Fundamentals of Faith 2 - G12 Reviewer - First Qtr PDF

FUNDAMENTALS OF which does not exist only begins to FAITH 2 exist by something...

FUNDAMENTALS OF which does not exist only begins to FAITH 2 exist by something already existing. FIRST QUARTER REVIEWER But not all beings Team President, Academics Committee are merely possible. Gradation Among beings, Perfect Being in Things there are some more & some less LESSON 1: I BELIEVE IN GOD good, true, noble & the like. The Can God be known without faith? maximum in any genius is the cause Using the natural light of reason, God can be of all in that genus. known by observing the natural world: "Ever Governan Things that lack Grand architect or since the creation of the world, God's ce of the intelligence act for Intelligent Designer invisible attributes of eternal power & divinity World. an end. Whatever lacks intelligence have been able to be understood & cannot move perceived in what he has made." (Romans towards an end 1:20) unless directed by "When an effect is better known to us [than something its cause from the effect], we proceed to the endowed with knowledge of the cause." knowledge & intelligence. Five Ways of God's Existence Human beings attain their last end by Effects Cause knowing & loving God How the natural How human ○ Faith is necessary to know God in His world reveals reason perceives essence & to attain perfect happiness: God’s existence God "Eternal life consists in the full cognition Motion Whatever is in Prime Mover or of God. Hence, it is necessary that some motion is put in Unmoved Mover inception of this supernatural cognition motion by another. should come to exist in us. And this But this cannot go inception comes through faith, which on on infinity the basis of an infused light holds fast to Causation There is an order First efficient things that by [human] nature exceed our of efficient causes. cause or uncaused cognition." There is no case cause known in which a thing is found to be The Object of faith: The Most Holy Trinity the efficient cause of itself & this Is the most fundamental mystery of the cannot go on to Catholic faith revealed by Jesus Christ: "For infinity [God] sent His Son, the eternal Word, who Possibility There are things Necessary being enlightens all human beings, so that [the & possible to be & Son] might dwell among them & declare to Necessity not to be. That them the secrets of God."  witness) presuppose His personal The Mystery of the Blessed Trinity subsistence. The Holy Trinity is the apex of God’s The Great Commission - Matthew 28:19 revelation to mankind. It is the most ○ Go, therefore, and make disciples of all fundamental and the most profound mystery nations, baptizing them in the name of of Faith. the Father, and of the Son, and of the God can make it known to us by revealing Holy Spirit. himself as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. It is ○ The Mystery of the Trinity is most clearly beyond reason, but not contrary to reason. manifested in the mandate of Jesus. The The Creation - Genesis 1:26 unity of the Three Persons is indicated in ○ Let us make man in our image, after our the singular form “in the name.” likeness. Peter’s Epistle - 1 Peter 1:1:2 ○ God often speaks in the plural form of ○ Peter begins his epistle with The Himself. The plural form may be Trinitarian formula of blessing: To the explained with more probability as the chosen and destined by God the Father plural of majesty (pluralis majestatis), and sanctified by the Spirit for obedience which is really singular. to Jesus Christ and for sprinkling with his Luke 1:35 blood. ○ The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. Therefore the child to Dogma be born will be called holy, the Son of God. Dogmas are truths revealed by God himself, ○ In the Annunciation, the three Divine expressed in clear propositions by teaching Persons are named God, the Son of authority of the Church, & are true & God, and the Holy Spirit. necessary for salvation. The Baptism of Jesus - Matthew 3:16-17 ○ When Jesus was baptized, the heavens Trinitarian Dogma were opened, and he saw the Spirit of The trinity is one God descending like a dove voice from ○ By nature: heaven saying, “This is my beloved Son as a Pure Spirit, the divine nature is with whom I am well pleased” eternal, perfect & immutable. Hence, ○ The speaker is God the Father. Jesus is there is no sharing of divine substance the Son of God. The Holy Spirit appears among three persons. They are under a special symbol with the Father co-equal, co-eternal, and consubstantial and the Son. (of the same substance). The Advocate - John 14:16 The divine persons are really distinct ○ And I will ask the Father, and he will give from one another you another Advocate to be with you ○ By relations of origin always. 