Youcat commented through CCC – Question n. 359 – Part I.

YOUCAT Question n. 359 – Part I. Why does God want us to “hallow” his name (that is, keep it holy)?

(Youcat answer) To tell someone your name is a sign of trust. Since God has told us his name, he makes himself recognizable and grants us access to him through this name. God is absolute truth. Someone who calls Truth himself by his name but uses it to testify to a lie sins seriously.    

A deepening through CCC

(CCC 2142) The second commandment prescribes respect for the Lord's name. Like the first commandment, it belongs to the virtue of religion and more particularly it governs our use of speech in sacred matters.    

Reflecting and meditating 

(Youcat comment) One must not pronounce the name of God irreverently. For we know him only because he has entrusted himself to us. The Holy Name, after all, is the key to the heart of the Almighty. Therefore it is a terrible offense to blaspheme God, to curse using God’s name, or to make false promises in his name. The Second Commandment is therefore also a commandment that protects “holiness” in general. Places, things, names, and people who have been touched by God are “holy”. Sensitivity to what is holy is called reverence.   

(CCC Comment)

(CCC 2143) Among all the words of Revelation, there is one which is unique: the revealed name of God. God confides his name to those who believe in him; he reveals himself to them in his personal mystery. The gift of a name belongs to the order of trust and intimacy. "The Lord's name is holy." For this reason man must not abuse it. He must keep it in mind in silent, loving adoration. He will not introduce it into his own speech except to bless, praise, and glorify it (Cf. Zech 2:13; Ps 29:2; 96:2; 113:1-2).

(This question: Why does God want us to “hallow” his name (that is, keep it holy)? is continued)

Youcat commented through CCC – Question n. 358 – Part II.

YOUCAT Question n. 358 – Part II. Why does the Old Testament forbid images of God, and why do we Christians no longer keep that commandment?

(Youcat answer - repeated) In order to protect the mystery of God and to set the people of Israel apart from the idolatrous practices of the pagans, the First Commandment said, “You shall not make for yourself a graven image” (Ex 20:4). However, since God himself acquired a human face in Jesus Christ, the prohibition against images was repealed in Christianity; in the Eastern Church, Icons are even regarded as sacred.   

A deepening through CCC

(CCC 2131) Basing itself on the mystery of the incarnate Word, the seventh ecumenical council at Nicaea (787) justified against the iconoclasts the veneration of icons - of Christ, but also of the Mother of God, the angels, and all the saints. By becoming incarnate, the Son of God introduced a new "economy" of images.    

Reflecting and meditating 

(Youcat comment) The knowledge of the patriarchs of Israel that God surpasses everything (transcendence) and is much greater than anything in the world lives on today in Judaism as in Islam, where no image of God is or ever was allowed. In Christianity, in light of Christ’s life on earth, the prohibition against images was mitigated from the fourth century on and was abolished at the Second Council of Nicaea (787). By his Incarnation, God is no longer absolutely unimaginable; after Jesus we can picture whathe is like: “He who has seen me has seen the Fath” (Jn 14:9).

(CCC Comment)

(CCC 2132) The Christian veneration of images is not contrary to the first commandment which proscribes idols. Indeed, "the honor rendered to an image passes to its prototype," and "whoever venerates an image venerates the person portrayed in it" (St. Basil, De Spiritu Sancto 18, 45: PG 32, 149C; Council of Nicaea II: DS 601; cf. Council of Trent: DS 1821-1825; Vatican Council II: SC 126; LG 67). The honor paid to sacred images is a "respectful veneration," not the adoration due to God alone: Religious worship is not directed to images in themselves, considered as mere things, but under their distinctive aspect as images leading us on to God incarnate. The movement toward the image does not terminate in it as image, but tends toward that whose image it is (St. Thomas Aquinas, STh II-II, 81, 3 ad 3).     

(The next question is:  Why does God want us to “hallow” his name (that is, keep it holy)?)

Youcat commented through CCC – Question n. 358 – Part I.

YOUCAT Question n. 358 – Part I. Why does the Old Testament forbid images of God, and why do we Christians no longer keep that commandment?

(Youcat answer) In order to protect the mystery of God and to set the people of Israel apart from the idolatrous practices of the pagans, the First Commandment said, “You shall not make for yourself a graven image” (Ex 20:4). However, since God himself acquired a human face in Jesus Christ, the prohibition against images was repealed in Christianity; in the Eastern Church, Icons are even regarded as sacred.     

