Theology 101 Test #2

What is the Bible composed of?

sacred scriptures

What are scriptures?

inspired writings: God didn’t write everything himself

What is a source of Revelation?

God discloses God’s self through the Bible

The scriptures are what?

the very breath of God

-scripture has the potential to empower us

What is a primary source of Christian Theology>

The Bible

-it represents a core source for Christian thought about the applications of faith

-it isn’t the only source that helps make the best sense of Christian faith

-the principle foundation for Christian faith

What is the 3-fold process of the Bible

oral, written, edited

What is the origin of the Bible

The Bible grew out of a long PROCESS of God’s people recounting the stories of their experience of God and God’s relationship with them for generation after generation (ORAL TRADITION)

What is the word canon derived from

the Greek Kanon meaning, reed, measure, standard, or norm

What happens when a book is canonized?

any book in the canon is claimed by the community of faith as one that is inspired by God and therefore teaches the Rule of Faith

Definition of Canon

official list of documents that a religious community accepts as authoritative and binding

What are the 2 parts of the Christian Bible that the Christian Church follows?

Hebrew Bible (Old Testament) + New Testament = sacred scriptures

What does the Old Testament contain?

-Pentateuch

-Historical books

-poetry and wisdom

-prophets

What does the New Testament contain?

-Gospels

-Acts of the Apostles

-Letters

-Paul

-Hebrews

-All Christians

-Revelation

What does the New Testament focus on

death and resurrection of Jesus and its significance for human beings

What does the Old Testament do?

lays the foundation of the New Testament

-Revelation of God in relationships with God’s chosen ones

what does New Testament do?

The Revelation of God in Jesus

what is an apocrypha

any collection of scriptural texts that falls outside the canon

The word of God is _______, ______, and ______ as it works in us

living, life-changing, and dynamic

-we must not only listen to the word, we must let it transform our lives

Revelation

God disclosing God’s self

How do we disclose ourselves to God

through words and actions

Another definition of Revelation

God’s self-disclosure to humanity esp. revealing truths that cannot be discovered in nature or by reason and science alone

To know God and to know about God ______ is necessary

Revelation

In Christian Theology, The _______ _____ is the agent of revelation

Triune God

The human response to revelation is _____

Faith

What are the two primary types of Revelation

General (natural)

Special

Explain General (natural) Revelation

-knowledge universally available (ACCESSIBLE TO ALL PPL AT ALL TIMES & PLACES)

• includes more than religious knowledge

  • natural knowledge of God

  • Perceptible of creation

    • In the beauty of nature

    • the inner workings of the human person

Natural Theology: General Revelation

pertains to that knowledge of the world that points beyond itself to God

Special Revelation

refers to the belief that the disclosure of God’s truth, is revealed mainly through SCRIPTURE and the person of JESUS

Special Revelation: Sacred theology

revealed knowledge of God via God’s historical and redemptive acts and words, apprehended by faith

What are three things that special revelation does?

-make God known in a particular way

-not generally accessible through creation

-grasped only by eyes of faith

Special revelation leads to ….

a fuller understanding of God (God’s nature, laws and purposes), and, particularly, God’s plan of salvation. It comes through the BIBLE (the Word of God) and the Person of Jesus

______ is a response to God’s revelation

faith

Revelation determines what?

personal beliefs, values, and practices

Special Revelation is needed to supplement what>

finite human understanding

What two aspects are correlative

religion and raith

The essential link between the revelation of God and the faith of humanity is the

HUMAN EXPERIENCE

_____ connects us with our predecessors and provides a past context for understanding what we do and why we do it

tradition

How does tradition function in Christian theology?

functions as the vital, living transmission of faith

How does tradition move throughout generations?

tradition connects believers across generations to the apostolic witness

Tradition provides_____

essential accumulated wisdom for understanding God’s work

What is tradition a companion to

Scripture

Tradition as an essential, authoritative transmitter of ______ ____

DEVINE TRUTH

Tradition begins with

revelation

______ is the ongoing, living response to and understanding of revelation

tradition

Tradition is the way the Christian Community responds to its _______ ______ in what it says and does

