Theology Units 1 and 2

Dei filius

First Vatican council document that demonstrates that faith and reason (or religion and science) do not contradict each other, they reveal each other.

Moral theology

Focuses on the values arising from Christian beliefs and attempts to identify the behaviors that are congruent and incongruent with these values

kataphatic

Stress on the knowledge of God through general and special revelation—the way of affirmation.

historical theology

Studies how Christian faith developed in the various periods of history after the biblical era Tries to determine what movements are permanent, authentic manifestations of what God intends for humanity, which are limited to a particular era, and which are deformations of God's intent

Systematic theology

Studies the basic formulations of Christian belief (dogmas/doctrines) and how they relate to one another Use information from biblical and historical theologians to try to understand the realities affirmed in Christian teaching and attempt to express them in language contemporary believers can understand

anthropology

Study of the origins and development of people and their societies

McBrien:

The ordered effort to bring our experience of GOD to the level of the intelligent expression.

Hill, Knitter, Madges Faith, Religion, and Theology:

The process of reflecting critically upon the way people of a particular religious tradition should live out their faith.

Theology

The reflective element of religion (thinking about religion) Faith seeking understanding Concerned with the trusting commitment of the Christian to God, the knowledge-in-action gained by a Christian through participation in a particular faith tradition, and the beliefs the Christian formulates and examines

Scriptures

The stories of one's social/institutional experiences collected in written form as the sacred texts of the religion

christological

The study of the person and life of Jesus Christ, his ministry, and his mission

What is theological reflection? Articulate its relationship to deliberative theology.

Theological reflection is when we use deliberative theology to keep the church honest and reflect on embedded theology in order to remain faithful to the gospel as the world changes

Theology as experience

Theology is an attentive, intelligent, and reasoned reflection on experience, the thematization of the Christian's lived ecclesial experience of Jesus Christ and the Gospel -Christians reflect on their faith in Christ, what it means, and how to live it in daily life - emulating God's teachings - emulating Jesus

Define how theology is an intellectual discipline. Why would some argue that it is not?

Theology is an intellectual discipline that explores religious reality from a particular perspective, namely that God is the ultimate ground/goal of humanity. It has a specialized vocabulary and limits to full understanding.

What is theology? What is the difference between religious studies and theology?

Theology is faith seeking understanding and is different from religious studies because it combines faith with understanding and is more than just stating your beliefs and being able to say Christian doctrine.

3 ways we speak about God:

Theology, prayer, and preaching

2) What do essentialists believe according to Brazier?

They believe that life is naturally meaningful and that what one needs to do is find this meaning in life.

God and the Teenage Mind Important points

This article informs of the different levels of understanding of God for teens and shows the importance of teaching those who are confused and giving them hope rather than giving up on them. We cannot assume that someone understands the basic concepts of God We must first understand who God is before we can explore deeper religious ideas.

What do Thomists believe?

Thomists believed that the essence of creatures is separate from the existence of creatures. Only in God are essence and existence identical. In humans, it is possible to see essence by itself without existence.

4 truths all religions teach

Ultimate meaning of life is something like God (beyond our language to define) Truth about human nature-- we are destined for and capable of something like union with God The only way to achieve this end is morality Secret of wisdom is gratitude

How does distinguishing between embedded and deliberative theology impact your 'faith seeking understanding'?

Using our embedded theology to form a foundation of faith and deliberative theology to reflect and relearn and reinforce what we understand can help us to more fully understand faith seeking understanding. We must have faith in our embedded theology and use deliberative theological reflection to understand deeper in order to fully understand theology.

exegetes

a biblical scholar attempting to interpret the meaning of biblical texts

Triumvirate:

a group of three men holding power

Deliberative theology:

asks "why?" and is the understanding of faith that goes beyond embedded theology by carefully reflecting on embedded theological convictions.

Theology as doctrine

create a basis of the teaching behind the Scripture, writings etc - differing opinions, so the magisterium decided as a general group of people what was to be the basis of the faith — the creation/declaration of the faith - took theological thought/history/Jesus' teaching from previous generations to establish Church doctrine -Council of Nicea- what we believe and why. (Creed) - enumerating the essentials

Philosophical polemics

criticize views that rival Christian theism

epistemology

study of knowledge

Ecclesiology

study of the church

Eschatology

study of the end times

Integration focuses on

subjects central to Christianity, currently under attack, or underrepresented Metaphysical (mind and matter relationship) Epistemological (theory of knowledge-- justified beliefs vs opinions) Axiological (study of values-- ethics/aesthetics)

Conscientious christians:

take care to live lives that witness to God in the most fitting way possible and are aware that our vision of God is always imperfect and partial. They strive for increased understanding, while staying firm in convictions but still humble

pedagogy

the art or profession of teaching

Church:

the body of Christ and the people of God

Revelation:

the deliberate contact and self-disclosure between God and humanity

fideism

the doctrine that knowledge depends on faith or revelation.

