The Creed

Hierarchy of being

God: Angels, humans, animals, plants, inanimate beings

On certainty of knowing God

1. CCC 36: faith by the light of reason we can have certainty about God's existence, meaning all people have the capacity to know God exists by reason alone. 2. BUT CCC 37 historical situations may make it difficult to know God: whether by intellect or sin

History of Apostles creed

-Used as baptismal creed as a way to explain the faith to catechumens, the way in which they would profess their belief before baptism. -NT ex: that creeds were being used for catechesis -CCC calls the Apostle's creed the "baptismal symbol of the church of Rome" (CCC 194), -12 articles=12 apostles, 2nd c. evidence for the basic formula, but the version we cite was finalized in the 6th c.

Where do creeds come from?

1 Cor 15:3-7: which predates & informs scripture, tells a familiar story of Christ, appeals to apostolic authority

Exodus 3: What does this story tell us about who God is?

1) God is personal (he has a name and an identity) 2) God is transcendent (his name is not "Joe." God is "he who is," existence itself), and so Truth (CCC 215ff) 3) God is immanent (even self-emptying, e.g. CCC 203), and so Love (CCC 218ff) The CCC holds all these together (CCC 206)

4 parts of the CCC

profession, sacraments, life and prayer(in the life) of faith

Why the Nicene creed

1) The Nicene creed was actually a lot of work to produce! 2) "The only replacement for tradition is bad tradition" 3) Our profession of faith is communal across not only space but time 4) Apostolic/ecumenical authority; "Tradition" (this is the reason the CCC emphasizes)

Scripture, Tradition, Magisterium

1) We read without fear (the solution of every problem does not depend on us), and with appreciation of the mystery of God (Sheed, p. 42) 2) We read without the temptation to personal pride (we are not the 'master' of scripture, but it 'masters' us) 3) We read in the company of the whole Church, an expansion of our vision - "we must learn to see as the Church sees" (Sheed, p. 22)

Problem & Sol'n about knowing God

1-God is hard to know 2-somethings about God are impossible to know, 3- it's hard to speak about God. 4-SOL'N: revelation, ccc 50: "another order of knowledge which man cannot possibly arrive at by his own powers: the order of divine Revelation. Through an utterly free decision, God has revealed himself and given himself to man."

Augustine's Interpretive implications for Gen. 2-3

1. Death is strictly punitive (although self-inflicted) 2. Fig leaves strictly punitive 3. Experientially satisfying account of evil in the world, which turns our gaze towards Christ 4. We only understand our error fully by its reversal in Christ (Benedict XVI, p. 74-77)

Williams on Augustine on evil, 2

"Evil as privation makes sense because of the recognition of what it is a privation of - the harmonious outworking of finite agency united with infinite creative. Evil is possible because the harmony of finite agencies must be worked out in the passage of time ... the point is that it is not a generalized malfunction that constitutes evil but the specific departure from harmony, the pattern of mutuality and 'self-displacement' which is God's own life and thus the heart of life well-lived within creation. Consequently for us to be "delivered from evil" is to be fully attuned to the order we did not and could not make, an attunement which happens in the life of grace."

Christianity & the environment

"In sharp contrast [to Greek myth], Christianity inherited from Judaism not only a concept of time as nonrepetitive and linear but also a striking story of creation. By gradual stages a loving and all- powerful God had created light and darkness, the heavenly bodies, the earth and all its plants, animals, birds, and fishes. Finally, God had created Adam and, as an afterthought, Eve to keep man from being lonely. Man named all the animals, thus establishing his dominance over them. God planned all of this explicitly for man's benefit and rule: no item in the physical creation had any purpose save to serve man's purposes. And, although man's body is made of clay, he is not simply part of nature: he is made in God's image." Lynn White, March 1967

Creation is ordered and beautiful

1-light, 2-dome and waters, 3-dry land and plants, 4-lamps of heaven, 5-sky animals and water animals, 6-land animals and human beings, 7-rest

JP II on science& religion

Science can purify religion of superstition and error; religion can help purify science from idolatry and false absolutes. Each can help the other enter into a more complete world, where both can prosper.

Adam's sin is worse

His sin is a fall of solidarity: he knew better but followed Eve anyway

Def'n of science

Science investigates questions about physical mechanisms using empirical data and experiments.

There are questions science can't answer about our origin

-Theology answers questions science does not and never could (CCC 284). Science studies the empirical, by definition explains only that which is already here (not what it means). -Example: Sheed (p. 129), why is there something instead of nothing? Response: physicist Lawrence Krauss (his book: Universe From Nothing - Why There is Something Instead of Nothing) -He completely misses the point of the critique; why laws of physics, why gravitational forces, why existence?

