Meditation 3: The Kpim of the Catholic Creed

The Kpim[1] of the Catholic Creed

The word, 'church' likely comes down to us from the German word kirche, which derives from the Hebrew qahal Yaweh - the Assembly of God, used to refer to the house of Israel in the O.T. This meaning, is what the Latin, ecclesia connotes. 

So, the Church is the Assembly of God's people. In the dispensation of the law, circumcision was the criteria for admittance into the qahal. But in the dispensation of grace, Faith in Jesus, the Christ, is the criterion. So, to belong to the Church, which Jesus refers to as "My Church", faith is what is required. However, this criterion of faith, is more than just 'I believe in God'.

Faith is a whole package of itself, having as constituents all of the following, and even more:

1). belief in the Triune God, that is Father, Son and Holy Spirit, hence Peter declared "you are the Christ, the Son of the Living God". Note that he word "Son" implies more than one person in the Godhead.

 2). Belief in The Word that became flesh, the Son, who stood before Peter when he made the declaration of Matthew 16:16.

3). Belief in the fact that the Word, the Son really became flesh (John 1:14), having taken real flesh from the Virgin Mary.

4). Belief in the fact that the Son suffered, died, was buried and rose. All for our sake (Hebrews 2:10).

5). Belief in the Holy Spirit, the Lord the giver of life, who proceeds from the Father and the Son

6). Belief in that community of faith that is One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic. One because Jesus prays for our unity, which must reflect the Trinity (John 17:11). Holy because Hebrews 12:22-23, as well as 1 Peter 2:9-10, and Apostolic because 2 Peter 1:16-20.

7). Belief in the baptism that saves and belief in the resurrection of the dead, for if the dead do not live again, of what use is our faith?

So, what Jesus calls "My Church" is no human institution or organization, though it has the human aspects. It is the community of God's people led by Christ to the Unity of the Trinity, in and through the Trinity.

The Christian foundation is Christ in the Trinity of Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

Our destination is Unity in and with this Trinity.

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[1] Kpim is a word that refers to the heart, or core of something. The origin is probably locatable in the Igbo tradtion in Nigeria. It was popularized in academic circles by Pantaleon Iroegbu (1951-2006).