356 GOD IS INFINITELY GREATER AND UNLIKE ANYTHING HE HAS CREATED

YOUCAT Lesson 356

YOUCAT the catechism for Catholic youth

356  Is esotericism as found, for example in New Age beliefs, compatible with the Christian faith?

No.  Esotericism ignores the reality of God.  God is a personal Being; he is love and the origin of life, not some cold cosmic energy.  Man was willed and created by God, but man himself is not divine; rather, he is a creature that is wounded by sin, threatened by death, and in need of redemption.  Whereas most proponents of esotericism assume that man can redeem himself, Christians believe that only Jesus Christ and God’s grace can redeem them.  Nor are nature and the cosmos God (pantheism).  Rather, the Creator, even though he loves us immensely, is infinitely greater and unlike anything he has created.  [2110-2128]

“Praise be the Lord, who has redeemed me from myself!”  St. Teresa of Avila (1515-1582).  This is the one portrait of Teresa of Avila that is probably the most true to her appearance. It is a copy of an original painting of her in 1576 at the age of 61. …..356

Many people today practice yoga for health reasons, enroll in a meditation course so as to become more calm and collected, or attend dance workshops so as to experience their bodies in a new way.  These techniques are not always harmless.  Often they are vehicles for doctrines that are foreign to Christianity.  No reasonable person should hold an irrational world view, in which people can tap magical powers or harness mysterious spirits (or that) the “initiated” have a secret knowledge that is withheld from the ‘ignorant”.  In ancient Israel, the surrounding peoples’ beliefs in gods and spirits were exposed as false.  God alone is Lord; there is no god besides him.  Nor is there any (magical) technique by which one can capture or charm “the divine”, force one’s wishes on the universe, or redeem oneself.  Much about these esoteric beliefs and practices is superstition or occultism.

 Superstition—The irrational assumption that certain sayings, actions, events, and objects contain

magical powers or produce magical effects.

 “No one denies God unless he has some reason for wanting him not to exist.”  St. Augustine (354-430)

 Esotericism (Greek esoterikos=the inner circle, something into which one must be initiated in order to understand it): since the nineteenth century a common collective term for spiritual teachings and practices in which man is led to a supposedly “true knowledge”, which nonetheless is already in him.  On the other hand, a revelation in which God manifests himself to man from outside is something foreign in esoteric thinking.

 Pantheism (Greek pan=all, theos=God): the world view that nothing exists except God; accordingly everything that exists is God, and God is everything that exists.  This doctrine is incompatible with the Christian faith.

[2110-2128]

  III. "YOU SHALL HAVE NO OTHER GODS BEFORE ME"

2110 The first commandment forbids honoring gods other than the one Lord who has revealed himself to his people. It proscribes superstition and irreligion. Superstition in some sense represents a perverse excess of religion; irreligion is the vice contrary by defect to the virtue of religion. –Catechism of the Catholic Church, Second Edition
Superstition

2111 Superstition is the deviation of religious feeling and of the practices this feeling imposes. It can even affect the worship we offer the true God, e.g., when one attributes an importance in some way magical to certain practices otherwise lawful or necessary. To attribute the efficacy of prayers or of sacramental signs to their mere external performance, apart from the interior dispositions that they demand, is to fall into superstition.( Compare Matthew 23:16-22.)^{41 –}CCC

Idolatry

2112 The first commandment condemns polytheism. It requires man neither to believe in, nor to venerate, other divinities than the one true God. Scripture constantly recalls this rejection of "idols, [of] silver and gold, the work of men's hands. They have mouths, but do not speak; eyes, but do not see." These empty idols make their worshippers empty: "Those who make them are like them; so are all who trust in them."( Psalm 115:4-5, 8; compare Isaiah 44:9-20; Jeremaiah 10:1-16; Daniel 14:1-30; Baruch 6; Wisdom 13:1-15:19.)⁴²God, however, is the "living God"(Joshua 3:10; Psalm 42:3; etc)⁴³ who gives life and intervenes in history. –CCC

2113 Idolatry not only refers to false pagan worship. It remains a constant temptation to faith. Idolatry consists in divinizing what is not God. Man commits idolatry whenever he honors and reveres a creature in place of God, whether this be gods or demons (for example, satanism), power, pleasure, race, ancestors, the state, money, etc. Jesus says, "You cannot serve God and mammon."( Matthew 6:24.)⁴⁴ Many martyrs died for not adoring "the Beast"(Compare Revelation 13:14.)⁴⁵ refusing even to simulate such worship. Idolatry rejects the unique Lordship of God; it is therefore incompatible with communion with God.( Compare Galatians 5:20; Ephesians 5:5.)⁴⁶ CCC

2114 Human life finds its unity in the adoration of the one God. The commandment to worship the Lord alone integrates man and saves him from an endless disintegration. Idolatry is a perversion of man's innate religious sense. An idolater is someone who "transfers his indestructible notion of God to anything other than God."( Origen, Contra Celsum 2,40:Patrologia Graeca 11,861.)⁴⁷ –CCC

Divination and magic

2115 God can reveal the future to his prophets or to other saints. Still, a sound Christian attitude consists in putting oneself confidently into the hands of Providence for whatever concerns the future, and giving up all unhealthy curiosity about it. Improvidence, however, can constitute a lack of responsibility. –CCC