Enuma Elish

World created out of violence, from the body of a female deity, human beings are servants of the Gods

Genesis 1

World ordered by God, created by one transcendent God w/out gender, Human beings made in God's image

Irenaeus against the Gnostics & growing into perfection

"[God] should not, say they, have created angels of such a nature that they were capable of transgression, nor men who immediately proved ungrateful towards Him; for they were made rational beings, endowed with the power of examining and judging, and were not [formed] as things irrational or of a [merely] animal nature, which can do nothing of their own will, but are drawn by necessity and compulsion to what is good, in which things there is one mind and one usage, working mechanically in one groove, who are incapable of being anything else except just what they had been created. But upon this supposition, neither would what is good be grateful to them, nor communion with God be precious, nor would the good be very much to be sought after, which would present itself without their own proper endeavour, care, or study, but would be implanted of its own accord and without their concern. Thus it would come to pass, that their being good would be of no consequence..." Against Heresies IV.37.6

Rowan Williams on Augustine on evil

"To say that Goebbels - or a Saddam Hussein - exemplifies lucidity, coherence, effectiveness and so on in his actions is certainly not to claim that his pursuit of his desires is a simple instance of homogenous 'evil' exercising power and effectiveness. It is to recognize that, if evil itself is never a subject or substance, the only way in which it can be desired or sought is by the exercise of the goods of mental and affective life swung around by error to a vast misapprehension, mistaking the groundless for real." (On Augustine, p.88)

Section 1, Ch. 3 Man's response to God

*I believe *We believe

Part 1 of CCC: Profession of faith

*Man's capacity for God *God comes to meet man *Man's response to God

Section 1, Ch. 2 God comes to meet man

*The revelation of God *The transmission of divine revelation *Sacred scripture

CCC follows

Apostles creed but also on Nicene(match 12 parts to Apostles creed), both have 3 parts & 12 articles

Desire for God is a natural inclination

CCC 27 "desire for God is written on the human heart" CCC 30 "our heart is restless until it rests in you", CCC 28 this experience is universal(look at religious expressions)

Relationship btwn science & faith?

-CCC however does not just say that science and religion have nothing to do with each other (CCC 283-284) -CCC says our knowledge has been greatly enriched by science and prompts the search for God -Discovering God's law is beautiful (CCC 341)

Why are the angels fall permanent?

They are more excellent, therefore fall is more absolute

Created in the image

-A continuation of the doctrine of creation -The CCC elaborates on the doctrine of creation by explaining the goodness of human beings in particular. -We are "made in the image of God" described by CCC 356-357. -Thomas Aquinas: our image comes in knowing and understanding. Other things have "likeness" to God (e.g. in existing) but are not "images." -Intellectual creatures are in the image (angels and human beings)

Common features btwn Irenaeus and later creeds

1. Trinitarian confessions (Father, Son, Holy Spirit) 2. Christological focus (long central sections about the person of Jesus) 3. Tell story of salvation history 4. Claim apostolic and universal authority

Creation as its own good

-It is a revealed truth that creation is "good." One cannot test for goodness. -There are a lot of things that might make you think it is not good! (CCC 309) -Sheed p. 133-134; creation is beautiful. It does not add up to God and is not God -We are a good other than God! (in a state of journeying CCC 302). Newman, p.5. -This changes our perspective on everything, and infuses the entire world with meaning -It is linked to the doctrine of the sacraments and the resurrection of the body.

Creed def'n

statement of belief or doctrine, also called "professions of faith" of symbolon

Ways of knowing God

the world, the human person

Genesis always read as canonical

-Benedict XVI points out that traditional reading of the Bible always reads with the whole of scripture together (e.g. Genesis 1-3 as prologue to covenant, CCC 288). -Augustine: "There is knowledge to be had, after all, about the earth and the sky, about the other elements of the world... And it frequently happens that even non-Christians will have knowledge of this sort in a way that they can substantiate with scientific arguments or experiments. Now it is quite disgraceful and disastrous, something to be on one's guard against at all costs, that they should ever hear Christians spouting what they claim our Christian literature has to say on these topics. and talking such nonsense that they can scarcely contain their laughter... And what is so vexing is not that misguided people should be laughed at, as that our authors should be assumed by outsiders to have held such views, to the great detriment of those about whose salvation we are concerned, should be written off and consigned to the waste paper basket as so many ignoramuses."

