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University of Santo Tomas College of Information and Computing Sciences 2023 Lessons 1-6 and Lessons 7-10: Theology 1 Lessons Derived from Modules Distributed by UST-Institute of Religion FOR ACADEMIC USE ONLY- DO N...

University of Santo Tomas College of Information and Computing Sciences 2023 Lessons 1-6 and Lessons 7-10: Theology 1 Lessons Derived from Modules Distributed by UST-Institute of Religion FOR ACADEMIC USE ONLY- DO NOT DISTRIBUTE Lesson 1 Jesus Christ, the Ultimate Revelation of the Father Called to Salvation In Christ It is only through Christ, the only true mediator between God and man, that human beings can reach God. Our Dignity Our Dignity is revealed in the very mystery of the No mission is activated and no identity is clarified apart person of Jesus Christ from Christ. o Jesus Christ is the image of the invisible God, and the Good Teacher God as our Personal Absolute TE Who is Jesus Christ? We look up to Christ as the ultimate revelation of The Ultimate Revelation of the Father the Father, who calls us to communion and as the The Good Teacher good teacher who leads us to the Father. Sheds Light on the Mystery and Dignity of the “God is a personal absolute in whom is found the Human Person reason for our existence and therefore, He is a U Calls us to Discipleship being who gives absolute meaning to our lives.” Christ as the Image of the Invisible God -Edward Schillebeeckx IB God, infinitely perfect and blessed in Himself, in a What is our core? plan of sheer goodness freely created man to make In Latin, COR means heart him share in his own blessed life. For this reason, at What is it in our hearts? TR every time and in every place, God draws close to “You’ve got to figure out what you love… and it’s man. He calls man to seek Him, to know Him, to going to bring you great joy.” - Jeff Bezos love Him with all his strength. To be a human being means to come from God and Abraham Maslow’s Hierarchy of Values to go to God. Ranks or orders human needs in accordance to: IS God, as our personal absolute, gave Himself to us o Importance through the incarnation of Christ, His only Son our o Immediacy/Urgency Lord. o Difficulty in acquisition/achieving Christ is God in a Human Way D At the bottom stands the physiological needs, while God did more for human beings than for any other perched at the pinnacle is self-actualization creature that He has created. He shared His life with them, which happened T perfectly through the incarnation of Christ. “In His Son and through Him, He invites men to O become, in the Holy Spirit, His adopted children and heirs of his blessed life.” CCC, 13. Through the mystery of Christ’s incarnation people N actually live with God, have a special bond or relationship with Him, and most importantly they feel or experience His love everyday of their lives. O Christ is Human in a Divine Way God’s coming down to meet His people also means D raising them up and liberating them from their sinful What is the meaning and purpose of our life? condition. It is natural for human beings to desire to be happy By becoming human: Human beings embark on a lifelong search for that o Christ became an example for all people to absolute good, which will lead them to the follow because He manifested those happiness that never ends. characteristics that make man perfect. o Jesus Christ, through His life, words, and works, revealed how people should live How do we attain God? their lives. By claiming that we are redeemed o Jesus corrected the false belief that people The road that leads to God is described as: are bad or helplessly sinful. o Narrow o Passing through the eye of a needle 1 I Juanillo, Ibarra Lorenzo O.  University of Santo Tomas College of Information and Computing Sciences 2023 Lessons 1-6 and Lessons 7-10: Theology 1 Lessons Derived from Modules Distributed by UST-Institute of Religion FOR ACADEMIC USE ONLY- DO NOT DISTRIBUTE o Jesus revealed what is true and good o It is dying to oneself but rising again as a about human beings: that they are all new person configured to Christ, no longer invited by God to be perfect like Him living one’s life for one’s own but for Christ. Examples of Christ being human: o Being immersed in the waters of baptism o When asked how many times we should all over again and time and time again forgive, his response was: Always! (Matthew 18:21) o Jesus acted with mercy and compassion instead of condemnation to the adulterous woman (John 8:1-11) TE o Jesus acted with compassion and asked to dine with the tax collector Zacchaeus. (Luke 19:1-10) To be truly human is to be like God. U o That man can love, forgive, show compassion, and set aside prejudices toward