Catholicism Midterm

What is theology?

the study of God

• it’s a way of life that involves reflection of our most important values and deepest commitements —> so that we can identify and respond to the ways God calls us to reach our full potential

What is discernment?

A way of making decisions in a fashion that aligns with our deepest convictions (our telos) and in order to discover God

What is “Ultimate Concern”? How does this framing help us think about God?

• “Ultimate Concern” → the thing we structure our lives around, the thing we allow to structure our values and decisions 

• Helps us assess what the god is in our life, and whether we want to be devoted

• Helps us assess if the God we claim we believe in is actually structuring our lives

How do we define “facts”?

something we can prove based on hard evidence 

How do we assess whether or not a fact is justified?

• Not every fact can be personally verified, but we rely on experts to confirm them

• we live post-truth” culture, where facts are sometimes questions or disregarded 

How do we “define” opinions?

personal preference

How do we asses whether or not opinions are justified?

• allow for disagreement and cannot be fully reconciled

• each person is entitled to their own opinion

How do we define “beliefs”?

judgements informed by experience that shape how we live our lives

How do we assess whether or not beliefs are justified?

• Can be supported or challenged by facts 

• Duns and Kelly believe beliefs are more important than opinions 

• If science can disprove a belief, the belief is not worthy of being held

example of how beliefs are justified

• Example: Catholic belief that God creates and loves us

  • Some fundamentalists argue this is a fact, but God’s existence cannot be proven in the same way as we can prove a pen is blue

  • Faith shapes how Catholics live, even if it cannot be scientifically verified 

What does biblia mean? What does the literal translation of that word tell us about the Bible?

• bible: a collection of books

• Compilation of books written, mediated, and translated over thousands of years in different languages 

How do Catholics interpret the Bible, and why? (Why, for Catholics, is the Bible not a textbook or rule book?) 

• Catholic bible = 46 books in the Old Testament, 27 in the New Testament 

• Books tell us about the divine

• Considered a text of tradition, rather than a single unified book

• Catholics believe it is a source of regulation and it uses God to inspire us to who and how we live 

• Bible has many genres such as law, poetry, and myth

  • Law: instructions for what to do or not to do

    • Ex: Jewish Kosher laws 

  • Poetry:meant to inspire, not prescribe rules 

    • Ex: Psalms

  • Myth: not literally true but conveys deeper truths 

    • Myths → narratives that may not be factually true but bears of the truth 

    • Ex: Genesis creation stories 

What is a “myth”?

• not literally true but conveys deeper truths

• narratives that may not be factually true but bears the truth

What does it mean to approach the book of Genesis as a myth?

• Book of Genesis myth approach offers spiritual truths, insights, and beliefs rather than scientific explanations

  • Ex: Adam and Eve was not supposed to be factual, as it was supposed to show us the spiritual truths and messages of this tale

• A story can allow us to illustrate and understand a story and apply it to our own lives 

What is the definition of the word telos?

• the purpose or the end of which something is created

• humans have a particular telos → to love God and others (to serve)

What, in catholic theology, is the telos of the human person

Human Telos is to love, we are fulfilled when we love

What is the First Principle & Foundation in Ignatian spirituality? What does it tell us about the human person?

• Who is the human person, what is our telos, and what does it require me to make decisions that align with my telos?

• Ignatius says humans are created to love God and serve others; therefore all other things in world help me are good, but things that hinder me hurt my telos

  • We need to be indifferent to the things that hinder

  • We should not make riches or health our ultimate concern

What is indifference?

dismiss unnecessary anxieties to focus on what matters most

• to Duns and Kelly: our authors serving others matters most

What are “eulogy virtues”?

the deep moral and spiritual qualities that define the kind of person we are remembered as 

• ex: compassion, generosity, honesty, and loyalty

• They describe who you are at your core, not only what you achieve 

Why are “eulogy virtues'“ important for discernment?