Product:

the formulation in words of the meaning, truth, and significance of a particular religious tradition for human living

Wisdom

the knowledge of ultimate causes, explanations, and principles-- values, not just facts (reason)

Philosophy

the love of wisdom, and therefore the pursuit of God

deduction

the process of moving from a general rule to a specific example

induction

the process that moves from a given series of specifics to a generalization

Two kinds of knowledge

what can be known through reason and what can be known through revelation

Theology as Historical

- connects the history of philosophy to the history of theology

Monophysite

- emphasized Christ's divinity to have it absorb his human nature and make it all but meaningless

Theology as system

- how do the beliefs we have as a church relate to what we do in the Church - clarifications of contradictions - how do we apply what we believe to living virtuously - add a sense of order to the faith so people can define what they believe - organized thoughts for further understanding

Religious theology

- rational exploration of meaning and consequences of faith in a revealed religion (revealed theology)

Homousíon clause

- the son is co-eternal, co-equal, and one in being with the father (Jesus is like us but without sin)

Philosophical theology

- use human reason to explore questions about God (natural theology)

Rene Descartes

-According to Decartes being human is being certain of oneself as an individual and separate yourself from the body and outside world. -The mind and body and how they differ. "I think therefore I am" A human being with substantial union with mind and body.

How is science seen as a threat to Christianity?

-questions biblical texts/beliefs -demotes arguments for the existence of God (don't "need" a creator) -claims science outweighs uncertain religion

Stein

...What does it mean to be a human person? A human person has nature and essence that separates them from another entity, and their anthropology behind humans is what fascinated Stein and helped her distinguish the human character. What is the nature of a human person? Humans are characterized by the many unique "types" they belong to like how men and women have distinct differences because they are different "species".

Scientific naturalism

: a view according to which all objects and events are part of nature (belong in the world of space and time)

Doctrinal/Philosophical dimension

: ask questions and explain experiences (ask a priest)

Interrogatory creed

: asked questions and respond "I believe"

Ethical/Legal dimension

: define what actions are appropriate (laws)

Variegated

: exhibiting different colors

Special revelation

: given to a particular (group of) human beings-- mystical experience, history, personal encounter)

General revelation

: given to all human beings such as through nature or conscience

Doxology

: liturgical formula to praise God

Narrative/Mythic dimension

: pass on experiences in stories (Bible)

Material/Artistic dimension

: produce material things to express experiences-- churches/stained glass windows

Declaratory creed

: states on own "I believe/we believe" -- use more now

Christian scholarship

: the study of the combination of faith and learning lo live fully in a way that we can grow closer to God

Economy of salvation

: the way we react through the world with God to grow closer to God

Complementarity

: two different non-interacting approaches to the same reality-- theology and science interact to explain God and the world

Practical/Ritual dimension

: work out formalized way of relating ideas (liturgy and worship)

Archipelago

A chain of islands

Marx:

Being human means fulfilling the goal you have for your life. It is human nature to adapt to society and change the course of history.

Flynn and Thomas Living Faith:

An attempt at GOD-talk. A human articulation of divinity, viewed from the human perspective . . . The only arena we have in which to know GOD and we struggle to articulate this knowledge and experience.

CTT:

An intellectual discipline that explores (religious) reality from a particular perspective, namely GOD as ultimate ground and goal of all reality; in the words of Anselm, it is "faith seeking understanding."

Who said "faith seeking understanding" first

Anselm

5) What is authenticity in relationship to existentialism? How is inauthenticity one of the great sins of existentialism?

Authenticity helps us to develop our essence from existentialism by making choices on our own and with full commitment. Inauthenticity is a sin of existentialism because it places these choices in the hands of others and makes us validate our choices by saying that we had no choice, and therefore placing the blame of sins on others and not on ourselves.

Polytheistic

Based on a belief in many gods (polus "many" + theoi "gods")

Monotheistic

Based on a belief in one God (mono "one" + theos "God")

7) Explain how the author believes that the Buddha was an existentialist.

Buddha went against the dominant view in India during his time, which was that existence was an illusion and that the aim of life was to penetrate this illusion and find the essences, or true reality. Buddha said "all existences are without essence." This means that Buddha believed that existence is reality and that essence is an illusion. This connects to existentialism because Buddha and existentialists both believe that existence comes before essence and that one is not born knowing their essence.