others, shows that the divine is IB truly shared with the human. Images of Jesus in the Gospels: The Way, The Truth, The Life Christ is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. TR It is only in the mystery of the incarnation of Christ As we praise God for the gift of discipleship, we recall in thanksgiving those inspired moments when we triumphed over sin. Let us proclaim in loving praise that we belong to that people can understand who they are and what Christ by composing a short essay or a poem, with the their purpose in this world is. theme: “Surviving Mount Temptation: That One Time when IS Before performing his mission or public ministry, I said Yes to Christ and No to Sin.” Jesus was led by the Spirit to the desert where he was tempted by the devil (Mark 1:12,13; Matthew 4:1-11; Luke 4:1-13). Lesson 2 D The devil wanted Christ to follow or surrender to His selfish desires. In other words, the temptation was Jesus Christ as the Good Teacher for Christ to use His powers for his personal benefit, How do I distinguish Good from Evil? T and consequently, disobey or contradict the reason The following trends are pointed out as to why why the Father sent Him, which is total surrender to nowadays, it has become increasingly difficult to O the Father’s will. answer questions as fundamental as the ones The very name of Jesus, which means “the one asked above: who is to save people from their sins” also o Certain currents of thought have gone so N means that Jesus is the greatest sign of God’s love far as to exalt freedom to such an extent for his people. that it becomes an absolute, which would Our Goal: Sequela Christi then be the source of values o We rise from the temporary setbacks of O o A radically subjectivistic conception of our lives and we redirect ourselves back to moral judgment or individualist ethic is: Christ, “once we give up our own wealth where the individual conscience is D and very self.” accorded the status of a supreme tribunal o Examples are the disciples to follow Jesus of moral judgment which hands down as fishers of men, Mary Magdalene who categorical and infallible decisions became the apostle to the apostles after A number of disciplines grouped under the name Jesus casted out 7 demons and Saint Paul behavioral sciences have rightly drawn attention to who became the apostle to the Gentiles many kinds of psychological and social Following Christ entails radical conversion: conditionings which influence the exercise of forgetting oneself and committing everything to freedom Christ. o Conditioning behavior is determined by its o Stripping the old self of that sinful life to consequences be they reinforcements or take on the new white garment of Christ. punishments 2 I Juanillo, Ibarra Lorenzo O.  University of Santo Tomas College of Information and Computing Sciences 2023 Lessons 1-6 and Lessons 7-10: Theology 1 Lessons Derived from Modules Distributed by UST-Institute of Religion FOR ACADEMIC USE ONLY- DO NOT DISTRIBUTE o Sigmund Freud’s Psychoanalytic Theory o With him it was always yes, and however Behavior is the result of interactions many promises God made, the yes to among the three component parts of the them is all in Him. That is why it is through mind: the Id, The Ego and the Superego Him that we answer Amen to the praise of o Some theories using scientific research God. about the human person argue from a This demands a radical change of heart, a real great variety of customs, behavior patterns conversion, manifested in a triple yes to self, others and institutions present in humanity end up and society and grounded in the ultimate yes to with an outright denial of universal human God, overcoming the “No” of sin. values with a relativistic conception of TE morality. Jesus Teaches about Moral Action John Paul II exhorts people of today to “turn to Christ Once Again” in order to receive from Him the People today need to turn to Christ once again in answer to their deepest questions. order to receive from him the answer to what their U questions about what is good and what is evil Jesus Opens Up the Faithful to the Sacred To go to the heart of the Gospel’s moral teaching Scriptures and grasp its profound and unchanging content, we IB must carefully inquire into: The Decalogue o The meaning of the question asked by the “If you wish to enter into life, keep the rich young man in the gospel commandments” TR Jesus brings the question about morally good action back to its religious foundation o The meaning of Jesus’ reply, allowing ourselves to be guided by him Jesus as the patient and sensitive teacher, answers In the first tablet of the law, Jesus teaches us that the young man by taking him, as it were by the God is the beginning