• Discernment is ultimately about becoming the person God calls us to be, not just achieving goals. Focusing on neurological virtues helps shape our lives around lasting values and our “ultimate concern” rather than temporary accomplishments. It shows a way of life and how we made decisions

What is evil?

an absence of what is good, it is not a force in and of itself

How do we define “natural evil”?

suffering or desturtcutio that happens through natural processes rather than human choice 

• ex: Antelope gets eaten by a lion, the antelope has to die for the lion to survive

• ex: loosing a loved one to an illness 

How do we define “moral evil”?

comes from human decisions that go against love, justice, or the will of God - such as violence, greed, or oppression

What is the difference between “moral evil” and “natural evil”?

moral evil involves human responsibility, while natural evil does not

How can “natural evil” and “moral evil” exacerbate one another?

One can exacerbate the other when human neglect or injustice worsens natural suffering

• Ex: when greed leads to environmental destruction that intensifies natural disasters

What is sin?

the failure to bother to love

What is the incarnation?

• God becomes human flesh in the form of Jesus 

• referred to as a “mystery”

• Humans were created in the image of God, and God took on human flesh to make it sacred, meaning that there is a piece of God in all of us. We serve God when we care for the wounded flesh we find around us

How do horror movies help us understand the relationship between sin and incarnation?

• Authors tie "forbidden knowledge” into the horror movie (the overreacher plot) → Humans seek things (such as knowledge) that are not actually good for us because we cannot help ourselves 

• God takes on human flesh in the Incarnation to essentially enter the horror movie of life and help us navigate the evil we are battling

How does the theological concept of the incarnation impact how Catholics are called to discern how to live?

• Incarnation ia a “mystery” → it reveals something profound about God’s love that humans can never completely understand it

• God’s choice to be as a poor, vulnerable child shows divine solidarity with all who suffer

•  Human life is made sacred through incarnation → humans are created in the image of God, and God’s becoming human affirms the holiness of all flesh

  • “We cannot worship God in spirit alone but in caring for the wounded flesh we find around us”

• Connection to discernment: Catholics are called to see God’s presence in every person and situation, especially in pain and injustice 

• To follow Christ means to act with compassion and justice toward others

• Caring for the poor, marginalized, and suffering becomes an act of worship and a key part of discerning how we live

• What is the Kingdom/Reign/Kin-dom of God?

• Kingdom: has a ruler/leader who has power to establish laws and a community that follows those laws, has a geographical area

• Kingdom of God: vision of how we should live and treat each other in an ideal world 

• Kindom: emphasizes more of a family aspect, community, and relationship

  • Kin: one’s family and relations 

  • All are kin, not subjects

• Represents the world as God intends it: inclusive, healded, and whole 

• What are the “three reversals” we see in Jesus’s life?

• 3 reversals jesus effects 

1. Expectation

   1. Reversal of expectations 

   2. Ways Jesus’s expectation are f;lipped from world

   3. Beatitudes: blessed of those who are mourning (different idea of people who are blessed in modern time cause we would think rich are blessed 

   4. Sermon of the mount: thall shall not kill, thall shall not get angry

      1. Gods expectations are radical

2. Values 

   1. Beatitudes used as contrast of values 

   2. Flipping society and values 

3. Vision

   1. The parable are like putting on glasses and seeing world differently 

The “three reversals” describe how Jesus turns worldly expectations upside down, revealing God’s radically different values.

How do Jesus’s miracles relate to our understanding of the Kingdom/Reign/Kin-dom of God? (Knowing a few examples will be helpful.)

• Examples of Jesus's miracles 

  • A man with a withered hand and Jesus heals him

  • Miracle (physical): This restores him; supernatural;  Jesus heals someone in a way that stores their physical wholeness as well as communal holeness; shows inclusivity

• Kingdom of god is often visioned as gating

• Kingdom of god is now

• Jesus is proclaiming of the reign and kingdom of God; he announces it is happening now, something he is manifesting and bringing about, and in the future 

• Kingdom of God is “in-breaking” → in his preaching and miracles he is breaking in, he is breaking in to our reality; need the clouds to part and see his effects 

• Must be less about demonstrating supernatural power or proving divinity, but rather shows how God wants the world to be seen and how he is doing that now. 

• Outsiders become insiders

How does the way Jesus lived relate to the way Jesus died?

• Dark grace: entering into suffering (of others and ourselves) is where we closely encounter God 

• Jesus entered into other’s suffering and suffered himself as well

What are the 3 theories Catholics use to understand the theological significance of Jesus’s death? 

1. satisfaction theory

2. moral influence

3. solidarity theory

what is satisfaction theory and how do Catholics use it to understand the theological significance of Jesus’s death?

