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Question 32: Until 1960 all Catholics had to pray in Latin, just as all Muslims pray in Arabic. The Protestants abandoned this language as early as in the 16th century. If it was wrong, why did the Catholic church wait so long, if it was right, why was the Latin language, which promoted unity, given up? (TR)
Answer: Jesus and his disciples, as well as the early Christian communities in Palestine prayed in Aramaic. The texts in the Bible were written in Hebrew and Greek. The authenticity and unity of the Christian faith does not depend on the use of a certain language. The Holy Spirit, who, according to the faith of the church is always active in the church, enables and facilitates the unity of the church, and that through the multitude of languages and cultures in which the Christian faith exists in a multitude of regions and times. In personal prayer, each Christian shall pray in that language which is closest to his heart. The language of the joint liturgical celebrations of the Christian community and the churches has changed and adapted time and time again, as Christian life extended into different cultures and in different times. In the East, for example, the following church languages existed and still exist: Aramaic, Syrian, Coptic, Ge`ez (=Ethiopian); Armenian, Church Slavonic, Romanian, etc.
For sociological reasons, because Christians were largely outsiders, the encumbered and burdened ones, the predominant language, which was also the official language of prayer for the early Christian communities in the Eastern and Western centers of the Roman Empire in the first two centuries, was not Latin, but Koiné Greek. From the end of the 2nd century, this was slowly superseded by Latin. From the middle of the 3rd century, for example, all tombstone engravings for Christians in Rome were written in Latin. In the 4th century, the liturgy for the Mass in the church of the West Roman empire became Latin. At the end of the same century, Hieronymus created a standard translation of the bible (versio vulgata). Already since the apologetics of Tertullianus (died around 230), there has been a Christian literature Latin, which was used increasingly by the Latin church fathers following the political victory of Christianity. The Latin language survived the collapse of the Roman empire: Although no-one called it a "mother tongue after the beginning of the reign of the Carolingians, it remained a kind of adaptable and therefore lively international "father tongue for culture and administration, for science and educated literature. On a European level, the language is limited to a very small group of those educated in Latin, also called the clerici. However, it can be credited with being the reason for the relative unity and the sense of belonging to an occidental culture.
There are German translations of basic texts and prayers stemming from medieval times (e.g. the Lords Prayer, the Credo [creed], marriage declarations, etc). Through its use of the vernacular, the Reformation questions the Catholic practice of using Latin, although in some protestant regions, Latin remains as the liturgical language. At the same time, Lutheran German and Th. Cranmers English undergo sacralization. The Roman Catholic church responds to the reformers with the insistence that Latin remains the language used for Holy Mass. In the 18th century, Latin is prescribed as the language to be used by those who preside at liturgy. For other texts, and especially for hymns, the respective vernacular was chosen. In the 20th century, the use of the vernacular becomes more and more important. Since the second Vatican Council (1962-1965) and the resulting reforms of liturgy, liturgy at Holy Mass, too, becomes the vernacular. The liturgical texts were translated from the Latin templates and the translations were officially certified by the church council in Rome.
Question 33: What do the 12 stars on the European flag symbolize? (TR)
Answer: Although the European Union increased by 10 new member states on May 1st 2004, the European flag remained the same. In future, too, there will only be 12 golden stars on the dark-blue sky of the Western world. Contrary to the US flag the stars do not merely symbolize the member states. The mythical number 12 also stands for perfection, completion and unity. The European flag, which is mentioned in Chapter IV – 1 of the Constitution for Europe Treaty, thereby links up with the 12 tribes of Israel, the 12 Disciples, the 12 months and the 12 hours on a clock. The vision that the Europeans are an exceptional, even chosen group, thus finds subtle, but powerful confirmation in the European flag. The wreath of twelve gold stars, which symbolize the peoples of Europe, allude to the tradition of selected groups in Jewish-Christian history. Israel had twelve tribes, Jesus had 12 disciples, the heavenly Jerusalem has 12 gates. The twelve stars positioned in the shape of a wreath furthermore form the shape of the crown of the apocalyptic woman. In the Book of Revelation 12:1-2 it says: "A great sign appeared in the sky, a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars. She was with child and wailed aloud in pain as she labored to give birth." Depending on your interpretation, this verse uses the wreath with twelve stars to tell about either the birth of the Messiah, the people of God, or the comprehensive new beginning of history. The flag includes the promise of salvation and of being chosen.