and the end of our life hand and leading him step by step to the full truth IS Jesus definitely confirms the decalogue and proposes them as the way and condition of Jesus Sheds Light on Man’s Lofty Vocation salvation D These commandments are summarized by Jesus The first and ultimate vocation of man is command to his disciples: “Love your neighbor as communion with God and there is only one way to yourself” respond to this calling: Jesus Christ Jesus brings God’s commandments to fulfillment The basic motivation of following Christ in moral T Jesus shows that the commandments must not be action is the Blessed Trinity: understood as a minimum limit not to be gone o The eternal father’s love for us O beyond but rather as a path involving a moral and o Manifested pre-eminently in Jesus’ spiritual journey towards perfection Paschal Mystery The Christian moral vocation is precisely to commit o Holy Spirit sent unto our hearts who N ourselves through the power of Christ’s redeeming enables us to fulfill Christ’s own command: grace to the progressive overcoming of the evil sin Love one another as I have loved you in and around us - a personal human reaching out Since God has loved us so much, we too should love one another O in loving service to others - rather than simply avoiding sin or shrinking from evil Christ is Always Present to His Church D Jesus Reveals the Father’s Will Christ empowered the Church to proclaim without The threefold yeses covering the three dimensions fear or error, faith and morals. of human life: The Church must always be deeply conscious of o The intrapersonal her duty in every age to examine the signs of the o The interpersonal times and interpret them in the light of the Gospel o The societal The Church as the People of God among the These must be grounded on the fourth foundational: nations, while attentive to the new challenges of Yes To God history and to mankind’s efforts to discover the The Christ Jesus that we proclaimed among you meaning of life, offers to everyone the answer which was never Yes or No comes from the truth about Jesus and his gospel. 3 I Juanillo, Ibarra Lorenzo O.  University of Santo Tomas College of Information and Computing Sciences 2023 Lessons 1-6 and Lessons 7-10: Theology 1 Lessons Derived from Modules Distributed by UST-Institute of Religion FOR ACADEMIC USE ONLY- DO NOT DISTRIBUTE Man’s reason enables him/her to know the voice of Lesson 3 God compelling him/her to do good and avoid evil. Jesus Sheds Light on the Mystery and Dignity of Willed by God for His Own Sake the Human Person Every human being is an irreplaceable and non-substitutable person, a kind of good that cannot What is the value of human life? be treated as an object of use or as a means to an Together with the rest of humanity, the Church, end. following Christ as her model, has made it her As a subject, he/she is the one in charge of his/her mission to uplift the lives of everyone in this world. life as he/she can act according to his/her TE To do this, the Church teaches that it is only in conscience, in freedom and with sufficient knowing Christ that the human person can arrive at knowledge. a full understanding of who He really is. Being in full solidarity with humankind, our Lord Called to be Stewards of Creation U showed us how to be fully human and fully alive. The companionship between man and woman is Christ primarily revealed how the essential dignity of not of dominance but solidarity, not inferiority but all persons is grounded directly on their origin, complementarity, equity and not equality. IB meaning and destiny. As stewards of creation both man and woman were In the light of Christian revelation, it was understood equally ordered to "subdue" the earth as His that all persons, endowed with inviolable dignity, stewards. are: TR o Created by God in His image and likeness (cf. Gen 1:26) through our Lord Jesus This sovereignty is not destructive domination. God calls man and woman, to share in his providence toward other creatures; hence their responsibility for Christ, “through whom everything was the world God has entrusted to them. CCC, 373. made and through whom we live” (1 Cor IS 8:6). Called to Communion o Redeemed by the blood of Christ (cf. Eph As images of the self-giving love of God, human 1:7; Col 1:14); and are sanctified by the beings are capable of self-giving love as well. D indwelling Holy Spirit (cf. Rom 8:14-16; 1 As products of a divine self-gift, human beings Cor 6:19). should respond to God by giving themselves to o Called to be children of God (cf. 1 Jn 3:1), others. destined for eternal life of blessed To give oneself to others as much as possible in T communion with the Father, His imitation of the self-giving