluded all those in unbelief, both Jews and Gentiles whom He foreknew and predestinated to be conformed to the image of His Son, in order that they might be confounded by the bitterness of unbelief and might repent and believingly turn to sweetness of God's mercy and might take up that exclamation of the psalm, "How great is the abundance of Thy sweetness, O Lord, which Thou hast hidden for them that fear Thee, but hast perfected to them that hope," not in themselves but "in Thee." He has mercy, then, on all the vessels of mercy. And what means "all?" Both those of the Gentiles and those of the Jews whom He predestinated, called, justified, glorified: none of these will be condemned by Him; but we cannot say none of all men whatever.

- Whether those who received heretical baptism, and have afterwards fallen away to wickedness of life; or those who have received catholic baptism but have afterwards passed over to heresy and schism; or those who have remained in the catholic Church in which they were baptised but have continued to live immorally - may hope through the virtue of the sacraments for the remmission of eternal punishment -  P A G E  7  - 

  - WELCOME TO SACRED SCRIPTURE / WORD OF GOD / HOLY BIBLE READER'S COMMUNITY -

Wishing you, 'Happy Reading', and may God, the Father, the Son of the living God, Jesus Christ, fills your heart, mind, thoughts, and grants you: The Holy Spirit, that is, Wisdom, Knowledge, Understanding, Counsel, Piety, Fortitude, Fear of the Lord, and also His fruits of the Holy Spirit, that is, Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Trustfulness, Gentleness and Self-Control. Amen! God blessing be upon you!

If we live by the truth and in love, we shall grow in all ways into Christ Jesus, who is the head by whom the whole body is fitted and joined together, every joint adding its own strength, for each separate part to work according to it function, so the body grows until it has built itself up, in love. - Ephesians 4:15-16 -

I STILL HAVE MANY THINGS TO SAY TO YOU BUT THEY WOULD BE TOO MUCH FOR YOU NOW. BUT WHEN THE SPIRIT OF TRUTH COMES, HE WILL LEAD YOU TO THE COMPLETE TRUTH, SINCE HE WILL NOT BE SPEAKING AS FROM HIMSELF, BUT WILL SAY ONLY WHAT HE HAS LEARNT; AND HE WILL TELL YOU OF THE THINGS TO COME.

HE WILL GLORIFY ME, SINCE ALL HE TELLS YOU WILL BE TAKEN FROM WHAT IS MINE. EVERYTHING THE FATHER HAS IS MINE; THAT IS WHY I SAID: ALL HE TELLS YOU WILL BE TAKEN FROM WHAT IS MINE. - JOHN 16:12-15 - 

- THE CITY OF GOD -  THE  OMNIPOTENCE  OF  THE  CREATOR -  BY SAINT AUGUSTINE OF HIPPO -

- Of those who fancy that, on account of the saint's intercession, no man shall be damned in the last judgment - P A G E  5 -

There are others, again with whose opinions I have become acquainted in conversation who though they seem to reverence the holy Scriptures, are yet of reprehensible life and who accordingly in their own interest, attribute to God a still greater compassion towards men. For they acknowledge that is truly predicted in the divine word that the wicked and unbelieving are worthy of punishment, but they assert that when the judgement comes, mercy will prevail. For they said, God having compassion on them, will give them up to the prayers and intercessions of His saints. For if the saints used to pray for them when they suffered from their cruel hatred, how much more will they do so when they see them prostate and humble suppliants? For we cannot, they say, believe that the saints shall lose their bowels of compassion when they have attained the most perfect and complete holiness; so that they who, when still sinners, prayed for their enemies, should now, when they are freed from sin, withhold from interceding for their suppliants. Or shall God refuse to listen to so many of His beloved children when their holiness has purged their prayers of all hindrance to His answering them? And the passage of the psalms which is cited by those who admit that wicked men and infidels shall be punished for a long time, though in the end delivered from all sufferings, is claimed also by the persons, we are now speaking of as making much more for them. The verse runs: "Shall God forget to be gracious? Shall He in anger shut up His tender mercies?" - Psalms 1xxvii. 9 - His anger, they say, would condemn all that are unworthy of everlasting happiness to endless punishment. But if He suffer them to be punished for a long time or even at all, must He not shut up His tender mercies which the Psalmist implies He will not do? For he does not say, Shall He in anger shut up His tender mercies for a long period? but he implies that He will not shut them up at all.