The flag was introduced by the European Council in 1955, adopted by the European Parliament in 1983, and has been used by all European institutions since 1986. The EU would not be the EU if it had not clearly regulated the flags design. According to an EU illustration manual: Each star has five points whose tips form an invisible surrounding circle with a radius of about 1/18th that touch the height of the rectangle. The European emblem has long since gained general acceptance. It not only flies in front of many government buildings, it also decorates Italian pasta packs and German license plates. The European flag thus contributes to a sense of a European identity.
Question 34: Where and what is Christendom and why was the concept needed? (TR)
Answer: The English language has two related words, Christianity and Christendom. In English, both terms are either used in the sense of Christianity, or Christendom refers specifically to those parts of the world in which Christianity dominates. The German language knows the two terms Christentum and Christenheit. Christentum corresponds more or less with the English Christianity, i.e. the religion which is derived from Jesus Christ, based on the Bible and which is split into the three large branches of the Orthodox, the Roman Catholic and the Protestant Christians. The term Christenheit is not an exact synonym of the English term Christendom, but it is very similar. It refers to the totality of groups of people and institutions which are dedicated to the Christian faith, or which have been largely defined by it. In the narrower sense, the term Christendom refers to the reality of the Christian dominated world of the medieval period, i.e. the period in European history starting with King Constantine. The Christian medieval period, i.e. the epoch of Christendom, was marked by a close relationship between secular government (lat. imperium) and the hierarchically structured church (lat. sacerdotium). However, even in the periods in which the two powers were most closely linked, they were still clearly seen as different from each other.
Question 35: What is the Rosicrucian Brotherhood? (TR)
Answer: According to the teachings of the Rosicrucians, the linking of the rose with the cross is the symbol for the resurrection and salvation. The adepts of the Order of the Golden Dawn wore a rose-cross on their chest which consisted of 22 differently colored petals. It symbolized the 22 letters of the Hebrew alphabet and the 22 paths in the tree of life, which linked the ten sephirots with one another. These petals could be used to create a geometrical shape which could represent every mental and psychological force. The name was first transcribed into Hebrew letters, then a shape was drawn which could be used to link all the letters of the name if they were written onto the rose.
According to legend, Christian Rosenkreuz (1378-1484) was the founder of the secret brotherhood that bears his name. Today, it is thought to be certain that this person was the invention of J.V. Andreae (1586-1654). The idea that there might be an invisible brotherhood, which can be traced back to the rose and cross, remains alive even in the current century (the Order of the Golden Dawn). In the 18th century, the Rosicrucians based their name on this legend. However, it can now be safely said that prior to the 17th century, the Rosicrucians did not exist.
The idea of the Rosicrucian originated from the yearning of committed Protestants for a second comprehensive reformation.
In his later years Andreae distanced himself from his early writings, which he merely interpreted as a satire on the alchemistic-theosophical sentimental enthusiasm for magi, astrologers and sectarians of his times.
But since the idea of a secret brotherhood had entered the world, reputable scholars of his time began their search for this brotherhood, which remained elusive.
Some scholars have interpreted these efforts as having been the driving force behind the scientific revolution of the 17th century. It was possible for alternative ways of thinking to develop in such secret brotherhoods, which would bring an end to the medieval way of looking at the world, and search for new ways of explaining the world.
The members were free spirits, who wanted to discover the secrets of nature. In the course of this they discovered new characteristics and forces in nature, which could not be fitted into the dominant world view and were therefore labeled with the term occult. The mystical and magical elements of this alternative way of thinking were slowly lost when more and more experiments were used to study the secrets of nature and to understand them better.
Question 36: Why does so much Christian thinking have to do with the Kabala and Gnosticism? (TR)
Answer: The term Kabala derives from the Hebrew word for "historical tradition. It describes a system of Jewish theosophy which, through the application of an esoteric method of interpreting the Old Testament, was believed to enable secret teachings to be conveyed to those who were initiated into the movement, for example, the creation of the world through the emanation of the divine being. These are developments of tendencies related to Gnosticism. They reached the zenith of their influence in the medieval period and during the Renaissance. During the 15th and 16th centuries, a Christian form of these teachings was comparatively popular and Reuchlin and Paracelsus are considered to be their most important representatives. It claims to be able to apply its specific methods and insights to explain the mysteries of the trinity, of redemption (salvation) and the divinity of Jesus Christ.