1. Father – unbegotten; the origin ○ The Holy Spirit who is sent is clearly without an origin distinguished as a Person from the 2. Son – eternally begotten of the Father and the Son who sends Him. The Father; the origin of the origin appellation “Advocate” and the activities 3. Holy Spirit – proceeds from the attributed to Him (teaching, giving Father & the Son  The divine persons are relative to one “Collection of our beliefs” another Objective ○ Paternity (“Pater” or father) – the relation The faith which is believed of the Father to the Son The articles of faith, the revealed truth; The ○ Filiation (“Filia” or son) – the relation of catholic faith defended by the martyrs. the Son to the Father The Catholic faith preached, defended, and ○ Passive Spiration – the relation of the professed by St. Peter Verona by his blood Holy Spirit to the Father & the Son Creeds Philosophical Concepts Credo (Latin) = belief Nature condensed formulas of faith that developed ○ That through which the person is over the course of time (essence) & acts (substance). contemplated, passed on, celebrated, & lived ○ Examples: Divine nature (pure spirit) & out human nature (embodied spirit). makes I believe = We believe possible Person ex: Apostles' Creed & Nicene Creed ○ Refers to what perfectly signifies nature, ○ Based on the number of apostles an individual substance of a rational handpicked by Christ, the number nature (Boethius). twelve (12) signifies ○ That which possesses being & existence. “completeness” ○ Examples: Divine person (Holy Trinity) & human person (Imago Dei). Apostles’ Creed Relation Oldest authoritative doctrinal formulation of ○ The reference of one thing to the other the Church’s belief in the Holy Trinity ○ Examples: human relations (family, An ancient Roman baptismal symbol adoption, friendship, & acquaintance) & basis of catechumenal instruction & a divine relations (paternity, filiation, active baptismal confession of faith since 2nd & passive spiration) century The Act & Symbol of Faith: Fides Qua and Nicene Creed Fides Quae Arose out of a defensive struggle against the heresy of Arianism (Christ is not divine but a Fides Qua created being) & Macedonianism (holy spirit “Action of Believing” is not divine) Subjective St. Peter Verona’s act of faith that The Articles of Faith strengthened him to die a martyr’s death 1. I believe in God, the Father Almighty, Creator The act of believing in God and the divinely of heaven & earth revealed truths 2. And in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord The virtue of faith makes the act of faith 3. Who was conceived by the power of the Holy possible Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary It is the faith that strengthened the martyrs. 4. He suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried Fides Quae 5. He descended into hell. On the third day, he ○ He did not need any previously existing arose again from the dead materials or help from anyone: this 6. He ascended into heaven and is seated at shows his omnipotence & wisdom the right of God the Father Almighty God created the world EX AMORE 7. He will come again to judge the living and the ○ Out of love dead ○ God has no other reason for creating 8. I believe in the Holy Spirit than his love & goodness. This love is 9. The holy Catholic Church, the Communion of natural to God Saints The world was made for the glory of god 10. The forgiveness of sin (First Vatican Council) 11. The resurrection of the body 12. And in life everlasting Statu Viae Faith is a Relationship Everything that God created is in the state of “The believer’s act of faith does not journeying toward an ultimate perfection yet terminate in the propositions but in the to be attained realities which they express.” Through his Divine Providence, God protects & governs all things which he has made LESSON 2: THE CREATION AND God the creator is not like a watchmaker or an architect, who, after doing his work, THE FALL OF MAN leaves it alone God not only gives us existence but sustains The Creation us at every moment I believe in God the Father Almighty Creator Genesis of Heaven and Earth (Apostle’s Creed) I believe in one God the Father Almighty, Gignesthai – “to be born” or “origin” Maker of Heaven and Earth, of all things The first books of the Jewish & Christian