4 uniquely catholic teachings

Church as the body of Christ We can know God through the sacraments Bodily life as holy Ethical truth about the deeper meaning of sex

Who are conscientious Christians?

Conscientious christians take care to live lives that witness God in the most fitting way possible and are aware that our vision of God is always imperfect and partial. They strive for increased understanding, while staying firm in convictions but still humble.

Migliore Faith Seeking Understanding:

Faith venturing to inquire, daring to raise questions, ... struggling to find at least provisional answers to these questions.

Denomination

Different forms of Christianity that arise due to differences in the dimensions of Christian religion

What is the difference between embedded theology and deliberative theology?

Embedded theology is deeply in place and at work as we live out our lives as christians. It is rooted in the preaching and practices of the church. Deliberative theology asks "why?" and is the understanding of faith that goes beyond embedded theology by carefully reflecting on embedded theological convictions

What is the difference between essence and existence according to the article?

Essence is what makes something what it is. It is the abstract counterpart to the physical object that we see. Existence is what we can see of what the essence actually is.

4) What is spirit according to essentialist thinking? Existentialist thinking?

Essentialists believe that spirit pre-exists in a person and that it does not need to be found or created by a person. Existentialists believe that spirit is something that one must create through what they do.

3) What is the difference between existence preceding essence or essence preceding existence?

Existence preceding essence means that one first knows that they exist and uses this knowledge to find the truth in their life. Essence preceding existence means that one is naturally given the meaning of life and that they must go out and put their existence into practice.

1) Define existentialism according to Sarte.

Existentialism according to Sartre is "the philosophy that asserts that existence precedes essence," which means that knowing your existence is real comes before knowing what your existence is.

Seven dimensions of Religion

Experiential/emotional: life experience (other-worldly visions/visions of God) Social/Institutional: Seek others with similar experiences (form church) Narrative/Mythic: pass on experiences in stories (Bible) Doctrinal/Philosophical: ask questions and explain experiences (ask a priest) Practical/Ritual: work out formalized way of relating ideas (liturgy and worship) Ethical/Legal: define what actions are appropriate (laws) Material/Artistic: produce material things to express experiences-- churches/stained glass windows

How are geometric proofs related to essentialism?

Geometric proofs come from essentialist definitions by using deduction. This shows that the human mind is able to grasp concepts by using essences.

4 points of Dei Filius

God can be known by reason alone divine revelation and human reason yield to orders of knowledge faith is a gift given to reason to perceive, understand, come to know, the mysteries reason cannot explain relationship between reality and the path to heaven

Ethical monotheism:

God is the source for one standard of morality, who guides humanity through ethical principles

Aquinas:

Human nature is situated between God (having intellect and understanding, as well as a soul) and other creatures (existing physically and temporarily in the material world.) To be human means to use our physical existence (senses, etc) to inform our intellect and understanding, and act on this, using our free will to strengthen our relationship with God.

4 truths all can know

Humility Honesty and open-mindedness Intrinsic value of every man Love

6) Explain YOUR opinion: Is Buddha nature the essence of a person or a way of saying 'existence'?

I think that the Buddha nature is the existence of a person, because it helps define what a person is and where they fit among other humans, but that essence is found later in life through exploration and search for a purpose. Buddha nature starts out with helping a person define who they are and how they fit into the world, but goes beyond this as one goes further along their essentialist journey and learns the meaning of life and their purpose as a human being.

8) Would categorize yourself as an essentialist or an existentialist—explain.

I would consider myself more of an essentialist because I believe that humans are made of an essence in the Image and Likeness of God even before we are born. We are made from something greater and therefore have an innate truth inside of us that as we exist, we learn more about and try to develop. Though we do not know everything when we are born, we still have essential truths inside of us. We must try to uncover our essence and find the reality beyond this world, and accomplish this with our essence.

What are the characteristic attributes of essence? Explain them.

Immutability: The essence of God alone cannot be contained and is immutable. All essences are immutable in that it cannot be changed or broken up and be the same essence. Indivisibility: Essences stop being what they are when they are broken into parts. Man is not the body or soul alone. Necessity: In order for an essence to exist, it must always be identical with itself. Infinity: There is no reason for essences to ever not exist or to be limited to a limited number of species, so they are eternal.

What is existence according to the article?