A deepening through CCC

(CCC 2141) The veneration of sacred images is based on the mystery of the Incarnation of the Word of God. It is not contrary to the first commandment. (CCC 2129) The divine injunction included the prohibition of every representation of God by the hand of man. Deuteronomy explains: "Since you saw no form on the day that the Lord spoke to you at Horeb out of the midst of the fire, beware lest you act corruptly by making a graven image for yourselves, in the form of any figure...." (Deut 4:15-16). It is the absolutely transcendent God who revealed himself to Israel. "He is the all," but at the same time "he is greater than all his works" (Sir 43:27-28). He is "the author of beauty" (Wis 13:3).   

  

Reflecting and meditating 

(Youcat comment) The knowledge of the patriarchs of Israel that God surpasses everything (transcendence) and is much greater than anything in the world lives on today in Judaism as in Islam, where no image of God is or ever was allowed. In Christianity, in light of Christ’s life on earth, the prohibition against images was mitigated from the fourth century on and was abolished at the Second Council of Nicaea (787). By his Incarnation, God is no longer absolutely unimaginable; after Jesus we can picture whathe is like: “He who has seen me has seen the Fath” (Jn 14:9).  

(CCC Comment)

(CCC 2130) Nevertheless, already in the Old Testament, God ordained or permitted the making of images that pointed symbolically toward salvation by the incarnate Word: so it was with the bronze serpent, the ark of the covenant, and the cherubim (Cf. Num 21:4-9; Wis 16:5-14; Jn 3:14-15; Ex 25:10-22; 1 Kings 6:23-28; 7:23-26).     

(This question: Why does the Old Testament forbid images of God, and why do we Christians no longer keepthat commandment? is continued)

Youcat commented through CCC – Question n. 357 – Part III.

YOUCAT Question n. 357 – Part III. Is atheism always a sin against the First Commandment?

(Youcat answer - repeated) Atheism is not a sin if a person has learned nothing about God or has examined the question about God’s existence conscientiously and cannot believe.

A deepening through CCC

(CCC 2127) Agnosticism assumes a number of forms. In certain cases the agnostic refrains from denying God; instead he postulates the existence of a transcendent being which is incapable of revealing itself, and about which nothing can be said. In other cases, the agnostic makes no judgment about God's existence, declaring it impossible to prove, or even to affirm or deny.     

Reflecting and meditating 

(Youcat comment) The line between being unable to believe and being unwilling to believe is not clear. The attitude that simply dismisses faith as unimportant, without having examined it more closely, is often worse than well-considered atheism. 

(CCC Comment)

(CCC 2128) Agnosticism can sometimes include a certain search for God, but it can equally express indifferentism, a flight from the ultimate question of existence, and a sluggish moral conscience. Agnosticism is all too often equivalent to practical atheism.     

 

(The next question is: Why does the Old Testament forbid images of God, and why do we Christians no longer keepthat commandment?)

Youcat commented through CCC – Question n. 357 – Part II.

YOUCAT Question n. 357 – Part II. Is atheism always a sin against the First Commandment?

(Youcat answer - repeated) Atheism is not a sin if a person has learned nothing about God or has examined the question about God’s existence conscientiously and cannot believe.

A deepening through CCC

(CCC 2125) Since it rejects or denies the existence of God, atheism is a sin against the virtue of religion (Cf. Rom 1:18). The imputability of this offense can be significantly diminished in virtue of the intentions and the circumstances. "Believers can have more than a little to do with the rise of atheism. To the extent that they are careless about their instruction in the faith, or present its teaching falsely, or even fail in their religious, moral, or social life, they must be said to conceal rather than to reveal the true nature of God and of religion" (GS 19 § 3).   

Reflecting and meditating 

(Youcat comment) The line between being unable to believe and being unwilling to believe is not clear. The attitude that simply dismisses faith as unimportant, without having examined it more closely, is often worse than well-considered atheism.   

(CCC Comment)

(CCC 2126) Atheism is often based on a false conception of human autonomy, exaggerated to the point of refusing any dependence on God (Cf. GS 20 § 1). Yet, "to acknowledge God is in no way to oppose the dignity of man, since such dignity is grounded and brought to perfection in God...." (GS 21 § 3) "For the Church knows full well that her message is in harmony with the most secret desires of the human heart" (GS 21 § 7).       

(This question: Is atheism always a sin against the First Commandment? is continued)