of God in the Trinity is the Risen-Incarnate Son, and their Holy Spirit. concrete living out of our being an image of God. O Created in the Image and Likeness of God Therefore, being created in the image and likeness of God is both a gift and a task. N Man is the only creature on earth that God has willed for its own sake, and he alone is called to share, by The challenge to be true to who and what we are is an knowledge and love, in God's own life. It was for this end endless task – it never expires. O that he was created, and this is the fundamental reason for his dignity. We always look at Jesus Christ and strive to always model The doctrine that man is created in the image and likeness our lives to his, for we are not just any slave or servant D of God provides the theological grounding that upholds the who follows the will of his/her master but we are raised to sacredness of the human person and guarantees the the status of being adopted sons and daughters of God. respect to be given him. Redeemed by the Blood of Christ Able to Know and Love his Creator He is an image of God by virtue of his/her God elevated man to participation in the divine life possession of the distinctive faculties of intellect and live in communion and belongingness with the and freewill, that on account of which, he/she is Trinity. capable of self-determination. But with the entry of sin, this communion and Because of the spiritual character of his/her soul, belongingness was shattered, as well as their man possesses freedom, an eminent sign of divine communion among themselves. image. 4 I Juanillo, Ibarra Lorenzo O.  University of Santo Tomas College of Information and Computing Sciences 2023 Lessons 1-6 and Lessons 7-10: Theology 1 Lessons Derived from Modules Distributed by UST-Institute of Religion FOR ACADEMIC USE ONLY- DO NOT DISTRIBUTE Yet God did not abandon man altogether; instead, by the gift of his Spirit which we can obtain through He held out the means of saving them by gathering prayer, though the impulse to pray is still permeated men together to counter the chaos which was the with the promptings of the Holy Spirit. consequence of sin. Healing the wounds of sin, the Holy Spirit renews us “That all of them maybe one, as You, are in Me, and interiorly through a spiritual transformation. He I am in You. May they also be in Us, so that the enlightens and strengthens us to live as "children of world may believe that you sent me. I have given light" through "all that is good and right and true. them the glory You gave Me, so that they may be one as we are one.” Christ as the One who Sheds Light on the Dignity of the Human Person TE Man's sins, following on original sin, are punishable by death. o By sending his own Son in the form of a To understand man as a person is to point out that man is slave, in the form of a fallen humanity, on created by God with inviolable dignity. account of sin, God "made him to be sin U who knew no sin, so that in him we might The Human Person in the Aristotelian-Thomistic become the righteousness of God. Hierarchy of Beings “For in Christ and through Christ, we have acquired IB The Aristotelian-Thomistic hierarchy of beings full awareness of our dignity, of the heights to which (scala naturae) provides a backdrop for the we are raised, of the surpassing worth of our Christian understanding of man. It gives a view of humanity and of the meaning of our existence.” TR human beings both in relation to God (as creator) CCC, 602. and other created beings. “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus In the ecology of the visible world, only human Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms beings possess rationality, i.e., intellect and freewill, with every spiritual blessing in Christ. For He chose while possessing altogether the excellent traits of us in Him before the creation of the world to be holy IS the beings in the lower strata of the hierarchy, to wit: and blameless in His sight. In love, He predestined motion (animals), and life (plants). us for adoption to Sonship through Jesus Christ, in Hence, we define human beings as individual accordance with His pleasure and will—to the substance of rational nature (Individua Substantia D praise of his glorious grace, which He has freely Naturae Rationalis). given us in the One He loves. In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of The Human Person According to the Catechism for sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace.” Filipino Catholics CFC, 687-692. T Ephesians 1:3-7. Open and Relational. Healing the wounds of sin, the Holy Spirit renews us o Persons are open and relational by nature. O interiorly through a spiritual transformation. No one exists