visible and invisible (the Nicene Creed) scriptures God made everything Doesn't give scientific explanations of the Creation is the first act of God’s revelation origin of the world Uses the literary form of religious myth to Creation is the Work of the Holy Trinity speak about reality Provides us with two accounts of creation: Although we say that the work of the creation ○ First account, Priestly account is the Father’s, he did this indivisible together Genesis 1:1-2:3 with the Son & the Holy Spirit Gives a description of how God ○ All things have been created through created the universe in 6 days & (Christ) & for Him (Colossians 1:16) rested on the 7th day ○ When you send forth your Spirit, they are 1. God is the origin of everything, created: & you renew the face of the especially that of life earth (Psalm 104:30) 2. Creation is orderly & good God created the world EX NIHILO 3. Humankind is the summit of ○ Created this world out of nothing God’s creation 4. Humans are stewards of all creation  5. Human sexuality & procreation ○ According to some of these conceptions, belong to the divine order of the world (at least the physical world) is creation evil, the product of a fall, & is thus to be 6. Rest is Godly rejected or left behind. ○ Second account, Yahwist account Dualism/Manichaeism Genesis 2:4-25 ○ Others have said that the world is a Emphasizes God’s relationship to all necessary emanation arising from God & human beings represented by Adam returning to him. & Eve ○ Still others have affirmed the existence of 1. We are connected to earth two eternal principles, Good & Evil, Light (ADAMAH: earth, solid, land) & Darkness, locked in permanent 2. The human being is both body & conflict. soul Pantheism 3. Eden is the original locale of ○ Everything is God, that the world is God, human beings [EDEN: or that the development of the world is pleasure/delight (Hebrew); a royal the development of God. garden (Persian)] 4. Humans have the vocation to The Human Person care for and cultivate the world 5. Man & woman complement each Imago Dei (Gen. 1:26-28) other So God created humankind in his image, in 6. Human love & marriage are the image of God, he created them; male & divinely ordered female, he created them. God blessed them, & God said to them, “Be Challenging Views on God as Creator fruitful & multiply, & fill the earth & subdue it; & have dominion over the fish of the sea & Atheism over the birds of the air & over every living ○ Total rejection of the existence of God. thing that moves upon the earth.” ○ Even Catholics can become atheists in The Person the sense of praxis. You believe in God, ○ Body – material composition of the and you profess your beliefs in Him, but person; it is corruptible you practically think & do something evil ○ Soul – the principle of vivification; it is right after you go to Mass. immortal Materialism ○ Others reject any transcendent origin for Three Elements of the Human Soul the world but see it as merely the interplay of matter that has always Appetitive existed. (ex. Evolutionism & Big Bang ○ Responsible for perception, imagination Theory) & movement, & so is present in other Deism animals too, but not in plants ○ Some admit that the world was made by ○ This sort of soul lacks reason but, unlike God, but as by a watchmaker who, once the vegetative, can be influenced by it. he has made a watch, abandons it to Vegetative itself. ○ Responsible for nutrition & growth, & Gnosticism which is also found in plants & other animals  Rational Personal, free & spiritual beings do not have ○ Further divided into the scientific a body like ours element, which enables us to Angels play a major role in dealing with us as contemplate or engage in theoretical human beings activity, & the calculative or deliberative Immortal element, which enables us to engage in God placed over each of us a Guardian practical or political activity. Angel under whose protection & vigilance ○ It is only the Human Person who we may be enabled to escape the snares of possesses the rational capacity that the enemy makes him/her free. The fallen angels were naturally good but became evil by their own doing. The irrevocable character of their choice made their sin unforgivable. The Fall of Man Freedom Man’s Original State in Paradise “God created man a rational being, Original Justice conferring on him the dignity of a person who ○ The inner harmony of the human can initiate & control his own actions.” person, the harmony between man & God willed that man should be “left in the woman, & finally, the harmony