Bigger ? of Genesis: why does the universe exist

-Science: because the laws of physics so dictated that in the conditions of high density and temperature in which the universe was found some 14 billion years ago, a colossal explosion would occur from which matter and energy were produced (a.k.a the Big Bang) -Theology: because God willed it, and it was good. -One answer may seem way more sophisticated, but compare to: why is the girl crying? -The theological answer is not a bad answer or a lazy answer, it is a completely different answer with different implications

Order & angels

-Sheed and the CCC reference the hierarchy of being -CCC mentions the angels first ("heaven and earth" "visible and invisible") -Angels help to reinforce the doctrine of the goodness and gratuitousness of creation -Why are there angels? Because they are good, without reference to us. -CCC 339-340

Catholic vision of creation

-Sheed: our mind must be wholly transformed, not normal with Catholic patches (p. 21-22) -St. Francis is the perfect example of this (and often sentimentalized) -This vision involves sacrifice

Creation is a mystery

-The doctrine of creation is strictly speaking revealed and a mystery; Creation by the whole Trinity (CCC 290-292) -We are not told the "why" of creation - see **CCC 295** for a balanced statement -Sheed 127-128; God gains nothing whatsoever in creation. It is gratuitous. -This sense is very present in Genesis: "it was good." -Creation is therefore already God's self-emptying (his character revealed) (CCC 310). Creation done in the knowledge of the incarnation.

Creation is done out of nothing(ex nihilo)

-This is a theological statement as we saw, e.g. not Materialism or Pantheism (CCC 296-298) -Creation ex nihilo also against Deism, because God must sustain all things. God cannot "leave" creation (CCC 301). This is because God is being! Sheed p. 130-134. -God is outside of empirical observation; God is transcendent and above the created order (CCC 300) -A lot of misconceptions about God (i.e. who made God? Where was God before creation?) arise from a misunderstanding on this point.

Charac. of God's revelation

1-Gradual (CCC 53) 2-Completed in Christ (CCC 66) even if our understanding of that full revelation continues to mature 3-Transmitted by Scripture and Tradition (CCC 76); Note that this is how revelation is transmitted; the fullness of revelation is Christ. These two are distinct (80), but interconnected "the first generation of Christians did not yet have a written New Testament, and the New Testament itself demonstrates the process of living Tradition" (83). Tradition vs. traditions (83) 4-It is entrusted to the Church (CCC 84-90). God must be revealed to someone, it is not merely data written down in a book. 5-The Magisterium is the servant of the Word (88)Coherency depends on this way of thinking (90)Scripture, tradition and the teaching of the church (Magisterium) interconnected (95)

He who is (God as transcendent and immanent)

1-The CCC does not dwell on what we might call a classical philosophical conception of who God is. It moves very quickly into a biblical contemplation of the question. 2-Our God is not the God of the philosophers (although philosophy is able to describe many things about God), because God is personal. 3-The story which the CCC uses to contemplate the nature of God is the story of the burning bush (starting at CCC 203)

Flannery O'Connor on faith

1-The experience of 'losing faith' can belong to faith, because faith grows, seeks, asks (quoting from Mark) 2-If you want answers to difficult intellectual questions, you must go to those with superior intellects 3-If you can, let your faith make you a skeptic. Don't settle on what does not seem wholly fulfilling. 4-Do not let your faith rest on a feeling 5-Intellectual challenges must be met, but God is known through charity

CCC def'n of faith

1-personal adherence(c.150) 2-as a grace(c.153) and free human act(c.155). In faith the human intellect and will co-operate with divine grace 3-it is certain 4-it seeks understanding 5-it's the beginning of eternal life

Revelation as data

1. "The Bible doesn't go out of date. Maybe it's the 'data' of humankind's encounters with God. 2. Even after 1000s of years and several major changes in the way we understand cosmology and the universe, the Bible continues to inform us. That's why you don't want to throw any of it away... 3. In science, the raw data, the 'history of the encounter' if you prefer can often be contained in lists of numbers, but the story of a religious encounter can be subtle and hard to communicate. That's why the Bible resorts to so many different literary forms." Br. Guy

Irenaeus' Interpretive implications of Gen. 2-3

1. Adam's and Eve's sin more like that of children (which still has consequences). 2. God like a parent or teacher ("long- suffering") 3. All God's punishments are remedial, not strictly punitive (curses, fig leaves, even death).

But whence the trinity

1. Although we may, in retrospect, see vestiges of the Trinity in God's self-disclosure to Israel, the full doctrine of the Trinity was revealed in Christ (thinking about the Trinity starts with Christ too). 2. The Trinity is in a strict sense a mystery. It is revealed (CCC 237) 3. The Church's language for describing this mystery was not fully established until around the fourth century

Ways NOT to talk about Trinity

1. As 3 parts, components or elements. This is sometimes called "partialism." The divine essence cannot be divided. God is not 1+1+1=3. 2. As 3 aspects, modes(like H2O)or manifestations. This way of speaking is called modalism or Sabellianism. It implies the three are only different in the way that they appear to us or in relation to us rather than internal relation. 3. As 3 people or 3 gods. This is polytheism. 4. As having 3 different jobs. The Trinity is one in action, although their work is sometimes attributed to a particular person (C. 258). 5. Sheed: on appropriation ("so urgently does God want to be known by us," p.120). This is sometimes called the "economic" or "immanent" Trinity

If everything is "good", whence evil?