The teachings of the Catholic church have always kept a firm distance from these views and tendencies.
Question 37: Who is the "Black Mary? (TR)
Answer: The question refers to the "black Madonna of Czestochowa, i.e. the virgin Mary painted on lime-wood which is located at the famous place of pilgrimage north of Krakow in Poland. It is likely that the smoke of candles burning in the sanctuary around the miraculous image caused it to become even darker over time.
In 1382, Prince Ladislaus von Oppeln founded a monastery on the bank of Jasna Góra. In 1384, he gave the monastery a picture of Mary with child painted in the shape of a Byzantine icon in tempera on lime-wood, the black Madonna. From the 15th century onward, Jasna Góra developed to become Polands most popular place of pilgrimage. Since the 17th century Mary has been revered there as the Queen of Poland.
From the Catholic point of view, the reverence of the mother of Jesus finds a strong basis in the New Testament itself. For Orthodox and Catholic Christians, the figure of Mary is the symbol of faith itself. It is in her that the incarnation of God in Jesus Christ is renewed and God-pleasing mankind becomes visible. The hymn in Luke 1:42-45 & 46 ff praises Mary who has uniquely been chosen and because of her faithful and obedient response (Luke 1:38), i.e. her virginal willingness to receive Gods word not only in her womb, but before that in her heart. In this double motherhood she becomes for the church (John 19:27, Acts 1:14) the archetype and vigilant advocate and guide (John 2:3-5) for all those who, hearing Gods word, receive it thus, ponder it in their hearts (Luke 2:19.51) and obey, so that Christ and with Him the becoming Gods children takes shape (Galatians 4:19).
The 2nd Council of Nice (787) permits the use of the image of Christ, as well as the image of Mary and her veneration (Greek. timè), but distinguishes this sharply from the worship (Greek. latreia.) that is due only to God.
Question 38: Who is the king in the Bible who saw a statute in his dreams: The head of the statue was pure gold, its chest and arms were silver, its belly and thighs bronze, the legs iron, its feept partly iron and partly tile. (Daniel 2:32-33), and how do you interpret the four kingdoms in Daniel? Will it come to pass as predicted in Daniel? (TR)
Answer: The Old Testament book of Daniel consists of two main parts.
(I.) The narrative part, which describes the what happens to Daniel and his companions under the Babylonian kings, Nebuchadnezzar (1-4) and Belteshazzar, (5) as well as under Darius (6), the King of Medes. It includes their refusal to eat unclean meat (1), Daniels successful interpretation of Nebuchadnezzars dream (2), the miraculous liberation from the furnaces (3), Nebuchadnezzars insanity (4), the supernatural writing on the wall (Mene, Tekel, and Peres) at the Belteshazzars feast (5) and Daniels survival in the lions den (6).
(II) A series of visions granted Daniel during the reigns of Belteshazzar (7, 8), Darius King of the Medes (9) and Cyrus (10-12), visions which prophesy the future fate of the Jewish people. Several parts of these later chapters display all the characteristics of apocalyptic literature.
The traditional view, according to which the book of Daniel was written in the sixth century BC by Daniel, a Jewish exile in Babylon, is today largely discredited as untenable. A number of historic errors in the text renders it impossible to believe that the book could have originated in the period of exile. The doctrinal position of the text and its language (it even includes some Greek words), as well as its position in the overall canon of the Old Testament also points to a much later date. Modern critical exegetes agree that the book was written between 168 and 165 BC. Following this hypotheses, the purpose of the book was to encourage and strengthen the reader during the persecution of the Jews by Antiochus Epiphanes (King of Syria, 175-163 BC). Section 2:4-7:28 is written in Aramaic, not in Hebrew.
In the New Testament, there is only one text in which Daniel is quoted directly, i.e. the reference to "horrible abomination" (Daniel 9:27) in Mark 13:14 par. But the teachings from the book of Daniel have been taken up and developed in many other parts of the New Testament, e.g. the repeated use of the expression "Son of Man (Daniel 7:13), the belief in angels who mediate between mankind and the transcendent God, and most of all the doctrine of "the resurrection of the dead (Daniel 12:2).
