catholic definition religion

At the foundation of Catholic Social Teaching is the concept of the “common good.” . There is scarcely a religion which has not its accepted instances of Divine visions and communications. The widespread existence of Polytheism and the religious apathy of many individuals are inconsistent with such an intuition of God. In the natural order it rests on the conception of Deity as a morally good personality, inviting confidence. In the short period of its existence it has given much consideration to the phenomena of sudden conversions, religious frenzy, the sense of God's presence experienced by pious Christians, and the extraordinary experiences of mystics, Catholic and non-Catholic. Revelation (or God speaking to man) is the complement of prayer (man speaking to God). This explains how, for example, among peoples so highly civilized as the Babylonians, Greeks, and Romans, certain lascivious rites could hold their own in the sacred liturgy, and also how, in the worship of the Aztec god of war, human sacrifices with cannibal feasts could prevail to so shocking a degree. A reaction is now setting in. In return for this much-needed service, the dead gave the living aid and protection. One of the common errors fostered in recent works on anthropology and the history of religions is that only in the higher religions is moral conduct found to rest on religious sanction. catholic synonyms, catholic pronunciation, catholic translation, English dictionary definition of catholic. [citation needed]. Crowning all is the emotion of love springing from the contemplation of God's wonderful goodness and excellence. The word Catholic (usually written with uppercase C in English when referring to religious matters; derived via Late Latin catholicus, from the Greek adjective καθολικός (katholikos), meaning "universal") comes from the Greek phrase καθόλου (katholou), meaning "on the whole", "according to the whole" or "in general", and is a combination of the Greek words κατά meaning "about" and ὅλος meaning "whole". While it helps them to avoid certain gross forms of wrong-doing, patent even to minds of low intelligence, it encourages the continued practice of vicious indulgences that otherwise might be more easily outgrown. Animist theory The early Hebrew religion, like most of the religions of antiquity, had its sacred dances. Divine retribution is also an element of religious belief throughout the world. This rule we shall observe if we follow universality, antiquity, consent. The Christian religion has allowed the use of statues and paintings to represent the Incarnate Son of God, the saints, and angels, and these images are a legitimate aid to devotion, since the honour that is given them is but relative, being directed through them to the beings they represent. In their ignorance, the worshippers mistake these pathological states for the signs of indwelling Deity. Hence the totem animal or plant is ordinarily not used for food by the clan that bears its name. They recognize in all the striking phenomena of earth, air, and sky the immediate agency of intelligent volition. use it to refer more broadly to the whole Christian Church or to all believers in Jesus Christ regardless of denominational affiliation;[9][10] it can also more narrowly refer[according to whom?] This has for its scope the accurate and systematic exposition of the positive data that go to make up the different external religions of the world — the rites, customs, restrictions, concepts of deity, sacred books, etc. The Modern Scientific Study of Religion. But, even where observers have stayed for months among rude peoples, they have sometimes found it extremely difficult to obtain information in regard to religious beliefs and practices; a suspicion that the white man was seeking to obtain some advantage over them has more than once led savages to resort to deceit to conceal their religion. New York: Robert Appleton Company. The well-established scientific truth of the unity of nature's forces is in harmony only with the monotheistic interpretation of nature. 1. Hence we find that religion in its outward worship is to a large extent a social function. In this respect the religious systems of lower grades of culture have tended to retard reform and progress towards higher standards of conduct. Again, the notion of persuading spirits to lodge themselves in stocks and stones and become the property of the wearers, is the very antithesis of religion, which implies the sense of dependence on the Deity. It has, indeed, been fully met in the religion of Christ, in which man has been Divinely enlightened in regard to his religious duties, and has been given the supernatural power to fulfil them and thereby secure his perfection. Definition. Closely allied with the data of revelation are the attempts to determine their mutual relations, to explain them as far as possible in terms of sound science and philosophy, and to draw from them their legitimate deductions. Religious priests are professed members of a religious order or institute. It is instinctively felt to be needed for the perfection of religion, which is a personal relation of love and friendship. A far … The Catholic religion is monotheistic, meaning that Catholics believe that there is only one supreme being, called God.The Catholic God has three aspects, known as the Trinity. 