Religion - Genesis + Friendship & Love & The Originals TEST

Friendship of Utility

= friendship is based on the benefit/use

• each person gets something out of it

ex. work based

Pleasant friendship

= based on the pleasure/happiness gained from the friendship

• having fun together, common interests

Virtuous friendship

= united in pursuit of the good/virtuous life

• not about what you get out of it, but what you give

• goes beyond self interest

• holding each other accountable, what is best for your friend

- rare, takes a long time to develop. because of this it can withstand sorrow, difficulty, crisis

- virtuous friends are also useful and pleasant

Why do you think Love and Responsibility could be so critical for our time and culture?

It is critical for our time and culture because it boldly confronts questions about human relationships while emphasizing a message of dignity. it provides wise guidance that challenges the norm of the world.

Utilitarianism

• person/things are good only if they are useful/pleasurable to me

• if they are not useful, throw it away

• maximize pleasure, convenience, minimize suffering, inconvenience

opposite of love

use

storge

affection, liking

• warm/comfortable/familiarity

phile

stronger than storge, includes the bond of trust w/ family or friends

• brotherly love (Christ w/ apostles)

Eros

being “in love”/burning desire for some consuming object of our love

• desire for self-fulfillment through union with this object

• important for marriage and for our love of God → Jesus’ burning love for us (dying on the cross)

Agape

pure, giving love

• sacrificial love

• charity, unselfish + unconditional care for the other

How is God’s love for man both eros and agape

God’s love for man is both eros and agape because it is a personal love that chooses us over and over again. It is eros because of the fidelity of God to man, and it brings us joy (desire to be united). It is agape because it is a freely given love that forgives.

Deus Caritas Est

God is love

• By Pope Benedict

ascending love

agape

• selfless and transcendent

descending love

eros

What is the relationship between “ascending love” and “descending love”

Although the world puts them as extremes, they can never be separated

• one cannot always give, but also cannot always receive

Original Man

• made male and female, fully image God

  • equal in dignity, but also different

• Their bodies made visible the invisible mystery of God

• Man as the Apex of creation = image of God, made to love

Lover, Beloved, Love shared = Trinity

Original Solitude

God is helping Adam discover something about himself through his solitude

• That Adam is unique among creations, he is unlike any other creature, only into Adam did God breath His Spirit

Adam longs for another, because he is made of communion/relationship (his nature)

His identity is received, not achieved. it is a gift

In mankind’s original solitude, Adam discovered that he was a person made in God’s image and that he possessed an inner life and the freedom to love

Original Unity

The body reveals the person, Adam recognizes someone he can be in communion with, someone he can make a total gift of self for

• Their differences are complementary, they are fit/made for each other

The union of man + woman in marriage reveals the inner life of the Trinity on earth, making visible the invisible mystery of God who is love

I truly come to know who I am when I exist not just with, but for others

Original Nakedness

“The man and his wife were both naked, yet felt no shame”

• shame = painful feeling of guilt or regret

Adam and Eve had no reason to feel shame

• their bodies revealed their inner selves, they had nothing to hide from God or from each other

• They were able to love as God loves, without any fear of rejection, harm, or shame. Saw each other as God sees them

Personalist principle

every person is created in imago Dei, therefore every person has great dignity. Because of this no one should be treated as a means to an end.