1. As in the Genesis story, we move from the doctrine of creation to the doctrine of the Fall (as Genesis 1-2 to 2-3). If the world is good, unde malum? (CCC 385 echoing Augustine) 2. Evil often described as "unsubstantial" as lack, deprivation "rejection, opposition" (CCC 386) Augustine: the evil will is "a kind of falling away from the work of God to its own work" (City of God XIV.11 ) 3. Thomas Aquinas: "accordingly we are wont to say that evil, which consists in a certain privation, has a deficient cause, or an accidental efficient cause" (Summa I-II.75.1)

Solidarity in sin

1. Augustine also affirms this sin affects the whole human race (against every objection of the modern person!), City of God XIII.3 2. Our peculiar quality of having human solidarity means solidarity in sin (CCC 404 and Sheed p. 183, 203) 3. This is actually how Augustine explains Adam's sin in particular (City of God XIV.11 and Conf. 2.9.17) 4. Thought: what would true solidarity have been? (second Adam) My analogy for sin by propagation (sweatshop labor) CCC 419

The original sin is pride

1. Augustine on pride: Pride defined; when we become an end unto ourselves, when we become our own satisfaction (City of God XIV.13). 2. Sheed "sin in its nakedness" p. 178. A complete inversion of the hierarchy of being (recall from last class; Conf. 2.5.10). 3. It is love of self to self destruction (Confessions 2.4.9) - it's not about the fruit!

Trinity as love

1. Augustine recognizes that in love we are bound to find an image of the Trinity, since God is love: "you see the Trinity if you see love" (On the Trinity XIII.8.12). 2. He sees in our very ability to love an image of the Trinity. This is a less anthropomorphic version of the family metaphor; lover, beloved and the love itself; see XIII.10.14. 3. These three persons cannot exist except in relation, and their common 'substance' is also common action. 4. We may say perhaps "Love (F) loves (HS) love loving (Son)." In the Augustinian Trinitarian language then the Holy Spirit may be understood as the self-gift or bond of charity of Father and Son (Sheed "Lovingness"). Here we have a glimpse of why the Trinity is the mystery of Christian faith and life: it is a mystery of love. 5. Sheed uses this analogy following Augustine (105-108), but he moves from mind to love. 6. Augustine's analogy is criticized (esp. in the East) for not giving the Holy Spirit sufficient distinction as a person

Trinity is a biblical mystery

1. Even in Mark's gospel this question is raised. Jesus is revealed as divine-ex:walking on water. Then in the agony of the garden he prays- To whom? 2. In John's gospel the relationship is most clearly defined. Key passages are Jn 1:1-14 & Jn 10:29-38. 3. In the baptismal formula, we see the Trinity declared both in scripture (See Matt. 28:19), as well as liturgically (we should not be baptized into the name of someone who is not God - as Sheed p. 118). 4. Paul's letters are often addressed from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ without distinction. 1 Cor. 8:6 presents the terms of the mystery, like the Nicene formulation

Evil has no meaning without God

1. Evil can only be understood by looking at God; like "crack" has no meaning without something in which to be a crack (Augustine uses the word "vitiation") 2. To assert otherwise is dualism (giving evil a substance) 3. God does not turn evil into good, though he brings good from evil (Sheed on consequences, p. 180) 4. Evil does not exist as an aesthetic necessity, but God can make everything work together for his purpose (CCC 412) 5. Only the Christian faith as a whole answers the question (CCC 385), Newman asks for the nature of sin to be revealed (Meditations 14)

God is ONE

1. God is one in substance, nature, essence or being. In Greek the word is οὐσία (ousia, that which is one's own) in Latin substantia (or essentia or natura). 2. Substance does not here mean "stuff." It means perhaps "the ground of being." Whatever it is that makes God God, whatever properties belong to God, belong to all three. 3. Sheed points out, it is isn't three-in-one as a math problem, it is not three natures in one nature (Sheed, p.88). 4. Because God is what he has, both God's action and being are one. This distinguishes oneness in nature in God from oneness of nature in three human beings or oneness of activity in three farmers (Cf. St. Gregory of Nyssa, To Ablabius)

Adam and Eve

1. How do we "see" privation? We see in a story. 2. How to read the story CCC 390. Likewise "it describes a primordial event" (JP II, II.1) 3. Masterful biblical story telling which points to the mystery (or incoherency) of sin. 4. Differences from Genesis 1 and structural elements are suggestive