between hand of his own counsel” so that he might of the couple & all creation comprised the his own accord seek his Creator & freely state called “original justice” attain his full & blessed perfection by Original Holiness cleaving to him. Man is rational & therefore, ○ Sharing of the human person to the like God; he is created with free will & is divine life. master over his acts The power, rooted in reason & will to act Preternatural Gifts or not to act, to do this or that, & so to perform deliberate actions on one’s own Integrity responsibility. By free will, one’s own life. ○ Perfect control of the passions to reason; Human freedom is a force for growth & subjection of the body to the soul maturity in truth & goodness; it attains its Immortality perfection when directed toward God, our ○ Non-subjection to the painful separation beatitude of the body & soul in death Makes man responsible for his acts to the Impassibility extent that they are voluntary. Progress in ○ Immunity from all suffering & misery virtue, knowledge of the good & ascesis Infused Knowledge enhance the mastery of the will over its acts ○ Understanding the natural sciences The person can only be free if he/she without effort subordinates his/her freedom to the truth – The Acting Person (St. John Paul II) Man’s First Sin Angels: A Truth of the Faith Man, tempted by the devil, let his trust in his Creator die in his heart & abusing his “Angelos” – messenger freedom, disobeying God’s command  Self-Defecation Concupiscence & Personal Sin ○ Constituted in a state of holiness, man was destined to be fully “divinized” by Concupiscence God in glory ○ As a result of original sin, human nature ○ seduced by the devil, he wanted to be is weakened in its powers; subject to like God, but ”without God, before God ignorance, suffering, & the domination of & nothing in accordance with God” death; & inclined to sin. Self-Idolatry Personal Sin ○ In that sin, man preferred himself to God ○ This type of sin arises from the free & & by that very act, scorned him deliberate choice of an individual to do ○ He chose himself over & against God, what is morally evil in the sight of God. against the requirements of his This is when a man chooses to creaturely status & therefore against his voluntarily & willfully disobey the law of own good. God revealed to us. ○ TWO TYPES Man, tempted by the devil, abused his Venial Sin freedom & disobeyed God’s command Sin which doesn’t destroy the ○ Sin is destructive divine life in the soul, as does ○ It ruined man’s harmony with God & with mortal sin, though it diminishes & the rest of creation wounds it It is the failure to observe Original Sin necessary moderation in lesser matters of the moral law or in The sin by which the first human beings grave matters, acting without full disobeyed the commandment of God, knowledge or complete consent choosing to follow their own will rather Mortal Sin than God's will. As a consequence, they A grave infraction of the law of lost the grace of original holiness, & God destroys the divine life in the became subject to the law of death; sin soul of the sinner (sanctifying became universally present in the world. grace), constituting a turn away Besides the personal sin of Adam & Eve, from God. original sin describes the fallen state of For a sin to be mortal, three human nature, which affects every person conditions must be present: born into the world, & from which Christ, the grave matter, full knowledge of "new Adam," came to redeem us. the evil of the act, & full Although it is proper to each individual, consent of the Will. original sin does not have the character of a personal fault in any of Adam's The Mystery of Evil & Suffering descendants. It is a deprivation of original holiness & justice, but human nature has not God isn't the source of evil been totally corrupted: it is wounded in the Because He cannot contradict Himself & He 'natural powers proper to it; subject to will never oppose His own love. Rather, God ignorance, suffering, & the dominion of permits evil only for the sake of a higher death; & inclined to sin - an inclination to evil good, not only of a person’s individual good that is called concupiscence but the good of the entire creation. God allows the defect of sin in order for Him to be  able to manifest His Goodness and the First announcement of redemption through reality that He is our Savior. the victory of the woman & her offspring Protos - “first”, Evangelion - “gospel” Intrinsically Evil Acts Mary was conceived without Original Sin & did not commit