Intro To Theology 1 PDF

Wonder & fulfillment of a human -we are not made for money, for rules, or for death -we in life, lived in a system of rules -many people come to college for money or a job -The human person is made for wonder. Wonder is the experience of beauty and leads to fulfillment. -when we do things we love —...

Wonder & fulfillment of a human -we are not made for money, for rules, or for death -we in life, lived in a system of rules -many people come to college for money or a job -The human person is made for wonder. Wonder is the experience of beauty and leads to fulfillment. -when we do things we love —> we tend to wonder and learn more about ourselves THE EQUATION: A - Wonder, Passion, and Human Fulfillment …In wonder they will be satisfied PLUS B- Wonder is an experience of beauty ….God is the one who created beauty & made us beautiful EQUALS C- Theology is the study of this revelation In order to understand wonder, passion, beauty, and fulfillment we need theology *This meaning…. -reading the word of God -Studying Context of Scripture -Theology is stating there is a relationship with God, people on the class have a personal relationship each with God Theology: the study of nature of God and religious belief Personal Revelation of God: God revealing what he likes, dislikes, instead of concluding external beliefs we have without taking into account God’s nature and the true thought or reality into account. Our own religious belief concerning with God Theology is when theory and religious belief are systematically developed Two Greek foundational terms Theos - God Logia - “The study of” This course is an introduction to God Why learn & take theology?  Perspective: God who created everything was once a tiny baby, a human, and then incarnation occured. People & families have beliefs in Roman Catholicism —> understand why they celebrate certain holidays and their true beliefs It is god first who desire us, God’s passion and love for us = Theology Everyone is trying to figure out who they are and what they want (the wonder, the fulfillment) Most people believe this subject is studied and created by humans - it’s true theology is stewarded (protected) by humans Where did people get the information from in the Bible? -Prophet —> taking down what God tells them -Descendants —> others who heard information orally -Multiple copies —> written down repeatedly by hand Christian Bible is divided into 2 parts - The Old & New Testament -The books of the Hebrew Bible (jewish) are also referred to as the Old Testament How did people learn about God? -looking at the world & nature (all made by God) -other people’s pov, conversations, experience -thoughts, occurrences: why did this happen?, why did that occur? -Reflection —> why did you meet who you met? and why did you do what you did? -personal challenges (God testing you?) -music —> other musicians use their own encounters and stories with god as lyrics What does it mean to be faithful? -be committed and faithful to each other -god wants to have the most belief in him through the covenant relationships Revelation: -God is present in nature and thus naturally accessible to human reason, but human beings can not know the truth about God unless God himself makes it known -God needs to give a portion of his identity —> in order for us to fully understand -no use of external beliefs and personal thoughts -we have our own experience of god that we can bring to this relationship with him, what we do matters on an eternal level. God’s revelation is a love story. -to truly know about another person, they must disclose themselves Personally and the chat should faith believe this is how God encounters people by revealing himself to us -Catholic church does not rely on supernatural beliefs and thoughts. Prayer -Most people think prayer is theology, while others believe prayer is one imitating wants and God answers when not busy, This is NOT THEOLOGY. In theology, it’s believed that God is the one who imitates the first conversation. Is in this study of theology that we hope to learn what passion & fulfillment truly is An intimate conversation with God The reading of Bible is a form of prayer It can be read in God’s preference or even in private It is an unfolding of God’s own folding & heart Your reading also becomes a response to the conversations, that God starts by showing up Divine Inspiration: -the way in which we understand the Bible’s divine authority -scripting is divinely inspired -spirare means to breathe -in & spirare means to breathe into -inspiration - to breathe into god, by Christian understanding -doesn’t just mean it’s inspired by god, but scripture is actually a living thing and not a book - it was breathe into by God -reading scripture means God reads these words with us and is reading is breathing the words in with him and conversing with god in a conversation -God created us to invite us to his divine nature, not have him rule over us. “The human person is supposed to be like God” - abundance of God’s love and have a great friendship. -the human kept themselves away from God, but God chooses to stay with those who seek salvation Extra: -blessing sacrament of Jesus in a mamtomy Table nakal- sacred box -sacrament: receiving Jesus throughout your life, so Jesus starts it -EX: baptism (washing of sins) Scripture —> the Bible; it is peaceful and inspiring, most scandalous text We already seen on Netflix shows Scripture is the story and study of God’s passion and desire for us. Reading the Bible is us responding to God Includes Old & New Testament; collection of books called the Bible Content of Bible —> known as scripture developed over time as people first orally translated and eventually wrote down descriptions of 3 things… Revelatory experiences -1 person pov, God reveals himself to this person Insights -orally transmitted information gained from others (like person who got revealed himself too) Encounters -meeting other people who talk about God and change your lifestyle (basic conversations with other people on topic, had a true impact on you) Testament: important foundation for Christian theology -something that gives witness too… -Old Testament and New Testament both give witness to god Judaism & Jewish is like older brothers in catholic beliefs Old Testament dates written from 1,000 to 100 BC -Activity Written: 2000 to 63 BC Written by: Ancient Ysrealites (People of Israel) -All books in the Old & New Testament are considered to be sacred by Jewish and Christian people Hebrew Bible: 1- The Law = Torah (root of first 5 books) 2- The prophets 3 - The writings -The Torah explains the origin the God’s covenant relationship with Ysrealites -The Torah was edited down by