Clarification of terms on incarnation

1. Incarnation - in/carne "enfleshment," a word inspired by John 1:14 "the Word became flesh and dwelt among us" 2. Refers to God becoming man in Jesus Christ The word "Christology" is usually used to designated thinking about Christ - who he is and how he became a human being 3. The Trinity and the Incarnation (which are linked) are distinct features of the Christian religion, and the basis of the creed

Theological controversy of filioque

1. Is it wrong to say that the Spirit proceeds from Father and Son? 2. This phrase imparts some good Trinitarian insights: i) it clarifies the relationship between Son and Spirit, which otherwise would remain unmentioned ii) it is supported by Augustine's vision of Holy Spirit as Love iii) it certainly has precedent in the ancient tradition (of what kind is hotly contested) 3. The Orthodox object i) it makes the Spirit seem more distant from the Father ii) it threatens the monarchy of God the Father (his status as originator) iii) it suggests the Spirit does not give anything back to the Son. Some Orthodox theologians argue something like "per filium" would be better.

Should filioque be removed?

1. It certainly could be, and the pope would have the authority to do so. It was not part of the Roman creed until the 11th c., and Pope Leo III (9th c.) strenuously opposed this interpolation. 2. The main advantage in doing so would be in fraternal charity towards the Orthodox. It is already left out of the creed if it is being professed in the company of the Orthodox, and in the Eastern liturgies of the Catholic church. 3. 3 major disadvantages to its removal: 1) it could be interpreted as an admission of wrongheaded thinking about papal authority. 2) it could be interpreted as an admission of heresy. 3) it would greatly affect the Western liturgical tradition (especially its music).

Thomas Aquinas summary on made in the image of God

1. Made in the image = intellectual creatures 2. Both angels and human beings image in their own way 3. Our peculiar way comes from being material and spiritual -Procreation and communion (CCC 369) -Human race and solidarity (CCC 360-361, Sheed, p. 169) 4. The above are not necessities of being made in the image of God, (animals have these things too CCC 370). 5. Therefore made in the image and made male and female

Catechism

1. Means instruction; as the CCC says, it is the name given to the Church's whole effort to make disciples (CCC 4), 2. CCC is a summary of the teaching of the Catholic faith. In the early Christian church, instruction on the faith was often done by explaining the creed. 3. Catechism and creed are interconnected.

Arian Controversy, results

1. Nicea (325) was convened to respond to the claims of Arius. 2. Result is the anti-Arian language of the creed. Christ is "only-begotten Son of the Father, born of the Father before all ages, God from God, light from light, true God from true God, begotten not made, consubstantial with the Father." 3. MEANING **He is eternally Son (there is no 'gap,' and he is not created) **The Son is just as much God as God the Father. The Son is homoousios with the Father. This word is as strong a statement as the Greek language can offer: whatever makes God God, the Son is that. 4. A chief argument of St. Athanasius (the great defender of the creed) was that the Son must be God in order to save us, and must be fully God in order to be worshipped.

History of Nicene creed

1. Nicene creed recited at Mass 2. more properly called the NicenoConstantinopolitan creed. 3. Written: 325 at Council of Nicea: first ecumenical council, recognized by nearly all Christian denominations and called primarily in response to the Arian controversy. 4.The Niceno-Constantinopolitan Creed is a slightly revised version of the Nicene creed that was produced at the second ecumenical council at Constantinople in 381. The main revision is the article on the Holy Spirit.

On scripture

1. Scripture is essential to the teaching of the faith. It is the definitive witness to the incarnation, it is compared to Christ's own body (CCC 102-103). 2. With a similar parallel to the incarnation, Scripture is fully divine (God is its author; CCC 105) and fully human ("certain men, in full use of their faculties and powers" CCC 106). 3. The Catholic understanding of inspiration is not coercion, possession or a divine telephone call. 4. We are also reminded our faith does not terminate in the Bible, but in Christ (CCC 108).

Images of trinity?

1. Sheed encourages us to purge our imagination, then return to them. It is our human way of seeking understanding. 2. Augustine urges us not to be afraid of the bodily nature of images: "Let him accustom himself so as to find in corporeal things the traces of things spiritual" (On the Trinity XII.5). 3. A contemplation of images can help us to meditate on the Trinity, even if they are still only expanding our circle into darkness (as Sheed says). 4. The creed uses them (light from light). And, they also help us teach! 5. A helpful exercise with any image is examining its strengths but also its limitations. This can remind us it is indeed an image only

Sheed on ONE God

1. Sheed pushes to expand our intellect into the realm of considering the implications of the oneness of God. 2. Put otherwise God is simple. Perhaps we are used to think of God as complicated, but it is we who are complicated. 3. God is infinite; not bound by anything, including time and space. 4. The question "where was God before the universe?" is nonsense (Sheed, p. 61). The implications of this are many: God is what he has (Sheed, p. 75). God is pure being or act. God is 'in' everything by his power or action, not because he is contained in it. This is what it means to be truly one. 5. The classic characteristics of God follow: God is all-powerful, omniscient, incorporeal, immutable, ineffable (note that we often describe God by what he is not - apophatic). Another word for this is transcendent. God is not of the created order. God is not an old man (he is not properly speaking old! Sheed, p. 65).

