theology modules 1-6

theology

1. First, we should acknowledge ourselves as Creatures of God redeemed by God.

2. When we do not see Christ in others, we treat them as like objects.

3. We overestimate our capabilities.

Monophysitism is a belief that God is divine but not truly human. Nestorianism is a belief that Jesus is only human Arianism is a mythological belief that he is partially divine and human

Jesus is the hypostatic union of two natures and one person-fully divine and fully human!!

A. God as our personal absolute

To be a human being means to come from God and to go to God

B. Christ: God, in a Human Way

• Act of faith

• Christ is the exemplar and represents what is perfect in us

Jesus is the Word of God (Verbum Dei) made flesh.

Christ himself is the message of God.

The sacrament or visible form of the love of God.

What did we learn from the story of Christ’s temptation?

The devil lured or tempted Him with everything that human beings are craving or longing for: food, power, and wealth.

The name Jesus means “the one who is to save people from their sins”

Sequela Christi - This is an experience that we find in the responses of the Disciples

MODULE 2

How did Jesus becomes a good teacher?

1. He is always present. PRESENCE.

2. OPENNESS

The Christian moral vocation is precisely: To commit ourselves through the power of Christ’s redeeming grace to the progressive overcoming of the evil of sin in and around us – a personal human reaching out in loving service to others – rather than simply avoiding sin or shrinking from evil. It is a question of conversion, a radical change of heart that, once begun in baptism, must develop into an ever more profound personal renewal and holiness

1. Reveals the father’s will. COMMITTED!

• The three-fold yeses covering the three dimensions of human life: the intra-personal; the interpersonal; and the societal… must be grounded on the fourth foundational, integrating yes to God. The only way we could possibly develop an integral saying “yes” to the fullness of human life by our total committed “yes” to God, as disciples of Jesus Christ

• Blessed trinity - the ground for catholic morality

• Catechasis - bearing witness to God

1. Teaches truth about moral action. MORALLY UPRIGHT!

2. GIVES LIGHT!

• First and ultimate vocation of man is communion with God

• Jesus’ Paschal Mystery - love one another as i have loved you.

1. Created in the Image and Likeness of God

• Able to know and love his creator, MAN’S REASONS ENABLE HIM/HER

• Willed by God for His own sake, EVERY HUMAN BEING IS IRREPLACEABLE

• Called to be stewards of creation - men n women ARE EQUAL

• Called to communion, GIVE YOURSELF TO OTHERS

2. Redeemed by the Blood of Christ

• Jesus sacrificed himself

3. Made Holy by the Presence of holy spirit

• We can ask for the presence of Jesus through praying

4. Christ as the one who sheds light

• We are created with dignity

• Aristotelian-Thomistic hierarchy of beings (scala naturae)

• WE ARE RATIONAL: Individua Substantia Naturae Rationalis

• WE ARE CONSCIOUS BEINGS

• Hylemorphism: Unity of body n soul

Created

Redeemed

Called

MODULE 4

1. Christian discipleship is counter-cultural and radical

• Disciple: Lover of truth and imitates Jesus

• Christ crucified is pic of a happy man. Freedom and joy: all our expectations are turned around

2. Possible encounter w Christ

MODULE 5

1. Worldviews/Trends in achieving happiness

2. God as the ultimate happiness of the human person

a. St. Thomas Aquinas on Happiness - We are masters if our own actions

Two Kinds of Happiness:

• An imperfect happiness while

here on earth.

• A perfect happiness consisting of the beatific vision of the Uncreated Good (i.e., God) in heaven.

Augustine expressed this so beautifully in his writing, “Our hearts are restless until they rest in you.” Augustine refers to

God who is the ultimate source of every good thing and the end towards whom human beings ought to direct all their actions.

b. Happiness in God as the Ultimate Goal of Human Beings - Happiness is associated with the meaning of life.

c. God’s Commandments: Criteria in Attaining Eternal Life

• Connection between eternal life and obedience to the decalogue in his remark

• 10 commandments

d. Beatitudes: Call to Perfection

• the beatitudes respond to man’s natural desire for happiness

• Blessed are the meek, those who mourn, those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, poor in spirit, merciful, pure of heart, peacemakers.

MODULE 6

3 major theories

1. Consequentialism - Focuses on the result or consequence of our actions

2. Utilitarianism

Two Forms of Utilitarianism:

Act Utilitarianism. Holds that in any given situation, you should choose the action that produces the greatest good for the greatest

number of people;

Rule Utilitarianism. Teaches that we ought to live by rules that, in general, are likely to lead to the greatest good for the greatest number. Rule utility differs from Act utility by allowing us to refrain from acts that might maximize utilty in the short run.

1. Deontological Ethics - For Kant, moral obligations are derived from pure reason and it doesn’t matter whether you want to be moral or not because the moral law is binding on all of us.