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Show WHAT IS CHRISTIANITY? Editor Intermouutain Catholic: Seeing the various and contradictory forms of Christian belief, be-lief, as well as the inharmonious and intolerant attitude of the churches which proclaim to be Christian, I wish to ask the following questions: (1) What is Christianity? (2) How are its obligations obliga-tions fulfilled? (3) What must one do to save his soul? These questions are not irreverently propounded, pro-pounded, but for the satisfaction of the writer and many others who read your paper, with great interest. inter-est. D. F. The question of I). F. is not new. The writer has been frequently asked the same question. In a more simple form, it was the question propounded to the Baptist by the common people when attracted by his penetential garb, and simple yet rigid doctrines. doc-trines. "And the people asked him, saying: What shall we do?" Our correspondent-asks (1) "What is Christianity?" Answer It is, to believe that Christ was the Son of God, the Child of Promise, the Messiah that was to come. Here we reverse the questions, by inserting the third as number (2) : "What must I do to save my soul?" Answer "He that believcth and is baptized shall be saved. He that believcth not shall be condemned." The second question, which we make No. 3, is: "In what does Christianity really consist, and how are its obliga tions fulfilled?" Answer St. Paul, a very good authority, au-thority, in his first epistle to the Corinthians, chapter chap-ter xiii, tells and explains the constituent and essential es-sential elements of Christianity which in their last analysis mean charity. In what does this virtue, of which "St. Paul speaks so eloquently, consist? Christ describes its I extent. "Thou shalt love the Lord, thy God. with thy whole heart, thy whole soul and thy whole mind and thy neighbor as thyself." All naturally hope for happiness. Heaven is the abode of true and lasting happiness. To reach heaven one must love God. The love of one's neighbor is also indispensable. indispensa-ble. It is not a part but the completion of the love due to God. Neighbor includes the human family. To exclude one from the law of charity is to exclude ex-clude God. "He who says he loves God and hates his brother is a liar." Man is a creature of habit, and by his environments environ-ments and training is more artificial than natural. Hence because of his teaching and habitual way of thinking, this command, "to love an enemy, do good to those that hate and pray for those who persecute and calumniate," may seem unreasonable "and impracticable. im-practicable. But the obligation is not to the abusive, abu-sive, ill tempered, hateful and unjust" neighbor. It is to God the debt or obligation is primarily due, and the obligation of loving one who has injured arises from the fact that all are, by the fact of creation, cre-ation, God's property. He is the Creator of all things visible and invisible. Therefore to him mankind man-kind belong, both in soul and body. As creature, man cannot claim absolute independence. He is i the property of God. To love one's neighbor as oneself is to love first God and secondly the neighbor neigh-bor who is God's property. No man can love his master if he discards or dislikes his Master's property. prop-erty. On this principle rests the reasonableness of the two-fold obligations which comprise the entire Christian law. j The debt is entirely due to God. He is the author of life. Therefore to him do all owe their filial love and gratitude. As Creator, he has a right to man's affections. As owner of the debt, may he not transfer it to whom he pleases? But God has made the love of one's neighbor the foundation foun-dation upon which must rest the love he claims for himself. He makes the neighbor an agent, and unless he is loved, the' debt due to God through his agent remains unpaid. On this universal law of love Christianity rests. Its observance includes all the other divine commands for he who loves his neighbor as himself, for God's sake, will not in thought, word or act do to that neighbor what he would not wish done to himself. "God is love," according ac-cording to St. John, and what he is in his essence he wishes all mankind, his children, to be whilst living liv-ing in tho flesh.. Jts practice fulfills the most important im-portant and essential Christian obligation. |