Trinity as mind/thought

1. Sheed uses this analogy to explain how the Son is 'begotten' of the Father and yet is completely consubstantial with him. (God's thought about himself is a perfect image). 2. This idea is drawn from the New Testament - Christ as Word and Image: Jn 1:1, Heb. 1:3, Col. 1:15 3. Augustine comes to it from his love analogy. How does this sort of analogy work within a human person without the sense of 3 people? The mind operating inwardly (even to love), requires a cluster of activity: memory, understanding and will/love. See Aug on Trinity XIV.10.13. 4. Strengths of the analogy i) the three are simultaneous but ordered ii) it is not at all a 'physical' image iii) it shows a Trinitarian way of working within a human person. 5. Augustine is criticized for making the Trinity individualistic and not "dynamic" or a "communion." But Augustine's genius is that we only image the Trinity when contemplating God (XIV.12.15), not within ourselves.

Irenaeus&Augustine & natural evil

1. So far we have talked about the reason for "moral evil" (evil caused by free agents, human and angelic). 2. What about "natural evil" (e.g. natural disasters)? **Augustine: a fall of solidarity mysteriously affects not just us but everything around us, since creation is ordered in a way to us **Irenaeus: natural imperfection mirrors our own as we grow into our own goodness

Others on pride

1. This Augustinian insight is shared by many of our other readings 2. When we ask only what we can do (Benedict XVI, p. 68). We refuse all limitations. Language of "test" can be misleading. 3. Thus it is love of self so far as hatred of God (JP II; II.8), which is actually hatred of self; thus it is incomprehensible, incoherent. Choosing non-existence. 4. This is the hallmark of Milton's Satan; he has no excuse. He loves himself to his own destruction.

What about the Spirit (during Arian)

1. The Arian controversy continued well past 325, and a new problem was raised=the divinity of the Spirit. 2. The divinity of the Spirit was professed at the Council of Constantinople in 381. 3. The wording of the creed speaks to precisely the biblical logic employed: "The Lord, the giver of life, who proceeds from the Father (and the Son), who with the Father and the Son is adored and glorified, who has spoken through the prophets." 4. If the Spirit too is worshipped and is operative in creation (lifegiver) and salvation (spoken through the prophets), the Spirit also must be fully divine.

Minor Complications on Trinity

1. The Latin translation of these phrases historically caused some confusion 2. persona can imply personality such as the Greek πρόσωπον (prosopon; face, mask) and substantia (sub/stare - stand under - would seem to be the more direct translation of hypostasis, not ousia). 3. This serves to underscore what the CCC says about the language of the Trinity,that it actually bends the language to conform to the mystery (CCC 251). 4. This does not at all diminish the importance of the language, but recognizes that the language pays homage to a mystery

Arian Controversy

1. The council of Nicea in 325 was called in response to "Arian controversy." 2. Arius was a presbyter from Egypt, he was concerned about classic conceptions of God (His immutability, eternity, etc.). He worried these would be threatened if Christ is said to have full divinity. 3. Arius held: -Christ is created (only one first principle) -Christ does not have full knowledge of God (God is ineffable) -Christ absolutely cannot be of one substance with the Father (Gk: homoousios). This would mean polytheism & abscission of the divine nature. 4. In short: Arius taught that Christ is the first and greatest of all creatures, the Word, but less than God the Father; "there was when he was not"

why CCC discusses trinity almost immediately

1. The creed unfolds in a Trinitarian pattern (belief in God the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit), but the entire creed has one subject: GOD 2. Although it requires discussion of some things that come much later in the creed, it is not proper to speak about faith in God without speaking of God as Trinity 3. The CCC carefully expresses a belief in one God in classical terms, but not without reference to the Trinity (CCC 202) 4. The Trinity is the center of Christian faith and life (CCC 234)and Sheed p. 88-90

Christ is the heart of catechesis

1. The longest section of the Creed is about Christ, who is God's definitive self- revelation 2. CCC 423 affirms that Jesus is historical 3. CCC 426 reminds us that the heart of catechesis is Christ (not formulas); "my teaching is not my own" 4. Origen on the task of catechesis (Contra Celsum)