Moses, and written by many people -Freed God’s people from Egypt -Switch Genesis 1 to front of Bible Covenant: Special to you, promise of God to people (Ysrealites) -Sacred relationship between people & God promise of him returning —> to be more pure in everyday life & God desires to make a better earth and life without sins. God understands that we live in a world that is not perfect, but we are given a promise of a better life and world. -Binding relationship you can not get out of (passionate desire for an enteral reunion) -If god is the one who seeks us, he wants us to be in a relationship with him -in the center of this relationship with him, is the greatest love to exist between god and person -Torah protects this love? Covenant also teaches us: -How to live a proper relationship with God -How to live proper relationship with people around us Dictates relationship w/ God and other people This is the same way Jesus & early Christian’s lived and have worked. These ways of living should not be seen as foreign to us, but instead embraced. New Testament (AKA second testament) Date written: 50-120 AD (Christ born and died) Activity: 0-90 AD Jesus lived from 0-33 AD Mary (his mom) lived from 13 BC *But.. Information still written after his death for 60 more years, due to: -Revelatory experience -Insights -Encounters Explain: 1- life of Jesus 2- Birth of Christian Church 3- Beliefs and practices of first Christians ….. which are similar to Jewish faith rules New Testament has been 4 sections: 1- the gospels —> the life & words of Jesus 2- the history —> the acts of the apostles and actions of the followers of Jesus 3- The letters (epistles) —> letters of encounters and orally transmitted conversations 4- apocalyptic literature *A lot of scripture does not include old testament books. Since, many Christian’s believe the biblical canon had a special authority and is different from all other written works —all is not his world, but also what he wants or expected from us The authority comes from the Christian belief that the Bible uniquely contains God’s revelation -God Wanted a general friendship and intimacy relationship -the gospel —> first four books about Jesus life & words Dei Verbum -Roman Catholics at first did not know what the Bible was - this was released to preachers, nuns, etc (400 years, people did not know anything) -this document goes on as a roadmap and introduces people to how to read scripture. It was used to fix those 400 years, with a better understanding of the Bible and how to read it for those people (help them navigate it) DV POINTS: Meaning the word of God as title 1- a very positive document -chapter 1: paragraph 2-3 -chapter 6 paragraph 26 (HW ANSWER) What does God desire for us? -God desires that believers in Christ know about Christ’s background and his lifestyle growing up to learn about how one can access him and understand the steps one should take to do so, to create a covenant relationship with him which he wants to happen. -God wants us to understand his words, deeds, and the truth on who he was through teachings and revelations, so he can live among us, in believer’s hearts as people turn their faith to him. -God desires to be friends with us and promises to give eternal life, to those with strong faith while following the gospel and hidden pathways in sacred text to understand how to receive this gift from him ( gift of salvation ) -By going through death & resurrection, God saw the truth and wants to guide others by perfecting the revelations -God desires for us to commit our lives to God with full submission, intellect of faith, and wanting to follow the faith God gave us. 2- Historical need to respond to the council of Trent (referenced to in preface) -Preface: recover relationship with god in Bible, world to believe and have a sense of hope -1531-1541: 9M people enter catholic faith (The Americas) -Spanish monarchy & others who want to declare the new world for sake of their queen and king -monarchies want mass and predicts there so people will go and feel safe with faith of themselves and their future generations and with getting baptized -1531: Guadalupe came to get married to a poor man which was seen as a miracle (Mexico) -in 1895 she is confused by people Leo the 13th to be truth - 350 years plus since church tried to disprove everything -council of Trent (1545-1563) in Italy for 18 years. -reformation occurring -people get together to show the truth of practice in the religion and how to be on the right path doing the right stuff A threat within the church to culture of human life. A council happens when leaders of the church need to address Difficult issues. Leader - the people appoints specialities in areas who group together during emergencies for council meetings  Church spent 3 years talking about marriage when there was a huge issue with a rise of divorces - since people who were married were living in separate places Martin Luther published his 95 grievances, he was originally Roman Catholic (1517) 95 grievances: his view on how church should Truly run compared to way it’s running now He nailed them to the front door of a church, one of them said the authority of god is only in scripture AKA sola scriptura How might this idea of sola scriptura be problematic? -if given a Bible and told to follow everything in it, but not knowing how to read it or understand it clearly -nothing in Bible memorials modern medical ethics, so not everything is up to today’s date -The way to celebrate Christmas or Easter or other big holidays are not in the Bible -no reading on how sacraments are done or traditions themselves Answer: -dismisses the building of church teachings completely which were super important after christs death because for 400 years people were not knowing what the Bible was and what to do with it or how to read it -church leaderships including the people, bishops, and priests - all roles are dismissed, their roles are vital to helping the church function and be organized while spreading the word of God and protecting the words & church -church tradition which included sacraments and feast days (Virgin Mary celebration on Jesus birth) all get dismissed This led to 2 major Declarations… -God is the definitive god of scripture (divine inspiration & God breathes in these pages) -Church is the definitive interpretation of scripture —> Catholic Church is the only interpretative source for scripture while promoting and safe gating tradition DV 2:10 -church comes out saying that it’s the only one that can interpret scripture and god is the only god of scripture -the result of the council of trent was that it put a cautionary stop to private devotions and reading of scripture by Catholics -people