FF2

LESSON 1: FIDES QUA AND FIDES QUAE

TWO FOLD FORMS OF FAITH

  • FIDES QUA
    • FAITH
      • free, personal, and ecclesial act of submitting entirely to god in confidence
    • act of belief or trust
    • act
    • i believe
    • subjective
  • FIDES QUAE
    • apostle’s confession of faith becomes a symbol preserved and transmitted to deepen our faith
    • that which is believed or confessed
    • symbol
    • i believe in
    • objective

I BELIEVE = WE BELIEVE

  • faith is not an isolated act. “we” connotes a singular identity or communion with what the church believes

CREEDS

  • “credo” - latin
    • belief
  • condensed formulas of faith that developed over s course of time
  • contemplated, passed on, celebrated, and lived out
  • makes I believe= We believe happen

TWO TYPES OF CREED

    • APOSTLE’S CREED
      • oldest authoritative doctrinal formulation of the Church’s belief in the Holy Trinity
      • an ancient roman baptismal symbol
      • basis of catechumenal instruction and a baptismal confession of faith since 2nd century
      • the number 12 signifies completeness based on the number of apostles handpicked by christ
    • NICENE CREED
      • arose out of a defensive struggle against the heresy of arianism and macedonianism
      • amplified during the council of constantinople (381)

ARTICLES OF FAITH

  • I believe in God, the Father Almighty, Creator of heaven and earth
  • And in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord
  • Who was conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary
  • He suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried
  • He descended into hell. The third day he arose again from the dead
  • He ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of God the Father Almighty
  • He will come again to judge the living and the dead
  • I believe in the Holy Spirit
  • the holy catholic Church, the Communion of Saints
  • the forgiveness of sins
  • the resurrection of the body
  • And in life everlasting

FAITH IS A RELATIONSHIP

  • “The believer’s act of faith does not terminate in the propositions but in realities which they express”

FIVE WAYS OF GOD’S EXISTENCE

  • PRIME MOVER OR UNMOVED MOVER
    • whatever is in motion is put in motion by another
  • FIRST EFFICIENT CAUSE OR UNCAUSED CAUSE
    • there is an order of efficient causes
    • there is no case known in which a thing is found to be the efficient cause of itself
  • NECESSARY BEING
    • there are things possible to be and not to be
    • that which does not exist only begins to exist by something already existing
  • PERFECT BEING
    • among beings, there are some more and some less good, true, noble, and the like
    • the maximum in any genus is the cause of all in that genus
  • GRAND ARCHITECT OR INTELLIGENT DESIGNER
    • things that lack intelligence act for an end
    • whatever lacks intelligence cannot move towards an end unless directed by something endowed with knowledge and intelligence

TWO-FOLD ORDER OF RELIGIOUS KNOWLEDGE

  • NATURAL RELEVATION
    • human reason
    • created world
    • observation
    • “what is god”
  • SUPERNATURAL/DIVINE RELEVATION
    • faith
    • persons and events
    • deposit of faith
    • “who is god”

OBJECT OF FAITH: THE MOST HOLY TRINITY

  • most fundamental mystery of the catholic faith revealed by jesus christ

IN THE SACRED SCRIPTURES

  • creation
  • the annunciation
  • the baptism of jesus
  • the advocate
  • the great commission
  • peter’s epistle
  • paul’s epistle
  • mass introductory rite

IN THE SACRED TRADITION

  • DOGMAS
    • are truths revealed by god himself
    • expressed in clear propositions by the teaching authority of the church
    • true and necessary for salvation






    • TRINITARIAN DOGMA
      • THE TRINITY IS THE ONE
        • there is no sharing of divine substance among the three persons
        • they are all co-equal, co-eternal, and consubstantial
      • THE DIVINE PERSONS ARE REALLY DISTINCT FROM ONE ANOTHER
        • FATHER
          • unbegotten
          • the origin without an origin
        • SON
          • eternally begotten of the father
          • the origin of the origin
        • HOLY SPIRIT
          • proceeds from the father and the son
      • THE DIVINE PERSONS ARE RELATIVE TO ONE ANOTHER
        • PATERNITY
          • pater or father
          • the relation of the father to the son
        • FILIATION
          • filia or the son
          • the relation of the son to the father
        • PASSIVE SPIRATION
          • the relation of the holy spirit to the father and the son

