I BELIEVE IN GOD THE FATHER ALMIGHTY CREATOR OF HEAVEN AND EARTH … (The Apostles’ Creed)

I BELIEVE IN ONE GOD, THE FATHER ALMIGHTY, MAKER OF HEAVEN AND EARTH, OF ALL THINGS VISIBLE AND INVISIBLE … ( The Nicene Creed)

Our Profession of Faith Begins with GOD ₋ God is the First and Last ₋ The Beginning and the End of everything

ONE UNIQUE GOD “Hear O Israel: The Lord our God is one Lord; and you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might.” (Deut 6:4-5)

GOD REVEALS HIS NAME ₋A person’s name expresses his essence, identity, meaning of his life. −A person reveals his name, to be known and be accessible

GOD REVEALS HIS NAME “ Moses said to God, … if the people ask me ‘What is his name?, What shall I tell them? God said to Moses, ‘I AM WHO I AM.’ ” (Ex 3:13-15)

GOD REVEALS HIS NAME YHWH ₋ I AM WHO IS, I AM WHO AM I AM WHO I AM God’s name reveals His faithfulness; “HE WHO IS” - God of Truth and Love.

THE ONE GOD IS A TRINITY Christians are baptized “In the Name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit”. Our God is a Holy Trinity

THE ONE GOD IS A TRINITY There is only ONE GOD, who is - Almighty Father - His only Son - the Holy Spirit.

OUR GOD IS THE FATHER The First Divine Person in the Most Holy Trinity. “ … yet for us there is only one God, the Father from whom all things come and for whom we exist, …” (1 Cor 8:6)

OUR GOD IS THE FATHER In the language of faith, calling God ‘Father’ indicates He is : ₋ALMIGHTY, the origin of everything ₋ FATHERLY, good to and lovingly caring of all His children. ₋

OUR GOD IS THE FATHER According to Jesus, because He is a creator and is His eternal Father. “No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.” (Mt. 11:27)

GOD THE ALMIGHTY Attributes of God’s Power -Omnipotence -Universal – creator and ruler of all -Mysterious – discerned by faith when ‘made perfect In weakness’. ( 2Cor 12:9) -Loving – He is a Father

GOD THE CREATOR “OF HEAVEN AND EARTH” Creation is the foundation of ‘all God’s saving plans’, the beginning of the history of salvation that culminates in Christ.

₋GOD THE CREATOR “OF HEAVEN AND EARTH” The creation of the world and man witness to: ₋His almighty love ₋His wisdom ₋ The Glory of God

GOD THE CREATOR The world was created “for the Glory of God” - the realization, manifestation and communication of His goodness God created an ordered and good world. God upholds and sustains creation.

GOD THE CREATOR Though the work of creation is attributed to the Father, our Faith teaches that He did this indivisibly together with God the Son and the Holy Sprit.

GOD THE CREATOR God created the world out of his wisdom and love, ‘out of nothing’, freely, directly and without any help.

GOD THE CREATOR CREATION concerns the very foundation of human & Christian life. “Where do we come from?” “Where are we going?” “What is our origin, our end?”

GOD THE CREATOR Human intelligence is now capable of finding answers to questions of Origin. Human reasoning ascertains the existence of God the creator.

GOD THE CREATOR THE QUESTION OF EVIL With God’s infinite power, why did He not create a world so perfect that no evil could exist in it?

GOD THE CREATOR There is no quick and easy answer. Only the Christian faith as a whole constitutes the answer to this question. With God’s infinite wisdom and goodness, He freely willed to create a world ‘in a state of journeying’ towards its ultimate perfection.

GOD THE CREATOR PHYSICAL EVIL – the appearance and disappearance of certain beings, the perfect and the imperfect. MORAL EVIL – beings with intelligence and freedom can go astray; they can choose TO SIN – not to choose the path God intended.

GOD THE CREATOR “For Almighty God … because he is supremely good, would never allow any evil whatsoever to exist in his works if He were not so all-powerful and good as to cause good to emerge from evil itself.” (St. Augustine)

GOD THE CREATOR In time we can discover that God in his almighty providence can bring a good from the consequences of evil, even a moral evil, caused by his creatures.

“We know that in everything God works for good for those who love Him.” (Rom 8:28)

Source: Catechism of the Catholic Church Section Two – Chapter One, Article 1 Paragraphs 1-7 (Numbers )

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