feared of misinterpretation, people who had bibles would not read it - including clergy and regular people who would read it due to them Belgium this huge sin of misinterpretation (DV Paragraph 23) -started new devotions and people used rosemary to pray (prayers to memorize written- string of beads every 10) - is like a mediation of Christ and scripture found in Old Testament **The council of Trent is stated in the first paragraph bc… 1- the church desires to correct and heal our need to personally find god in prayerful readings of scripture 2- to emphasize the declarations from Trent for the modern day (promoting and safeguarding tradition and scripture) Why does the church not rely on scripture? (HER) -sacred scripture is about how Christian’s should live in the way of God, but there’s so many physical ways To show prayer and more besides sacraments -physical gestures not always accounted for in scripture -develop a scared way of living (Hw Answer) -Sacred Scripture and tradition are connected and need each other -Scripture itself can be interpreted wrong and does not know EVERYTHING about God or the faith with CERTAIN. -In sacred tradition, Apostles hand down everything they know about God, Faith, Relationships, Praying, Interpretations, etc to the Preachers -These Preachers are now given the power and ability to teach about the revelations from Apostles -This tradition helped people interpret and understand the words of God and the teachings on a deeper level - in which they confirm a closer relationship to God as believers. This tradition helped unite people and increased faith for many -By reading scripture, one can have many questions and wonderings which these preachers can help to answer -Besides reading, one must pray and change their way of life → help from the preachers to complete other requirements besides reading scriptures -Everyone can read scripture and have different interpretations, but by listening to Preachers, one can add on to change their interpretation to have everyone on the same page, for the best 3- Tradition & Scripture (Paragraph 24 in ch 6) -tradition is the ministry of the word -actual interpretation of scripture -Catholics do not believe in scripture alone like Christian’s -Catholics believe scripture and tradition can not stand without the other (DV chapter 2, paragraph 10) How does the scripture and tradition have equal authority? -not all questions of faith are directly answered in scripture (modern medical ethics, psychology, sociology, traditions) -apostolic succession: DV CH 2, Paragraph 7 & 8 Definition: the authority of Jesus Christ given to the 12 apostles including the apostle Peter (the first pope) the authors was then handed down and down to those in today’s modern world of apostles and the pope and bishops.  -What God does should last, not get watered down -Christ gave authority to apostles to teach the gospel and include heavenly gifts (oral teaching, observances, hearings) from apostles are not all written down in scripture. -apostles leave bishop with the authority to teach and their teacher is preserved and passed on continuously What does this mean? -traditions of faith not included in Bible are granted to us by Christ authority in the pope through apostolic succession. Why should we give our attention & respect to priests? -they chose to devote themselves to Christ and carry the church. Priests carry down authority to other priests by deleting them worthy. Bishops also have a say in whether or not the person being deemed is worthy. Jesus authority —> 12 apostles —> peter —> bishops (including pope) —> bishops (including priests) —> bishops Pope —> Cardinal —> Bishops —> Msr —> Priest —> Decan —> Acrolyte 4 - The bride (image shown in class with animals) -London medium, dates back to 1954 -a woman dressed up in a wedding gown with animals and flowers surrounding her. There is text in red and yellow near the bottom corners on both left and fidget sides. The sheep & bride are the only ones looking at us, while the rest of the animals have their direction towards the bride and sheep. The sheep is behind her and to her right side. -Around her head it’s like a little halo in the design of the leaves. This halo could symbolize holy trinity - (the father, Holy Spirit, and son). -the bride can symbolize a new start, pure, new beginning -the bride is the church, animals are us the followers -Virgin Mary —> purity, virgin, nature -animals —> gods creation (us) surrounding her -Jesus can be the sheep -in Judaism, the lamb is scarified and smear blood on door frame so when Angel of death roams around at night, god will save us and protect us from the older son getting taken away -Latin text in sides in red & yellow is about wisdom —> book of proverbs “I was by his side, like a master craftsmen over at play, at his presence” -the church -the spirit (paragraph 23) -married to Jesus the groom, we are the children being fed and nourished by the scripture -incarnate —> flesh, so incarnate word —> Jesus -taught by Holy Spirit -the church upholds the most intimate relationship with God, seeks to provide its people with an every deeper understanding of scripture in order to set men’s hearts on fire with the love of god (DV 23 & 8 paragraph) -the church is the definitive of scripture, marriages within scripture and relationships are brought up when talking about God and is concerned with wanting a deeper understanding of scriptures (HW Answer) -The Bride is the Church -According to the text, the Bride wants to tell believers about the Words of God -The bride believes people should devote their time to studying the scriptures and have a place in their heart with Love for God -These objections lined up with the ones of the church, since the Church also believes people should devote their time to understanding scripture and that is why the Church pushes for translation of the bible in various languages -The church even dedicated preachers to help understand the scripture on a deeper level and help others interpret and truly understand the word of God better -The church and bride both want covenant relationships to form between God and the believers, so no person ignores scripture or God’s words -The Church wants God's words embedded in people’s hearts, Bride wants love in people’s hearts for God and faith. 