Learn by Topic: Age of the Church

Man’s Desperate Need for Salvation

At Eden, Man chose to abuse his freedom, distrusting God and seeking to “be like God” (cf. Gen 3:5).  “By refusing God’s plan of love, [Man] deceived himself and become a slave to Sin…. human history attests the wretchedness and oppression born of the human heart in consequence of the abuse of freedom” (CCC 1739).  Original Sin (CCC 396-409) led Man into: “material deprivation, unjust oppression, physical and psychological illness and death…the obvious sign of the inherited condition of frailty and need for salvation” (CCC 2448).  St. Gregory of Nyssa teaches: “Sick, our nature demanded to be healed; fallen, to be raised up; dead, to rise again. We had lost the possession of the good; it was necessary for it to be given back to us.  Closed in the darkness, it was necessary to bring us the light; captives, we awaited a Savior; prisoners, help; slaves, a liberator” (CCC 457).

The Epidemic of False Hope

Since Eden, Man has always grasped for salvation.  Adam and Eve put their hope in the false promises of Satan (Gen 3).  With the Tower of Babel, humans sought salvation (Gen 11:1-9).  The Israelites turned from God and sought salvation from the false Canaanite gods (Num 25:1-3; Jud 2:11).  At the time of Christ, Caesar Augustus and Tiberius promoted a “Gospel” of salvation with Caesar worshiped as “Divine Savior.”  In recent times, false messiahs in the form of people (Marx, Freud, Nietzsche, Hitler, Stalin, Mao) and ideologies (Communism, Naziism, Scientism, Progressivism, etc.) dominate the cultural and political realms, exploiting the inherent need for salvation embedded in the human heart. Despite the illusion of human progress, hundreds of millions of people were killed in the last century; mass killings continue to occur today in the form of wars and abortion.  In false hope, there is no hope.

Jesus Christ – Divine Savior

Only Jesus Christ, the Divine Savior, has the power and will to save Man.  Jesus: (more…)