Search for God Final
Christology:
● “Consubstantial”: = same nature/ with the Father
● Arius’ central idea about the Son of God: There was a time when the son was not God
● Gregory Nazianzen on why Jesus must have all essential human attributes: “What is not assumed is not healed.”
● “Hypostatic Union”: single-subject union. Jesus is both fully human and fully divine
● “Theotokos”: Mary as the Theotokos, a.k.a. the God bearer
● “Dyophysitism”: “two-naturism” Jesus is one person that has two natures. Idea stems from the hypostatic union. Venn diagram.
○ As opposed to Monophysitism: Making Jesus’ two natures a centaur
● “Theopaschite formula”: The second person of the Trinity experienced death in the flesh for our sake. Mary gives the second person of the Trinity his divinity
Augustine’s Confessions
● 3 kinds of “confession”
○ Confession of Faith, i.e., a profession
○ Confession of Sin
○ Confession of Praise
● What did “confession” mean in a pre-Christian context? Acknowledgement
● How is Augustine’s Confessions different from an autobiography?
○ Augustine is not the main character, rather, God is
○ The Confessions are a public prayer to God and God, reigning over creation, is taking the place of the Emperor.
○ Two Goals of the Confessions: To praise God and to lead others to God.
● 3 purposes of rhetoric according to Cicero and Augustine
○ Delight
○ Teach
○ Move/Persuade
● 4 stages of Lectio Divina
○ Based off of Mary who contemplated the Word of God
1. Read (repeat)
2. Meditate
3. Pray
4. Contemplate
● What is the relationship between evil and the divine according to the Manichees?
It is a dualist battle between Good and Evil.
● What is the Neoplatonic conception of evil?
Evil is a deprivation or absence of Good. All things are an echo of something eternal and divine. Good is represented by the Sun in the sky.
● “disciplina arcani” / “hidden practice”
○ To be transformed into Christ by practice of receiving the Eucharist
Catholics kept their belief about the Eucharist and the sacrament of Communion a hidden practice until after Baptism.
● 2 kinds of faith:
○ Faith as an act of belief
○ Faith as a habit/virtue that is a gift of grace
● People:
○ Monica: Augustine’s mother
○ Patricius: Augustine’s father
○ Ambrose: Bishop of Milan and great speaker
○ Faustus: Manichean bishop
○ Alypius: Augustine’s lifelong friend and the bishop of Thagaste
○ Adeodatus: Augustine’s son
○ Simplicianus: Ambrose recommends that Augustine go to Simplicianus with his questions. Augustine begins to consider himself as a Christian and Simplicianus says he will not consider him as one until he sees him in Church. Tell the story of Marius Victorinus.
● Groups / Movements. What are the basic beliefs of each?
○ Manichaeans: Dualists. Believe that Good and Evil, Light and Darkness are equal
○ Astrologists: Believe that the movement of the stars and planets predicts and determines events
○ Skeptics: Argue that belief in something does not justify knowledge of it. Skeptical about everything.
○ Platonists: Evil is a lack of/deprivation of Good. All things are a level of Good. Lacks a God, especially a personal One.
○ Stoics (not directly mentioned in the Confessions but we talked about them in tandem with the Gospel of Mark, and they’re another major movement about this time) Promoted by the emperor. Tough, efficient, defeat the weak parts of myself.
● Augustine says to God, “You were within me but I was outside.” What does this statement mean? How was Augustine “outside”?
To use Augustine’s most famous line, “You have made us for Yourself, and our hearts are restless until they rest in You.” Our hearts are ordered toward God and made for eternal beatitude with Him. In that Christ made us He is in us always and with us always by His transcendental love. However, in that same love, He has given us free will and Augustine used it to choose worldly pleasures rather than Christ. To utilize Platonic terms, he chose lesser goods below the Supreme Good successfully putting Himself “outside of Christ.” It would be a mistake to interpret this as being completely devoid as Christ as that is not possible here on earth. A more helpful interpretation would be to understand that it is never Christ that turns away, but rather us in our cursed and blessed free will who turn away from Him, the ultimate desire of our hearts. It is for this reason that we must be reconciled back to Him. Re con cilia. Eyelash to eyelash.
● 3 kinds of corruption in the world according to I John 2:16
○ Lust of the flesh (corruption of the senses)
○ Lust of the eyes (corruption of the mind)
○ Pride of life (corruption of the will)
● Two kinds of authors of scripture (humans and God)
● How does Augustine perceive the Trinity in the Genesis 1 creation account?
● Augustine identifies that the Father makes the world through his Word and Spirit in Genesis 1. Reading Genesis in light of the New Testament, Augustine understands the Word of God ("Let there be light") and the Spirit of God hovering over the waters to be divine persons, eternal with the Father. The creative act of the world was a unified act. God acting through His Son (the Word) and with the Holy Spirit.
● What is God’s “rest” according to Augustine? How is God at rest? What does it mean for humans to enter into God’s rest?
Augustine offers an interpretation of Genesis 1 as an icon for the Christian life. Within this, the seventh day signifies death and eternal rest with Christ in the glory of heaven. This is why God’s “rest” on the seventh day does not end as it is meant to endure for eternity.
· Atonement:
o Vicarious Atonement: The Son of God bears our punishment, makes perfect satisfaction to God.
o Recapitulatory Atonement: The Son of God repairs human nature as the New Adam, remakes humanity in himself.
o Christus Victor Atonement: The Son of God comes in disguise, "veiled in flesh," and stages a cosmic jailbreak, liberating humans from sin and Satan's power