5th point (DV 25) “Ignorance of scripture, is ignorance of Christ” -st Jerome -if you go to mass, packed with scripture, priests actions and many sayings. Whether you go to listen there or devote your time to readings or other stuff in relation to scripture. Remember that prayer should accompany the reading is sacred scripture. So then god and man may talk to each other so we can speak to him when we pray and hear him when we read. -where one or more is gathered, God is present -“God help me to understand you better” DV TRANSLATIONS PAGE 1: -God chose to reveal himself to specific people and prophets in hopes of them telling other people about their experiences and what they understand about God → revelation, insight & encounters -To believe that God was even sent down as a man to make others believe and share their stories. -These bishops & the pope truly believed in the words of God and God himself -They want to tell us about the life of god and set the record straight with what truly happened, what they actually believe in and what others can do - on this journey of believing & loving god -God chose to reveal himself to us about his background and growing up (the lifestyle) and to share how one can access him and the steps one can take to do so -They want us to have a divine nature → wander, passion & fulfillment -He wants to be friends with us and live among us, through our hearts, beliefs, and intentions to turn to him & follow him -revelations allow us to understand the deeds, words, and truth on who he really was - through his teachings and words -God created everything and has the power to keep what he wants in existence, will give people a chance to witness him in heaven or in the afterlife, which are realities/places created by him -He gave a promise of redemption to the human race, with hopes of saving them and giving them eternal life - if only the search salvation successfully —---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------section 2 Cosmogony: -An ancient story about the origins of the world -ex: Genesis 1:1-2:4 → the introduction to the bible is a cosmogony Primidiol: Primordial story → Genesis ch 2:4b - 11:26 -Genesis introduces the primordial (primary) story which is first existing at or from the beginning of time or biologically existing at the earliest state of development -creation was 6 days and 6 nights, at the beginning of creation not the end. -God took time to rest but now the Human works with God to finish her creation Story of Ancestor: 11:27 - 50:26 -The early passages of Genesis (cosmogony) and primordial highlight: 1) The goodness of creation 2) God’s desires for human beings to share in this goodness (dominion & creation) -In ch 1, everything talked about is Good.. -the creation of life, animals, food, etc But, what does God not specify as Good? -The tree with fruits -Creation of Human is not called good, but instead very good which is why God wants to share this creation equally and compatibility with us Genesis: -is the first book of the Torah (first 5 books of old testament) -the word and title literally mean “in the beginning”, same way that the verse 1 in chapter 1 of Genesis starts for its first sentence. Chapter 2: -creates human person first then everything else (creatures, water, food) -everything gets presented to the human person -woman created from the rib of man, making them be made for each other -God created everything around us in 6 days -Understand God = Understand Faith = Understand Reason = Understand Science -It takes hundreds of years for animals to develop & grow so how did it take only 6 days for God? Need tradition to understand this part. In Genesis it said “days”, but in Hebrew “day” means an unlimited expanse of time. Without Hebrew & tradition, would be interpreted wrong. -Everything is created in a realm of Heaven, there was no time then since time started only when Human people started their sins. -This realm had Day, Night, Food, Animals, etc Verse 15: “Everything I made is made for you, but live in the way I demand you too” -example of the initial covenant, between God and person -they were demanded to not eat from the tree, guard over the animals, and take care of the plants to produce food later on -”Be fruitful and multiply” - listen to all God says, make more humans, spread truth, be happy Summary of text: -Starts on seventh day of God working on creation, he finally finished and is resting today -The earth & heaven were finished Another POV on creation: -one day when there was no plant or herb, a mist came up from the ground to water it and the dust had formed a man by going into his nostrils to be breathed in - God’s creation became a living man -the man was placed in the garden of Eden (in the East, a garden formed by God) -On the ground, trees were planted to grow for food, but planted was also the tree of life and the tree of knowledge of good and evil -a river flowed out of this garden to water it and was divided into 4 parts: 1) Pi-shon: flows around whole land of Hav’ilah, a place filled with gold, bdellium and onyx stone 2) Gi’han: flows around land of cush 3) Tigris - flows east of Assyria 4) Euphra’tes -God commanded them to till the garden of Eden and keep it -Also commanded him to eat out of any tree but the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, since he would die the day he ate from it -God thought it was not the best idea to have him be alone, he needed a helper so God made more mammals from the dust of the ground -But none of them seemed to be a helper fit, Man even gave them all names too. But, Man realized they were not the same as him. -God decided that when man fell asleep, to take out one of his ribs and form a woman. -Man said “This at last is bone of my bone and flesh of my flesh” -Man said she should be called woman “because she was taken out of man” Extra information explained -Man known as Adam, breath into by God, created from dust had roamed life, ate, named animals -Adam realized that no creature was similar to him, he was different, they were animals and he was a human -As a result, God created more creatures as helpers but they were no help -They could not understand him or help him in any way to take care of the plants or anything -Women is taken out from Man, when asleep and was a gift of life from God What can be problematic regarding this reading, with sola scriptura in mind?? -excludes tradition -There is an Academic and imaginative need for understanding scripture & tradition (Dei Verbum) -cultural phenomena: we do not know about it and everything occurring during that time since we’re not the israelites who lived during that time (400 years ago) We hear that man is created first, does this mean women were not thought about? -Maybe the editor took authority to change the text and this was not actually written. This can be problematic because no one would know the truth. This can lead to many becoming misogynistic and changing their POV on this, -Women need men for protection and watching over us, but men need women for company and help care for them. God does not want man to be alone, so woman is