Theology And Faith: Chapter 1 Unit 1

Theology and Faith Chapter 1 Unit 1

What is Theology? • Throughout the history of man, there is a longing in the very heart of man for the divine, a desire for God (divine longing). St. Thomas even said that it is natural for man to seek God for we are created with the capacity to know Him.

• Because of this “divine longing” that we have “theology”, a “fusion of this belief in God and the intellectual activity in an attempt to understand the divine”. • As St. Anselm defined theology as “faith seeking understanding” (fides quaerens intellectum)

• Theology came from 2 Greek words:

and

Θεος (theos) – God λογος (logos) – word or discourse

Theology:

a discourse about God a critical look at the Word of God

• Theology can also be considered as a science about God for like any other sciences, it gives us objective truths. Theology gives us objective truths about God.

• Although theology can be considered as a science, its difference with other sciences is that it stands on the ground of FAITH and not just simply on scientific process. Theology is also considered as a “science of faith”

Faith as Prerequisite and End of Theology

• Faith is very important in one’s study of theology because believing is a prerequisite to knowing, that for one to know and understand God, believing in Him must be present first.

• Faith is necessary in theology because of the limitedness of the human mind that there are some truths about the divine that the human cannot comprehend, we call it as “mysteries”. And it is only through faith that one can understand the mysteries about God

What is Faith? a. virtue – a good habit b. gift from God – infused to us by God c. a human act – our response to God’s self-communication d. a way of life – it involves accepting his Word as the rule of life and the way to salvation

Faith as a Total Act of Man • Because faith is also considered as a way of life, it involves the totality of a human person. It involves the mind (believing), the heart (trusting), and the hands (doing).

The Three Dimensions of Faith Mind / Head

Believing What we should we believe in?

God, not an abstract idea but a person who calls us into a relationship with Him

DOCTRINE

Will / Hands

Doing

What must we do on account of what we believe in?

Commit ourselves to obey God’s will for us

MORALITY

Heart

Trusting

What can we hope for on account of what we believe and its requirement for us to do?

The overflowing love of God and the promise of eternal happiness (Salvation) that is constantly being made known to us every time we commune with Him in prayer

WORSHIP

Difference between a Christian Faith and a Catholic Faith

Faith

Believing in God

Christian Faith

Believing in God revealed by Jesus Christ

Catholic Christian Faith

Believing that Christ reveals God to us in and through the Catholic Church

• Our faith becomes Christian when we accept that God, at a graced time assumed our human nature in order to accomplish our salvation. • PCP II tells us that Christian faith means “to know, to love, and to follow Christ in the church he had founded” and that this faith has 5 essential characteristics: a. total and absolute b. Trinitarian c. loving maturing, and missionary d. informed and communitarian e. inculturated

• Catholic faith is the belief that Jesus Christ reveals God in and through the Holy Catholic Church. Catholic means “universal” for it is intended for all. It is a faith that is deeply sacramental, traditional, and communal