Historical Controversy on filioque

1. The phrase "from the Son" (in Latin: filioque) in the article on the Holy Spirit was not in the creed of 381 2. Canon 7 of the council of Ephesus (431) declared that nothing should be added to the creed 3. The first promulgation of the creed with the filioque happened in 589 in Toledo (Spain) 4. The addition was made to combat Arianism, which was the faith of the Germanic tribes in Spain/North Africa during late antiquity 5. Saying the Spirit proceeds from Father and the Son fully expresses that there is nothing the Son lacks in comparison to the Father 6. The Orthodox object to any addition based on Ephesus The Catholics note that local inconsistencies in the exact wording existed from the beginning, and that the changes from 325 to 381 were in response to heresy. The Fathers of 451 moreover had no problem clarifying the creed.

Bad images of the Trinity

1. The three-leaf clover image is partialism, God is 1+1+1 = 3. God is not three parts. 2. Egg - the white, yolk and shell: This is not only 3 parts make a whole, but the three parts are evidently not of the same substance! 3. One person who is a husband, father and businessman. This is modalism. The distinctions of the three would be based on our relationship to this man, not on internal relationships. 4. Water as steam, liquid and ice. Again, as above, these are just three "modes" of water and not distinct persons.

God is THREE

1. The used word to identify the three as distinct is person. In Greek this is hypostasis (that which stands under), in Latin persona. 2. Since God is one in being and action, the three are distinguished only by their relationship within the Godhead. 3. This distinction of relation is often expressed in terms of origin: the Father is unbegotten, first originator, the Son is the only-begotten and the Holy Spirit proceeds (or spirates) from the Father (and the Son). 4. Gregory of Nyssa: "We do not deny the difference in cause and causality, by which alone we seize the distinction of the one from the other. It is by belief that one is the cause [Father] and the other is from the cause [Son]. We also consider another difference of the one who is from cause. There is one which depends on the first [Son], and there is that one which through that which depends on the first [Holy Spirit]" (from To Ablabius)

Family as Trinity?

1. Theology of the Body has popularized the image of husband/wife/son (Adam/Eve/Seth) as one of the Trinity, but this image has some serious limitations. 2. This is not a favored imaged among the ancients (as Augustine attests). 3. Strengths: i) it shows consubstantiality of the three with different modes of generation ii) it captures the sense of inner relationship and self-gift iii) it gives some echo of the Trinity in everyday human life 4. Weaknesses: i) it lends itself to Arian interpretations ii) it exacerbates problems with anthropomorphic images of God as an old man, and the Trinity as three people or three gods iii) The unity is one which is very much a human unity, and it does not approximate the complete unity of the Trinity. The three are easily separated not just distinct. 5. For Augustine: thinking of the Trinity of 3 people misses the profound point that each human being is made in the image and likeness of God, that is, in the image of the whole Trinity (On the Trinity XII.6.6)

Why do we need a creed(Pelikan)?

1. True faith requires specificity (we cannot pray "to whom it concerns") 2. In order to hand on the faith (we need a "best working hypothesis"); the Nicene creed responds to this need 3. To measure ourselves by the faith, and not vice versa; this ensures we are a community, as the CCC says "communion in faith needs a common language of faith" (CCC 185) 4. As a "flag" which also enables true interreligious dialogue

Theology of Genesis 2-3

1. What is the story about? (JP II; III.7). A story about origins, but a story about the human condition 2. "Snake" speaks of contemporary temptation as well as original context (Benedict XVI, p.65) Inherent persuasiveness of this account (Benedict XVI, p.63) 3. Points to Christ as its completion (Protoevangelium; CCC 410-412, Gen. 3:15).

Original sin according to Augustine

1. an act of pride 2. fallen solidarity

Human language applying to God

1. ccc 42: can't truly speak about God b/c He transcends all creatures, 2. 43: can speak of Him by way of analogy(images&bodies)

CCC says faith is NOT

1. feeling/emotion 2. mental assen to # of propositions 3. an act done in total isolation, it is an ecclesial act(c.168-169; 181)

The Church has sought to understand the trinity from the beginning

1.Although no early authors use the exact language of Nicea, the doctrine of the Trinity develops organically from reflection on the scriptures from the earliest period 2. St. Ignatius of Antioch (c. 115) refers to the blood of Christ as the "blood of God" (Letter to Ephesians 1.1). 3. St. Justin Martyr (c. 155) was one of the first proponents of "Logos" Christology (wrestling with the question of what it means that Christ is Word), e.g. "We have been taught that Christ is the first-born of God, and we have declared above that He is the Word of whom every race of men were partakers" (First Apology 46). 4. Origen (c. 225) writes "Christ Jesus, he who came to earth, was begotten of the Father before every created thing ... the apostles delivered this doctrine, that the Holy Spirit is united in honour and dignity with the Father and his Son. In regard to him it is not yet clearly known whether he is to be though of begotten or unbegotten or himself being also a Son or not, but there are matters which we must investigate to the best of our power from Holy Scripture" (On First Principles I.3)

Consider form & content of Genesis

In other words, what kinds questions does the text answer and what kind of questions does science answer?