made. -Women can be independent from men, excludes LGBTq+, and those who do not want to marry -There is a huge cultural influence on this according to how the Israelites lived at the time and what their pov was on men and women. There were no lgbtq+ or independent women. Chapter 1: Verse 1:1-2:3 -creates everything else first then humans. -Land, water, light, dark, trees, plants, creatures, animals all get created on a distinct day each -younger text Summary of text: -”In the beginning” first words -The earth was filled with darkness, spirits, and void lacking any form before God transformed it -evil was present before God’s creation of earth SEPARATION in order (took 6 days) -God separated light from darkness, evening from day -then separates heaven from earth -then land & water -trees, seeds, vegetables, plants -seasons, days, years -stars -living creatures (birds, sea animals, beasts as cattle - dominant over other animals) -a whole hierarchy was formed -God created male and female separately but simultaneously -God told them “be fruitful and multiply” -They were told to have dominance over every living thing, Every living thing's purpose is to be their food. EX: “every tree with seed in fruit, every beast of the earth, every bird in the air, everything that creeps on earth, everything that has a breath of life, every green plant for food” ( ch 1 verse 29-31) Looking through the tradition POV…. Genesis 2:4 - 25 Genesis 1:1-2:3 -more ancient text written before Genesis 1 -”younger” text -Creation of male and female; both existed -creation of people is male and friends; they as one creature and later separated out exist separately and simultaneously from -existed simultaneously, not separately beginning -”... and God created them, Man and Woman” (verse 27-28) Which one is correct? Why are there two versions of the story? -This has caused massive cultural issues, If women were afterthought or if women were viewed as lesser than men. Genders In genesis -In hebrew, “human kind” means “man” in english (genesis ch 2) -First gendered text is woman, then male —-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------gen 3 Genesis Chapter 3: -Man named Adam and he named woman Eve,” because she was the mother of all living” (3:20) -Serpent is satan in the form of snake -The serpent first was asking the woman about what trees God forbid for her and man to eat from, the woman said the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. She told the serpent that they would die if they ate fruit from the tree. -The serpent replied they would not die, assuming that God lied to them. Instead the serpent said their eyes will be opened and that they can now think like God knowing the differences between good and evil. -The woman was convinced and ate fruit from the tree, while giving some to Man too. After eating they both realized they were naked - which was a sign to God that they had committed to sin. -They quickly got fig leaves to sew together and make aprons to wear and hid behind the trees, since they heard God calling for them in the garden -Man responded to God’s calling, saying they're afraid because they are naked. But God never taught them about being Naked or the concept of it, so how did they know this? God then understood that they ate from the tree and committed a sin. -Then a series of blaming starts on top of the sin. The man blamed the women, who blamed the serpent. God cursed the serpent, decided to increase the pain of childbirth for woman, and increased labor of tilling causing suffering for the man. -God removed them from the Garden of Eden (peaceful life with God in heaven) and placed them into the world of reality aka earth, a world of difficulty. -Now the man knows between good and evil, preparing him for the outside world. -God placed a sword outside the garden that would rotate and guard the way to the tree of life. Is God trying to hide the good from Man and Women, maybe something he never gave to them? -God is not hiding anything, but instead testing them to see how strong their covenant relationship truly is and how far their faith in God lies. The serpent convinced the woman that God was lying about the tree leading to death if fruit is eaten from it. But, if the covenant between woman and God truly was strong, she would not view God as a liar and instead would not eat from the tree, placing her trust over God instead of questioning his commands. -By testing them it also sees how much respect they have for God. They could’ve lied to God or maybe they continuously blamed each other. But, we should remember that God is always forgiving of our sins if we admit the truth & understand what we did was wrong. -We know everything was created by God for us, so when God commands us with rules there is a reason behind why we can do certain things and why other things are forbidden. -Adam & Eve had a strong covenant with God, placing them in the Garden of Eden. But, now by committing sin and understanding nakedness, their innocence has changed. God was protecting their innocence from the outside world and sins, but they brought the sin up on themselves. Now they are being separated from God and the covenant is broken. Their relationship with God and each other is broken. -It’s also about being loyal to God. God “hiding the good” from man and woman, is a sign of protection and guiding them. This would always lead to good anyways, with nothing behind hidden from them if they follow God’s plan. But, when they try to find the “hidden Good" on their own and not follow the plan of God, it causes problems since God wants us to be dependent on him. God has timing and plans for everything, so we should just be patient, not just destroy or question the covenant with him. Answer from Class Review: -trying to keep evil away from us (God’s gift of protection) -He wants us to not experience evil and keep it away -We should understand why we choose good over evil -God made promise for eternal life, so we should always pick good -without evil, no learning or growth occurs from mistakes -Maybe God wanted us to wait and have this fruit eventually later on if we successfully stay in the covenant relationship with him -he wanted to give freedom of choice, we have to do our part and show up in the relationship with him since he can't call or force us to show up -The humans experienced their first fear in this chapter -Everything they knew was what God told them. They did not learn about nakedness. -Punishment included death, childbirth pain & husband rules over wife, earth is now cursed (the ground) which causes hard labor till death -Verse 21: gifts of garments from God to cover themselves… -Parently Gesture of God, God helps them and figures