How would you explain to someone that Jesus was Almighty God. I do not see this done very much in the RCC as much as I see it in evangelical churches.
As a Roman Catholic, it is part of our Creed. When we pray we usually end it with the Sign of the Cross, which says in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Ghost. To a Catholic, all three are almighty God.
The rosary isn't in the bible but an instrument of prayer accepted by the RCC.
Correct. I didn't mean the rosary specifically when I talked about the path, I was talking about how a Catholic would be on that path. A catholic would use the Rosary, a Protestant might use a list or just let fly with free association of prayer.
I guess it's the same when some Catholics go on autopilot when saying the rosary. I don't pray the rosary unless I can focus otherwise it's just another 'mental exercise'.
Good point, but what makes the Buddhist meditation a mental exercise is the fact that they're on a false path. They are praying to no one when they pray, and they are working for the extinction of desires when what is really needed is a total remake of the soul...a heart transplant.
How would you explain to someone that Jesus was Almighty God. I do not see this done very much in the RCC as much as I see it in evangelical churches.
I would tailor my approach to the person who was asking, because a seeker might need one piece of information, a skeptic another, and a child learning the faith still another. More specifically, a person who cna't wrap their mind around the Trinity needs a different approach than a person who figures Jesus was just a moral teacher. If you have someone specific in mind, tell me what the situation is and I'll try to help. But let me give you one of my favorites:
Take a look at Revelation 1:8--
"I am the Alpha and the Omega," says the Lord God, "who is, and who was, and who is to come, the Almighty."So, God Almighty is the Alpha and Omega. But look at Revelation 22:13, 13 and 16--
"Behold, I am coming soon! My reward is with me, and I will give to everyone according to what he has done. 13I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End....I, Jesus, have sent my angel to give you this testimony for the churches. I am the Root and the Offspring of David, and the bright Morning Star."So Jesus is also the Alpha and Omega, and is therefore God. There are other examples of course. Give me your thoughts.
I screwed up the blockquote tags in that last post some. If you have trouble following it, let me know.
http://www.usccb.org/catechism/quizzes/jcs4.htm
http://www.usccb.org/catechism/text/pt1sect2chpt2art2.htm
http://www.usccb.org/catechism/text/pt1sect2chpt2art3.htm
Para. 454: The title "Son of God" signifies the unique and eternal relationship of Jesus Christ to God his Father: he is the only Son of the Father (cf. Jn 1:14, 18; 3:16, 18); he is God himself (cf. Jn 1:1). To be a Christian, one must believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God (cf. Acts 8:37; 1 Jn 2:23).
Para. 465: The first heresies denied not so much Christ’s divinity as his true humanity (Gnostic Docetism). From apostolic times the Christian faith has insisted on the true incarnation of God’s Son "come in the flesh" (Cf. 1 Jn 4:2-3; 2 Jn 7). But already in the third century, the Church in a council at Antioch had to affirm against Paul of Samosata that Jesus Christ is Son of God by nature and not by adoption. . . .
Para. 450: From the beginning of Christian history, the assertion of Christ’s lordship over the world and over history has implicitly recognized that man should not submit his personal freedom in an absolute manner to any earthly power, but only to God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ: Caesar is not "the Lord" (Cf. Rev 11:15; Mk 12:17; Acts 5:29). "The Church . . . believes that the key, the center, and the purpose of the whole of man’s history is to be found in its Lord and Master" (GS 10 § 3; cf. 45 § 2).
Para. 467: The Monophysites affirmed that the human nature had ceased to exist as such in Christ when the divine person of God’s Son assumed it. Faced with this heresy, the fourth ecumenical council, at Chalcedon in 451, confessed: . . .
We confess that one and the same Christ, Lord, and only-begotten Son, is to be acknowledged in two natures without confusion, change, division, or separation. The distinction between the natures was never abolished by their union, but rather the character proper to each of the two natures was preserved as they came together in one person (prosopon) and one hypostasis (Council of Chalcedon: DS 302). 470: