Week 1-2: The Life of Man: To Know and Love God PDF

**Week 1** **The Life of man: to know and Love God** **Lesson Title** **Unfolding the ultimate purpose of man's life.** **Learning Outcome(s)** **Identify the ultimate purpose or goal of man's life.** **Man** - is referred here as the whole of humanity. **God** -- is the supreme-being who created the whole universe. **Human Person** -- is a substance essentially composed of both body and soul, imbued with the rational faculties of intellect and free will, created according to the image and likeness of God (Sambajon Jr., 2011). **Man:** Man is composed of body and soul. This composition is in unity on man as a human person. The doctrine of faith affirms that the spiritual and immortal soul is created immediately by God. Thus, man is, by nature and vocation, a religious being. The life of man is indeed a cycle coming from God and going back to God. Man is made to live in communion with God in whom he finds Happiness. St Augustine after his conversion admittedly said; "When I am completely united to you, there will be no more sorrow or trials; entirely full of you, my life will be complete." The life of man then is no other than to know and love God. This is confirmed by our catechesis of the Church that said; "God infinitely perfect and blessed in himself, in a plan of sheer goodness freely created man to make him share in his own blessed life. For this reason, at every time and in every place, God draws close to man. He calls man to seek him, and to know him, to love him with all his strength. He calls together all men, scattered and divided by sin, into the unity of his family, the Church." To accomplish this, when the fullness of time had come, God sent his son as Redeemer and Saviour. In his Son and through him, he invites men to become, in the holy-spirit, his adopted children and thus heirs of His blessed life. **Man's capacity for God:** Man's capacity for God is based on two important truths found in the Sacred Scripture and Sacred Tradition: 1. **Man: The Image of God.** Man alone is called to share, by knowledge and love, in God's own bless ed life. Of all visible creatures only man is "able to know and love back his creator." He is "the only creature on earth that God has willed for its own sake." And he alone is called to share, by knowledge and love in God's own life. It was for this end that he was created, and this is the fundamental reason for his dignity. Being in the image of God the human individual possesses the dignity of a person, who is not just something, but someone. This is where the essense of man rests. Man is capable of self knowledge, of self possession and of freely giving himself and entering into communion with other person. 2. **Man's desire for God:** The desire for God is written in the human heart because man is created by God and for God. God never ceases to draw man to himself**.** Only in God will he find truth and happiness he never stop searching for. However, sin can obscure the desire for God. This intimate and vital bond of man to God can be forgotten, overlooked or even explicitly rejected by man. Such attitude can have different causes: revolt against evil in the world; religious indefference; the cares and riches of this world; the scandal of bad example on the part of the believers; current thoughts hostile to religion; and that attitude of sinful man which makes him hide from God out of fear and flee his call. **Man's search for God:** Created in God's image and called to know and love him, the person who seeks God discovers certain ways of coming to know him, these are also called proofs for God's existence, not in the sense of proofs in the natural science but rather in the sense of converging and convincing arguments, which allow us attain certainly about the truth. These ways of approaching God from creation have twofold point of departure: the physical world and the human person. 1. **The World/Creation.** Starting from movement, becoming, contingency and the world's order and beauty, one can come to a knowledge of God as the origin and the end of the universe. Furthermore, though the creation does not tell us everything we can know about God, but it does tell us some key things. The size and complexity of creation, especially as seen in the heavens containing the sun, the moon and the stars show us God's eternal power. The beauty and order and design of creation show us God's divine nature. 2. **The Human Person**. The goodness, truth and beauty of creatures bear a certain resemblance to God, most especially human person, created in the image and likeness of God. The manifold perfections of creature-their truth, their goodness and their beauty -- all reflect the infinite perfection of God. **Ways to know God.** Jesus defines eternal life as knowing God (Jn. 17:3). The following are some ways to know God and live life eternally: 1. The final, complete, definitive way is **Christ**, God himself in the human flesh. 2. His **church** is his body, so we know God through the church. 3. The **Holy** **Scripture** is the Church book. It is called "the word of God." 4. We can know God in **nature** according to scripture. This is an innate, spontaneous, natural knowledge. 5. **Art** also reveals God. 6. **Conscience** is the voice of God. 7. **Reason** through reflecting on nature, art, or conscience can know God by good philosophical arguments. 8. **Experience** can also reveal God particularly the hands of providence. 9. The **collective experience** of the race, embodied in history and tradition, expressed in literature also reveals God. You can know God through others' stories through great literature. 10. The **saints** reveal God. 11. Our ordinary experience of **doing God's will.** 12. **Prayer** meets God. **Week 2** **The Life of man: to know and love God** ---------------------- ------------------------------------------------ **Lesson Title** **The Revelation of God** **Learning Outcome** **Retell the love story between God and Man.** **Time Frame** **3 hrs.** **Revelation --** the unfolding of one's self. **The revelation of God** -- refers to God's initiative to search for man. It is also called divine revelation. God comes to meet man. All throughout redemptive history, God comes to his people. It is never a reverse. God is the creator and we are the creatures. We have no access to God unless he first reveals himself to us. An infinite gulf separates man from God, a gulf that only God can bridge. In the historical condition in which he finds himself, however, man experiences many difficulties in coming to know God by the light of reason alone, this is why man stands in need of being enlightened by God's revelation, not only about those things that exceeds his understanding, but also about those religious and moral truths which of themselves are not beyond the grasp of human reason, so that even the present condition of human race, they can be known by all men with ease, with firm certainty and with no admixture of error. The Revelation of God. By natural reason man can know God with certainty on the basis of his works. But there is another order of knowledge, which man cannot possibly arrive at by his own power that is the order of divine revelation. Through an utterly free decision, God has revealed himself and given himself to man, this He does by revealing the mystery, his plan of loving goodness, formed from all eternity in Christ for the benefit of all men. God has fully revealed this plan by sending us His beloved Son, Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit. Stages of God's Revelation. God revealed himself in the beginning in creation and ultimately through Jesus Christ. 1. **Creation.** In the beginning God makes himself known. It is the first way God reveals Himself to us. God who creates and conserves all things by his word, provides men with constant evidence of himself in created realities. He manifested himself to our first parents (Adam and Eve) from the very beginning because he wished to open up the way to heavenly salvation. He invited them to intimate communion with himself and clothed them with resplendent grace and justice. Unfortunately, the relationship was broken off caused by our first parent's sin. But God never ceased to show his love for the human race for he wishes to give eternal life to all those who seek salvation by patience in well-being. 2. **The covenant with Noah.** After the unity of the human race was shattered by sin, God at once sought to save humanity part by part. God revealed himself to Noah instructing him to build the ark. After the flood, there was a promise of grace based upon shed blood of animals in the form of burnt offerings to God. Groups of nations formed based on their own language and families for social prosperity. God's covenant to Noah was to show favor to his descendants and to gather all children of God scattered abroad and remained in form through all the times of the gentiles until the universal proclamation of the Gospel. 3. **The covenant with Abraham.** God revealed himself to Abraham and made a covenant with Him, in which God announced to Abraham that his descendants would eventually inherit the land of Israel. And in order to gather together scattered humanity, God called Abram from his country, his kindred and his father's house and made him Abraham that is the father of the multitude of nations. God promised to make Abraham the father of a great people and said that Abraham and his descendants must obey God. 4. **The covenant with Moses.** After the patriarchs, God formed the Israel as his people by freeing them from slavery in Egypt. He established with the covenant of Mount Sinai and through Moses gave them His law so that they would recognize Him and serve Him as the one living true God, the provident Father and just judge and so that they would look for a promised savior. 5. **The final revelation.** The final divine revelation is God revealing himself through his Son Jesus. It is the second way God revealed Himself in a more intimate way by entering into the history of human race he had created. He is the ultimate revelation of God. Jesus Christ said everything that needed to be said to the people because God would no longer revealed himself to prophets. After Jesus' death and resurrection, the Apostles began to preach God's word as promised by the prophets in the Old testament. Indeed, Jesus is the fulfilment of the great promised of God to His people in the fullness of time that is salvation. **Transmission of Divine Revelation.** The transmission of God's revelation would not have been available to us today without first and foremost the mission of the Holy Apostles. Since God desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth that is of Christ Jesus. Christ must be proclaimed to all nations and individuals so that this revelation may reach to the ends of the earth. a. **Apostolic Tradition.** This is also called the Sacred Tradition which refer to the Church's teachings that have been passed down by the successors of the Apostles. This Sacred Tradition together with the Sacred Scripture form one sacred deposit of the word of God (DV 10). It is really a gift of God to the Church. b. **Modes of Transmission.** There are two modes of transmission. First is the Sacred Scripture which is the speech of God as it is put down in writing under the breath of the Holy Spirit. Second is the Holy Tradition which is the whole truth about Jesus Christ. It is proclaimed by the Apostles that Jesus Christ is the Word made flesh. c. **Magisterium of the church.** The whole Church is entrusted to safeguard the deposits of faith contained in Sacred Tradition and Scared Scripture. The task of giving an authentic interpretation of the Word of God, whether in its written form or in the form of Tradition has been entrusted to the teaching office of the Church alone. God continue to manifest Himself in the liturgical celebrations as symbol and signs of His presence to the people. In conclusion, we see that in the supremely wise arrangement of God, Sacred Tradition, Sacred Scripture and the teaching Office (Magisterium) of the Church are so connected and associated that one of them cannot stand without the others. Working together, each in its own way under the action of the Holy Spirit, they all contribute effectively to our salvation. **Week 3** **The Life of man: to know and love God** ------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------- **Lesson Title** **Man: A Religious being in the Filipino context** **Learning Outcome(s)** **Appreciate our own religiosity.** **Believer --** refers to someone with religious faith or an adherent of a particular religion. **Filipino Believer --** refers to Filipinos having religion that is deeply embedded and intertwined with Filipino culture particularly Christian believer. **Man, as a Religious Being.** Human being as created by God is the reason of his being religious. In many ways, throughout history down to the present, men have given expression to their quest for God, in their religious beliefs and behavior as well as in their prayers, sacrifices, rituals, meditations and so on so forth. These forms of religious expressions, despite the ambiguities they often bring with them are so universal that one may call man as a religious being. **Short Background of Filipino religious beliefs.** The Philippines proudly boasts to be the only Christian nation in Asia. More than 86 percent of the population is Roman Catholic, 6 percent belong to various nationalized Christian cults, and another 2 percent belong to well over 100 Protestant denominations. In addition to the Christian majority, there is a vigorous 4 percent Muslim minority, concentrated on the southern islands of Mindanao, Sulu, and Palawan. Scattered in isolated mountainous regions, the remaining 2 percent follow non-Western, indigenous beliefs and practices. The Chinese minority, although statistically insignificant, has been culturally influential in coloring Filipino Catholicism with many of the beliefs and practices of Buddhism, Taoism, and Confucianism (Miller, 2020). The pre-Hispanic belief system of Filipinos consisted of a pantheon of gods, spirits, creatures, and men that guarded the streams, fields, trees, mountains, forests, and houses. Bathala, who created earth and man, was superior to these other gods and spirits. Upon this indigenous religious base two foreign religions were introduced \-- Islam and Christianity \-- and a process of cultural adaptation and synthesis began that is still evolving. Today, one way of practicing one's own belief in the Philippines particularly Catholic Christian is experienced through many great events, from the novena of *Simbang Gabi* (Dawn Masses) before Christmas in the whole country, to the various processions of the Virgin of Peñafrancia in Naga, of the Black Nazarene in Quiapo or the Santo Niño in Cebu with millions of devotees involved. These events come from a long tradition which began during the period of evangelization by the Spaniards and are practiced even outside the Philippines. But it has been taken up in the archipelago, practiced for centuries, codified locally sometimes (De Charentenay, 2020). **Being a Filipino believer**. There are Filipino traits that somehow help express our religiosity. Below are the five predominant Filipino Characteristics, together with five essential traits of Jesus Christ both assumed within the typical way to Jesus. This will at once define Filipino believers as well as show that in our country, to become more deeply Christian (believer) is to become more truly and authentically Filipino. a. **Family-oriented.** We Filipinos are family oriented. The Anak-Magulang relationship is of primary importance to us Filipinos. Ama, ina, and anak are culturally and emotionally significant to us Filipinos who cherish our filial attachment not only to our immediate family but also to our extended family (ninongs, ninangs, etc.). This family-centeredness supplies a basic sense of belonging, stability and security. It is from our families that we Filipinos naturally draw our sense of identity. Jesus as both the Son of God (Anak ng Amang Dios) and the Son of Man (Anak ng Tao) endears himself naturally to us family-oriented Filipinos. As a Son of Man, Jesus leads to us into his Mother Mary (Ina ng Dios) whom he shares with us. He thus welcomes us into his own household, offers himself as our brother (kapatid) and draws us to through the sacrament of baptism to a new identity and into the family life of his heavenly father. Indeed, Filipinos stress the exceptional importance of our Filipino family as both subject and object of evangelation. b. **Meal-oriented.** We Filipinos are meal-oriented (Salo-salo kainan). We considered almost everyone as part of each other's family. We are known foe being gracious host and grateful guests. Serving our guests with the best we have is an inborn value to Filipinos, rich or poor alike. We love to celebrate any and all events with a special meal. Even with unexpected guests, we Filipinos try our best to offer something, meager as it may be, with the traditional greeting: "come and eat with us." Jesus as Eucharist is not only the host of the new paschal meal and food, the bread of life but even the guests in every gathering. The New testament refers more than twenty-five times to eating (Kainan). Eating together in table fellowship with the presence of the risen Christ. Communion, in other words constitute the core witness of the early Church as Eucharistic community. So, Filipinos feel naturally at home in breaking of bread together with Jesus. c. **Kundiman-oriented.** We Filipinos are Kundiman-oriented. The kundiman is a sad Filipino song about wounded love. Filipinos are naturally attracted to heroes sacrificing everything for love. We are patient and forgiving to a fault (Magpakaalipin ako ng dahil sayo). This acceptance of suffering manifests a deep, positive spiritual value of Filipino's kalooban. Jesus, the suffering servant of the prophet Isaiah is portrayed through our favorite Filipino images of Padre Hesus Nazareno, the santo Entierro or the Sacred heart. Through these images, Jesus appears as one of the least brethren: the hungry and thirsty, the naked, the sick, the lonely stranger and the prisoner. Jesus the suffering servant can thus reach out to us Filipinos as a healing and forgiving Savior who understands our weakness, our failures, our feelings of depression, fear and loneliness. d. **Bayani-oriented.** We Filipinos are bayani-oriented. Bayani is a hero. We Filipinos are natural hero-followers. For all our patience and tolerance, we will not accept ultimate failure and defeat. We tend instinctively to always personalize any good cause in terms of a leader, especially when its object is to defend the weak and the oppressed. To protect this innate sense of human dignity, Filipinos are prepared to lay down even their lives. Jesus as Christ the King responds well to the bayani-oriented Filipino. As born social critics, organizers and martyrs, we Filipino see Jesus as the conqueror by his mission as prophet, king, and Priest. So as bayani-oriented, we Filipinos enthrone our image of Christ the king. He assures as that everything will be alright in the end. Christ the king has won the ultimate victory over evil. e. **Spirit-oriented.** We Filipinos are spirit-oriented. We are often said to be naturally psychic. We have a deep-seated belief in the supernatural and in all kinds of spirits dwelling in individual persons, places, and things. Even in today's world of science and technology, Filipinos continue to invoke the spirits in various undertakings, especially in faith-healings and exorcisms. Jesus the miracle-worker who promised to send his Spirit to his disciples to give them new life, is thus appealing to us Filipinos. The Holy Spirit sent by the Father and the Risen Christ, draws us Filipinos into a community wherein superstition and enslaving magic are overcome by authentic worship of the Father in the spirit and truth. In Christ's community, the Church, to each person the manifestation of the spirit is given for the common good. The same spirit, which empowered Jesus the miracle worker, is active in his disciples, uniting them in the teaching of the apostles and in the community fellowship of the breaking of the bread and prayer through Christ their Lord. **Divine Revelation as understood by Filipinos.** In our personal relationships, we can quietly relate the idea of Divine revelation in our ordinary Filipino life. One of the best things you can say about a Filipino is, "marami siyang kakilala" or "maraming nakakakilala sa kanya." On the otherhand, one of the worst things to say about a Filipino is, "wala siyang kakilala" or "walang kumikilala sa kanya." So, in our family relationships and friendship we reveal our personal selves to others and openly receive their self-giving to us. This is what uplifts Filipino. Now the first one to know us, the first one to show us recognition and reach out to establish a personal relationship with us -- to become our kakilala -- is God. This is how precious human being is before the eyes of God. And only in relation to God do we become our full selves. Only in coming to know God do we grow to the full stature of our true selves. Perhaps few countries in the world can compare to the Philippines when it comes to trying to make God known. Newspapers, radio, TV, and movies are filled with new preachers, religious celebrations, public devotions and never-ending appeals for new chapels and Churches. Faith healers abound in every community. Self-proclaimed mediums claim to lead their gullible devotees in mysterious ways to supposedly closer contact with God or the Sto. Nino. **Week 4** **History of the Concept of Faith** ------------------------- ------------------------------------------------------------------------- **Lesson Title** **Faith in the Old Testament, New testament and the Patristic period.** **Learning Outcome(s)** **Discuss the history of the concept of faith.** **History-** refers to acts, ideas or event that will or can shape the course of the future immediate or significant happenings. **Patristic period --** refers to the early Christians who defended the Gospel against misunderstandings and rival doctrines, wrote sermons and extensive commentaries on the Bible, recorded relevant events into Church history, and brought together the best thought of their age with their own Christian faith. **Introduction.** The importance of understanding history both of the word faith and the idea of faith becomes prerequisite to have a better and comprehensive concept of faith. **Importance of History.** There are two definitions of history. First, It is the record of important events in the human past. Second, it a narrative that connects important events in the human past and makes them intelligible. History is of great importance from a Christian perspective because of the following reasons: a. God has revealed himself in history. Eph. 1:11 b. We are explicitly commanded to make known God\'s works. Ps. 105:1. c. Christianity is not a mere ethical or doctrinal system but is uniquely grounded in historical events. 1 Cor. 15 d. Because history is the vehicle for God\'s work in the world, we should expect to learn from it. e. Much of the Bible is history. f. History defines and touches our lives. g. History allows us to temporarily step outside of our own culture to evaluate it considering another. **Old Testament faith.** The biblical concept of faith can be seen in its earliest form in the Old Testament where a variety of Hebrew terms provide a rich and complex definition. The Hebrew word of faith is "Aman." **"Aman."** As a root word, a word consisting of three consonants, this term conveys the sense of \"reliability, stability\" and \"firmness.\" This root word can be changed to form a verb by changing the vowels or by adding consonants before the root (prefixes), after the root (suffixes) or within the root (infixes). 1. The ***hiphil*** verb from of 'āman means \"to be certain, sure\" or \"to be assured\" (Gen 15:6; Ex 14:31; Num 14:11; Deut 1:32, 9:23; Ps 78:22; Isa 43:10; Jonah 3:5). Adding another dimension to the meaning of \"faith\" is its basis on fact. \"Faith\" is not blind or a leap into the unknown, but instead founded on truth certain of a real God and the absolute reality of His words. 2. The ***niphal*** verb form means \"to be true, reliable or faithful\" and can be applied to both God and men (i.e. God: Deut 7:9, Moses: Num 12:7, prophets: 1 Sam 3:20, servants: 1 Sam 22:14, messenger: Prov 25:13). When referring to beings, \"faith\" acquires a meaning of \"to be entrusted with.\" 3. When referring to objects, the emphasis of 'āman is placed on the word of God for its \"dependability\" and its confirmation in subsequent action (i.e. 1 Sam 25:28; 2 Sam 7:16; 1 Kings 8:26; 1 Chron 17:23). This usage is based on God's promise of a Davidic dynasty and is referred to \"an established house\". The fulfillment of God's promise is not based on the quality of the members of the dynasty; instead, it is an unconditional covenant (see the article \"Divine Covenants... the King\"). In addition to changing the meaning of the root word by use of a verb stem, a root word may morphologically change over time and become a source for derivative words. Regarding the Hebrew understanding of faith, these derivative terms, sourced originally from 'āman, provide a nuanced meaning to \"faith.\" **'ōmen** (faithfulness). The noun is used to describe God's counsel ([Isa 25:11](http://helpmewithbiblestudy.org/21verses/704.aspx)). **'ēmūn** (faithful, trusting). When used of nations, it is a standard by which to measure of their righteousness and acceptability to God ([Deut 32:20](http://helpmewithbiblestudy.org/21verses/185.aspx); [Isa 26:2](http://helpmewithbiblestudy.org/21verses/705.aspx)).When used of human beings, it is a model that is contrasted to the bad ([Prov 13:17](http://helpmewithbiblestudy.org/21verses/641.aspx)) and the false ([Prov 14:5](http://helpmewithbiblestudy.org/21verses/642.aspx)). **'ĕmûnâ** (firmness, fidelity, steadiness). This term basically applies to God Himself ([Deut 32:4](http://helpmewithbiblestudy.org/21verses/185.aspx)) to express His total dependability. It is frequently listed among the attributes of God ([1 Sam 26:23](http://helpmewithbiblestudy.org/21verses/262.aspx); [Ps 36:5](http://helpmewithbiblestudy.org/21verses/514.aspx); [Ps 40:10](http://helpmewithbiblestudy.org/21verses/518.aspx); [Lam 3:23](http://helpmewithbiblestudy.org/21verses/800.aspx)) and is used to describe His works ([Ps 33:4](http://helpmewithbiblestudy.org/21verses/511.aspx)) and His words ([Ps 119:86](http://helpmewithbiblestudy.org/21verses/597.aspx); [143:1](http://helpmewithbiblestudy.org/21verses/621.aspx)).It is also used to refer to those whose lives God establishes and in whom He expects to see faithfulness from ([Prov 12:22](http://helpmewithbiblestudy.org/21verses/640.aspx); [2 Chron 19:9](http://helpmewithbiblestudy.org/21verses/386.aspx)). Such faithfulness or a life of faith is characteristic of those justified in God's sight ([Hab 2:4](http://helpmewithbiblestudy.org/21verses/905.aspx)). God's word of truth establishes man's way of truth or faithfulness ([Ps 119:30](http://helpmewithbiblestudy.org/21verses/597.aspx)).The Believer is entrusted with the duty of being faithful personally and faithfully responsible to carry out his office ([1 Chron 9:22](http://helpmewithbiblestudy.org/21verses/347.aspx); [2 Chron 31:15](http://helpmewithbiblestudy.org/21verses/398.aspx)). **'ĕmet** (firmness, truth). This term carries underlying sense of certainty and dependability, and it is used directly or indirectly of God. It is applied to God as a characteristic of His nature ([Gen 24:27](http://helpmewithbiblestudy.org/21verses/24.aspx); [Ex 34:6](http://helpmewithbiblestudy.org/21verses/84.aspx); [Ps 25:5](http://helpmewithbiblestudy.org/21verses/503.aspx); [31:5](http://helpmewithbiblestudy.org/21verses/509.aspx)), and it is a term applied to God's words ([Ps 119:142, 151, 160](http://helpmewithbiblestudy.org/21verses/597.aspx)). As a characteristic of God revealed to men, it becomes the means by which men know and serve God as their Savior ([Josh 24:14](http://helpmewithbiblestudy.org/21verses/211.aspx); [1 Kings 2:4](http://helpmewithbiblestudy.org/21verses/293.aspx); [Ps 26:3](http://helpmewithbiblestudy.org/21verses/504.aspx); [Ps 86:11](http://helpmewithbiblestudy.org/21verses/564.aspx)), and a characteristic to be found in those who have come to God ([Ex 18:21](http://helpmewithbiblestudy.org/21verses/68.aspx); [Neh 7:2](http://helpmewithbiblestudy.org/21verses/420.aspx); [Ps 15:2](http://helpmewithbiblestudy.org/21verses/493.aspx)). Because it is an attribute of God which is manifest in man's salvation and life of service as God's child, the word is often coupled with another attribute of God related to our salvation: mercy or love ([Gen 24:27](http://helpmewithbiblestudy.org/21verses/24.aspx); [Ps 61:7](http://helpmewithbiblestudy.org/21verses/539.aspx); [Prov 14:22](http://helpmewithbiblestudy.org/21verses/642.aspx)). Because these attributes of God's truth and mercy lead to God's peace toward sinful men, saved by God's grace, the word is also often coupled with peace ([Isa 39:8](http://helpmewithbiblestudy.org/21verses/718.aspx); [Jer 33:6](http://helpmewithbiblestudy.org/21verses/778.aspx)). **Bāṭaḥ.** This Hebrew root means \"'to trust, rely upon\" or \"to put confidence in\". \"Bāṭaḥ\" as a verb, in its *qal* or *hiphil* verb form, expresses the sense of well-being and security which results from having something or someone in whom to place confidence. It is the action of believing in something so strongly that a confidence is generated from that trust; God is the true basis of security ([2 Kings 18:30](http://helpmewithbiblestudy.org/21verses/331.aspx); [Jer 39:18](http://helpmewithbiblestudy.org/21verses/784.aspx); [Ps 62:8](http://helpmewithbiblestudy.org/21verses/540.aspx)). Let Hezekiah make you trust (bāṭaḥ-hiphal) in the LORD, saying, \"The LORD will surely deliver us, and this city will not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria.\" ([2 Kings 18:30](http://helpmewithbiblestudy.org/21verses/331.aspx)) For I will certainly rescue you, and you will not fall by the sword; but you will have your own life as booty, because you have trusted (bāṭaḥ-qal) in Me,\" declares the LORD.\' ([Jer 39:18](http://helpmewithbiblestudy.org/21verses/784.aspx))**.** Trust (bāṭaḥ-qal) in Him at all times, O people;Pour out your heart before Him; God is a refuge for us. Selah. ([Psalm 62:8](http://helpmewithbiblestudy.org/21verses/540.aspx)) In conclusion, in its various contexts, the Old Testament introduces the idea that \"faith\" is based on historical and factual events and leads to the conclusion that all truth comes from God and is truth because it is related to God. With this objective basis, the concept of \"faith\" requires a human response that entails the subjective nature of trust. Existing objectively outside of human beings, the reliability of God and His words generate trust subjectively within human beings. This is evident in the Life of Abraham. **New Testament faith.** Jewish translators used Koine Greek terms of the pistis word group in the process of translating the Hebrew root \'āman, and its derivatives (i.e. 'ēmūn, 'ĕmûnâ, 'ĕmet, etc) into Greek for the Septuagint (Greek Old Testament). There are certain terms that we need to keep in mind namely: **Pistis.** This Greek term means essentially \"faith\" or \"a trustful human response to God\'s self-revelation via His words or actions. \"The Greek term, pistis, is used in the following places of the Septuagint: [Deuteronomy 32:20](http://helpmewithbiblestudy.org/21verses/185.aspx); [1 Samuel 21:2](http://helpmewithbiblestudy.org/21verses/257.aspx); [26:23](http://helpmewithbiblestudy.org/21verses/262.aspx); [2 Kings 12:15](http://helpmewithbiblestudy.org/21verses/325.aspx); [22:7](http://helpmewithbiblestudy.org/21verses/335.aspx); [1 Chronicles 9:22, 31](http://helpmewithbiblestudy.org/21verses/347.aspx); [2 Chronicles 31:12, 18](http://helpmewithbiblestudy.org/21verses/398.aspx); [34:12](http://helpmewithbiblestudy.org/21verses/401.aspx); [Nehemiah 9:38](http://helpmewithbiblestudy.org/21verses/422.aspx); [Psalms 32:4](http://helpmewithbiblestudy.org/21verses/510.aspx); [Proverbs 3:3](http://helpmewithbiblestudy.org/21verses/631.aspx); [12:17](http://helpmewithbiblestudy.org/21verses/640.aspx); [14:22](http://helpmewithbiblestudy.org/21verses/642.aspx); [15:27](http://helpmewithbiblestudy.org/21verses/643.aspx); [Jeremiah 5:1](http://helpmewithbiblestudy.org/21verses/750.aspx); [7:28](http://helpmewithbiblestudy.org/21verses/752.aspx); [9:3](http://helpmewithbiblestudy.org/21verses/754.aspx); [15:18](http://helpmewithbiblestudy.org/21verses/760.aspx); [35:9](http://helpmewithbiblestudy.org/21verses/780.aspx); [39:41](http://helpmewithbiblestudy.org/21verses/784.aspx); [40:6](http://helpmewithbiblestudy.org/21verses/785.aspx); [Lamentations 3:23](http://helpmewithbiblestudy.org/21verses/800.aspx); [Hosea 2:20](http://helpmewithbiblestudy.org/21verses/864.aspx) and [Habakkuk 2:4](http://helpmewithbiblestudy.org/21verses/905.aspx). When used in the New Testament, it was not until after the resurrection of Christ, that the gospel became a tradition of teaching which laid claim to be received by faith. This call for pistis in the name of God involved the renunciation of existing cult piety and rabbinical teaching. Grammatically, when pistis appears with the definite article, it is often in reference to particular Christian beliefs and is understood as \"the faith\" (i.e. [Rom 4:16](http://helpmewithbiblestudy.org/21verses/1050.aspx); [1 Cor 16:13](http://helpmewithbiblestudy.org/21verses/1078.aspx)). It is about a saving faith based on the historical event of Jesus\' crucifixion and resurrection and promise of future salvation for the believing human being. **Pisteuō**. It is derived from \"pist-\", this Greek verb means \"believe\" or \"trust.\" This Greek term, pisteuō, is used in the following places of the Septuagint: [Genesis 15:6](http://helpmewithbiblestudy.org/21verses/15.aspx); [42:20](http://helpmewithbiblestudy.org/21verses/42.aspx); [45:26](http://helpmewithbiblestudy.org/21verses/45.aspx); [Exodus4:1,8](http://helpmewithbiblestudy.org/21verses/54.aspx); [14:31](http://helpmewithbiblestudy.org/21verses/64.aspx); [19:9](http://helpmewithbiblestudy.org/21verses/69.aspx); [Numbers 14:11](http://helpmewithbiblestudy.org/21verses/131.aspx); [20:12](http://helpmewithbiblestudy.org/21verses/137.aspx); [Deuteronomy 9:23](http://helpmewithbiblestudy.org/21verses/162.aspx); [28:66](http://helpmewithbiblestudy.org/21verses/181.aspx); [1 Samuel 3:21](http://helpmewithbiblestudy.org/21verses/239.aspx); [27:12](http://helpmewithbiblestudy.org/21verses/263.aspx); [1 Kings 10:7](http://helpmewithbiblestudy.org/21verses/301.aspx); [2 Kings 17:14](http://helpmewithbiblestudy.org/21verses/330.aspx); [2 Chronicles 9:6](http://helpmewithbiblestudy.org/21verses/376.aspx); [24:5](http://helpmewithbiblestudy.org/21verses/391.aspx); [32:15](http://helpmewithbiblestudy.org/21verses/399.aspx); [Job4:18](http://helpmewithbiblestudy.org/21verses/440.aspx); [9:16](http://helpmewithbiblestudy.org/21verses/445.aspx); [15:15,31](http://helpmewithbiblestudy.org/21verses/451.aspx); [24:22](http://helpmewithbiblestudy.org/21verses/460.aspx); [29:24](http://helpmewithbiblestudy.org/21verses/465.aspx); [39:12](http://helpmewithbiblestudy.org/21verses/475.aspx); [Psalms26:13](http://helpmewithbiblestudy.org/21verses/504.aspx); [77:22](http://helpmewithbiblestudy.org/21verses/555.aspx);[105:12](http://helpmewithbiblestudy.org/21verses/583.aspx); [115:1](http://helpmewithbiblestudy.org/21verses/593.aspx); [118:66](http://helpmewithbiblestudy.org/21verses/596.aspx); [proverbs14:15](http://helpmewithbiblestudy.org/21verses/642.aspx); [24:24](http://helpmewithbiblestudy.org/21verses/652.aspx); [Isaiah7:9](http://helpmewithbiblestudy.org/21verses/686.aspx); [28:16](http://helpmewithbiblestudy.org/21verses/707.aspx); [43:10](http://helpmewithbiblestudy.org/21verses/722.aspx); [53:1](http://helpmewithbiblestudy.org/21verses/732.aspx); [Jeremiah 12:6](http://helpmewithbiblestudy.org/21verses/757.aspx); [25:8](http://helpmewithbiblestudy.org/21verses/770.aspx); [47:14](http://helpmewithbiblestudy.org/21verses/792.aspx); [Lamentations 4:12](http://helpmewithbiblestudy.org/21verses/801.aspx); [Daniel 6:23](http://helpmewithbiblestudy.org/21verses/856.aspx); [Jonah 3:5](http://helpmewithbiblestudy.org/21verses/892.aspx) and [Habakkuk 1:5](http://helpmewithbiblestudy.org/21verses/904.aspx). When used in the New Testament, pisteuō is consistently in reference to the saving faith and trust of a believer with a focus on the promises of God made through instruments such as Moses ([John 5:46](http://helpmewithbiblestudy.org/21verses/1002.aspx)), prophets ([Luke 24:25](http://helpmewithbiblestudy.org/21verses/997.aspx); [Acts 26:27](http://helpmewithbiblestudy.org/21verses/1044.aspx)), angels ([Luke 1:20-45](http://helpmewithbiblestudy.org/21verses/974.aspx); [Acts 27:25](http://helpmewithbiblestudy.org/21verses/1045.aspx)) and Scripture ([John 2:22](http://helpmewithbiblestudy.org/21verses/999.aspx); [Acts 24:14](http://helpmewithbiblestudy.org/21verses/1042.aspx)).Frequently pisteuō is used in combination with a Greek preposition forming pisteuō eis, which means \"believe in\" ([Gal 2:16](http://helpmewithbiblestudy.org/21verses/1093.aspx); [John 1:12](http://helpmewithbiblestudy.org/21verses/998.aspx); [3:18](http://helpmewithbiblestudy.org/21verses/1000.aspx)). This thought is not common in Greek nor in the LXX, which call for faith as \"believe that.\" This form of missionary preaching, \"believe in,\" brings a focus on the object of faith Jesus Christ Himself: 1. An event in the history of Jesus ([1 Thess 4:14](http://helpmewithbiblestudy.org/21verses/1115.aspx); [Rom 10:9](http://helpmewithbiblestudy.org/21verses/1056.aspx)) 2. A statement about Jesus ([John 20:31](http://helpmewithbiblestudy.org/21verses/1017.aspx)) In conclusion, the New Testament Greek term, pistis, became the leading term describing the relationship between human beings and God. It reflected the fact that the Old Testament Hebrew term \'āman was established as an important term for the religious relationship. To turn to God, revealed in its proclamation, is \"faith.\" Pistis entails a personal relationship to Christ, analogous to the \'āman relationship with God, yet different from it. In the Old Testament sense, faith in God meant obedience to the Law and trust in God\'s covenant faithfulness. In the New Testament sense, faith in Christ meant belief in His deity, trust in His work of atonement and hope of future salvation. Faith acknowledges the truth of the past with a confidence of the future. **Patristic Period.** The Patristic Period is a vital point in the history of Christianity since it contextualizes the early Christian information from the time of the death of the last Apostle (John) (which runs roughly about 100 A.D. to the Middle Ages (451 A.D. and the council of Chalcedon). It describes the cohesion between Judaism and Christianity and various theological points being sorted out. Most denominations find this period of church history vitally important on a similar scale. From Roman Catholicism to the Reformed Churches following Zwingli and Calvin, many basic Christian concepts are birthed during this age, which, for good reason, the church would continue to believe for all time as orthodox over and against all heretical sectaries. During the first two hundred years of this era the church was under persecution from various Roman emperors. It was heightened and at its worse with Diocletian (303 A.D.) who even persecuted his own wife and daughter for being Christians. Christianity became legalized as a religion in the era of Constantine (321 A.D.) which was the opposite side of the spectrum in relation to previous persecution. Various cities and geographical areas became of chief importance. The city of Alexandria emerged as a center of Christian theological education. The city of Antioch also became a leading center of Christian thought. Western North Africa gave birth to such men as Tertullian, Cyprian of Carthage, and Augustine of Hippo. The Patristic period is filled with theological importance on the development of Christian doctrine. Many of the debates of this time are housed in both theological and philosophical issues. Without a helpful understanding of both of these disciplines, the student of historical theology will find the patristic period difficult to comprehend cohesively. This period is characterized by immense doctrinal diversity and the age of "flux." Many scholars refer to this age when the early church fathers are noted, however, it would be more appropriate to deem them the "early church children" who had begun working out Christian theology. Also, there was a major division in the church in terms of language. The eastern Greek-speaking and the western Latin-speaking church had both political and linguistic barriers to overcome. **Key Theological Developments during the Patristic period.** How does tradition coincide with Scripture? During the early years many doctrines were espoused that seemed to rest on the Scriptures but were in fact a deviation of Christian truth. In a context where cultic groups were distorting the truth, and appeal to tradition became important. The word "tradition" means "handed down." Irenaeus called it the regula fide, or rule of faith. This rule of faith was faithfully preserved by the apostolic church and is found in the Scriptures. Tradition came to mean, then, "a traditional interpretation of Scripture." In this way, the rule of faith was that which was commonly accepted by the church as one that received the truth of the Scriptures and formulated a statement, creed or confession about those truths (such as the Apostle's Creed). The English word "creed" comes from the Latin credo meaning "I believe." Later statements of faith were known as confessions, such as the Westminster Confession of Faith. These are the basics of Christian belief that every Christian should be able to accept and be bound by. A creed differs from a confession in that it is a universal statement of the most simplistic truths of the Christian faith. The Apostle's Creed is the most familiar creed of the Christian church. It is divided into three sections dealing with God, Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit. The Nicene Creed is a longer version that highlights material in the relationship between Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit. The two natures of Christ was also a large controversial subject during the Patristic period. The conclusion was that Jesus Christ was of the same substance of God, described in the term homoousios (of one substance). Two schools had two opinions on this: the Alexandrian School placed emphasis on the divinity of Christ, and the Antiochene school placed an emphasis on the humanity of Christ. The debates surrounded the Arian controversy of determining whether Jesus was God, or a created being. Arius taught that Christ was a created being. The Council of Nicea (c. 325) was convened by Constantine and settled the Arian controversy by affirming that Jesus was homoousios with the Father (i.e. of the same substance). After the controversy over the divinity of Christ was settled, the doctrine of the Trinity naturally came to pass since this was all intertwined. The basic idea behind the Trinity is that there are three persons within the Godhead -- Father, Son and Holy Spirit, and that these three are to be regarded as equally divine and of equal status. Athanasius and Basil of Caesarea wrote vigorously on this subject defending orthodoxy. The Eastern Cappadocian fathers (Gregory Nazianzen, Basel and Gregory of Nyssa) also wrote in defending this doctrine. **Week 5** **History of the Concept of Faith** ------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------------------- **Lesson Title** **Faith in Medieval Period, Reformation Era and the Modern period.** **Learning Outcome(s)** **Discuss the history of the concept of faith.** **Medieval Period --** also known as Middle Ages, refers to the period in European history from the collapse of Roman civilization in the 5th century CE to the period of the Renaissance (variously interpreted as beginning in the 13th, 14th, or 15th century, depending on the region of Europe and other factors). **Reformation Period --** also called Protestant Reformation, the religious revolution that took place in the Western church in the 16th century. Its greatest leaders undoubtedly were Martin Luther and John Calvin. Having far-reaching political, economic, and social effects, the Reformation became the basis for the founding of Protestantism, one of the three major branches of Christianity. **Modern Period-** also called information age, refers to a period beginning in the last quarter of the 20th century when information became easily accessible through publications and through the manipulation of information by computers and computer networks. **Faith in the Medieval period.** Throughout the middle ages, four specific issues attracted the attention of its greatest philosophers from the Christian, Muslim and Jewish faith traditions. We will only talk one of the specific issues which is about faith since that is our main concern. The challenge in this period is about the relation between faith and reason, which involves whether important philosophical and religious beliefs are grounded in the authority of faith, or in reason, or in some combination of the two. This period was permeated with the struggle to understand the relationship between faith and reason. An early example of the pro-reason side is the early Christian theologian Clement of Alexandria (150-215 CE), who stated "before the coming of the Lord, philosophy was necessary to the Greeks for attaining righteousness. Now, it is beneficial for piety, being a kind of preparatory training for those who achieve faith through demonstration" (*Stromata*, 1.5). At the other end of the spectrum is the early Christian theologian Tertullian (155--230 CE), one of the most extreme proponents of the faith-only position. His views are encapsulated in two vivid statements that he makes. First, he asks the rhetorical question "What does Athens have to do with Jerusalem?" (*Prescription against Heretics* 7). Athens here symbolizes reason and the tradition of Greek thinking; Jerusalem represents faith, and the doctrines of Christianity that are held by faith. So, what, then does reason have to do with faith? His implied answer is "nothing at all!" His second famous statement is "I believe because it is absurd", which he wrote when discussing a Christian doctrine about the nature of Christ that went contrary to logic (*On the Flesh of Christ,* 5). His point is that reason obstructs our discovery of truth so much that we should expect truths of faith to run contrary to it. Thus, reason is not merely a dead end in the pursuit of truth, but it is dangerously misleading. Clement and Tertullian were both writing a couple centuries before the official start of the medieval period, but most medieval philosophers after 400 CE fell somewhere between the two extremes of their views. The first major medieval philosopher was Augustine (354--430), who emphasized attaining knowledge through divine illumination and achieving moral goodness by loving God. The details of his life are openly laid out in his autobiography, titled *Confessions*, which even today is considered a classic of world literature. The starting point of his philosophy is his stance on the relation between faith and reason. There are two ways of approaching this: first, Tertullian's faith-only position, and, second, Clement\'s view that reason by itself can go a long way in establishing religious truths independently of faith. Augustine struck a middle ground between the two, advocating a position that he called "faith seeking understanding." His inspiration for this was a passage from the Old Testament book of Isaiah "Unless you believe, you will not understand." On this view, reason by itself is not good enough to give us proper religious knowledge; instead, we have to begin with faith to set us in the right direction and, once we believe in God through faith, we can seek to understand the foundations of our belief through reason (Fieser, 2020). In Other words, to believe is "to think with assent" (*credere est assensione cogitare*). It is an act of the intellect determined not by the reason, but by the will. Faith involves a commitment "to believe in a God," "to believe God," and "to believe in God." Like Augustine, Anselm held that the natural theologian seeks not to understand in order to believe, but to believe in order to understand. This is the basis for his principle *intellectus fidei*. Under this conception, reason is not asked to pass judgment on the content of faith, but to find its meaning and to discover explanations that enable others to understand its content. But when reason confronts what is incomprehensible, it remains unshaken since it is guided by faith's affirmation of the truth of its own incomprehensible claims. The medieval reflection of faith as gift, act, and virtue reached its greatest elaboration on the time of St. Thomas Aquinas. Aquinas claimed that the act of faith consists essentially in knowledge. Faith is an intellectual act whose object is truth. Thus, it has both a subjective and objective aspect. From the side of the subject, it is the mind's assent to what is not seen: "Faith is the evidence of things that appear not" (Hebrews 11:1). Moreover, this assent, as an act of will, can be meritorious for the believer, even though it also always involves the assistance of God's grace. Moreover, faith can be a virtue, since it is a good habit, productive of good works. However, when we assent to truth in faith, we do so on the accepted testimony of another. From the side of what is believed, the objective aspect, Aquinas clearly distinguished between "preambles of faith," which can be established by philosophical principles, and "articles of faith" that rest on divine testimony alone. Aquinas concludes that we come to know completely the truths of faith only through the virtue of wisdom (*sapientia*). Thomas says that "whatever its source, truth of is of the Holy Spirit" (*Summa Theologiae,* I-IIae q. 109, a. 1). The Spirit "enables judgment according to divine truth" (II-IIae 45, q. 1, ad 2). Moreover, faith and charity are prerequisites for the achievement of this wisdom. By this time, there was a general agreement that with the grace conferred at baptism the baptized Christians received as a gift three theological virtues and one of them is faith. **Faith in the Reformation period.** Martin Luther restricted the power of reason to illuminate faith. Like many reformers, he considered the human being alone unable to free itself from sin. In *The Bondage of the Will*, he makes a strict separation between what man has dominion over (his dealings with the lower creatures) and what God has dominion over (the affairs of His kingdom and thus of salvation). Reason is often very foolish: it immediately jumps to conclusions when it sees a thing happen once or twice. But by its reflections on the nature of words and our use of language, it can help us to grasp our own spiritual impotence. [Luther](https://iep.utm.edu/luther) thus rejected the doctrine of analogy, developed by Aquinas and others, as an example of the false power of reason. In his *Heidelberg Disputation* Luther claims that a theologian must look only "on the visible rearward parts of God as seen in suffering and the cross." Only from this perspective, do we keep our faith when we see, for example, that in the world the unjust prosper and the good undergo afflictions. Thus, faith is primarily an act of trust in God's grace. This means that for Luther, man has nothing to do but gratefully to receive God's gift of salvation. It is expressed in his known statement, "Faith alone." Luther thus stresses the gratuitousness of salvation. In a traditional sense, Roman Catholics generally held that faith is meritorious, and thus that salvation involves good works. Protestant reformers like Luther, on the other hand, held that indeed faith is pure gift. He thus tended to make the hitherto Catholic emphasis on works look voluntaristic. Like Luther, John Calvin appealed to the radical necessity of grace for salvation. This was embodied in his doctrine of election. But unlike Luther, Calvin gave a more measured response to the power of human reason to illuminate faith. In his *Institutes of the Christian Religion*, he argued that the human mind possesses, by natural instinct, an "awareness of divinity." This *sensus divinitatis* is that whereby we form specific beliefs about God in specific situations, e.g. when experiencing danger, beauty, or even guilt. Even idolatry can contain as aspect of this. So, religion is not merely arbitrary superstition. And yet, the law of creation makes necessary that we direct every thought and action to this goal of knowing God. Despite this fundamental divine orientation, Calvin denied that a believer could build up a firm faith in Scripture through argument and disputation. He appealed instead to the testimony of Spirit embodied gained through a life of religious piety. Only through this testimony is certainty about one's beliefs obtained. We attain a conviction without reasons, but only through "nothing other than what each believer experiences within himself--though my words fall far beneath a just explanation of the matter." He realized, however, that "believers have a perpetual struggle with their own lack of faith." But these struggles never remove them from divine mercy. Calvin is thus an incompatibilist of the transrational type: faith is not against but is beyond human reason. **Faith in the Modern period.** In the modern era, the context for discussion of faith has generally been shaped by two factors. First, the widespread loss of confidence in the coherence of claims about divine agency (God's providence and/or power). Second, a corresponding concern to relate faith to the dynamics of human subjectivity. The twentieth century (modern era) witnessed numerous attempts to reconcile religious belief with new strands of philosophical thinking and with new theories in science. John Hick concludes that religious faith is the non-inferential and unprovable basic interpretation either of a moral or religious "situational significance" in human experience. Faith is not the result of logical reasoning, but rather a profession that God "as a living being" has entered into the believer's experience. This act of faith situates itself in the person's material and social environment. Religious faith *interprets* reality in terms of the divine presence within the believer's human experience. Although the person of faith may be unable to prove or explain this divine presence, his or her religious belief still acquire the status of knowledge similar to that of scientific and moral claims. Thus, even if one could prove God's existence, this fact alone would be a form of knowledge neither necessary nor sufficient enough for one's faith. It would at best only force a notional assent. Believers live by, not by confirmed hypotheses, but by an intense, coercive, indubitable experience of the divine. The general philosophy of modernity is that of science, where everything must be doubted and only that which can be experimentally proven is deemed true. Now science is not bad, instead it is a wonderful method of discovering truth. What is crucial here is that modernity flips the Christian understanding of truth. Instead of presupposing faith, modernity presupposes science, and then upon that foundation accepts or denies aspects of faith. This radical change is also seen among modern individuals for whom personal experience is the measure of truth. Now, again this is not bad since it is very prudent to test the veracity of truth. However, what is crucial here, is that the modern individual flips the Christian understanding of truth. Instead of presupposing faith, the modern person presupposes his/her own personal convictions, and then upon that foundation accepts or denies aspects of faith. **MIDTERM PERIOD** **Week 7** **Stages of Faith Development** ------------------------- ------------------------------------ **Lesson Title** **Stages of Faith Development** **Learning Outcome(s)** **Identify one's level of faith.** **LEARNING INTENT!** **Terms to Ponder** **Faith --** refers to the human development of faith. **Stages of faith --** refers to the stages of faith introduced by James Fowler. **Introduction.** The Christian tradition has recognized for a long time that there are different types or levels of spiritual awareness. The U.S. bishops recognized this in their Pastoral Letter *Our Hearts Were Burning Within Us* when they explained that faith \"is living and active, sharing many of the qualities of living things: it grows and develops over time; it learns from experience; it adapts to changing conditions while maintaining its essential identity; it goes through seasons, some apparently dormant, others fruitful\" (\#80). It is important to remember that such developmental \"stages\" or types are descriptive, not prescriptive. In other words, they attempt to describe the way faith generally develops, but do not prescribe how faith must or should develop in any individual. The descriptions do not suggest that one stage or kind of faith is better than another, only that how individuals or communities understand faith may differ from each other. We tend to think that faith is faith. But we all recognize that faith grows and changes with time. **Stages of faith Development.** In 1981 James Fowler, a professor of theology and human development at Emory University, identified seven \"stages\" or types of faith which tend, as a general rule, to emerge as individuals grow and mature. Fowler explained his stages of faith in two books, *Stages of Faith* (1981) and *Becoming Adult, Becoming Christian* (1984). In short, Fowler looks at how faith evolves over time. Other observers have also identified stages or types of faith, although most tend to explain faith development in broader categories or more generalized stages than Fowler. **1. Primal Faith.** This is dominant in infants from birth to age 3. This stage in a young child\'s faith formation sets the foundation for what will later develop as a conscious, intentional and personal faith. A very young child cannot be said to have any conscious faith at all, but he or she is unconsciously developing a basic attitude about reality, a perception about whether the world and the people in it are basically friendly or dangerous, pleasant or painful, trustworthy or capricious. This stage establishes a fundamental but pre-conscious disposition which will eventually enable the child to believe that there is a God who loves and cares for them. **2. Imaginative faith.** This is dominant in children ages 4 to 8. At this stage faith has a magical or imaginary quality, marked by the child\'s ability to believe almost anything. It is essentially intuitive, non-rational and non-conceptual. It is based on what the child feels rather than on what the child thinks or \"knows.\" It is, in a sense, \"borrowed\" from adults whom the child trusts to be knowing and truthful. This stage sets the foundation for the child\'s eventual ability to believe in nonmaterial realities and sacred mysteries which cannot be seen or \"proven.\" Imaginative faith is almost entirely non-critical or naive, in the sense that children for the most part lack the knowledge, experience and insight to evaluate or judge the content of faith against objective criteria.\ In this stage the child\'s image of God depends primarily on what parents do and say. If parents are loving, kind and forgiving, the child assumes that God, who is like a cosmic parent or grandparent, is also loving, kind and forgiving. **3. Literal Faith.** This is dominant in children ages 6 to 12. During this stage the child is gradually developing the ability to think for herself or himself and beginning to ask questions about things which earlier they took for granted, including their parents\' faith. At this stage, children develop an intense desire and need to know how things really are. They are fascinated by stories, rituals and traditions which show real people living out their faith in concrete ways. They depend on authority figures, rules and structure to assure them that reality is ordered and safe. Literal faith is the first step toward a less naive and more critical attitude toward faith, although the older child\'s ability to subject the content of faith to critical standards is still limited.\ In this stage, the child is like to imagine God as something like a divine superhero who uses his power and authority to create order and justice by rewarding good and punishing evil. **4. Conventional Faith.** This is dominant in young adults and adults age 13 and older. During this stage faith is shaped by the individual\'s growing ability and desire to participate in the wider world beyond parents and family. There is developing need to belong and be accepted by peers and friends who share the individual\'s interests and values. Faith is highly inter-personal, institutional, and communal; like the older child, it is rooted in the group and is shaped by the conventions, traditions, rules and habits of the group or faith community to which he or she belongs. Conventional faith may incorporate critical and non-critical attitudes toward faith. Young and early adults develop the ability to evaluate faith-claims by more objective standards, but may suppress critical questions out of fear, or for the sake of the security and acceptance provided by the group.\ In this stage the older child, young adults and many adults image God as an authority figure who holds the group and the world together by enforcing order a kind of cosmic \"Godfather\" with whom one exchanges \"favors,\" who rewards loyalty and punishes disloyalty. In this sense, God may be loving and merciful, but never at the expense of justice. **5. Personal Faith.** This is dominant in adults age 20 and older. This stage is sometimes characterized as a period of rebellion or withdrawal, a kind of spiritual adolescence. In this stage individuals are rethinking the conventions and convictions of the group as they search for a personal faith, independent of the individuals and groups they relied upon as children and young adults. This stage may be marked by a certain amount of ambivalence and confusion both a desire to belong and a need to be independent. Personal faith represents the individual\'s transition from a primarily pre-critical to a post-critical faith. It is a highly critical stage in which individuals evaluate faith-claims against personal experience, \"common sense,\" rational and scientific criteria.\ In this stage an individual\'s relationship to God may be very personal and private, but nonetheless real and intense. Some individuals in this stage express a desire to be \"spiritual but not religious.\" **6.** **Conjunctive or Mystical Faith.** This is possible in adults in their 30s or older, rarely before middle age. In this stage an individual adult become more aware of the presence of the Divine Mystery in all of life. This awareness produces a deep sense of sufficiency, wholeness and peace, which enables the individual to accept and believe what cannot be fully understood or explained. Faith now includes a sense of solidarity and compassion, which allows the individual to reconnect with the faith community and to live comfortably with contradictions and shortcomings within the self and the faith community. Mystical Faith is the first stage in a post-critical attitude about faith. Adults in this stage reject the literalism of early stages not because it is untrue, but because it is not true enough; they have discovered that there are truths (or mysteries) embedded in reality which do not conflict with, and cannot be judged by, entirely rational or scientific standards.\ In this stage an individual experiences God\'s presence in the deepest levels of oneself, others and creation, transcending superficial differences. The human analogy would be to the deep interpersonal connection which spouses sometimes feel. This awareness of God as the Holy Spirit leads to an abiding conviction that all will be well because God wills it. **7. Universal faith.** This is rare in a few adults during or after middle age. In this stage an individual\'s faith is shaped by an intense awareness of the unity of all living things and the oneness of God\'s creation. A vision of the Kingdom of God breaking into everyday reality frees the individual to be both radically detached from self and passionately committed to living a life of self-sacrificing love marked by transcendent values like truth, justice and love and devoted to overcoming division, oppression and violence of every kind. Universal faith is the ultimate stage in the development of a post-critical attitude toward faith. Adults in this stage realize that the truths embedded in faith are ultimately more important and helpful than those which emerge from rational or scientific inquiry.\ In this stage an individual\'s image of God defies words or images. The individual\'s life and faith center on an awareness of God\'s transforming presence. The rare individuals who reach this level live lives of totally self-less love, uncompromised by concerns for personal status, comfort or security. **Conclusion.** Fowler\'s seven \"stages\" are not as distinct or self-contained as they appear. The transition from one to another often takes place gradually, and usually depends upon a variety of personal and social circumstances in addition to chronological age. It is possible, in fact, likely that individuals may incorporate aspects of more than one stage, particularly during periods when they are growing gradually from one stage to the next. As a general rule, Fowler\'s stages are sequential, and individuals move from one to the next along the continuum which he outlined. However, in any given stage, circumstances may cause individuals to return to elements of previous stages. Personal images of God, which may seem to be quite distinct in each stage, in reality usually contain aspects or characteristics of two or more different types.\ \ Despite these cautions, the concept of faith development remains useful. It tends to confirm the impression individuals have that their faith has grown and changed, that it continues to change, often in response to particular circumstances in their lives. The information presented here is a composite of key characteristics of the stages in faith development identified by Fowler and others. **Week 8** **Characteristics of Faith and Paradoxical Characteristics of faith** ------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------------------- **Lesson Title** **Characteristics of Faith and Paradoxical Characteristics of faith** **Learning Outcome(s)** **Recognize the characteristics of faith** **Characteristics --** refers to a feature or quality belonging typically to a person, place or thing and serving to identify it. **Paradoxical --** refers to seemingly absurd or self-contradictory. **Introduction.** Faith in its broadest sense is a central reality in life most especially for us Filipinos. It is an everyday "natural" factor in all our human relationships and daily actions. For example, in accepting the word of others, we already show our faith *(paniniwala)* in them. We readily obey the directions of those over us, at home, at work, in our communities *(pagsunod).* We even entrust ourselves and our welfare to others: doctors, teachers, judges, civic leaders, not to mention cooks, jeepney drivers, etc. Without such basic *human* faith which includes believing acceptance, obedient action and personal entrusting, human life would be impossible. *Faith* as a human reality, therefore, *is central to our daily lives.* **Characteristics of faith.** The Compendium of the Catechism of the Catholic Church notes seven characteristics of faith. Faith is: (1) necessary for salvation, (2) a free gift, a grace, (3) a human act, (4) it is certain, (5) it works through charity, (6) it continually grows, and (7) it is a foretaste of heaven. (We note an eighth characteristic of faith as well.) **1. Faith is necessary for salvation** If salvation was not necessary, we would not need faith, since we would already be living in perfect friendship with God, enjoying whatever God revealed of the divine glory to us. We would not be on a journey from separation towards union. Yet since we do need to be saved, to walk the path from separation to reunion, we discover that faith has the effect of guiding us on this way. It is God, revealed in Jesus Christ, who is the light we walk towards, leading us home. Faith is the gift of sight which enables us to see that light. Without the light of faith, we would be lost. This light of faith is a special divine gift, a grace, and it is meant to complement and complete the gift of reason, which by contrast has a natural character. It is reason that enables us to have the dignity of cooperating in our own salvation. In the order of creation, the gift of God\'s love invites a human response of love. In the order of salvation, the gift of the saving grace of God invites the response of human cooperation through works that develop and heal creation through that grace. **2. Faith is a free gift, a grace** Since God wants our cooperation, we need to use our reason to work out how to respond in practice to the gift of grace. God does not give us a daily list of chores, but by prompting us with grace draws out from us a response in accord with our natural gifts. This is a close and continuous process, yet our lack of spiritual awareness can make it seem that God left some general instructions for us, and then went away, leaving us to it. This mentality replicates in our minds the separation from God which faith is meant to overcome. So, the light of faith seems dim and a long way off, hidden over the horizon somewhere. This lessening of faith leads to a weakening of hope, because we are in encroaching darkness, and the way ahead is uncertain. **3. Faith is a human act** Because of this potential loss of hope we need a certitude of faith. The light of faith will always seem to flicker and be in danger of going out if we rely only on our understanding of the faith. Even when we are in periods of temporary darkness, we need the certainty that the light is still there, otherwise we will despair of finding our way out. God gave the certainty of faith to the Church, not to individuals regardless of whether they are separated from the Church or not. Each person will individually have the light of faith if he or she stays within the community of light. **4. Faith is certain** The light of faith is one light, the light of Christ, and the Church is one because it abides in the one light. Separation from the Church is separation from the certitude of faith. If we do not have the certainty of faith, we will seek some other kind of certainty, and trust more in the judgement of our own reason, or of those we follow, than in the one faith. **5. Faith works through charity** It is only possible for people to be truly united through charity, through love. Love is the sign that faith is working. This is why the Church is meant to be a community of love. We could say that 'faith is what love looks like from a distance', hence it appears as light. Once we arrive in the light, we find the love convincing, because we feel its warmth, and do not need further reasons. To the extent that this becomes real in the Church, people will see the light from far off and believe that it is worth heading in this direction. While we are still on the journey, we need faith, because Love has not yet fully penetrated to every corner. **6. Faith continually grows** The nature of love is to grow. Since God is love, there is no end to the forms of love God can give. So, we know something is not love if it has stopped growing, if nothing is flowing over the sides, if the light is diminishing. We are continually tempted to say, 'That is enough'. If the love diminishes, the light dims. If the Church\'s light dims, how will people know which way to go to find Christ? **7. Faith is a foretaste of heaven** Faith is a foretaste of heaven. The heavenly city is the light over the horizon, the ultimate reunion with God. How can faith be a foretaste of this? Because the Church carries the light of Christ on her journey. The light we can dimly see from over the horizon is the same light that lights the Church\'s way on her journey of faith. Jesus Christ is the light which has come into the world. Believing in him gives us access to the light that beckons from over the horizon. He has come to guide us home, accompanying us on every step of the journey. When we arrive at the heavenly city we will not be strangers, because we already know the one who awaits us. As the distance narrows, faith is revealed more and more as love. The one we have come gradually to know through faith is the same one whose Love casts the light. **8. Faith journeys through darkness** Because evil darkens the world, Jesus leads the Church through the darkness to find those who are lost. If we resent these 'detours' it means we have not learnt the lesson that faith works through love. Jesus is the Good Shepherd. But he does not want to have to do the shepherding on his own. The Church too must be a shepherd, and especially those who help Christ lead the Church on her journey. We must go with Jesus seemingly out of the light and into the darkness, to share the light with others. The Church also must pass through Holy Saturday to the glory of Easter. God wants our cooperation with the gift of faith most deeply of all to lead everyone home. **Paradoxical Characteristics of faith.** Christian Faith presents us with a number of paradoxes that help us grasp its complex reality namely: **A. Certain, Yet Obscure** The *first* is that ***Faith is both most certain yet obscure** (cf. CCC 157-58, 164).* In common usage we speak of "taking things on faith" when we are *not* sure. We live in a secular age where "to be sure" means being able to prove it by experiment and "scientific" means. But this is a rationalistic illusion. We have been "brainwashed" by our own creation of today's scientific technology. As Filipinos, we realize that none of our major personal decisions, nor our basic ideals and attitudes towards life, freedom, love, etc. could ever be "proven" by scientific experiment. Our family, our friends, our community, our vocation in life **^\_\_^** all depend on the vision, inspiration and strength we call "faith". It is the most "certain" of all we know because it is the foundation upon which we build our lives. But how are we sure of this "faith-foundation"? Such a sure foundation could never come from ourselves, or from other limited men or women. It could never arise from some self-evident truth, or some logical deduction that compels assent *(CCC 156).* All these need to be, themselves, grounded on some unshakeable foundation. Only the very Word of God could possibly offer such a foundation. Faith is certain because it rests on God who reveals Himself in the person of Jesus Christ, present to us in His Spirit. We are certain of our Faith because it is our *personally committed loving knowledge* based on the *convincing signs* of God revealing Himself in Jesus Christ, and present to us in His Church through word, service, fellowship, and sacrament. But this *certainty* of Faith *does not mean everything is clear and obvious.* On the contrary, we believe God is ***"**Mystery",* that is, He is always *more* than we can ever fully comprehend. St. Paul teaches us: "Now we see indistinctly, as in a mirror" *(1 Cor 13:12).* "We walk by faith, not by sight" *(2 Cor 5:7).* But this obscurity which we experience even in our deepest human relations does not destroy faith's firmness. We instinctively recognize that persons, and especially the all-personal God, can never be reduced to being "proven" by scientific experiment. **B. Free, Yet Morally Obliging** Faith's *second paradox* is that it is both ***free*** and ***morally obliging** (cf. CCC 160).* Our Christian Faith is a *free* response. No one, not even God, forces us to believe. God calls men to serve Him in Spirit and in truth. Consequently, they are bound to Him in conscience but not coerced. God has regard for the dignity of the human person which He himself created: the human person is to be guided by his own judgment and to enjoy freedom *(DH 11).* We Filipinos experience this paradoxical combination of freedom and obligation in our family relationships and friendships. Persons who love us the most have the most claim on us yet force us the least. We naturally respond to them in love. God, who by loving us the most has the greatest claim on us, leaves and keeps us most free. **C. Reasonable, Yet Beyond Natural Reason** A *third paradox* is that Christian Faith is both ***reasonable,*** yet ***more than*** *natural **reason*** *(cf. CCC 155-56).* Christian Faith is in no conflict with our reason. On the contrary, only rational creatures can believe. Yet faith itself is a grace that enlightens our minds. "Unless you believe, you will not understand" *(Augustine's quote of Is 7:9).* Our faith in Christ illumines our reason because we believe him who claims "I am the light of the world. No follower of mine shall ever walk in darkness; no, he shall possess the light of life" *(Jn 8:12; cf. Vatican I, ND 135).* **D. An Act, Yet a Process** A *fourth paradox* highlights Faith as both ***a particular act,*** yet perseverance in ***a life-long process*** that is the beginning of eternal life *(cf. CCC 162-63).* John's Gospel declares: "Eternal life is this: to know you, the only true God, and him whom you have sent, Jesus Christ." *(Jn 17:3).* But this faith in Christ is much more than a single, personal *decision* for Christ. It is an enduring ***way of life*** within the Christian community, the Church. In fact it is the *principle* of our new life in Christ, which gives us a foretaste of life-with-him in heaven. St. Paul wrote: "The life that I now live is not my own; Christ is living in me. I still live my human life, but it is a life of faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me" *(Gal 2:20).* Faith as "following Christ" must be gradually and perseveringly developed so that it comes to touch every aspect of our lives, throughout our whole lives. **E. A Gift, Yet Our Doing** Faith's *fifth* paradox is that it is both ***a gift,*** a grace from God, yet ***something we** **do** (cf. PCP II 68; CCC 153-55).* It is a gift because "No one can come to me," Jesus said, "unless the Father who sent me draws him" *(Jn 6:44).* St. Paul confirms this: "No one can say 'Jesus is Lord,' except in the Holy Spirit" *(1 Cor 12:3).* Our Christian Faith, then, is not merely of our own doing. It depends upon God for two things: first, God's free gift of *revealing* Himself throughout salvation history; second, for the *grace* of the Holy Spirit's interior illumination and inspiration which "gives to all joy in assenting to the truth and believing in it" *(Vat. I, DS 3010; ND 120).* But God's "gift" of faith demands our ***free cooperation*** with others. St. Paul explains this: "Faith, then, comes through hearing, and what is heard is the word of Christ" *(Rom 10:17).* Our hearing of Christ's word today depends on the preaching and teaching just as it did in the time of the Apostles *(cf. Mt 28:20; Acts 2:42; 4:25).* This "hearing" means not only *listening* to the Word of God in Scripture and to Church teaching. It also involves *discerning* God's presence to us through events in our lives, our companions, our inner thoughts, yearnings and fears, etc. In brief, faith is also our active response to the witness to Christ and the Gospel given us by others. This active response is motivated and inspired by the prayer and worship we share with our fellow members of Christ's Church. **F. Personal, Yet Ecclesial** Faith's *sixth* paradox is its ***personal*** yet ***ecclesial*** nature. It is first of all the Church who believes and thus supports and nourishes our faith *(cf. CCC 168-69).* We received the grace of faith when we were baptized and received into the Christian community, the Church. Within our Christian families and our parish community, the faith implanted in Baptism grows and matures. Through catechesis, through the Sacrament of Confirmation, through the Word of God preached and explained, and especially through the Eucharistic celebration of Christ's Paschal sacrifice, we grow in faith. Our personal faith in Christ is supported and intensified by our fellow members in the parish or BCC, according to God's own plan. For "He has willed to make men holy and save them, not as individuals without any bond or link between them, but rather to make them into a people" *(LG 9).* Christian faith has many different adherents and forms, even in our country. But a central feature of *Catholic* Faith is its *ecclesial structure*. God always revealed Himself in the Old and New Testaments in terms of a community. Moreover, this revelation has been handed down through the Church's tradition to us today. It is in the Church that we Catholics experience the power of the Risen Christ through the gift of the Holy Spirit. It is in the Church, the body of Christ, that the Catholic Filipino meets Christ in God's Word in Scripture, in Church teaching, in the liturgical, sacramental praise and worship of God, and in the ministry of service of one another. Christ is personal Savior to Filipino Catholics not as private individuals, but as *members* of a *community* of salvation wherein we meet Jesus and experience his saving power. *Faith is never just something private or individualistic, but a sharing in the Christian community's faith.* This faith is in living continuity with the Apostolic Church, as well as being united to all the Catholic communities today the world over. Vatican II well describes the origins of this ecclesial dimension of faith: "As the firstborn of many brethren, and by the gift of his Spirit, Christ established, after his Death and Resurrection, a new brotherly communion among all who received him in faith and love; this is the communion of his own body, the Church, in which everyone as members would render mutual service in the measure of the different gifts bestowed on each" *(GS 32).* **Conclusion.** It is important to know the Characteristics of faith for us to be able to appropriately respond in living out our faith. As the song goes, "we walk by faith and not by sight." To live, grow and persevere in the faith until the end, we must nourish it with the word of God. We must beg the lord to increase our faith. It must be working through charity, abounding in hope, and rooted in the faith of the Church. **Week 9** **Concept of Faith in the Comparative Religion** ------------------------- -------------------------------------------------- **Lesson Title** **Faith in Shamanism** **Learning Outcome(s)** **Respect each other's religion.** **Shaman --** refers to a person believed to achieve various powers through trance or ecstatic religious experience. **Shamanism --** is a term that comes from the Manchu-Tungus word *šaman*. The noun is formed from the verb *ša-* 'to know'; thus, a shaman is literally "one who knows." The shamans recorded in historical ethnographies have included women, men, and transgender individuals of every age from middle childhood onward. **Religion --** refers to a unified system of beliefs and practices relative to sacred things, that is to say, things set apart and forbidden \-- beliefs and practices which unite into one single moral community called a Church all those who adhere to them. (Durkheim, E.) **Introduction.** Every person on the planet has a belief, a religion. Even if the person who believes that God does not exist, has a religion of his own. All the religions differ from each other in terms of beliefs, rituals, and holidays. But all of them have things in common too. For example, every religion wants her followers to be happy, to not break the moral code, and to teach people to forgive in order to live in peace. Unfortunately, people of different beliefs and religion started to dislike each other. This is evident in history. So, the question is, why not just let people differ about their answers to the great mysteries of the universe? Let each one seeks in its own way the highest and supreme loyalty the ideals of life. **Short Historical background.** It is generally agreed that shamanism originated among hunting-and-gathering cultures, and that it persisted within some herding and farming societies after the origins of agriculture. It is often found in conjunction with animism, a belief system in which the world is home to a plethora of spirit-beings that may help or hinder human endeavours. Opinions differ as to whether the term *shamanism* may be applied to all religious systems in which a central personage is believed to have direct intercourse with the transcendent world that permits him to act as healer, diviner, and the like. Since such interaction is generally reached through an ecstatic or trance state, and because these are psychosomatic phenomena that may be brought about at any time by persons with the ability to do so, the essence of shamanism lies not in the general phenomenon but in specific notions, actions, and objects connected with trance. **Shamanism.** Shamanism teaches that the physical world is controlled by the spiritual world and that most people need a guide or intermediary to navigate those worlds; this guide is known as a shaman. Shamanism, related to animism, is one of the oldest belief systems in the world and can be found today in many tribal communities in many places around the world. **Role of a Shaman.** Shamans are believed to serve their communities by entering the spiritual world to appease the spirits or discern why the spirits are angry at a person or group of people. Shamans are influential and are sometimes feared as they are thought to hold the power to bless or curse, heal, or even kill a person through their interactions with spirits. Some of these spiritual leaders use drugs, physical wounding, or extreme fasting or quests to guide another person or themselves into an altered state of consciousness or into the spirit world. Ceremonies may include amulets, bells, drums, songs, dancing, chanting, totemic items such as rocks or trees, and specific places a shaman would deem holy. Shamans risk injury, sickness, and mental anguish as they seek spirits and how to placate them. Furthermore, Shamans employ powers derived from spirits to heal sickness, to guide the dead to their final destinations, to influence animals, and forces of nature in a way that benefits their communities, to initiate assaults on enemies, and to protect their own communities from external aggression. In the practice of his art the Shaman is regarded as: - A healer, hence, the term \"medicine man\", and the secret medicine societies of the Seneca, and of other American tribes; the Alaskan Tungaks are principally healers. - An educator, i.e., the keeper of myth and tradition, of the arts of writing and divination; he is the repository of the tribal wisdom. - A civil magistrate; as seers possessing secret knowledge with power at times of assuming other shapes and of employing the souls of the dead, they are credited with ability to detect and punish crimes. In Siberia every tribe has its chief shaman who arranges the rites and takes charge of the idols; under him are local and family wizards who regulate all that concerns birth, marriage, and death, and consecrate dwellings and food. - A war-chief; thus, with the Dakotahs and Cheyennes the head war-chief must be a medicine man. Hence, the shaman possesses great influence and in many cases is the real ruler of the tribe. **Beliefs of Shamanism.** Shamanism rests for its basis on the animistic view of nature. Animism teaches that primitive and savage man views the world as pervaded by spiritual forces. Fairies, goblins, ghosts, and demons hover about human being waking or sleeping. They are the cause of man's mishaps, losses, and pains. Mountains, woods, forests, rivers, lakes are conceived to possess spirits, for example, the *itch-tchi* of the Yakuts, and to be living, thinking, willing, passionful beings like himself. In respect to these, man is in a state of helplessness. The shaman by appropriate words and acts uses his power to shield man and envelops him in a kind of protective armour so that the evil spirits become inactive or inoffensive. His role is that of antagonist to the spirits and of guardian to ordinary man. The Esquimaux believe all the affairs of life are under the control of malignant spirits who are everywhere. These minor spirits are subject to the great spirit, Tung-Ak, yet must be propitiated. The shaman alone is supposed to be able to deal with Tung-Ak, though not superior to him. Tung-Ak is a name for Death who ever seeks to harass the lives of people that their spirits may go to dwell with him. The gods of the Maori were demons thronging like mosquitos and ever watchful to inflict evil; their designs could be counteracted only by powerful spells and charms. In Kamchatka every corner of earth and heaven was believed to be full of spirits more dreaded than God. The Navajo, Ojibwas, and Dakotah Indians have a multiplicity of spirits, both evil and good, filling all space, which can be communicated with only after due preparation by the persons who have power to do so. **Conclusion.** If we try to conceptualize shamanism, it's just pertained to beliefs in terms of communication to the spiritual world and the trust, therefore, is in the Shaman not in the Spirit. **Week 10** **Concept of Faith in the Comparative Religion (Continuation)** --------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------------- Lesson Title **Faith in Hinduism** Learning Outcome(s) Respect each other's religion. **Hinduism --** derives from a Persian term denoting the inhabitants of the land beyond the Indus, a river in presentday Pakistan. **Origins of Hinduism.** Most scholars believe Hinduism started somewhere between 2300 B.C. and 1500 B.C. in the Indus Valley, near modern-day Pakistan. But many Hindus argue that their faith is timeless and has always existed. Unlike other religions, Hinduism has no one founder but is instead a fusion of various beliefs. Around 1500 B.C., the Indo-Aryan people migrated to the Indus Valley, and their language and culture blended with that of the indigenous people living in the region. There's some debate over who influenced more during this time. The period when the Vedas were composed became known as the "Vedic Period" and lasted from about 1500 B.C. to 500 B.C. Rituals, such as sacrifices and chanting, were common in the Vedic Period. The Epic, Puranic and Classic Periods took place between 500 B.C. and 500 A.D. Hindus began to emphasize the worship of deities, especially Vishnu, Shiva and Devi. The concept of dharma was introduced in new texts, and other faiths, such as Buddhism and Jainism, spread rapidly. Hinduism developed over many centuries from a variety of sources: cultural practices, sacred texts, and philosophical movements, as well as local popular beliefs. The combination of these factors is what accounts for the varied and diverse nature of Hindu practices and beliefs. **Short Historical background.** Hinduism is the world's oldest religion, according to many scholars, with roots and customs dating back more than 4,000 years. Today, with about 900 million followers, Hinduism is the third-largest religion behind Christianity and Islam. Roughly 95 percent of the world's Hindus live in India. Because the religion has no specific founder, it's difficult to trace its origins and history. Hinduism is unique in that it's not a single religion but a compilation of many traditions and philosophies. In addition, Hinduism is more than a religion. It is a culture, a way of life, and a code of behavior. **Hinduism Beliefs.** Some basic Hindu concepts include: - Hinduism embraces many religious ideas. For this reason, it's sometimes referred to as a "way of life" or a "family of religions," as opposed to a single, organized religion. - Most forms of Hinduism are henotheistic, which means they worship a single deity, known as "Brahman," but still recognize other gods and goddesses. Followers believe there are multiple paths to reaching their god. - Hindus believe in the doctrines of samsara (the continuous cycle of life, death, and reincarnation) and karma (the universal law of cause and effect). - One of the key thoughts of Hinduism is "atman," or the belief in soul. This philosophy holds that living creatures have a soul, and they're all part of the supreme soul. The goal is to achieve "moksha," or salvation, which ends the cycle of rebirths to become part of the absolute soul. - One fundamental principle of the religion is the idea that people's actions and thoughts directly determine their current life and future lives. - Hindus strive to achieve dharma, which is a code of living that emphasizes good conduct and morality. - Hindus revere all living creatures and consider the cow a sacred animal. - Food is an important part of life for Hindus. Most don't eat beef or pork, and many are vegetarians. - Hinduism is closely related to other Indian religions, including Buddhism, Sikhism and Jainism. The fundamental teaching of Hinduism, or Vedanta, is that a human being\'s basic nature is not confined to the body or the mind. Beyond both of these is the spirit or the spark of God within the soul. This spirit is within us and also within everything we see. All beings and all things are really, in their deepest essence, this pure or divine spirit, full of peace, full of joy and wisdom, ever united with God. This is not just theory, but it can actually be experienced. Anyone who takes the trouble to undergo the necessary training to purify and refine the mind and senses can begin to feel the truth of this. This training can take various forms and is known as yoga (\"union\"- union of the individual self with this inner spirit). **Hinduism Symbols.** There are two primary symbols associated with Hinduism, the om and the swastika. The word **swastika** means \"good fortune\" or \"being happy\" in Sanskrit, and the symbol represents good luck. (A diagonal version of the swastika later became associated with Germany's Nazi Party when they made it their symbol in 1920.) The **om** symbol is composed of three Sanskrit letters and represents three sounds (a, u and m), which when combined are considered a sacred sound. The om symbol is often found at family shrines and in Hindu temples. **Hinduism Holy Books.** Hindus value many sacred writings as opposed to one holy book. The primary sacred texts, known as the Vedas, were composed around 1500 B.C. This collection of verses and hymns was written in Sanskrit and contains revelations received by ancient saints and sages. The Vedas is where the philosophy, religion, and customs are recorded. These texts were initially handed down by word of mouth from teacher to student. The Vedas are made up of: - The Rig Veda - The Samaveda - Yajurveda - Atharvaveda Hindus believe that the Vedas transcend all time and don't have a beginning or an end. The Upanishads, the Bhagavad Gita, 18 Puranas, Ramayana and Mahabharata are also considered important texts in Hinduism. **Hindu Gods.** Hindus worship many gods and goddesses in addition to Brahman, who is believed to be the supreme God force present in all things. Some of the most prominent deities include: - Brahma: the god responsible for the creation of the world and all living things - Vishnu: the god that preserves and protects the universe - Shiva: the god that destroys the universe in order to recreate it - Devi: the goddess that fights to restore dharma - Krishna: the god of compassion, tenderness and love - Lakshmi: the goddess of wealth and purity - Saraswati: the goddess of learning According to Hinduism, three Gods rule the world. Brahma: the creator; Vishnu: the preserver and Shiva: the destroyer. Lord Vishnu did his job of preserving the world by incarnating himself in different forms at times of crisis. So, the general name for God in Hinduism is Brahman. The name of the divine essence within us is Atman. They are one and the same, infinite and eternal. However, God is also present in all creation. God\'s manifestation in creation goes by many names. It is the one infinite, eternal, Divine Being that is manifesting in countless ways. It is like a person at the same time being called \"father\" by his son, \"friend\" by his friend, \"son\" by his own father, \"husband\" by his wife, etc. A special relationship goes with each name. Thus, the same Divine Lord has been addressed as Shiva, Vishnu, etc... and as Divine Mother, Kali, Durga, etc. God can also manifest as an extraordinary being in human form, who is then known as an incarnation of God, such as Krishna, Rama, etc. Since it is the one infinite God alone that is being looked at in different ways, all t

Week 1-2: The Life of Man: To Know and Love God PDF

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