CONTEMPORAR

Y WORLD

CHRISTIANITY (ROMAN CATHOLIC)

1.) Explain how globalization affects religious practices and beliefs
 Globalization simply means the sharing of different cultures and beliefs of each countries. As for the
Christianity, globalization has a big effect on the spread of its practices and beliefs, like marriage, funerals and Church
days during Sundays that have been practiced by almost all the Christians not just here in the Philippines but also to
other countries. Due to globalization some practices like same sex marriage have been legalized to other countries
which contradicts to the Christians belief which is according to 1 Corinthians 11:9 that "Neither man is made for
women, but women are made for men."

Also, there are beliefs that globalization affects the religion, Roman Catholic. First is the Liturgy
Ceremony or Funeral Service - Roman Catholic offers Liturgy ceremony or funeral services to offer, Christian songs,
tribute to the person. In the funeral service, they use instruments like microphones, speakers, guitar, and more so that
other people who are in the funeral place can hear.

Baptism - Roman Catholic believes in baptism to become a totally Christian. Roman Catholic go to their
church to be baptize and celebrate. Baptism is the rite of becoming a Christian, is necessary for salvation — whether
the Baptism occurs by water, blood, or desire.

Bible - Roman Catholic believes in the bible to reveal the word of God. Through globalization, people can
now download online bibles in their respective mobile phone and can be red anywhere. It is totally the same as the
Bible we read.

There are also practices of the Roman Catholic globalization has affected. One of which is when we
pray before going to sleep at night and in the morning as soon as we wake up. However, some people nowadays
immediately check their phone when waking up rather than praying.

Also, attending mass on Sunday and holy days. Globalization may also be beneficial in some ways. For
example, is when other people might miss masses, technologies from globalization such as mobile phones, televisions,
radios, etc., can be helpful in disseminating the word of God in an efficient way. People can either listen or watch
masses easily.

Wedding ceremony of Roman Catholic now can be held anywhere. Before, due to sensitive matters and strict
procedures of the Church, wedding ceremonies are only held inside the churches. However, due to the flexibility of the
concept of globalization, church wedding can now be held at the beach, mountains, etc.

There are good and bad effects the globalization caused the religion. Globalization may have helped
Christianity to spread its teachings through open doors that have been opened, but at the same time it made some
practices that strongly contradicts to these teachings.

3.) History of the assigned religion (founder and origin)

Roman Catholicism itself maintains that the Roman Catholic Church was established by Christ when he gave
direction to the Apostle Peter as the head of the church. According to The Moody Handbook of Theology, the official
beginning of the Roman Catholic church occurred in 590 CE, with Pope Gregory I. This time marked the consolidated
of lands controlled by authority of the pope, and thus the church's power, into what would later be known as "the Papal
States."

After the ascension of Jesus Christ, as the apostles began to spread the gospel and make disciples, they
provided the beginning structure for the early Christian Church. It is difficult, if not impossible, to separate the initial
stages of the Roman Catholic Church from that of the early Christian church.
 Another belief system at this time was Gnostic Christianity, which taught that Jesus was a spirit being, sent by
God to impart knowledge to humans so that they could escape the miseries of life on earth. In 1054 AD, a formal split
occurred between the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox churches. This division remains in effect today.

The next major division occurred in the 16th century with the Protestant Reformation.

33 to 100 CE: This period is known as the apostolic age, during which the early church was headed up by the
12 apostles of Jesus, who began missionary work to convert Jews to Christianity in various regions of the
Mediterranean and Mideast.

313 CE: Roman emperor Constantine legalized Christianity, and in 330 moved the Roman capital to
Constantinople, leaving the Christian church to be the central authority in Rome.

1054 CE: The great East-West schism marks the formal separation of the Roman Catholic and Eastern
Orthodox branches of the Catholic Church.

1517 CE: Martin Luther publishes the 95 Theses, formalizing arguments against Roman Catholic Church
doctrines and practices, and effectively marking the beginning of the Protestant separation from the Catholic Church.

As a branch of Christianity, Roman Catholicism can be traced to the life and teachings of Jesus Christ in
Roman-occupied Jewish Palestine about 30 CE. According to Roman Catholic teaching, each of the sacraments was
instituted by Christ himself. Roman Catholicism also holds that Jesus established his disciple St. Peter as the first pope
of the nascent church (Matthew 16:18). Centuries of tradition, theological debates, and the wiles of history have shaped
Roman Catholicism into what it is today.

Reference:

Fairchild, M. (2019, June 25). Trace the History of the Roman Catholic Church. Retrieved from
https://www.learnreligions.com/roman-catholic-church-history-700528.

4.) Describe the following:

A. The religion's concept of good

"God is good and His love endures forever", (Psalm 100:5). This is the concept of good that
Christians (Roman Catholic) do believe up to this day. "Christianity believes in a benevolent God who
created the universe and all things in it…God's plan for creation is rooted in divine goodness." - Beth
Davies-Stofka, Ph.D. So, in the Christian worldview, all that is good comes from God and all that He
does is good because He cannot contradict His inherent nature. The concept of good for Roman Catholic
started when the world was created. God created man in His own image and likeness. God created man
as good because God is good.

