RCIA - God (Existence/Trinity/Faith)

​Welcome, everyone!

Agenda:

• Opening Prayer and Opening of the Word​

• Our Pilgrim Journey begins...(video, part 1a)

• God... Does He Exist? How do we know?

• Reflection/Break

• Who is God? The Trinity ​ (video, part 1b)

• Discussion/Reflection

• Closing Prayer

• On Your Own This Week: "Call to Conversion & Conversation"

  • For Further Reading/Digging Deeper​

​God...

• Does God exist? How do we know.

• Who is He?

  • The Trinity

• Our Response to God...

Faith​

The Journey Begins...

CCC ¶1

God, infinitely perfect and blessed in himself, in a plan of sheer goodness freely created man to make him share in his own blessed life. For this reason, at every time and in every place, God draws close to man. He calls man to seek him, to know him, to love him with all his strength. He calls together all men, scattered and divided by sin, into the unity of his family, the Church. To accomplish this, when the fullness of time had come, God sent his Son as Redeemer and Saviour. In his Son and through him, he invites men to become, in the Holy Spirit, his adopted children and thus heirs of his blessed life.

Some text here about the topic of discussion

Open Ended

What are some thoughts (or questions) that come to mind as you hear/read this?

Traditional Proofs for the Existence of God in Philosophy

• The First Cause (Pre-Socratics/Plato/Aristotle)

  • Infinite regression/eternality of matter

  ​

Subject | Subject

Some text here about the topic of discussion

Traditional Proofs for the Existence of God in Philosophy

• The First Cause (Pre-Socratics/Plato/Aristotle)

  • Infinite regression/eternality of matter

• Proof by Design (William Paley)

  • evolution by natural selection​

  ​

Subject | Subject

Some text here about the topic of discussion

Traditional Proofs for the Existence of God in Philosophy

• The First Cause (Pre-Socratics/Plato/Aristotle)

  • Infinite regression/eternality of matter

• Proof by Design (William Paley)

  • evolution by natural selection​

• The Five Ways of Thomas Aquinas

• The Ontological Arguments (St Anselm)

Subject | Subject

Some text here about the topic of discussion

​The Five Ways of Thomas Aquinas

Traditional Proofs for the Existence of God in Philosophy

• The First Cause (Pre-Socratics/Plato/Aristotle)

  • Infinite regression/eternality of matter

• Proof by Design (William Paley)

  • evolution by natural selection​

• The Five Ways of Thomas Aquinas

• The Ontological Arguments (St Anselm)

• Religious Experience (subjective proof)

• Pascal's Wager (pragmatic justification)

Subject | Subject

Some text here about the topic of discussion

​Pragmatic Justification for Belief in God

Traditional Proofs for the Existence of God in Philosophy

• The First Cause (Pre-Socratics/Plato/Aristotle)

  • Infinite regression/eternality of matter

• Proof by Design (William Paley)

  • evolution by natural selection​

• The Five Ways of Thomas Aquinas

• The Ontological Arguments (St Anselm)

• Religious Experience (subjective proof)

• Pascal's Wager (pragmatic justification)

• The Moral Argument (CS Lewis)​

• "The leaky buckets"

Subject | Subject

Some text here about the topic of discussion

Open Ended

Which, if any, of these "proofs", for you, has the most merit or appeal?

​When talking about "proof"...here's a limitation

​It's not a question of mystical knowledge or academic theology. It's a both-and question.

​

One needs a personal encounter with God to know and love him

AND

one needs the structure and tradition of the Church to keep one's self in check and to keep from "falling off the deep end" into self-absorbed spirituality.​

God- Father/Son/Holy Spirit

How God has revealed himself to us : a Trinity of persons

Open Ended

The Doctrine of the Trinity is a BIG one. It is unique to Christianity to be sure.

What questions do you have about the Trinity?

Additional Resources

Examples of the Trinity:

Scripture: Matthew 3, the baptism of Jesus; Acts 7:54-60​, the stoning of Stephen

CCC: ¶ 200-202, 221, 238-248, 266 ​

Digging Deeper:

• Read the CCC on how we can know the existence of God. What objections could be made to the propositions made?

• What are the similarities and differences between the Apostles' Creed and the Nicene Creed? Why are there two?​

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​Final Thoughts

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Closing Prayer

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Call to Conversion & Conversation

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Next Saturday: Meet with Father Jose​, in the Church, after 4pm Mass. I will rejoin your journey the following week to discuss: How God Reveals Himself to Us