by oneself, but only in o He enlightens and strengthens us to live relationship with others. Human existence as "children of light" through "all that is does not precede relationship but born of N good and right and true." CCC, 1695. relationship and is nurtured by it. We grow into our full selves as persons only in Made Holy by the Presence of the Spirit relating with others. O o Being a person means being by others When God touches man's heart through the (our conception, birth, upbringing), being illumination of the Holy Spirit, man himself is not with others (our family, friends, neighbors, D inactive while receiving that inspiration, since he business associates), and being for others could reject it; and yet, without God's grace, he (love, service). cannot by his own free will move himself toward o Our Trinitarian origin infers that this is how justice in God's sight. CCC, 1993. we have been created by God — as social The merit of good works is to be attributed in the beings. This is how we have been first place to the grace of God, then to the faithful. redeemed by Christ — as a people. This is Man's merit itself, moreover, is due to God, for how the Holy Spirit works not only within his/her good actions proceed in Christ, from the but among us as the people of God, predispositions and assistance given by the Holy journeying towards our common destiny in Spirit. God. CFC 687. Being a witness of Christ, as in leading a life worthy of the Gospel of Christ is made capable of doing so 5 I Juanillo, Ibarra Lorenzo O.  University of Santo Tomas College of Information and Computing Sciences 2023 Lessons 1-6 and Lessons 7-10: Theology 1 Lessons Derived from Modules Distributed by UST-Institute of Religion FOR ACADEMIC USE ONLY- DO NOT DISTRIBUTE Conscious Beings. o Integrating our past to our present o Persons are conscious beings, aware of existence to makes us move into our future themselves in their outgoing acts. We with a sense of integrity and a coherent possess this self-awareness through our sense of direction. R. M. Gula, S.S. knowing and free will. o By his reason, human beings: Unique yet Fundamentally Equal ▪ Know the order of things All men are endowed with a rational soul and are established by God; created in God’s image; they have the same nature ▪ Understand how and what things and origin and, being redeemed by Christ, they should be. enjoy the same divine calling and destiny; there is TE ▪ Is imbued with the instinctive here a basic equality between all men.” GS, 29 awareness of the unwritten But despite sharing common features of humanity, decree inscribed in his heart. we do things differently. This implies therefore that ▪ Recognizes this as the voice of we seriously consider each person’s uniqueness U God constantly urging him to do and originality. Each of us is called to “image” God good and avoid evil. CFC, in a unique way — no one can “take our place. 688. IB Embodied Spirits o This stresses the unity between our “body Lesson 4 and soul.” The Encounter with Jesus Christ is a Call to is known as “hylemorphism.” TR o This substantial unity of our body and soul o Our body is an essential part of our being Discipleship Emmanuel Levinas: Notion of the Other human and not merely an “instrument” we Egocentrism “use” as we please. o The struggle for life or the desire to IS persevere in being, heightens egoism, The Body which is characterized by the desire for Christian Faith regards the Body as “good and enjoyment or happiness. honorable since God has created it and will raise it D o The primordial tendency of the ego is to up on the last day” (GS 14). live for itself and secure any means God the Son further dignified the body through his available and attainable in order to Incarnation: “the Word became flesh and dwelt maintain a happy existence. T among us” (Jn. 1:14). o The “I” in its inwardness becomes the St. Paul admonishes us: “You must know that your origin of meaning and determines whether O body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is within — or not something is valuable, i.e., usable or the Spirit you have received from God.... So, consumable. glorify God in your body” (1 Cor 6:19-20). Alterity N o The Other stands at the top of my The Soul hierarchy of values, I am beholden to it Serves as the form (the nature or essence of a thing before anything else as “the other is that makes it what it is) of the body. characterized by height or highness.” O Functions as the unifying principle that forms the o The absoluteness with which the Other’s one unique human being. existence transcends the claims of my Needs embodiment, i.e., assistance of the senses D self-centered universe by more radical for the fulfillment of the soul’s vital task. demands, is what Levinas calls infinity…we must be the servant of our Historical Realities neighbor. As Persons, we are: o Our existence is affirmed or validated not o Pilgrims on-the-way, who gradually, by the mere fact of persevering in being through time, become our full selves. but by our liberation from our own o Free to decide for ourselves and form constricting egotism. In other words, we ourselves; in this sense we are our own are liberated by our ethical response when cause. we encounter the Other who reveals its o Developing in discernible stages, face to us. described in great detail by modern This Other deposes me and imposes itself upon me psychology. CFC, 690. as my priority. 