•  indicates that we can make meaningful response when we are able to help those hurt by sin, providing some form of comfort and a type of restitution even when we ourselves are not the ones who caused the rift

• Jesus’s death shows that reconciliation requires real effort and response. We participate in that healing by offering comfort, support, or restitution—even when we didn’t personally cause the harm.

• Theological significance: Theological significance: The cross reveals that love takes responsibility for mending broken relationships. Jesus’s self-offering models how we can help restore justice and peace where sin has caused damage

what is moral influence theory and how do Catholics use it to understand the theological significance of Jesus’s death?

• suggests that we can make a difference when we help those who have erred find a new way, using out lives to provide hope for a new path out of the darkness

  • Jesus’s self-giving love inspires us to help those who have erred find hope and new direction—our lives can be instruments of light for others.

• Theological significance: The cross changes us morally and spiritually. By contemplating Jesus’s sacrificial love, we are moved to repentance and to imitate that same love in our relationships and actions.

what is the solidarity theory and how do Catholics use it to understand the theological significance of Jesus’s death?

•  demonstrates that charging into the darkness to sit, and suffer, alongside those trapped by the forces of sin can be powerful, life-giving response

  • Jesus “charges into the darkness” to sit and suffer with humanity; his cross is the ultimate act of solidarity with the oppressed, abandoned, and suffering.

• Theological significance: The cross shows that God is not distant from suffering but present within it. Our call as disciples is to be present with those who suffer, bringing compassion and hope into dark places.

What is the resurrection?

God’s vindication of Jesus and the definitive sign that love and life conquer sin and death

What is the theological significance of the resurrection?

• helped people realize that we experience God through Jesus

• Its importance includes victory over death and sin, justification for believers, and the promise of future resurrection and eternal life for Christians. It confirms that Jesus is the Son of God, validates his sacrificial death, and provides believers with the power to live a new, spiritual life. 

What is structural sin?

• sin embedded within the social, economic, and political systems

• Do people know they’re participating in it?

  • If so, why do they continue to do it?

  • Ex: When buying clothing, do we know there are workers who are enslaved and forced to work in the factories?

What is charity?

helping people who suffer

What is justice?

addressing the root causes of why people need help

What is the difference between charity and justice?

• Difference: charity is a response to injustice

  • Charity = response

  • Justice = prevention

How and why did the earliest Christians struggle to understand Jesus’s relationship to God?

• Earliest Christians were Jews who believed in one God, so understanding Jesus as divine was challenging.

  • They were monotheists 

  • They experience Jesus and how do they make sense of this → trinity 

• They witnessed Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection, which showed God’s presence in a new, embodied way.

• Christians had to reconcile Jesus’ full humanity (he suffered, prayed, and died) with his divinity (revealing God’s will and saving humanity).

• This reflection took centuries of experience and theological thinking, leading to a deeper understanding of God in Jesus.

• They come up with the trinity so that Jesus is not entirely God 

Key idea: Jesus is the perfect human and the way God shows humans how to live and love fully

What is the Holy Spirit?

• is the ongoing presence of God

• Jesus, Holy Spirit, God - all one, split to understand God's different roles - Trinity

• What is the Trinity, and how did Christians develop their understanding of God in this way?

• The Trinity is one God in three persons: Father (creator), Son (savior), Holy Spirit (ongoing presence).

• Christians developed this understanding by reflecting on Jesus’ life and resurrection and the continuing work of the Holy Spirit.

• The Trinity expresses that God is both unified and relational, active in creation, salvation, and our lives.

• Christians used analogies (like a song: creator, lyrics, melody) to make sense of this mystery.

Key idea: The Trinity shows God’s love is dynamic, relational, and present in the world.

What is sacramentality?

• God’s presence through reality

• finding God in all things

• We can find God in these materials 

• Incarnation is at foundation of sacramentality understanding

  • He becomes flesh and human being

• Sacramentality allows us to understand the sacraments 

• Oil, host, becomes fused with sacred presence

• Connected to incarnational world view that finds god in all things and is world view that allows use to experience divine in material sacraments 

What does it mean to call Jesus the ultimate sacrament of God?