In existence, the essence is removed from what is merely possible and this is placed on earth to be in a world of physical things. Existence is described by St. Thomas as the first act of the essence, contrasted with its secondary function. Essence is seen to actuate existence.

biblical theology

Investigate how the documents of the Bible were formed, how they were chosen to be part of the Bible, what they meant to original authors/audiences, what they mean for modern belief/practice, and how they reflect God's address to humanity

apophatic

Knowledge of God obtained through negation

What are the two classes that philosophical tradition can be divided into? Who represents each of them?

Locke represents those that got rid of old doctrine by saying that "supposed essences" are nothing more than their own names. He does not deny that true essences exist, but says that humans are unable to know any more than the logical essences that we form ourselves. Mill represents those that utterly reject real essences and those that do not believe in substance, causality, or necessary truth.

What is the difference between metaphysical and physical essence?

Metaphysical essence is a universal form and physical essence is when this essence takes on a particular form from the universal essence, which allows for the essence to change and grow as the human with this essence grows.

4 Christian revelations

Metaphysical truth about man's origin as created in God's image Man's nature as fallen and redeemed Man's ultimate end and destiny and supreme good is to become Christ Secret of wisdom is love

"Very few people shy away from Christianity because they have thoroughly examined all the arguments and conclude that its claims are not intellectually compelling." Explain.

Most people shy away from Christianity without truly reflecting on deliberative theology. Instead, they shy away because they start to question their embedded theology but don't go searching for deeper answers in deliberative theology.

Explain the three synonyms used to describe essence.

Nature: The symbol of the essence of an object in relation to how it is supposed to function. Form: We receive our essence, or physical nature on Earth, from the non-physical forms found in the spiritual world that we cannot see. Species: From a metaphysical perspective, man is a composition of animality and rationality. This is the essence and form of humanity: metaphysical and physical complexity.

Respond. "The tendency is to listen only to what we already like, and close our ears to what we already dislike."

Oftentimes, we become too afraid to change our beliefs and therefore resort to embedded theology rather than using deliberative theology and opening our ears to new ideas.

Hanson Intro to Christian Theology:

Personally involved reflection on a religious faith Reflection on a specific faith Personal reflection implies the faith is a potential source of wisdom for understanding the world

Aristotle's three kinds of sciences

Productive: produce/improve material world-- technology Practical: learning how to act-- ethics and politics (good life for the community) Theoretical:contemplative-- seek truth for its own sake-- theology, philosophy, biology, physics

What does Bain define "real essence" as?

Real essence, according to Bain is "some one fundamental property to which all others might be referred." This means that though Bain doubts essentialism, he does not deny the possibility that there is one true essence that all essences stem from.

Social/Institutional dimension

Seek others with similar experiences (form church)

What did Suárez argue?

Suárez argued that an essence cannot be real without existence. Therefore, he argued that a physical essence cannot be different from its true essence.

CCC #236:

The Fathers of the Church distinguish between theology (theologia) and economy (oikonomia). "Theology" refers to the mystery of GOD's inmost life within the Blessed Trinity and "economy" to all the works by which GOD reveals Himself and communicates His life. ...

What is the difference between the 'body of Christ' and the 'people of God'?

The church as the body of Christ is where we meet Jesus and the people of God is the church made up of people who obey God. This is controversial because church members don't always obey God and some question if we truly meet Jesus in church.

Hume:

The human person is an illusion and is only alive when our thoughts are. Also, our thinking is all made of ideas and impressions. Human nature: While we are "slaves of the passions", vices and virtues are also part of the human nature.

Aquinas's three ways of speaking of divine attributes-- tres viave:

Way of negation-- every positive statement about God must be first discounted Apophatic theology: negative theology-- emphasize inadequacy of attempts to describe God-- knowledge is never purely intellectual Way of affirmation-- after negation, we can make statements based on limited similarity between creation and creator-- despite enormous differences, God is good because there is a common denominator underlying the goodness of creatures Way of eminence: transcend limitations of vocabulary and extrapolate from experience of the finite to affirm the goodness of God to the nth degree

Edith Stein:

What does it mean to be a human person?

Soren Kierkegaard:

What does it mean to be human: Existence is above all something that has to be shaped. People must make themselves if they want to be themselves. What is the nature of a human person: His philosophical work deals with the issues of how one lives as a single individual giving priority to concrete human reality over abstract thinking and highlighting the importance of personal choice and commitment.

William James -

What does it mean to be human?To be reliant on others, your self being is incomplete. The nature of humans is religious experience, and all that one can call theirs.

Aristotle

What is a human person? A human person is a substance that has the ability to reason (an essence). A human person also must have a soul and a body as they are separate entities. What is the nature of a human person? Attain highest moral virtue and earthly happiness through knowledge, success, wealth, and moral righteousness.