6 I Juanillo, Ibarra Lorenzo O.  University of Santo Tomas College of Information and Computing Sciences 2023 Lessons 1-6 and Lessons 7-10: Theology 1 Lessons Derived from Modules Distributed by UST-Institute of Religion FOR ACADEMIC USE ONLY- DO NOT DISTRIBUTE Ethics, for Levinas, is the radical interpretation of o Freedom and joy: when all our the formula of etiquette: apres vous (after you, expectations are turned around. please!). Moreover, the Other, as it reveals its face to me, puts me under a basic obligation or The Church: Willed by God to Make Possible The command to be at its service before myself, which Enounter With Christ Levinas underscored using the phrase: me voici (Here I am!). The Church was instituted by Christ to perpetuate “We are all guilty of all and for men before all, and I His presence on earth. She signifies in a visible, more than the others.” Fyodor Dostoyevsky historical and tangible form the presence and redeeming activity of Christ offered to all persons of TE Christian Discipleship is Counter-Cultural and every age, race and condition. Radical Alterity “The Church has always wished to serve this single end: that each person may be able to find Christ, in What does discipleship entail? order that Christ may walk with each person the U Come follow me and I will send you out to fish for path of life.” RH 13. people. At once, they left their nets and followed As the sacrament of salvation of all, not only of the him. Matthew 4:19 explicit members but also those who share in the IB If you want to be perfect, go sell your possessions, “theandric communion without explicit awareness of come follow me. Matthew 19:21 Christic foundation,” She is mindful of her task to If anyone should come after me, let him deny make present everytime, in every situation the Matthew 16:24 TR himself and take up his cross and follow me. encounter between the spirit and the flesh, God and mankind. Who is a disciple? Lesson 5 A disciple is a lover of Truth: Search for the True Happiness IS Jesus, the Way, the Truth, and the Life Hedonism How does one become a disciple? To seek the pleasurable is the primary reason of A disciple imitates Jesus who gives primacy to the D human behavior. will of the Father. Happiness equates with pleasure. Pleasure ranges from the physical exhilaration to the material things What is expected of a disciple? which the world cunningly offers. T A disciple lives in loving service of others. The hedonist chases physical pleasures as gateway to what will satisfy inner longings. In the end, after O The Beatitudes the fleeting feeling has welled up, the emptiness A set of precepts that utterly demonstrate the moral remains and the same cycle of chasing after standards of our Lord and at the same time pleasure continues without providing the authentic N resonate his call to follow him as his disciples. remedy to their insatiable Christ Crucified Materialism and Consumerism Brutal, Anguish, Terrible Wounds O Material possession, success, and progress are the According to Saint Thomas Aquinas, Christ highest values in life. This doctrine highly values the Crucified is the perfect exemplification of the material realm and is opposed to intellectual and D Beatitudes. spiritual values. To be Happy: An upshot of materialism is Consumerism, which o Despise what Jesus despised on the believes that personal wellbeing and happiness Cross. depend, on a very large extent, on the level of 4 things that make us happy: consumption, particularly on the purchase of o Wealth, pleasure, power and honor material goods. Love what Jesus loved on the Cross. Like hedonism, buttressing one’s happiness on o Doing the will of the Father: material things, in the end, only throws a person o The single-hearted one into a cycle of dissatisfaction and constant yearning o Hunger for righteousness for something that is temporal and fleeting. o Ultimate peacemaker and o Ultimate bearer of God’s mercy. Christ crucified is a picture of a happy man. 7 I Juanillo, Ibarra Lorenzo O.