Reference:

Hooser, T. C. V. (2017, September 28). Christianity Beliefs on Good & Evil. Retrieved from
https://classroom.synonym.com/christianity-beliefs-on-good-evil-12085353.html.

B. Concept of evil
 Concept of evil is the lack of goodness as a form of personal moral. Evil in religious contexts is characterized as
a supernatural force. There are three kinds of evil, Physical evil, moral evil, and metaphysical evil. Physical evil is harm
to human, moral evil is deviation of huma volitionl, and metaphysical evil is the limitation by one another from the
natural world. It also involves behaviours such as anger, revenge, fear, hatred, trauma, selfishness, ignorance,
destruction and neglect. In religion (Roman Catholic) they believe that while they have the freedom to disobey, they
can never find the true joy and peace except in harmony with and obedience to God. When it comes to good and evil,
we are not suggesting that there is no evil in the world, but rather suggesting that it does not exist in and of itself. As
with light and dark. Light exists, and can not only be proven to exist, but can be measured and artificially created.
Darkness, however, does not exist. There is no particle or wave called “dark.” Dark is what happens when there is no
light. It is the absence of light. The absence of “good” things always creates “bad” things.

Suffering and evil are the distinctions of thinking of the Roman Catholics. In conclusion, the evil remains evil,
but the Goodness of God remains still.

Reference:

Good and Evil. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.allaboutgod.com/good-and-evil.htm.

Sharpe, A. (1909). Evil. In The Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company. Retrieved November 4, 2019 from
New Advent: http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/05649a.htm

Suffering and the Problem of Evil. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.patheos.com/library/roman-catholicism/beliefs/suffering-and-

the-problem-of-evil?fbclid=IwAR0aSH40o1xaq2iMBYzoA2Oyit9DDDu0NJCuLgFSKd0vkAQr3mCWRqCHgYU.

Griffin, David Ray (2004) [1976]. God, Power, and Evil: A Process Theodicy. Westminster. p. 31. ISBN 978-0-664-22906-1.

"Evil". Oxford University Press. 2012.

Ervin Staub. Overcoming evil: genocide, violent conflict, and terrorism. New York: Oxford University Press, p. 32.

C. The steps needed by a person to become good and prevent himself from becoming evil

Evil has no fixed path; it can lure everyone so that they could be turned to it. It can also mean many different
things in different situations. But note that there is no evil greater than God. By doing God's will can bring back
yourself to a better person. So, here are the steps that can help a person to be good and prevent from becoming evil.

1. Understand the many forms of evil such as evil deeds, disregarding safety rules, quick temper and to wish one evil.

2. Recognize the dominant evil in your life by overcoming two forms of evil because it affects your life and your
environment.

Guide/steps to protect yourself through your actions.

1. Be obedient 8.Build moral health

2.Be diligent 9.Avoid giving out bad opinions

3.Be responsible 10.Avoid cruelty or abuse

4.Maintain fairness 11.Accept your own mistakes

5.Use anger wisely 12.Look for solutions

6.Use good judges 13. Prepare and accept new opportunities

7.Be forgiving

Reference:
Person, & wikiHow. (2019, October 18). Protect Yourself from Evil with the Bible. Retrieved from https://m.wikihow.com/Protect-
Yourself-from-Evil-with-the-Bible?amp=1&fbclid=IwAR1EM-
Gva5atKLnV1dCOCDfVIlAG9S9_4BUdJHJvcELOmYyQ4rR0Fr3Ebr0.

5.) Assigned religion relationship in politics if any. In what ways is it engaged in politics. (Modern world) Why did its
leaders decide to be involved in politics?

Religion specifically Roman Catholic relates/engaged itself to politics in a way that they are called to
participate in politics, to be informed voters and to encourage elected officials to act on behalf of the common good.
But there are limits to Catholic Church to political activity; the church engaged in issue-related activity but not partisan
of political candidate activities. This restriction does not apply to individual or group provided that they do not
represent themselves as acting in an official church capacity ("Guidelines for Parish and Church Organization Political
Activity." Minnesota Catholica Conference, July 2009). Also, according to the United States Conference of Catholic
Bishops, " the separation of the church and the state does not require division between belief and public actions,
between moral principles and political choices, but protects the right of beliefs and religious groups to practice their
faith and act their values in public life.

Reference:

Fay, W. P. (2004, June). Catholics in Political Life. Retrieved from http://www.usccb.org/issues-and-action/faithful-

citizenship/church-teaching/catholics-in-political-life.cfm?fbclid=IwAR2t7xh38llFQqizXKR1Cv-xnXEU5XAdEDOmCDY-
q12EOoDEoo2YnZ_cJUg.

Can Catholics Pick Sides? - Guidelines for Catholics and Political Activity. (2018, July 11). Retrieved from
https://www.mncatholic.org/guidelines-for-parish-and-church-organization-political-activity/?
fbclid=IwAR3IMZ4UKMeGbWm_8tEual58xOkMkePuJikHsC4sorMAmbPJhHGTUkWJBl0.