Unit 1: Does Life Have Meaning?

Does life have meaning? (Catholic answer:)

Life is sacred.

Joseph Campbell quote:

People don't want to know the meaning of life. People want the experience of being alive.

St. Ambrose quote:

It did not suit God to save his people by arguments

Fundamental starting place for religious life?

Radical Amazement

Abraham Joshua Heschel

Polish-American rabbi, important Jewish theologian

Three Ways of Seeing

Eye of the flesh, mind, and soul

St. Bonaventure

Medieval Franciscan theologian, gave us three ways of seeing

Places of Refusal

Flattening, cynicism, and despair

Nicodemus

Religious leader who speaks to Jesus in John 3

What are two possible meanings of anothein?

Being born again or from above

John 3:16

For God so loved the world that He sent His only Son

Sacred

Means that something is loved by God, God is close to it

Chloe Valadry's definition of sacred:

inexhaustible, can be renewed, as opposed to perfection

Givenness

Contingent, dependent lives

Imago Dei

Image of God, meaning humans reflect God in how we are made

The Purpose of Prayer

The purpose of prayer and religious seeking is to see the truth about reality

Who wrote I and Thou

Martin Buber

I & Thou - I & it

What are the two primary word sets that people speak