• Jesus is called the “fundamental” or “ultimate sacrament” (Ur-Sakrament) because he is the fullest and most direct revelation of God’s presence, love, and grace in human form.

• Through his human life, death, and resurrection, Jesus makes God visible and accessible.

• In other words, everything that sacraments do (make grace tangible) is found first and perfectly in Jesus himself.

• Therefore, the Church becomes the sacrament of Jesus—it continues to make Christ’s presence real in the world through word, worship, and service

Which sacraments have their direct origins in the life of Jesus?

• Baptism and the Eucharist have direct scriptural and historical origins in Jesus’s own life and ministry:

• Baptism:

  • Jesus was baptized by John and later commanded his disciples to baptize (Matthew 28:19).

• It symbolizes repentance, rebirth, and initiation into the community of faith.

• Eucharist:

  • Instituted at the Last Supper, when Jesus took bread and wine and said, “This is my body… this is my blood… do this in memory of me” (1 Corinthians 11:24–25).

  • It presents the Paschal Mystery—Jesus’s death and resurrection—through ritual meal and thanksgiving.

Protestant theology often recognizes only these two as “dominical sacraments,” meaning those instituted by Christ himself.

How does the sacrament of baptism break down divisions?

• According to Paul (and as Rausch explains), baptism unites all believers into one body—the Body of Christ.

• In baptism, “There is no longer Jew or Greek, slave or free, male or female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus”(Galatians 3:28).

• It erases social, ethnic, and gender divisions, forming a community rooted in equality and shared faith.

• Baptism also initiates one into the Church, moving a person from a world of sin and division into a community of communion and Spirit.

• Thus, it is not just an individual act—it’s a relational transformation that reshapes how people live with and see one another.

How has the understanding of Jesus’s real presence in the Eucharist evolved over history?

• Early Church (1st–2nd centuries):

  • Christians experienced the Eucharist as a real encounter with the risen Christ in “the breaking of the bread.”

• Early writers like Ignatius of Antioch and Justin Martyr spoke of the Eucharist as truly “the flesh of our Savior Jesus Christ.”

• Middle Ages (11th–13th centuries):

  • Theological debates led to the development of the doctrine of transubstantiation—the idea that the substance of the bread and wine becomes the body and blood of Christ, even though the appearances remain the same.

    • Way church began to understand this 

• Modern understanding:

  • The Eucharist is understood as a personal encounter with the risen Christ, not an object but a relationship—Christ is present as someone to be met and received.

  • The focus today, following theologians like Nathan Mitchell, is on the Eucharist as communion with Christ and one another, not on explaining the change in purely philosophical terms.

What is revelation? How does this framework help Catholics approach the bible?

• Revelation: Catholics believe that God reveals God’s very self to us, communicates to us who God is 

• Catholics believe the bible is a source of revelation 

What are significant differences between the first and second creation narratives in Genesis? What theological ideas do they communicate about the human person?

• Genesis 1: 

  • Ordered, cosmic, poetic, humans created “in the image of God”

  • Emphasizes human dignity and equality over creation

• Genesis 2:

  • More intimate and relational; God forms Adam from dust, breathes life, creates Eve from his side

  • Emphasizes interdependence, relationship, and care for the earth

• Together they show humans as both physical and spiritual, made for relationship with God, each other, and creation

• How does the narrative of Genesis 3 relate theologically to the understanding of the human person in Genesis 1& 2?

• Genesis 1 + 2: 

  • Two storeies tell different versions of same thing (creation narratives)

    • In the beginning…  

    • Genesis 1: humans are created in the image of god; not by physically forming but by speaking and it specifically says in Genesis 1 → humans are created in God's image and likeness 

    • Genesis 2: much more physical and sacramental description

      • God creates/physically forms the first person from dust and breathes his very life into this person; God’s breath (breath of divine) animates human person; holy spirit is somethings explained as breath and air

  • These stories tell us about human relationship to the divine

  • Genesis 3: attempt to grapple with the world, the way it is, and find/reveal a deeper truth about human nature 

    • Adam and Eve 

    • The world is not as pure and similar to God’s image and likeness as expected

    • Story of first people eating fruit; forbidden fruit; 

    • Talks about temptation and freedom

    • Humans take one thing their creator said they cannot have when creator gave them everything they needed

    • Catholics look to Genesis 3 to understand how world is so beautiful but also so broken at times

    • Introduces sin and temptation

    • Known as the fall, because at the end of genesis 3 it discusses the ways the world is broken as a response to these

      • People have to now work for food with the stress of their own brow

      • Great pains in childbirth for women; so dangerous and painful to bring new life into world

• Theological relation: Genesis 3 explains the tension in human nature—though created good and in God’s image, humans are susceptible to temptation and separation from God. It highlights the need for redemption and God’s grace.