out what the problem is -Kicked them out, they can't be trusted but still wants to protect them from further evil -They can't be mortal, have the garden of eden, tree of life.. So they put this curse on themselves causing them to ruin everything in God’s plan Angels & satan Angel lucifer- spiritual creature who is the closest to God but had fallen due to jealousy and pride, causing him to dislike creatures that now take his spot of being the closest to God. This made him become satan. —------------------------------------------------------------------- Love of God -Book of Genesis teaches us valuable info about the love of God -There is an extreme amount of energy and creativity that God has, which is mirrored through the person through Genesis -God made everything out of Love -God receives the beauty and wonder from Humans as a gift back, at no cost -God asks us to join him in this life and help protect it, while passing the word of truth around and Wonder -This poetry in Genesis teaches us about love & human life -In Genesis, the literary style is more poetic so we do not understall all of the text clearly or take in all the details as the truth, we need to translate some of it to understand the context clearly Seneca/Providence = “The Word” -Divine inspiration: God gives life and breaths into scripture -Through the power of God’s word, we learn creation is… -Generous; God gifts himself into everything -Sensual; God spoke and saw, so we in return use all our senses to receive it -Mysterious; God’s calling creation forth from darkness of void (no sense of fear & no evil but it is the primary foundation) -What we know or see is God as a caretaker brings order (Genesis 1 & 2) -Earth had no form and filled with darkness & evil before God’s creation of world -God brings order from primordial chaos, especially by uttering his word (John 1:1, New Testament) -God said and God spoke -God saw light that he separated into light and darkness to form morning and evening -Anything spoken, God brings from nothing to existence (especially his desires) -The spoken word is a person (John 1:1) John 1:1 Summary -”In the beginning” was word -word was with God and was God -all things made through word -God sent a man named John who was a witness of seeing the light, sharing his story of seeing God as truth and the one. -The people who believed him, received the power of being born under God and became his children, or believers. -This was all occurring through the power of word, that became flesh and was passed around as the truth. Similar to how John became man, spread word and was making God be known. -The word was also seen as divine inspiration, of God breathing and commanding. -Also seen as encounters, insights, and reactions when passing around word of God Why does evil befall good people? -God has a reason and plan for everything -Failures or unwanted things happen to people, since God wants you to understand more about something or have a realization based on the lessons learned -God wants us to become more beautiful and defined based on the lessons -God will guide us to the next level, but we must first pass the challenges along the way before taking next steps to move on -To grow our relationship with God through events What would this look like in Genesis 1 & 2, where evil did not occur? -You are given rules to follow, not following them is like ignoring God’s word and orders, making you incapable of growing -One knows what is right and what is wrong, you have an opportunity to choose the good which allows them to grow as a person Jewish idea vs Seneca idea of universe Jewish: -idea of universe being created was as unique in human history as Jewish Idea of God, the creator -They believe the world was created at a point by God Seneca: -Does not say anything on creation of universe -POV is that the world always existed, so there is no point in humans understanding creation -The truth about our origin has the same supernatural source as our ultimate destiny to be spiritually married to the one perfect God What is Providence? -something gifted in fullness & totality -providence is not a shared experience, it is completely given to you as a gift -The garden of Eden: symbolizes the ideal relationship that God intended to have with human beings -symbol of the way of life.. If Garden of Eden had good in it, was God keeping something good from us? Could it have been better if we stayed? Genesis 1 & 2 -God is always intentional and based on this, there is an order in creation that does not require us to fear it, but instead respect its beauty. - In Genesis ch 2, we see God giving everything in providence to the human person, gifting the beauty of the world, beauty of food, beauty of sight in the Garden of Eden besides…. -The tree of Knowledge of Good & Evil -You can eat any fruit from any tree, but not this tree since it can lead to death -Boundaries make us wonder why things are kept from us? But through the Garden of Eden we know that God made everything for us. -Seneca is a roman stoic philosopher who uses meditation on chaos and rhythm to explain providence of God’s creation Lucillius story (On Providence) -written 2000 years after Genesis was written and spoken -Lucilius' question was: I am growing as a person and continuing my relationship with God but is this God’s evil plan to befall good people with evil? -The design of the earth could not just happen by chance. We can look into the patterns of nature and realize that order exists within everything… Ex: orbiting earth, stars, seeds, fires, burns -Everything is planned with order and everything evil can become good -Similarities of On providence and Genesis? -Creation of the earth talked about -Genesis comes from God & gives logic on building processes throughout each day -On Providence gives info on natural process of earth —-------------------------------------------------------------------------- Main Idea: Different human cultures have imaged different destinies and origin stories. But, Judaism is the only one to believe in a creator who calls the universe into being from nothing (creation ex nihilo) Bara: only God is the one who can create, a person can co-create with God -Putting something into being, that never existed. Genesis 1:4, everything was dark and no void, which darkness was turned into creation by God. -The Hebrew word for create is Bara and always has God for its subject. -This is the creator who calls the creation from nothing  -Calls God as the one who is doing everything -This concept is found in no other ancient culture. The human person can not create, since they have to use already existing materials to create something. Ex: thoughts, individuality, identity, personality, creativity, art, etc