any personal sin during her Whatever is Hostile to Life Itself earthly life hence she was never under the ○ Homicide, genocide, abortion, dominion of Satan. euthanasia & voluntary suicide The teaching about Mary’s Immaculate Whatever Violates the Integrity of the Conception has been declared a dogma by Human Person Pope Pius IX in the Papal Bull Ineffabilis ○ Mutilation, physical & mental torture & Deus. immaculate conception - conceived w\o original sin, incarnation - God attempts to coerce the spirit became man Whatever is Offensive to Human Dignity LESSON 3: JESUS INCARNATION ○ Subhuman living conditions, arbitrary imprisonment, deportation, slavery, The Mystery of Incarnation prostitution & trafficking in women & children; degrading conditions of work Incarnation (in + caro "flesh") that treat laborers as mere instruments of And the Word was made flesh and dwelt profit, & not as free responsible persons among us (John 1:14). Begotten not made, consubstantial with the Sinful Structures Father...and by the Holy Spirit, was incarnate of the Virgin Mary and became man (Nicene Sin is a personal act. We have a Creed). responsibility for the sins committed by others when we cooperate in them Why did God become man? ○ By participating directly & voluntarily in them For our “salvation” and “reconciliation” with ○ By not disclosing or not hindering them God. when we have an obligation to do so For God’s love to be known to humankind. ○ By ordering, advising, praising, or For us to partake in God’s divine nature. approving them; For Jesus Christ to be humanity’s model of ○ By protecting evil-doers. holiness. The Blessed Virgin Mary is the THEOTOKOS, Thus, sin makes men accomplices of one Mother of God another & causes concupiscence, violence, Mary’s title Mother of God is inseparable & injustice to reign among them. Sins give from Christ’s identity rise to social situations & institutions that are To deny that Mary is the Mother of God is contrary to divine goodness. either to deny Christ’s divinity or to deny "Structures of sin" are the expression & his Incarnation effect of personal sins. They lead their Mary did not give merely to a man who victims to do evil in their tum. In an then after his “became” God. Rather, analogous sense, they constitute a "social even in her womb, the child is the true sin”. Son of God. The Protoevangelium of Salvation  The Council of Nicea ○ Heresy Countered: Arianism; taught that the Son came to be from things that were not and that he was from another substance than that of the Father The Hypostatic Union (homoiousios) ○ Teaching: the Son of God is begotten, The mysterious personal union of divinity and not made, of the same substance humanity in one rational subject. (homoousios) as the Father ○ Incarnation The Council of Constantinople Took the form of a man in a particular ○ Heresy Countered: Apollinarianism; time, space, and culture. He was taught that the Logos replaced the named Jesus, meaning “God saves.” human soul of Christ. Jesus was not truly Has complete human intellect & will. a human being since he lacks a rational Humans will submit to the divine will. soul, without a principle of human Has Beatific, Infused, and individuality, freedom, and action Experimental Knowledge. ○ Teaching: Chrsit’s human nature – ○ Our Goal: Communion complete with operation of intellect and ○ Properties: will, and human body – belongs to the Unless Jesus was truly God, He could divine person of the Son of God who not redeem us from death and sin. assumed it Unless Jesus was truly man, He could The Council of Ephesus not save us. ○ Heresy Countered: Nestorianism; 100% True God; 100% True Man claimed that there were two person in Integrity and property of each nature Christ: one divine and the other human. remain They also held that Mary is only United but not mixed Christotokos, not Theotokos, since a Distinct but not separated creature cannot give to God ○ Teaching: The dive Person of the Son of God assumed humanity and made it his The Christological Councils own from his conception. May truly became the Mother of God by the human Nestorianism - by Nestorius conception of the Son of God in her ○ The human nature of Jesus must have womb. its own subject. Hence, there are two Council of Chalcedon persons of Christ. By extension, Mary is ○ Heresy Countered: Monophysitism only Christotokos or Christ-bearer (mono: “one”; physis: “nature”). Taught Hypostatic Union - Theotokos that human nature had ceased to exist ○ The Incarnation did not diminish the as such in Christ when the divine