The Second Vatican Council: An Analysis

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Last 2015, the Catholic Church celebrated the 50th anniversary of the opening of the Second Vatican Council. The Second Vatican Council was a meeting of the world’s bishops for four sessions between October 11, 1962 and December 8, 1965 led by Pope John XXIII (Society of St. Pius X, United States District, 2013) that they can “clearly proclaim the teaching of the Catholic Church (The Episcopal Commission for Doctrine of the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops, 2012). These teachings are expressed in the sixteen documents as agreed upon by those who attended it.
One of the documents is the Declaration on the Relationship of the Church to Non-Christian Religions or the Nostra Aetate. This document is to “foster peace and charity” (para.
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According to Kiger (n.d) world’s five major religions have varying concepts of the Divine. Judaism believes in one God to who they call Yahweh and the God of Israel.He also claimed that Jews believe in God who is “omnipotent and omniscient, and whose greatness is so immense…that He cannot be described adequately in human language.” Unlike Christianity, Judaism doesn’t believe in physically representing or describing God, out of concern that it will blur the distinction between God and humanity.” He further explained that the Jews believes that God entered into a special covenant to the Jewish people in Mt. Sinai thus calling God as the God of Israel. At some point Christianity has similarities with Judaism – monotheism. They view God “as eternal, all-powerful, and all-knowing, but also limitlessly benevolent”. Specifically, Christian Catholics profess: “I believe in one God, the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth…in Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son of God…in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, and the Giver of Life” (Nicene Creed). Thus, the Christian Catholics believe in a “Trinitarian God” - that is, three distinct persons in one God. Allah is the name of the God of Muslim people. They also believe that Allah is the creator of the universe and reigns over it. Unlike Christians, they don’t believe Jesus as God, but a prophet. On the contrary, Hindus’ concept of God is a combination of polytheism and monotheism. They believe in one God, Brahman and reveal himself to somewhat Trinitarian deities: Brahma, the creator of the universe, Vishnu the preserver, and Shiva the destroyer. They also believe that God is formless but revealed Himself to the gods and goddesses to communicate with people through arts and sacred writings. Lastly, Buddhism; however, contrasting the other religions, Buddhists do not put much emphasis on worshipping a god but