Christmas and the divinity of Jesus Christ

Christmas and the divinity of Jesus Christ

By Father John Catoir
Catholic News Service

The church has a grave responsibility to insist that the purity of revelation be upheld.
Why?
Because, in our pop culture, the divinity of Christ is constantly being challenged.
One of the bestselling books in recent years was "A Course in Miracles," which has spawned dozens of other self-help books. It teaches pious platitudes -- and promotes theological errors!
Here are just a few errors that I found in it:
1. "There is no need for help to enter heaven, for you have never left."
2. God does not help because there is no need for such help.
3. Jesus was merely a man who saw the face of God in all his brothers and sisters.
4. Jesus became identified with the Christ, this is what all of you must become.
5. Jesus is a carrier of a single message, the love of God. It is possible to read his message and benefit from it without accepting him into your life.
All of the above propositions are FALSE.
What is TRUE is the following:
1. God is in heaven, we are in the far country, and the wise ones among us are striving to get there.
2. We do need God's help to come home to heaven.
3. Jesus is truly divine, and he teaches his followers to see God's face in everyone.
4. Jesus alone is the Christ; we are all invited to share in his divine life.
In a section of the book entitled "Walking With Christ," we read, "'And what of him (Jesus)? What does he want of you? ... If he be the leader or the follower to you, it matters not. ... The voice you hear in him is but your own ... voice requesting what you want."
This is rubbish, pure heresy.
The ideas in this book will confuse and disquiet a person of faith. They contain a denial of the divinity of Jesus, and a rejection of his unique role in salvation history. They disregard the essential idea that our surrender to the objective will of God is what Jesus demanded of us.
Jesus is not merely a gifted human being; he is the Messiah, the Christ, the incarnation of God.
We need Jesus -- and the church that he founded -- to teach us the truth of divine revelation.
There is a growing disconnection between pop culture and the truth of Christianity.
Jesus is Lord.
When you say "Merry Christmas" this year, remember that the Divine Infant is the incarnation of the holiness of God.