person Son's divine nature. Hence, divinity and of God’s Son assumed it. humanity are distinct but not separated in ○ Teaching: The one and the same Lord the one divine Person of Jesus Christ. By Jesus Christ is to be acknowledged in extension, Mary is Theotokos, two natures without confusion, change, "God-Bearer." division, or separation. The distinction between the natures was never The Ecumenical Councils abolished by their union, but rather the  character proper to each of the two The pride and disobedience of Adam and natures was preserved as they came Eve destroyed all forms of communion. together in one person The Holy Family of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph reveals and realizes communion through The Beauty of Jesus’ Humanity humility and obedience. The recorded acts of Jesus' childhood and Lessons from the Nativity Scene youth are acts of obedience. The special ○ Cave - inhabited by livestock duty of children is to honor their parents. ○ Manger - feeder for livestock Jesus spent 30 years preparing for his public ○ Swaddling clothes - clothing staple for ministry in obedience to his parents. infants born in poor families The special duty of parents as “God's ○ Ass and Ox - substitute for fireplace vice-regents” is to mold the child into ○ Nursing milk - little but sufficient obedience. ○ Shepherds - infant Jesus’ VIPs ○ By this, he counters the pride and ○ What do they mean? disobedience of Adam and Eve to God, Two words: POVERTY & HUMILITY our Father. That through poverty, God may emphasize humility more. Mystics to whom the Blessed Mother appeared (like St. Bernard & Peter Damian) often said that the Lord chose a lowly and humble life to teach and The Holy Family as a Training Ground for demonstrate the radical message of Vocation and Mission the Kingdom of God. From St. Joseph: The shepherds recognized the ○ St. Joseph is a silent worker, protector, Savior's majesty in poverty. His exalts chaste, righteous, and has a humble the humble while the arrogant ones status. are put to shame. ○ He was about to divorce Mary until the angel commanded him not to do it Lessons from the Holy Family of Nazareth ○ Brought his pregnant wife on a journey to Bethlehem to have the unborn child The Holy Family is composed of Jesus, Mary, registered under his name. and Joseph. ○ Had Jesus circumcised on the 8th day of ○ Although Mary and Joseph's faith is in his. Jesus becomes part of the Jewish the process of journeying (they at times community. do not understand the words of the child ○ Listened to the angel's command to stay Jesus), they provided an environment for in Egypt temporarily to escape the the child Jesus to prepare for his public massacre of the infants at Judea. ministry. ○ Jesus was brought to the Temple as the The Holy Family takes after the Holy Trinity's first-born son to be consecrated. The “communion of love. ” Holy Family went to the Temple 3x in a ○ God has chosen a family to be the year. training ground for his physical, mental, ○ Taught Jesus carpentry for 12 years. and spiritual maturity. From the Blessed Virgin Mary: The Holy Family as a Builder of Communion  ○ Mary is the favored one, immaculate, Proofread by the Team Secretary, Team obedient, humble President, and Team Vice President ○ She said her unwavering yes to divine motherhood. ○ Although exalted by her cousin Elizabeth, Mary sang praises to god instead: “My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord.” ○ Thanks to her preparedness, the infant Jesus was covered in swaddling cloth. She held him in her bosom and nursed him even if she had little milk ○ Went to Egypt following the Angel’s command to Joseph ○ Even if she didn't need to be purified, she chose to obey the Mosaic Law. Her offering of two pigeons spoke of her humble status. ○ When Jesus was 12, he was presented to the Temple as a sign that he was handed over to God ○ "Do whatever he tells you.” She was instrumental in Jesus' first natural miracle. She knew that there was no turning back in Jesus' Public Ministry once the miracle was performed ○ Bore her sorrows patiently until the end of Jesus’ Public Ministry From Jesus: ○ Obedience to the Law of Nature Went through the phases of physical and cognitive development Used familiar and cultural objects/references to illustrate the Kingdom of God ○ Obedience to parents Taught that humility makes one the greatest in the Kingdom of God dignifies/gave value to work ○ Obedience to the Will of the Father Obedient to the redemptive work his father made him do until death Spiritual maturity