Christian Faith: Key Aspects and Characteristics

• This study guide covers Filipino Christian Living material for the 3rd Quarterly Exam of the Second Semester

Topic Overview

• The review covers "The Dogmas of Faith" and "The Christian Prayer"

The Dogmas of Faith

• Faith involves complete trust or confidence in someone or something
• It also involves a strong belief in a religion's doctrines based on spiritual conviction rather than proof
• Faith can be communitarian or personal
• "Christ is a personal Savior to Filipino" Christians, and Catholics should act as members of a community of salvation to experience His saving power
• Faith is not just private but a shared experience within the Christian community

Five Characteristics of Christian Faith:

• Total and Absolute
  • Faith in God requires complete adherence
  • Christ's Passion, Death, and Resurrection exemplify total commitment to God
• Trinitarian
  • Catholics believe faith adheres to the Triune God, revealed through Jesus Christ
  • It is friendship with Christ and through Him, with the Father, in the Holy Spirit
• Loving, Maturing, and Missionary
  • Christian Faith becomes life-giving and mature through love
  • Loving God and neighbor is inseparable, like Christ's love
  • Missionary work is vital, as belief in Christ's Word and Kingdom means bearing witness and proclaiming it
  • This involves sharing in Christ's three-fold mission as priest, prophet, and king
• Informed and Communitarian
  • Christian faith must be informed, especially about the Catholic Faith
  • Involves believing Jesus' words, accepting His teachings, and trusting in His words of eternal life
  • The Church transmits Christ's revelation through Sacred Scripture and its Tradition, enabling an adequate faith response as a community
• Inculturated
  • Christian, particularly Catholic faith in God and Jesus is connected to Filipino faith in family and friends
  • Faith in God is expressed through daily relationships with family, friends, and fellow workers

Three Essential Dimensions of Faith:

• Believing

  • Faith involves basic Christian convictions
  • Confessing Jesus as Lord and believing God raised Him from the dead leads to salvation
  • Scripture records information to help people believe Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, so that through the belief they may have life

• Doing

  • Faith is also doing
  • Claiming to have faith without practicing it is worthless
  • Only those who do the Father's will shall enter the kingdom of Heaven
  • Faith should be shown in ways of acting in commitment and witnessing:
    • Commitment
      • Christian faith involves committing to follow God's will
      • As demonstrated by Mary saying “I am the servant of the Lord. Let it be done to me as you say."
    • Witnessing
      • Through acts of service to neighbors
      • Especially through acts of justice and love, and by protecting and caring for our endangered earth's environment

• Entrusting/Worshiping

  • Christian faith is entrusting oneself to God
  • Like Abraham, who left everything at God's command
  • Or Moses, who trusted Yahweh to free the Hebrews
  • Jesus performed miracles for those who trusted Him
  • Everything is possible to a man who trusts
  • Requires trusting God even without direct proof
  • Faith is from the heart
  • "Loving, trusting and hoping in the Lord comes from God's own love flowing in our hearts."
  • Trusting Faith "lives and grows through prayer and worship."
  • Personal conversation with God goes beyond mindless mechanical prayers
  • The liturgy provides a place for personal and group prayer

Models of Faith

• Abraham
• Father of all who believes"
  • Obeyed God's call to go to a place he would later inherit, trusting even without knowing where he was going
  • He lived as a stranger in the Promised Land
  • He and Sarah conceived a son in their old age, as promised
    • Offered his only son as a sacrifice, showing his belief in God, which was credited to him as righteousness
  • Strong in his faith, Abraham is the father of all who believe

Mary

• Blessed is she who believes"
  • Exemplifies obedience to faith
  • Mary accepted the news and promise of the Angel Gabriel, believing nothing is impossible with God
  • Her faith never wavered no matter the ordeal she endured
  • The church venerates Mary in the purest form of faith

The Christian Prayer

• Prayer involves a personal relationship with God, connecting us to the Divine Being

What is Prayer?

• A solemn request for help or thanks addressed to God
• Develops conscious awareness of our relationship with God, based on who God is and who we are
• St. Paul urged constant prayer and thanksgiving

The Universal Call to Prayer

• Everyone is called to prayer in any situation
• Commonly people turn to prayer because:
  • "Man is in search of God."
    • All religions show humanity's essential search for God indicating a longing and desire for God's presence
  • "God calls man first."
    • Despite people's distance or forgetfulness, God tirelessly extends prayer from our hearts.
  • God initiates love, and our response initiates prayer and is like a covenant drama

The Christian Prayer

• Christian prayer should come from the heart, connecting to one's neighbor in love and service
• Addressed to God, our Creator and Lord, while involving concern for others

Nature of Prayer

• Concept of Prayer
  • It is an activity of the heart drawing people to the divine
  • Classical definitions:
    • Speaking to God
    • Speaking with God
• John Damascene
  • Prayer is raising the mind to God and dwelling devoutly with Him
• Motive and Content of Prayer
  • Common types include adoration, praise, thanksgiving, petition, intercession, and propitiation

Various Forms of Prayer

• Prayers can be internal or external, individual or communal, informal or formal, extra-liturgical, or liturgical

Kinds/Forms of Prayer

• Interior/Mental Prayer
  • Involves encountering God in the heart and dwelling in the soul with God
  • Meditation and contemplation are key forms
• Exterior Prayer
  • Expressed through external words and practices
  • Must be supported by interior prayer or a desire to awaken it
• Individual and Common Prayer
  • Must complement each other
  • Being alone to pray
  • Praying together as community
• Informal Prayer
  • Spontaneous expression of thoughts and feelings
• Formal Prayer
  • Conveys religious experiences from past generations
  • To stimulate your personal connection to God
  • This method is helpful for those who are unable to express personal prayer
• Liturgical Prayer
  • Formal prayer for communal worship, like in the sacraments

Explore the core tenets of Christian faith, including its relationship with prayer, love, and community. Examine the importance of trust in God's plan, witnessing through service, and adherence to God. Discover the characteristics of Christian faith.