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2 Corinthians 5:17 (ESV)

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.

I don't know if this subject has importance in Catholicism. Therefore, I want to know what Catholicism has to offer regarding this topic.

How has Catholicism explained what is "New Creation"?

curiousdannii
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Mawia
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  • Wooh. The Catechism has an enormous amount to say about it! – Andrew Leach Nov 08 '13 at 09:58
  • I found a resource that might be able to answer the asker's question. The problem is, you have to borrow the book from the library. Here it is. Hubbard, M. V. (2002). New creation in Paul's letters and thought. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. It's written by a professor from Biola University, but I am not sure if he's Catholic. – Double U Nov 09 '13 at 04:52

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Well, as a Catholic, I'm not going to attempt to interpret the Bible, here's the commentary from the New American Bible:

A new creation: rabbis used this expression to describe the effect of the entrance of a proselyte or convert into Judaism or of the remission of sins on the Day of Atonement. The new order created in Christ is the new covenant.

I asked a similar question concerning St. Thomas Aquinas' Hymn concerning the what he meant by the New Rite and apparently he's talking about the New Covenant and the New Covenant is the Gospel message which is Salvation through Christ.

At a superficial level, I'd assume he was talking about Baptism. When you're baptized you're made a "new creation" in Jesus. The new creation would be the new life of the spirit dwelling within the newly minted Christian.

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Peter Turner
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Children of God
sons in the Son

cf. What is unique about Christianity?

What shall be said of ... that new creation of the soul, whereby he makes us his children ... gives us a new and heavenly nature, implants his Holy Spirit within us, and washes away all our sins? This is the portion of the Christian, high or low; and all glories of this world fade away before it; king and subject ... are all on a level in the kingdom of Christ.
- Unless a man is born again of water and Holy Spirit, he cannot enter the Kingdom. P.S.VIII, 52-53

Source: 12. The Mass and Sacraments | The Mind of cardinal Newman, Compiled by Charles Stephen Dessain | Catholic Truth Society

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