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COMMANDS OF CHRIST


 

 

 

"VERITATIS SPLENDOR"  

by Pope John Paul II

(Simplified and Summarized)

Fundamental Questions on the Church's Moral Teachings.

The splendor of Truth shines on all God's work but specially in man, created to the image of God.  And we need this splendor of Truth to enlighten our intellect that we may be led to know and love God.

I.     INTRODUCTION:  OBEDIENCE TO CHRIST'S COMMANDS.

Christ is the light that enlightens everyone; and we become enlightened and we become "light in the Lord" and we become children of light by OBEDIENCE TO THE COMMANDS OF CHRIST.  

Because of original sin, obedience is not easy;  we constantly turn our gaze away from God to direct it to the world.  And with a little help from the devil, we give ourselves even to lies.  

The desire to know the light shines even when we are deep in the darkness of sin.  But, unfortunately, we can reach a point in our sinfulness when all desire for the truth dies.  
So Christ, the Light of the nations, in His desire to enlighten the face of the world, commands His disciples thus:  ". . .teach all nations ALL My commands and HOW TO OBSERVE  them" . . . and to teach nothing else.  Every other gift from heaven will depend on one's obedience to His commands including understanding the meaning of life and the life to come.  

This is what the Church's Pastors in communion with Peter must teach. . .ALL the commands of Christ and HOW to observe them.  This is the moral life that leads to salvation.

 

PURPOSE OF PRESENT ENCYCLICAL

The commands of Christ cover all aspect of human life.  And the purpose of encyclicals is merely to clarify His commands and how to observe forgotten or misinterpreted commands.  In this realm, the Church is infallible.

This encyclical wishes to review ALL the fundamental commands of Christ because they are being distorted and denied by people within the Church itself, filling the minds of the flock with doubts and objections.  This ominous heretical tendency is not only sporadic but is systematically undermining the Church.  

The first pervading error is man's belief in the freedom to follow their lust and passions, which makes the Church's concept of 'freedom of the children of God' unacceptable.  This belief appears more in Seminaries and Schools of Theology which disregard the commands of Christ and replace them with weird man-made philosophies which neither answer man's basic question nor strengthen his faith.

This encyclical is addressed to all Bishops to be faithful to SOUND TEACHINGS and to set forth clearly the doctrine that will spell damnation or salvation for souls.  And, therefore, the Pope sets forth here and now the principles of a moral life that lead to God based on Scriptures and Apostolic Tradition. . .and at the same time present the heretical teachings prevalent in the Church today.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

(03-09-04)

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