And they deny that thus God's threat of judgement is proved to be false even though He condemn no man, anymore than we can say that His threat to overthrow Nineveh was false, though the destruction which was absolutely predicted was not accomplished. For He did not say: "Nineveh shall be overthrown if they do not repent and amend their ways," but without any shall condition He foretold that the city should be overthrown. And this prediction, they maintain was true because God predicted the punishment which they deserved, although He was not to inflict it. For though He spared them on their repentance, yet He was certainly aware that they would repent and not withstanding, absolutely and definitely predicted that the city should be overthrown. This was true, they say, in the truth of severity because they were worthy of it; but in respect of the compassion which checked His anger, so that He spared the suppliants with which He had threatened the rebellious, it was not true. If then, He spared those whom His own holy prophet was provoked at His sparing, how much more shall He spare those more wretched supplicants for whom all His saints shall intercede? And they suppose that this conjecture of theirs is not hinted at in Scripture, for the sake of stimulating many to reformation of life through fear of very protracted or eternal sufferings and of stimulating others to pray for those who have not reformed. However, they think that the divine oracles are not altogether silent on this point; for they ask to what purpose is it said, "How great is Thy goodness which Thou hast hidden for them that fear Thee," - Psalms xxxi. 19 - if it be not to teach us that the great and hidden sweetness of God' mercy is concealed in order that men may fear? To the same purpose they think the apostle said, "For God hath concluded all men in unbelief, that He may have mercy upon all," - Romans xi. 32 - signifying that no one should be condemned by God. And yet they who hold this opinion do not extend it to the acquittal or liberation of the devil and his angels. Their human tenderness is moved only towards men, and they plead chiefly their own cause, holding out false hopes of impunity to their own depraved lives by means of this quasi compassion of God to the whole race. Consequently, they who promise this impunity even to the prince of the devils and his satellites make a still fuller exhibition of the mercy of God.

- Of those who promise impunity from all sins even to heretics, through virtue of their participation of the body of Christ. -    

So, too, there are others who promise this deliverance from eternal punishment, not, indeed, to all men, but only to those who have been washed in Christian baptism and who become partakers of the body of Christ, no matter how they have lived or what heresy or impiety they have fallen into. They ground this opinion on the saying of Jesus, "This is the bread which cometh down from heaven, that if any man eat thereof, he shall not die. I am the living bread which came down from heaven. If a man eat of this bread, he shall live forever." - John vi. 50-51 - Therefore, say they, it follows that these persons must be delivered from death and at one time or other be introduced to everlasting life.

- Of those who promise this indulgence not at all, but only to those who have been baptized as Catholic, though afterwards they have broken out into many crimes and heresies -

There are others still who make this promise not even to all who have received the sacraments of the baptism of Christ and of His body, but only to the Catholics, however, badly they have lived. For these have eaten the body of Christ, not only sacramentally but really being incorporated in His body as the apostle says, "We, being many, are one bread, one body;" - 1 Corinthians x. 17 - so that, though they have afterwards lapsed into some heresy or even into heathenism and idolatry, yet by virtue of this one thing, that they received the baptism of Christ and eaten the body of Christ, in the body of Christ, that is to say, in the Catholic Church, they shall not die eternally but at one time or other obtain eternal life; and all that wickedness of theirs shall not avail to make their punishment eternal, but only proportionately long and severe.

- Of those who assert that all Catholics who continue in the faith, even though by the depravity of their lives they have merited hell fire, shall be saved on account of the "foundation" of their faith and work -

There are some, too, who found upon the expression of Scripture, "He that endure to the end shall be saved," - Matthew xxiv. 13 - and who promise salvation only to those who continue in the Catholic Church / Universal Church and though such persons have lived badly, yet, say they, they shall be saved as by fire through virtue of the foundation of which the apostle says, "For other foundation hath no man laid than that which is laid, which is Christ Jesus. Now if any man build upon this foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble; every man's work shall be made manifest: for the day of the Lord shall declare it, for it shall be revealed by fire; and each man's work shall be proved of what sort it is. If any man's work shall endure which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward. But if any man's work shall be burned , he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as through fire." - 1 Corinthians iii. 11-15 - They say, accordingly, that the Catholic Christian, no matter what his life be, has Christ as his foundation while this foundation is not possessed by any heresy which is separated from the unity of His body. And therefore, through virtue of this foundation, even though the Catholic Christian by the inconsistency of his life has been as one building up wood, hay, stubble, upon it, they believe that he shall be saved by fire, in other words, that he shall be delivered after tasting the pain of that fire to which the wicked shall be condemned at the last judgment.