De Beauvoir:

What is a human person? Human existence is an ambiguous admixture of internal freedom to transcend the given conditions of the world and the weight of the world itself What is the nature of a human person? The human being is constantly engaged in projects and life can never be fulfilled, it is a constant struggle.

Plato:

What is a human person? Humans are souls that seek the truth and their souls can be separated from their bodies and exist without the body but a person must maintain harmony between the three parts of the soul: reason, spirit, and appetite. What is the nature of the human person? Humans are rational souls imprisoned by their own bodies that face a conflict between appearance and reality and can only see a small part of the full truth.

Nietzsche:

What is a human person? To be superior to all creatures What is the nature of a human person?Humans are in a progression toward the "Superman" state of being. So therefore, humans are meant to pursue their passions to their fullest, not letting mainstream ideas of altruism get in the way of someone achieving their fullest potential.

augustine:

What is a human person? We are made in the image and likeness of God, our mind exists in a threefold nature: the mind, its knowledge, and love. We have intellect and will and can relate to others. What is the nature of a human person? Humans naturally fall into sin however God's grace saves those who are open to Him and are aware of God's presence.

Ignorant Catholics important points

Written to convince readers that Catholics aren't getting the education they need and to propose the idea of partnering community churches and colleges to get new ideas from young people and help educate them more. Catholic schools and churches must unite to bring young voices and ideas in and to educate the young as well.

intrinsical

belonging to a thing by its very nature

Metaphysics:

branch of philosophy that deals with first principles of things, including abstract concepts such as being, knowing, substance, cause, identity, time, and space

Embedded theology:

deeply in place and at work while we live our lives-- rooted in the preaching and practices of the church

Atheistic

denying the existence of God

Postmodernism:

departure from modernism-- general distrust of grand theories and ideologies and a problematic relationship with any notion of art

Integration steps

direct defense (negative or positive), philosophical polemics, and theistic explanation

Positive direct defense

enhance/maintain epistemic justification of Christianity or something within it through building a case for Christian theism

Negative direct defense

enhance/maintain epistemic justification of Christianity or something within it through the removal of defeaters/the weakening of justification for believing something is true

Four principal differentiations of theology

experience, doctrine, system, historical

Christian:

faith in God, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit, with the saving power of the gospel, with taking part in the life and ministry of the church, with upholding certain ethical principles and ideas

"Faith is _________ than reason" -Martin Luther (p 5)

far more important

Theological terms have more in common with ________ than ___________and ________

figures of speech, substance (essence--what it is) , accidents (characteristics/descriptors)

canonical

following or in agreement with accepted, traditional standards

Where does wisdom come from?

from knowing God

Dei Filius says divine revelation

gives access to many matters of faith that would otherwise not be known and it confirms things that our reason can see

Father doesn't necessarily mean

hierarchy as many see it. God also has motherly aspects of nurturing as well.

Experiential/emotional dimension

life experiences (other-worldly visions/visions of God)

Integration is a struggle between

monotheism, postmodernism, and scientific naturalism

Agnostic

one who believes that the existence of a god can be neither proven nor disproven

Catholic universities often have a strong ------ department but a weak ------ department, which causes students to weaken their faith instead of increasing it.

philosophy, theology

How do denominations differ

practical/ritual (most visible differences)- incense at Orthodox liturgy, ethical/legal- morality of death penalty, material/artistic- gothic cathedrals vs congregational meeting halls

Kerygma

proclamation- message proclaimed (mainly in the gospel), and the act of proclaiming it

Theistic explanation

provide a degree of confirmation about Christian theism.

Religion

provides an overall way of seeing and relating to ourselves, other people, the world in which we live, and possible realities beyond this world

First-order questions:

question about the world-- what? (biology, sciences)

Second-order questions:

questions about the abstract-- why? (philosophy of biology)

Axiology:

the study of nature of value and valuation, and the kinds of things that are valuable

Ecclesiology:

theology applied to the nature and structure of the Christian church

Epistemology

theory of knowledge regarding methods, validity, and scope-- investigation of what distinguishes justified belief from opinion

Hebrew scripture is ironic because

they sharply prohibit every attempt to put God in any form, but use an amazing variety of images to describe God's activity in the world

Father is used

to explain the special relationship between father and son with God and Jesus (only used a few times in OT but many times in NT)

Integration:

to unite Christian faith with what you have learned so that we can live more fully

Faith and reason are each a

wing that "red bull" gives us to reach truth, we get there with both.