2116 All forms of divination are to be rejected: recourse to Satan or demons, conjuring up the dead or other practices falsely supposed to "unveil" the future. ( Compare Deuteronomy 18:10; Jeremiah 29:8. )⁴⁸ Consulting horoscopes, astrology, palm reading, interpretation of omens and lots, the phenomena of clairvoyance, and recourse to mediums all conceal a desire for power over time, history, and, in the last analysis, other human beings, as well as a wish to conciliate hidden powers. They contradict the honor, respect, and loving fear that we owe to God alone. –CCC

2117 All practices of magic or sorcery, by which one attempts to tame occult powers, so as to place them at one's service and have a supernatural power over others - even if this were for the sake of restoring their health - are gravely contrary to the virtue of religion. These practices are even more to be condemned when accompanied by the intention of harming someone, or when they have recourse to the intervention of demons. Wearing charms is also reprehensible. Spiritism often implies divination or magical practices; the Church for her part warns the faithful against it. Recourse to so-called traditional cures does not justify either the invocation of evil powers or the exploitation of another's credulity. –CCC

Irreligion

2118 God's first commandment condemns the main sins of irreligion: tempting God, in words or deeds, sacrilege, and simony. –CCC

2119 Tempting God consists in putting his goodness and almighty power to the test by word or deed. Thus Satan tried to induce Jesus to throw himself down from the Temple and, by this gesture, force God to act.( Compare Luke 4:9. )⁴⁹ Jesus opposed Satan with the word of God: "You shall not put the LORD your God to the test."( Deuteronomy 6:16.)⁵⁰ The challenge contained in such tempting of God wounds the respect and trust we owe our Creator and Lord. It always harbors doubt about his love, his providence, and his power.( Compare 1 Corinthians 10:9; Exodus 17:2-7; Psalm 95:9..)⁵¹ –CCC

2120 Sacrilege consists in profaning or treating unworthily the sacraments and other liturgical actions, as well as persons, things, or places consecrated to God. Sacrilege is a grave sin especially when committed against the Eucharist, for in this sacrament the true Body of Christ is made substantially present for us.( Compare Codex Iuris Canonici, cann. 1367; 1376.)⁵² –CCC

2121 Simony is defined as the buying or selling of spiritual things.( Compare Acts of the Apostles 8:9-24.)⁵³ To Simon the magician, who wanted to buy the spiritual power he saw at work in the apostles, St. Peter responded: "Your silver perish with you, because you thought you could obtain God's gift with money!"( Acts of the Apostles 8:20)⁵⁴ Peter thus held to the words of Jesus: "You received without pay, give without pay."( Matthew 10:8; compare already Isaiah 55:1.)⁵⁵ It is impossible to appropriate to oneself spiritual goods and behave toward them as their owner or master, for they have their source in God. One can receive them only from him, without payment. –CCC

2122 The minister should ask nothing for the administration of the sacraments beyond the offerings defined by the competent authority, always being careful that the needy are not deprived of the help of the sacraments because of their poverty." (Codex Iuris Canonici, can. 848.)⁵⁶ The competent authority determines these "offerings" in accordance with the principle that the Christian people ought to contribute to the support of the Church's ministers. "The laborer deserves his food."( Matthew 10:10; compare Lk 10:7; 2 Cor 9:5-18; 1 Tim 5:17-18.)⁵⁷ –CCC

Atheism

2123 "Many . . . of our contemporaries either do not at all perceive, or explicitly reject, this intimate and vital bond of man to God. Atheism must therefore be regarded as one of the most serious problems of our time."( Gaudium et Spes 19 § 1.)⁵⁸ –CCC

2124 The name "atheism" covers many very different phenomena. One common form is the practical materialism which restricts its needs and aspirations to space and time. Atheistic humanism falsely considers man to be "an end to himself, and the sole maker, with supreme control, of his own history."( Gaudium et Spes 20 § 2.)⁵⁹ Another form of contemporary atheism looks for the liberation of man through economic and social liberation. "It holds that religion, of its very nature, thwarts such emancipation by raising man's hopes in a future life, thus both deceiving him and discouraging him from working for a better form of life on earth."( Gaudium et Spes 20 § 2.)⁶⁰ –CCC

2125 Since it rejects or denies the existence of God, atheism is a sin against the virtue of religion.( Compare Romans 1:18.)⁶¹ The imputability of this offense can be significantly diminished in virtue of the intentions and the circumstances. "Believers can have more than a little to do with the rise of atheism. To the extent that they are careless about their instruction in the faith, or present its teaching falsely, or even fail in their religious, moral, or social life, they must be said to conceal rather than to reveal the true nature of God and of religion."( Gaudium et Spes 19 § 3.)⁶² –CCC

2126 Atheism is often based on a false conception of human autonomy, exaggerated to the point of refusing any dependence on God.( Compare Gaudium et Spes 20 § 1.)⁶³ Yet, "to acknowledge God is in no way to oppose the dignity of man, since such dignity is grounded and brought to perfection in God. . . . "(Gaudium et Spes 21 § 3.)⁶⁴ "For the Church knows full well that her message is in harmony with the most secret desires of the human heart."( Gaudium et Spes 21 § 7.)⁶⁵ –CCC

Agnosticism

2127 Agnosticism assumes a number of forms. In certain cases the agnostic refrains from denying God; instead he postulates the existence of a transcendent being which is incapable of revealing itself, and about which nothing can be said. In other cases, the agnostic makes no judgment about God's existence, declaring it impossible to prove, or even to affirm or deny. –CCC

2128 Agnosticism can sometimes include a certain search for God, but it can equally express indifferentism, a flight from the ultimate question of existence, and a sluggish moral conscience. Agnosticism is all too often equivalent to practical atheism. --CCC