I frequently have discussions with atheists about faith. It's made the more difficult because the Catholic definitions of some of the words that I use are far different from the atheistic definitions of those same words. Hence, I feel a need to clarify the meaning of the words I use in order to begin the discussion from the same page.
Faith: Your belief about how the universe works
Religion: How you apply your faith to your life
Good: To sacrifice the self for the sake of another
Evil: To sacrifice another for the sake of the self
Love: To seek the greatest possible good for another
Hate: To seek the greatest possible evil for another
God: Unconditional Love
Jesus Christ: God's human form.
Heaven: That place where Love exists without end and where all are Good and moral.
Hell: That place where Hate exists without end and where all are Evil and immoral.
Moral: Those actions and behaviors which are good
Immoral: Those actions and behaviors which are evil
Sin: To entertain thoughts of or to engage in any behavior which is immoral or based upon hatred of God, self, or others
Submit: To put oneself under the mission of another
Sacrament: A visible sign of God's love
Mystery: Something which cannot be fully explored or fully explained
Covenant: An unbreakable bond created between two or more parties
Baptism: A sacrament in which a person enters into a covenant with God for the purpose of submitting their entire lives to Him.
Confirmation: A sacrament in which a person receives from God special gifts to aid them in fulfilling the vows made during the sacrament of baptism and accepts the responsibilities which are expected of those who enter into such a covenant.
Eucharist: A sacrament in which a person receives, in the form of bread and wine, the entire body, blood, soul, and divinity of Jesus Christ for the purpose of being united more fully to Him and to strengthen them in their fight against hatred, evil, and immorality.
Matrimony: A sacrament in which a man and a woman enter into a covenant with one another and God for the good of one another and the perpetuation of the human race through the creation of new life.
Marriage: The daily living out of the covenant agreed to during matrimony.
Murder: To deprive someone who is innocent of any crime of life
Sex: A prayer form reserved for marriage during which husband and wife seek God's blessing upon their union in the form of a strengthening of the bonds between them and the creation of new life.
To wit: I believe in God. I believe that God created the Universe and all that is in it. I believe that God desires all men to be good and to live moral lives. I believe that the laws which He gave to the nation of Israel were designed to teach men how to be good and how to live moral lives. I believe that because God saw that the law was not enough to change the hearts of men, He came down from Heaven and united Himself with man through the womb of the Virgin Mary, becoming the man Jesus Christ. As Jesus Christ, God walked directly with man and taught him how to live good and moral lives by example, sacrificing his own life to save the lives of the people He had created. I believe that Heaven exists, and that God desires all people to live in it, but that He allows us to choose through the lives we live here where we will live in the next.
Because I believe these things, I strive to be a good person. I strive to love every person I meet. I strive to live a moral life. I live out my marriage in accordance with the vows I took when I entered into the sacrament of Matrimony. I submit myself to God first and to my husband next, because the mission of both God and my husband is to pursue what is good for me and to love me.
Faith: Your belief about how the universe works
Religion: How you apply your faith to your life
Good: To sacrifice the self for the sake of another
Evil: To sacrifice another for the sake of the self
Love: To seek the greatest possible good for another
Hate: To seek the greatest possible evil for another
God: Unconditional Love
Jesus Christ: God's human form.
Heaven: That place where Love exists without end and where all are Good and moral.
Hell: That place where Hate exists without end and where all are Evil and immoral.
Moral: Those actions and behaviors which are good
Immoral: Those actions and behaviors which are evil
Sin: To entertain thoughts of or to engage in any behavior which is immoral or based upon hatred of God, self, or others
Submit: To put oneself under the mission of another
Sacrament: A visible sign of God's love
Mystery: Something which cannot be fully explored or fully explained
Covenant: An unbreakable bond created between two or more parties
Baptism: A sacrament in which a person enters into a covenant with God for the purpose of submitting their entire lives to Him.
Confirmation: A sacrament in which a person receives from God special gifts to aid them in fulfilling the vows made during the sacrament of baptism and accepts the responsibilities which are expected of those who enter into such a covenant.
Eucharist: A sacrament in which a person receives, in the form of bread and wine, the entire body, blood, soul, and divinity of Jesus Christ for the purpose of being united more fully to Him and to strengthen them in their fight against hatred, evil, and immorality.
Matrimony: A sacrament in which a man and a woman enter into a covenant with one another and God for the good of one another and the perpetuation of the human race through the creation of new life.
Marriage: The daily living out of the covenant agreed to during matrimony.
Murder: To deprive someone who is innocent of any crime of life
Sex: A prayer form reserved for marriage during which husband and wife seek God's blessing upon their union in the form of a strengthening of the bonds between them and the creation of new life.
To wit: I believe in God. I believe that God created the Universe and all that is in it. I believe that God desires all men to be good and to live moral lives. I believe that the laws which He gave to the nation of Israel were designed to teach men how to be good and how to live moral lives. I believe that because God saw that the law was not enough to change the hearts of men, He came down from Heaven and united Himself with man through the womb of the Virgin Mary, becoming the man Jesus Christ. As Jesus Christ, God walked directly with man and taught him how to live good and moral lives by example, sacrificing his own life to save the lives of the people He had created. I believe that Heaven exists, and that God desires all people to live in it, but that He allows us to choose through the lives we live here where we will live in the next.
Because I believe these things, I strive to be a good person. I strive to love every person I meet. I strive to live a moral life. I live out my marriage in accordance with the vows I took when I entered into the sacrament of Matrimony. I submit myself to God first and to my husband next, because the mission of both God and my husband is to pursue what is good for me and to love me.
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