PHILOSOPHICAL CONCEPTS

  • NATURE
    • that through which the person is (essence) and acts (substance)
    • ie. divine nature (pure spirit) and human nature (embodied spirit)
  • PERSON
    • refers to what perfectly signifies nature
    • an individual substance of a rational nature (boethius)
    • that which possesses being and existence
    • ie. divine person (holy trinity) and human person (imago dei)
  • RELATION
    • the reference of one thing to another
    • ie. human relations, and divine relations

THE CREATION

CREATION

  • work of the holy trinity

3 MAIN POINTS OF HOW GOD CREATED THE WORLD

  • EX NIHILO
    • “out of nothing”
    • god created the world out of nothing
    • he did not need any previously existing materials or help from anyone
    • this shows his omnipotence and his wisdom
  • EX AMORE
    • “out of love”
    • god has no other reason for creating than his love and goodness
    • this love is natural to god
  • IN STATU VIAE
    • “in the state of journeying”
    • everything god created is in the state of journeying toward an ultimate perfection yet to be attained
    • through his divine providence, god protects and governs all things which he has made

GENESIS

  • gignesthai
    • “to be born”
    • “origin”
  • the first book of the jewish and christian scriptures
  • does not give scientific explanations on the origin of the world
  • uses the literary form of religious myth to speak about reality
  • provides us with accounts of creation
    • FIRST ACCOUNT
      • priestly account
      • gives a description how god created the universe in six days and rested on the seventh day
    • SECOND ACCOUNT
      • yahwist account
      • emphasized god’s relationship to all human beings represented by adam and eve

THEOLOGICAL IMPLICATIONS OF THE ACCOUNTS

  • FIRST ACCOUNT
    • god is the origin of everything especially life
    • creation is orderly and good
    • humankind is the summit of god’s creation
    • humans are stewards over all creation
    • human sexuality and procreation belong to the divine order of creation
    • rest is godly
  • SECOND ACCOUNT
    • god is the origin of everything especially life
    • eden is the original locale of human beings
    • the human being is both body and soul
    • humans have the vocation to care for and cultivate the world
    • man and woman complement each other
      • human love and marriage are divinely ordered
    • there is an intimate connection between the land and the human beings

CHALLENGING VIEWS ON GOD AS CREATOR

  • ATHEISM
    • total rejection of the existence of god
  • MATERIALISM
    • reject any transcendent origin for the world but see it as merely the interplay of matter that has always existed
  • DEISM
    • some admit that the world was made by god, but as by a watchmaker who once he has made a watch, abandons it to itself
  • GNOSTICISM
    • the world is evil, the product of a fall, and is thus to be rejected or left behind
  • DUALISM/MANICHEANISM
    • others say that the world is a necessary emanation arising from god and returning to himi
    • others have affirmed the existence of two eternal principles, good and evil, light and darkness, locked in permanent conflict
  • PANTHEISM
    • everything is god

THE HUMAN PERSON: IMAGO DEI

  • god created humankind in his image
  • FREEDOM
    • stems from our human dignity
    • it is only the human person who possesses the rational capacity that makes him/her free
  • BODY
    • material composition of the person
    • is corruptible
  • SOUL
    • principle of vivification
    • is immortal
    • ELEMENTS OF THE HUMAN SOUL
      • VEGETATIVE
        • responsible for nutrition and growth
        • also found in plants and other animals
      • APPETITIVE
        • responsible for perception, imagination, and movement
        • present in animals
        • this sort of soul lacks reason but can be influenced by it
      • RATIONAL
        • further divided into the scientific element
        • enables us to contemplate or engage in theoretical activity and the calculative or deliberative element
        • enables us to engage in practical or political activity