Page 13 - Perceptions papers

though most theologians caution that the Spirit of God moves through all creation and inspires

peoples in all contexts to recognize and respond to the Sacred in their various cultural and

religious contexts. Because God’s Love pouring into creation calls us into life, the final judgment

is an affirmation of the unity of all in Christ. That unity is the result of the death and resurrection

of Jesus Christ and is a manifestation of God’s endless mercy. The Church proclaims that God

and the community of the faithful pray for all so that none may be lost. What better path can we

tread humbly, that one showered with the grace of God that calls beauty and justice out of each

of us?

Founder: Jesus of Nazareth, a first century Jewish teacher and prophet. The community of his

first disciples and St. Paul of Tarsus transformed Jesus’ message into a community of believers

in Jesus the Christ, Son of God and Son of Mary.

“God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him

might not perish but might have eternal life.” (John 3:16)

Why did Christianity develop? At the center of Christianity is the experience of his followers

that his death on a cross was not the end of his story. Rather, they experienced the resurrected

Jesus, who heals their fear and weaknesses, commissioning them to proclaim the good news that

death has been overcome and that all who believe in him will also share in the resurrection of the

body and eternal life with God. This faith proclaims the hope of the community and calls each

disciple to love all others. Love, acted out in both personal and social relationships, is the power

that transforms God’s grace into growing communities across the Roman Empire to the present.

Each generation of the Church experiences this love.

Christian God-talk: When Christians speak of God, they use metaphors. The primary

metaphor we use is that God is Love. God loves all creation into being and sustains its presence

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