FOUNDATIONAL REVELATION

Tradition is (HHH)

handed down, handed over, handed over

capital T (FORMAL TRADITION)

the word of God in non-biblical revelation

-the TRANSMISSION of the faith

-DOES NOT CHANGE

examples of capital T

the teachings and practices that are central to Christianity’s very essence

lowercase t (INFORMAL TRADITION)

the customs

-CAN CHANGE

example of lowercase t

the beliefs and practices which do not have to do with the very substance of Christianity

Christianity is a religion of revelation from which originates from what?

tradition

specific examples of T

scriptures, church doctrines, writings, liturgical life

specific examples of t

everyday, customs, practices

In making decisions concerning their truths, the Catholic Christian Church uses the authority of

Tradition

SPECIFIC POINTS OF T:

-authoritative

-preserves truth

-unchangeable

SPECIFIC POINTS OF t:

-significant

-essential

-subject to change

Tradition = expression of

central beliefs of the faith/religion

tradition = expressions of

relevant practices in certain times/cultures

Scripture and tradition …

go hand in hand

Scripture was based upon ….

tradition that was passed on and handed down

Tradition _______ truth about God

Tradition puts us ______ ______ with God

Tradition MEDIATES truth about God

Tradition puts us in relationship with God

Scripture is a

guide and norm for tradition

tradition forms

the people of God/Church

What are the three things that tradition includes

#1 DOCTRINES (teachings) of the Christian communities (the Church)

#2 The way Christian communities WORSHIP

#3 the MORAL CODES that the Christian Community advances

DANGER:

don’t let Tradition become dead

Tradition must be ______ and _______ in the light of changing culture and context

renewed and interpreted

Tradition must be

thought and taught, applied and experiences, within the present reality

Tradition is

profoundly human

Tradition will refelct the ____ and ____ situation of its human authors and their humanness in all its dimensions

historical and cultural

Faith tradition bears the ________ ___ _______, embodying how people have long held and preserved what their religion holds important

fingerprints of history

DEF #1 of reason

an innate human ability to think, understand, and form conclusions in a logical way

DEF #2 of reason

the power of the mind to think, understand, and form judgments by a process of logic

THEOLOGY: THE ROLE OF REASON

What do reason and revelation do?

They work together. Both are gifts from God given to humans for the purpose of knowing and understanding truth

THEOLOGY: THE ROLE OF REASON

Reason precedes

faith as a method of knowing the existence of God

THEOLOGY: THE ROLE OF REASON

One cannot truly know something ____

without reasoning about that which is to be known

THEOLOGY: THE ROLE OF REASON

Important knowledge and faith

one can have knowledge without faith, but one cannot have faith without knowledge

reason:

the power of the human mind to discern truth and beauty

Critical reasoning

the process of analyzing and evaluating information, ideas, and arguments to form a well-reasoned judgment or conclusion

intuitive reasoning

based on feelings, impressions, or understood knowledge (“gut” feeling)

the exercise of our reason can draw us to

knowledge of God bc the rationality of our minds, our aesthetic sense of beauty and goodness are reflections of the mind of God

Reason: part of what makes human

bearers of the image of God

Reason:

the use of the mind to explain and defend; it plays an indispensable role in the awakening and establishing of faith

Reason: the process by which a

person arrives at a conclusion

reason must be complemented by

Faith

What is the definition of experience?

The outcome of the interaction between the human person and reality.

Why is human experience foundational to theology?

It gives access to the reality of revelation and faith.

How does experience relate to the sources of theology?

Experience is the medium through which the sources of theology speak to us.

What does theology unpack?

The revelation of God that takes place in human experience through faith.

What does the process of empowerment involve?

Dying to old ways of relating and awakening to a new consciousness of oneself.

What does Oliver Wendell Holmes say about experience?

“A mind that is stretched by new experience can never go back to its old dimensions.”

What are the two types of human experiences?

Individual and collective experiences.

What can human experiences contribute to?

• A range of human qualities and emotions.

What do human experiences invite us to do?

• See the world differently.

What do human experiences challenge?

Our assumptions

What can human experiences ignite?

new ideas

What do human experiences encourage us to do?

reflect personally

What is ordinary experience?

The shaping of who we become through everyday experiences.

What is extraordinary experience?

Experiences whose meaning and implications take time to unfold.

What is religious experience?

An experience that draws one into a new relationship with the Transcendent Other (God).

What does Eleanor Roosevelt say about experience?

People grow through experience when they meet life honestly and courageously.