Milton Paradise Lost

Devils sin is pride; knows tempting humans is wrong but defends it

To Summarize(about God)

English: One nature,substance, essence,being, 3 persons Greek: One ousia, 3 hypostases (sg.hypostasis) Latin: One natura, essentia, substantia, 3 personae (sg. persona)

Do angels image God more perfectly? Summa I.93.3

First, we may consider in it that in which the image chiefly consists, that is, the intellectual nature. Thus the image of God is more perfect in the angels than in man, because their intellectual nature is more perfect, as is clear from what has been said (I:58:3; I:79:8). Secondly, we may consider the image of God in man as regards its accidental qualities, so far as to observe in man a certain imitation of God, consisting in the fact that man proceeds from man, as God from God; and also in the fact that the whole human soul is in the whole body, as God from God; and also in the fact that the whole human soul is in the whole body, and again, in every part, as God is in regard to the whole world. In these and the like things the image of God is more perfect in man than it is in the angels. But these do not of themselves belong to the nature of the Divine image in man, unless we presuppose the first likeness, which is in the intellectual nature; otherwise even brute animals would be to God's image. Therefore, as in their intellectual nature, the angels are more to the image of God than man is, we must grant that, absolutely speaking, the angels are more to the image of God than man is, but that in some respects man is more like to God.

Genesis is relevant NOW

Genesis even now opposes certain theological or philosophical ways of looking at the world (CCC 285). Genesis 1-3 therefore excludes the possibility of: -Pantheism; God is not the world. -Dualism, Manichaeism, Gnosticism; There is only one good principle of the universe not two. -Deism; God is not a watchmaker, Genesis 1 is part of the story of Israel God, not a watch-maker who, once he has made a watch, abandons it to itself (Deism). -Material; the world has a beginning and there is more than matter.

Desire for God is a reasonable inclination

Inspired by Aquinas' 5 proofs: human person & world(it does not create itself). THis makes the search for God rational

Another origin of creed

Iraenus wrote Against all Heresies in the second century (~180 AD). No set canon of the NT yet, Is arguing against a group-the gnostics

The knowledge of God according to Church

Our holy mother the church, holds and teaches that God, the first principle and last end of all things, can be known with certainty from the created world by the natural light of the human reason. Without this capacity man would not be able to welcome God's revelation. Man has this capacity because he is created "in the image of God".

Milton

Paradise Lost: very Augustine in that the devils sin is pride

Where do creeds come from, 2?

Phil 2:5-11: this hymn represents a tradition which predates and informs scripture, tells an (expanded) 'story' about Christ, It was likely sung, and is a kind of prayer

Wonder can give rise to search CCC 284

Surely we can find images of God 1) There is a "beginning" 2) There is a gratuitousness, and immensity (Sheed p. 140, Newman, p. 155) This can cultivate a sense of wonder in us (CCC 299)

Gospel of Mark on faith

The gospel of Mark is carefully organized, with the entire book having a "chiastic" structure In the first half of the gospel, we find a catena of powerful and miraculous deeds done by Jesus. The style of Mark is rapid fire, with half of all sentences beginning with "and" (Gk: καί). In Mark, miracles seem to result because of faith, rather than being the cause of faith. For example: Mk. 5:24-25 and Mk. 6:1-6. After the dramatic central section (which you read), there are no more miracles.

Mother Teresa on faith

The presence of: 1) obedience/adherence (p. 210-211) 2) Graces and free human acts (e.g. the Eucharist) 3) Certainty (yes, even certainty!) (p. 259) 4) Seeking understanding (p. 211) 5) The beginning of eternal life (p.230) The absence of: 1-Consolation (p. 210) 2-Certainty in particular propositions (e.g. heaven p. 210) 3-Personal satisfaction (p. 211)

Def'n of theology

Theology asks questions about God (primarily) but also about the meaning of life and the world using the "data" of 'Revelation' (for Catholics, contained in Scripture and Tradition).

Sheed on sanity

To ask what creation comes from, the seeker is affirmed, "God is not only a fact about religion: he is fact. Not to see him is to be wrong about everything"

Desire for God

Written in the human heart, b/c man is created by God and for God, & God never ceases to draw man to himself. Only in God will he find truth and happiness

Creed

from Latin credo, I believe