all based on existing matter. - But God creates matter itself, allowing him to create but not humans. Only God can make something out of nothing. -Evil is a negation of Good and could be good but chose not to be good. Was never created, just a denial of good. -Childbirth is the only form of Bara for humans. -Having this new life created is a gift returned to God -Using wonder, creation, and thought to create is like giving gift to God -God had no children, since he did not have a human body until christ Procreating -The closest a human person comes to creating is procreating -has made a greater difference than almost any other in the world. - It is the concept that protects your life. -it is also cooperating with God’s most important act of creation, the creation of human beings who have immortal souls and are destined to exist eternally. -God who exists forever and created us like him, dei verbum → talks about humans eternally existing -we are like God, but a human person can die and has flesh -the body and soul created by God in the garden of eden, is not for death -when god creates a human soul out of nothing, he does so only when a man and woman make a newborn out of their previously existing matter and genetic forms -we have a new human soul made out of nothing is a judaic belief -we can not destroy a soul, because God himself made souls -God can not create a human form, he created matter of Adam and Eve and put that matter into the Garden of Eden -That is why we have freedom of speech in creation and procreation. -God permits himself to enter a boundary (our reality) then broken with Christ who comes into reality. 1) God the creator → creates universe out of nothing (ex nihilo) 2) Bara: Only God creates 3) Procreation: the closest a human can be God and a concept that protects your life Image & Likeness of Adam and jesus importance -because of its common origin, they both originate in God -The human race forms unity (Catechism of Catholic Church, 360) “From one ancestor, God, made all nations to inhibit the whole earth” -This ensures that all men are truly brothers and equally viewed -Even though Adam created in beginning and Jesus at zero -Adam: the hebrew word is the generic word for humankind -in our image, after our likeness, used from Genesis 2 express the worth of human beings who have value in themselves before doing anything. -value of baby? Very little to nothing -human person is loved into existence -God created us in his image, so we can be like him. -the action reveals the essence of the beings, God creation of human reveals more of who he is Points A-H -from ST. Thomas Aquinos who wrote Summa theologies (3 parts), 2nd part is ethics A) The order that God gives to the created universe gives everything in it.. Reality, order, goodness, beauty, and solidarity/unity. -God imprints himself to what he makes (creations of his) -God is reality, order, foodness, beauty, unity, and all beyond it -Everything speaks to who created it B) We are thus God’s children, created in his image and destined to share in his heavenly glory -Echoes “truth of origin has same supernatural source as destiny” -We are made from God and given back to God C) The human person lives in both dimensions.. The seen & the unseen -In seen, we’re the highest of animals (physically) -in unseen, were the lowest of all spirits (angels & demons) D) Man is the lowest of spirits and the highest of animals, but is meant to be the highest of both E) The human person alone is called to share in God own life, no angels invited, F) God nature is spirit, not body -In Genesis, spirits of God hovered over the world before he created it -Jesus was a human with eyes, toes, nails, fingers, etc -the human body is so good, he creates it then becomes one himself -we have freedom of choices & actions -the body & spirit are one when created, not separated like during death -there is something so good about the human body, that it is also made in the image and likeness of God -If god is generous, human person is too but in order to know that, we need to see for ourselves through revelations -Without body, no revelations occur (it has order in genesis) G) Man is not nearly a body -something about looking at others satisfies us and helps us understand our desires Materialism: belief that person is merely or nothing more than a body (merely being matter) - most of culture with social media creates belief of what I see I get -a lifestyle that prioritizes the world over the spiritual. -car, shoes, toys —> matter to us -only thing that matter is body -keep body give to protect it and have nice things to keep body well Spiritualism- body is merely a soul -The Bible views spiritualism as the belief that the spiritual is more important than the material, and that everything material is dependent on something spiritual. -you do not need material possession unless needed for social norms -just need to cover self and be out of harm to keep spirit good -Only thing i use and possess are for goodness of soul Cartesian Dualism - Belief person is 2 beings, a material body and an immaterial soul -like a ghost in a machine -french catholic made it -Plato, an ancient philosopher who was teaching human soul was imprisoned in body -similar to spiritualism, my true self is the inner self that needs to flourish and move on. I will only use materials needed to keep the interior safe. -I am still my body, but its lesser than my soul -soul & spirit is good, body is bad Catholicism and Body & Soul: -At mass, when gospel proclaimed, old testament and new testament readings occur, 1 of 4 gospels read, everyone stands and says: -”In my mind, lips, and heart, Glory to you, Oh Lord” -It is understood that in this setting, God speaks to you directly. Then Christ’s body celebrated. -Catholics say it's not dualism, materialism, or spiritualism. Instead it sees human person as one being in two harmonious dimensions, bodily & spiritual -Where is my soul? My soul is throughout my being and my soul creates form of how I look, it's in every part of me, Since I am not two souls -we don’t have a body but we are our body -we were not created for death, rules, or money H) Church most important teachings about soul: 1) Every spiritual soul is created immediately by God, it is not produced by its parents -your parents could own you if they were soul creators of you, you as the child have rights separate from your parents that protect you until adulthood.  -concept of ownership: if soul has been produced by someone, shows slavery in many forms -if your a material being → someone has ownership over you -body becomes formless at death 2) Every soul is immortal, it does not perish when it separates from the body at death. The soul continues to live. 3) Every soul will be reunited with body at final resurrection (the end of time, book of apocalyptic and resolution, final judgment) -the resurrection body is needed to complete and perfect human nature in heaven -in catholic families → forgotten people will pass away and others say “they’re happy or in a better place” when they’re not complete. -they are just a spirit; glosses over the idea that they were perfect in life and in heaven. We are not in heaven with them and completion of heaven is when everyone is with them. Heaven is body and soul. -between death and resurrection, we are incomplete and we do not become angels instead we become ants. -we are higher than angels and animals but we’re lower -”I believe in the resurrection of the dead and life to come” Creed, this is the foundation. Original experience -Because we are in the image and likeness of God, the body constantly reveals mysterious about our life as humans from the beginning -if human body & soul was created as one in the garden of eden, shame later enters the realm during sin against God and themselves, shattering everything. They are supposed to be naked but not told before. What do we have in common with Adam & Eve? -Curiosity & wonder -Fear eventually as result of sin -we can hide sins and take actions from this to distinguish ourselves from the sins -being disobedient to ourselves -knowing you are above other beings, allows ourselves to be deceived outside of the grasps (superiority) and have passion for creatures below us -love→ she loved Adam and have him the fruit to eat -we are all capable of receiving love from God and can be forgiven -God can punish us, but we bring it upon ourselves -death, you will work for what you had, can die, animals and people cursed, food cursed -genesis 21 or 22: God saw what would give them fear and made clothing for them. Shows parental fatherly way after punishment. I will give you what you need to come back and provide you with some protection. -the first people were soul & body, but after the fall it became separate. But we are still our body and still our soul. -original experiences are the foundations of all our experience today, not simply just actions but the facets of being and not just doing -teach us what we were from the beginning and our baseline today 3 foundations of experience from beginning: solidarity, unity, and experience Original Solitude: -solitude vs loneliness: -solitude is a choice, loneliness is not -you can be in solitude and not lonely, or even be contempt -you can be lonely and surrounded by people -solitude is more positive and loneliness is more negative Alone -you can be alone & lonely -Genesis ch 2.. A human should not be alone. God creates animals and presents them to humans for naming, One human understands that they are not a dog, cat, cow, etc -solitude: something which we can choose, to be alone and at peace. Loneliness is the desire to not be alone, which can lead to issues if alone and the thoughts continue. So then a prolonged feeling of loneliness can lead to stress. - in solitude, you can be contempt since they are not alone -In genesis 2, “It is not good for the person to be alone” -Loneliness is usually a sense of lacking communion. But original solitude is the contemptment of being alone with the ability to commune with god. -Adam is in this secluded relationship with God and others. -original solitude: relationship with God, I am never alone and should not experience loneliness. God is always with me. -The person is not filled out by someone, you are not at a desofit. The Catholic church says you are contempt already and should know that before going out to find a stranger to be contempt with. -Is Adam the only one who experienced solitude? -NO! Adam and Eve are two separate people, but they experienced everything together. -God was probably in solitude too, he got contempt and later Jesus and the holy spirit were in communion with God. -Also why he wanted to create more animals for the human -When one speaks to themselves, they are in commune with God. Relationships connected to each other: God, Jesus, and The holy spirit -God’s love is distinct. After Adam & Eve complete forms, they still had a single relationship with God, we are distinct souls of God who love us separately -The human person is the only living being on earth, whom God addresses as a father addresses a child, with unconditional love -special relationship with their creator. -God speaks to us in ways distinct to us because he understands our gift and how we understand him. God knows this distinct ship and comes to us each personally, so a person can see or understand easily. Everything I need comes from God. Original Unity -the concerning of Adam encounter with Eve, between genesis verse 15-25 in ch 2 -Adam stands poised (positioned) in his solitude with God on the blinker of an event, that will reshape his whole existence -took one of his rib, closed it up with flesh, made into a woman. Man said “this at last, is bone to my bone, flesh to my flesh” “She should be called woman because she is taken from man” 1) Adam is not the creator of Eve. They are created equally 2) Her presence in his life exceeds his imagination. (Oh, AT last!) -There is original unity, God own revelation through Eve that Adam receives -They come from one being together. I administer God to my husband, i give him the sacrament of marriage -Through Eve we learn… Love is always a revelation that we can not plan or produce. But it can take us by surprise. -Relationship between Man, Woman, and child -Man and woman love overpours into child. The child brings love to them and they give love to the child. But, not as much love as love between man and woman. -The interpersonal encounter reveals that love happens precisely in the body. Emotions and a person of god is also just their body. -we know each other through bodily -love can not exist disembodied, which is why humans are higher than animals who do not have bodies and can not become angels -to exist in the body, means to be open to and participate in reality. The bodily openness in turn makes love possible. -According to Pope John Paul the second, To love is to share your world with another person. Another person who is flesh of your flesh or bone of your bone. -Paul refers to this as a mutual indwelling in one another experience as original unity -you share your world with another person, you enter their life and it's a unique perspective. The other person needs to create an internal space for you to enter. You make this with a child too. You can never expect goodness from another person, you have to see how they experience reality theirselves.