1260, and Chapter 11 of the United States Catholic Catechism for Adults.) A sympathetic interest attaches to this study, for there are few religions, however crude, that do not represent the sincere effort of man to bring himself into communion with God. Fetish theory (b) Regulation of Conduct outside the Sphere of Moral Obligation. The modern scientific study of religion All this makes a profound impression on the spectators. Objective religion comprises the acts of homage that are the effects of subjective religion, and also the various phenomena which are viewed as the manifestations of good will by the Deity. There are more than 1 billion Catholics worldwide. In the higher nations of antiquity, the making of sacred images in wood, stone, and metal was carried to a high degree of perfection. In the supernatural order, faith is absolutely indispensable. The word in English can mean either "of the Catholic faith" or "relating to the historic doctrine and practice of the Western Church". Define catholic. Such are the restrictive works of piety involving inconvenience, pain, and abstinence from legitimate enjoyments, voluntarily undertaken with the view to merit a larger share of Divine favour and to secure more than ordinary sanctity and perfection. (See Catholic Church (disambiguation) for more uses. It is a voluntary turning to God. The distinction between them and the totem spirits is absolute. They have been wisely set aside in Christian worship, though in a very few places, as at Echternach in Luxemburg, and in the Seville cathedral, religious dancing gives a local colour to the celebration of certain festivals. In the material order, ignorance of the natural causes of lightning, tempests, comets, earthquakes, droughts, and pests, has led less cultured peoples to see direct supernatural agency in their production. Belief in the immortality of the soul is to be found in practically all religions, though the nature of the soul and the character of the future life are in most religions crudely conceived. There is every reason to think that primitive man's view of nature was, to a large extent, similar to that held by peoples generally who have not risen to a scientific knowledge of the laws of nature. In practically all religions there is an exercise of authoritative teaching in regard to the intellectual basis of religion, the things to be believed. Living agency is behind their movements. It is the outcome of the use of reason, though, without the corrective influence of revelation, it is very apt to be misconceived and distorted. For the protection of permanent altars temples came to be built. There is every reason to think that this idea is prior to the soul concept. See also bibliographies to PRIESTHOOD and SACRIFICE. Many religions, even those of savage and barbarous tribes, distinguish between the fate of the good and that of the bad after death. Thirdly, the love of God for His own sake is a concomitant of the virtue of religion, being needed for its perfection. Modern scholarship has given much attention to the study of religion. It is a parallel growth that has sprung up and become entwined with religion proper. [citation needed]. It has been the glory of the religion of Christ that, starting with the highest ethical principles, it has pointed out to men the true path to moral and spiritual perfection, and given the most powerful aids to the successful pursuit of this lofty ideal. Hence many of them are embodied in rites closely associated with Divine worship. Has not the advance of modern science been marked by a progressive substitution of mechanical for personal agency in nature, with the inevitable result, as a writer has expressed it, that God will one day be bowed out of His universe as no longer needed? This assumption is not is not accepted by the Roman Church itself, which usually calls itself "The Catholic Church" without qualification and recognizes no other contenders for the title. We shall briefly review the more common ones. The distinction between them and the totem spirits is absolute. Subjection of oneself to God, based on this knowledge of faith and kept fruitful by grace, is supernatural religion. Copyright © 2020 by Kevin Knight. Religion is essentially a personal relation, the relation of the subject and creature, man, to his Lord and Creator, God. It is the apprehension of sovereign personality that gives rise to religion, not the mere apprehension of the infinite. A sympathetic interest attaches to this study, for there are few religions, however crude, that do not represent the sincere effort of man to bring himself into communion with God. In the Christian religion hope is raised to the supernatural plane, being based on the promises of God made known through the revelation of Christ. With all his zeal for religion, man is constantly lapsing into offences against the Deity. Transcription. It is the calm, impartial judgment of anthropologists today that there is no people of note that is absolutely devoid of religion. But it was not an equally simple matter to discern in the great diversity of these phenomena the action of but one supreme personality. All of the three main branches of Christianity in the East (Eastern Orthodox Church, Oriental Orthodox Church and Church of the East) had always identified themselves as Catholic in accordance with Apostolic traditions and the Nicene Creed. Again, as a result of such intuition, man should be found everywhere with a monotheistic religion. From what has been said it is plain that the concept of deity required for religion is that of a free personality. Prominent among these are alleged instances of Divine communications to man, revelation. Such is the so-called mind-cure, or cure by suggestion. Its point of view is purely historic. There remains a word to be said, by way of supplement, of the sacred literature characteristic of most higher religions. The consciousness of acquired friendship with a protector so good and powerful excites joy. Max Muller favoured this view. The process by which he arrived naturally at a theistic interpretation of the world seems to have been a simple, spontaneous application of the principle of causality. Conformity to the recognized moral standard, which is generally low, is not wholly neglected, but it is less an object of solicitude than material welfare. In substituting physical laws for what was formerly thought to be the direct action of Divine agency, it has not accounted for the intelligent, purposive direction of nature. Hence the widespread observance of religious festivals, when public sacrifices are offered with elaborate ritual and are accompanied with feasting and rest from ordinary business. This perfection is but crudely conceived in lower religions. 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