- Of those who fancy that the sins which are intermingled with alms-deeds shall not be charged at the day of judgement - 

I have also met with some who are of opinion that such only as neglect to cover their sins with alms-deeds shall be punished in everlasting fire; and they cite the words of the Apostle James, "He shall have judgement without mercy who hath shown no mercy." - James ii. 13 - Therefore, say they, he who has not amended his ways but yet has intermingled his profligate and wicked actions with works of mercy, shall receive mercy in the judgement, so that he shall either quite escape condemnation or shall be liberated from his doom after some time shorter or longer. They suppose that this was the reason why the Judge Himself of quick and declined to mentioned anything else than works of mercy done or omitted, when awarding to those on His right hand life eternal and to those on His left everlasting punishment. - Matthew xxv. 3 - To the same propose, they say, is the daily petition we make in the Lord's prayer, "Forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors." - Matthew vi. 12 - For, no doubt, whoever pardons the person who has wronged by the Lord Himself that He says, "For if ye forgive men trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you: but if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses." - Matthew vi. 14-15 - And so it is to this kind of alms-deeds that the saying of the Apostle James refers, "He shall have judgement without mercy that hath shown no mercy." And our Lord, they say, made no distinction of great and small sins, but "Your Father will forgive your sins, if ye forgive men theirs." Consequently they conclude that, though a man has led an abandoned life up to the last day of it, yet whatsoever his sins have been, they are all remitted by virtue of this daily prayer, if only he has been mindful to attend to this one thing, that when they who have done him any injury ask his pardon, he forgive them form his heart.

When, by God's help, I have replied to all these errors, I shall conclude this (twenty-first) book.

- THE CITY OF GOD -  THE  OMNIPOTENCE  OF  THE  CREATOR -  BY SAINT AUGUSTINE OF HIPPO -

- Against those who are of opinion that the punishment neither of the devil nor of wicked men shall be eternal - P A G E 6 -

 - WELCOME TO SACRED SCRIPTURE / WORD OF GOD / HOLY BIBLE READER'S COMMUNITY -

Wishing you, 'Happy Reading', and may God, the Father, the Son of the living God, Jesus Christ, fills your heart, mind, thoughts, and grants you: The Holy Spirit, that is, Wisdom, Knowledge, Understanding, Counsel, Piety, Fortitude, Fear of the Lord, and also His fruits of the Holy Spirit, that is, Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Trustfulness, Gentleness and Self-Control. Amen! God blessing be upon you!

If we live by the truth and in love, we shall grow in all ways into Christ Jesus, who is the head by whom the whole body is fitted and joined together, every joint adding its own strength, for each separate part to work according to it function, so the body grows until it has built itself up, in love. - Ephesians 4:15-16 -

I STILL HAVE MANY THINGS TO SAY TO YOU BUT THEY WOULD BE TOO MUCH FOR YOU NOW. BUT WHEN THE SPIRIT OF TRUTH COMES, HE WILL LEAD YOU TO THE COMPLETE TRUTH, SINCE HE WILL NOT BE SPEAKING AS FROM HIMSELF, BUT WILL SAY ONLY WHAT HE HAS LEARNT; AND HE WILL TELL YOU OF THE THINGS TO COME.

HE WILL GLORIFY ME, SINCE ALL HE TELLS YOU WILL BE TAKEN FROM WHAT IS MINE. EVERYTHING THE FATHER HAS IS MINE; THAT IS WHY I SAID: ALL HE TELLS YOU WILL BE TAKEN FROM WHAT IS MINE. - JOHN 16:12-15 -