• Human person: Humans are both created noble (image of God) and fallen (prone to sin), emphasizing free will, moral responsibility, and dependence on God.

According to Rausch, how did baptism evolve?

From John the Baptist; incorporated into Christ’s death and resurrection; early Christian practice; originates with Jesus.

According to Rausch, how did confirmation evolve?

Originally part of baptism; became separate in the West; Eastern churches kept original order with washing with water and post baptismal anointing with oil

• it used to be seen as a baptismal ritual strengthens ones baptismal commitment

  • differs from today as it is often seen as a sacrament of Christian adulthood

According to Rausch, how did the Eucharist evolve?

• Originated from Jewish Passover and grace-after-meals traditions of thanksgiving.

• Jesus gave new meaning to the meal at the Last Supper, identifying bread and wine with his body and blood.

• Early Christians continued the ritual to recognize the risen Jesus “in the breaking of the bread.”

• Over time, it developed into the Church’s liturgy (Word and Eucharist) and came to express Christ’s real presence and sacrifice.

According to Rausch, how did the Penance/Reconciliation evolve?

• In the early Church, penance was public and could be received only once, with sinners joining the order of penitentsduring liturgy.

• Private (auricular) confession was introduced by Irish monks around the 6th century and spread throughout the Church.

• The Fourth Lateran Council (1215) required anyone guilty of serious sin to confess at least once a year.

• After Vatican II, the 1973 Rite of Penance introduced three forms: private confession, communal celebration with private confession, and communal celebration with general absolution (rarely permitted).

According to Rausch, how did the anointing of the sick evolve?

• Originally called Extreme Unction (“final anointing”) and celebrated as a healing ritual with blessed oil and prayers (cf. James 5:14–15).

• In the early Church, family or others could anoint the sick person, sometimes even the sick person anointed themselves or drank the oil.

• By the 8th–9th centuries, the rite became formalized and limited to priests, and often included forgiveness of sins.

• Vatican II reformed the rite, renamed it Anointing of the Sick, and encouraged community participation with prayer and the laying on of hands

According to Rausch, how did matrimony evolve?

• In the early Church, marriage was seen as a public covenant between a man and woman, blessed by the community rather than a priestly ritual.

• By the Middle Ages, the Church took a more formal role, requiring the marriage to be celebrated before a priest and witnesses.

• The Council of Trent (16th century) made this requirement official to prevent secret or invalid marriages.

• Vatican II emphasized marriage as a sacrament of love and partnership, highlighting the mutual self-giving of spouses and their role in the domestic Church.

According to Rausch, how did the sacrament of Holy Orders evolve?

• Holy Orders incorporates individuals into the threefold ministry of deacon, presbyter (priest), and bishop.

• The sacrament is celebrated through the laying on of hands by the bishop, with other priests participating during a priest’s ordination.

• The term “priests” (sacerdotes) came into use early to describe bishops and presbyters who preside at the Eucharist.

• Although the New Testament doesn’t call ministers “priests,” the title reflects the Church’s growing understanding of their sacred role and leadership.

Which sacraments have their origins in the life of Jesus?

• Baptism

• the Eucharist

What sacraments developed later?

• Confirmation

• Penance

• Anointing the Sick

• Matrimony

• Holy Orders

How does the notion of sacrament (see Rausch) relate to the idea of incarnation?

• The Incarnation—the Word made flesh—is the ultimate foundation for sacramentality

• If God fully entered human reality in Jesus, then the material world can truly reveal and communicate divine grace

• Every sacrament extends the Incarnation: God continues to meet humanity through physical signs and human relationships

• Both express God’s desire to be present in and transform the ordinary.

• The Church, as the Body of Christ, is itself sacramental—continuing the incarnate presence of God in history

• Sacraments help us experience divine love