Regarding Daniel 2:29-45, the following can be said briefly: This section contains the first of the allegories of the book of Daniel, the mysterious succession of the large historic kingdoms (New Babylonians, Medes and Persians, and the Greeks as the heirs of the Asian kingdom of Alexander the Great). In accordance with ancient speculations about the eras of the world, these allegories are depicted here through metals of decreasing value, concluding finally in the advent of the messianic age. All earthly kingdoms collapse to give way to a new kingdom, the eternal Kingdom of God (see Matthew 4:17). Jesus who calls himself the Son of Man (see also Daniel 7:13 and Matthew 8:20), also applies to himself the image of the cornerstone that was first rejected from Psalm 118:22 (see also Matthew 21:42-44; Luke 20:17-18), and furthermore, the image of the cornerstone from Isaiah 28:16 with its clear allusion to the stone which comes loose from the mountain and destroys all upon whom it falls. See also verses 34:44-45 in the second chapter of Daniel.
Question 39: Why do large part of the Gospels (I assume that "of the Bible is meant here) read like a history book? (TR)
Answer: Firstly (based on the Catholic Cathechism Katholischen Erwachsenen Katechismus, p. 38f.), a few words about the Christian understanding of the revelation: Ever since the beginning of the world, God has revealed Himself through creation, in particular through the conscious of man and his leadership in history. There is, therefore, a general story of the revelation of God. The Second Vatican Council teaches: From ancient times down to the present, there is found among various peoples a certain perception of that hidden power which hovers over the course of things and over the events of human history; at times some indeed have come to the recognition of a Supreme Being, or even of a Father… (Nostra Aetate 2).
But God not only wants to reveal Himself to the individual person, but also with regard to their social and historic being. He wants to gather mankind up into one people and to make this into a light for all peoples (see also Isaiah 42:6). Thus, because of the general story of God and man, there is a specific story of the revelation of God. In this story, God makes Himself known at certain times and in certain places to certain people in a certain way. This specific revelation begins with the calling of Abraham and the patriarchs. With the gathering of Israel and its liberation from Egypt, the story enters into a new phase. Through the prophets, Israel learns more and more about God and is being prepared for the final revelation of God in Christ Jesus.
"In times past, God spoke in partial and various ways to our ancestors through the prophets; in these last days, he spoke to us through a son, whom he made heir of all things and through whom he created the universe..." (Hebrews 1:1-2)
The Bible (the word is derived from the Greek bíblos = book) is the Holy Scripture for Christians. It records the experiences mankind has made in the course of its long history with God in His revelation through word and deed.
The Bible, consisting of the Old and the New Testament, is therefore akin to the charter of the covenant that God made with mankind. Because the Hebrew word berít (covenant) was translated into Latin as testamentum, the Holy Scriptures of the Jews (Quran: at-taurát) were called the Old Testament, and the letters of the apostles and the Gospels (Quran: indschíl) were named the New Testament.
The Old Testament contains the story of the people of Israel with God (we generally use the abbreviated version "Israel, but stress that this does NOT refer to the modern day state of Israel); in its diverse writings and types of literature, including the historic literature, it reflects the faithful existence of a people who are certain of Gods covenant with them and who, throughout the centuries, again and again experienced Gods saving grace.
The New Testament gives witness of the experience the disciples and the early church made with Jesus Christ. The writings of the New Testament are testimonies of the belief in Jesus Christ. They are testaments of Him as the Messiah, as prophesied in the Old Testament.
The authors of the New Testament writings understand the Old Testament as a witnessing to the actions of the same God whom Jesus proclaims. They are right to do this: Jesus was a Jew. His faith was the ancient Judaism, the faith of the fathers. The OT is seen as a collection of literature which reflects Gods special relationship with His chosen people, and therefore also as the Book of Promises which have been fulfilled in Jesus Christ. This is the Christian faith, and because of it, Christians believe that both Testaments are linked.
The Bible is a comprehensive collection of writings, which reflect the religious life and the faith of Gods chosen people, and to which many people and communities have therefore contributed. The genesis of the biblical writings spans a total of 1000 years. The OT came into being in the course of the 1st millennium before Christ, the NT in the 1st century after Christ. It is precisely this long period of genesis which provides such remarkable witness of the power of Gods word: Having encountered Him, people of the most diverse origin and education have again and again tried to proclaim to their fellow humans the Word of God as the lasting and strength giving force of life, each in their own time, with their different life styles and the respective new social and political circumstances.
Question 40: Why have Christian and Jewish clerics developed encrypted script? (TR)
Answer: I have never heard of such encrypted scripts.
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