Theology and Faith

Chapter 1 Unit 1
 What is Theology?

• Throughout the history of man, there is a longing in the

very heart of man for the divine, a desire for God (divine
longing). St. Thomas even said that it is natural for man
to seek God for we are created with the capacity to know
Him.
• Because of this “divine longing” that we have “theology”,
a “fusion of this belief in God and the intellectual activity
in an attempt to understand the divine”.

• As St. Anselm defined theology as “faith seeking

understanding” (fides quaerens intellectum)
• Theology came from 2 Greek words:

Θεος (theos) – God

and λογος (logos) – word or discourse

Theology: a discourse about God

a critical look at the Word of God
• Theology can also be considered as a science about
God for like any other sciences, it gives us objective
truths. Theology gives us objective truths about God.
• Although theology can be considered as a science, its
difference with other sciences is that it stands on the
ground of FAITH and not just simply on scientific
process. Theology is also considered as a “science of
faith”
 Faith as Prerequisite and End of Theology

• Faith is very important in one’s study of theology

because believing is a prerequisite to knowing, that for
one to know and understand God, believing in Him must
be present first.
• Faith is necessary in theology because of the
limitedness of the human mind that there are some
truths about the divine that the human cannot
comprehend, we call it as “mysteries”. And it is only
through faith that one can understand the mysteries
about God
 What is Faith?
a. virtue – a good habit

b. gift from God – infused to us by God

c. a human act – our response to God’s self-communication

d. a way of life – it involves accepting his Word as the rule of life

and the way to salvation
 Faith as a Total Act of Man

• Because faith is also considered as a way of life, it

involves the totality of a human person. It involves the
mind (believing), the heart (trusting), and the hands
(doing).
 The Three Dimensions of Faith
Mind / Believing What we should we God, not an abstract idea but a DOCTRINE
Head believe in? person who calls us into a
relationship with Him
Will / Doing What must we do on Commit ourselves to obey God’s MORALITY
Hands account of what we will for us
believe in?
Heart Trusting What can we hope The overflowing love of God and WORSHIP
for on account of the promise of eternal happiness
what we believe and (Salvation) that is constantly
its requirement for being made known to us every
us to do? time we commune with Him in
prayer
 Difference between a Christian Faith and a
Catholic Faith

Faith Believing in God

Christian Faith Believing in God revealed by Jesus Christ
Catholic Christian Faith Believing that Christ reveals God to us in and through the
Catholic Church
• Our faith becomes Christian when we accept that God,
at a graced time assumed our human nature in order to
accomplish our salvation.

• PCP II tells us that Christian faith means “to know, to

love, and to follow Christ in the church he had founded”
and that this faith has 5 essential characteristics:
a. total and absolute
b. Trinitarian
c. loving maturing, and missionary
d. informed and communitarian
e. inculturated
• Catholic faith is the belief that Jesus Christ reveals God
in and through the Holy Catholic Church. Catholic means
“universal” for it is intended for all. It is a faith that is
deeply sacramental, traditional, and communal
REVELATION
Chapter 2 Unit 1
◻ In the previous lesson, we started it with looking at
one reality and that is “in every man, there is a
longing for the divine” which is called as “divine
longing”.

◻ But the desire is not only just in man, but there is

also a desire in God to enter into a
relationship/friendship with us.
◻ God, because of His desire, takes the initiative of
introducing Himself and making Himself known to
us. He introduced His divine self and
communicated with us using means easily
assimilated: words.

◻ This is called “revelation”: a disclosure, an

uncovering, the unveiling of something hidden, so
◻ The Church teaches us that “God created us in
order for us to know Him, to love Him, to serve
Him, and to be with Him”. In order for us to know,
love, serve, and be with Him, he revealed Himself
to us. Thus the ultimate purpose of God’s self-
revelation to us is “salvation”.
 Revelation as the Word of God
◻ God revealed Himself to us and uses our own
means of communication to communicate with us.
He took it to another level when he Himself
became human (he took our human nature) to
reveal Himself and His divine plan (Jesus Christ,
the Word of God, Word-made-Flesh)
◻ Word of God
- Hebrew “dabar” which means “word”. It also
means “event” or “reality”.

◻ It is a multi-layered term that could mean:

a. Events in Salvation History
b. Message of God through the prophets or His general message
to humanity
 Avenues of Revelation
◻ Revelation through Events
a. Creation – first act of God’s revelation
b. History – when seen through faith, reveals God’s
plan for humanity

◻ Revelation through Persons

a. Prophets – spokespersons of God
b. Church – people of God
 Kinds of Revelation
General and Special Revelation

⮚ General – natural revelation; God making Himself

known through the created world

⮚ Special – because of the limitedness of the created

world, God uses special means like the Holy Bible
Public and Private Revelation

⮚ Public Revelation – God’s self disclosure for all

humanity

⮚ Private Revelation – Church-recognized messages

from apparitions to some privileged men and
women
 Transmission of Revelation
◻ Ever since, it has been the task of the Church to
preserve the divine revelation and to hand it over to
every generation.
Successor
Jesus Apostles s
(bishops)
◻ The Church did its part in preserving the teachings of
Jesus through her vibrant community life, moral
rectitude, celebration of the liturgy, and constant
rendition of the apostolic teachings through oral
tradition, some of which was put into writing forming
a book which we call as Holy Bible.

◻ Word of God – referring to both written Word of God

◻ Dei Verbum teaches us that Sacred Scriptures and
Sacred Tradition forms one deposit of faith. In
order for that deposit of faith be properly
understood, the Holy Spirit acts as its interpreter,
dwelling pre-eminently in the Church. The Holy
Spirit endows the Church with a teachings
authority called Magisterium. Thus its assures an
authentic and authoritative interpretation and
 Tripod of Catholic Faith

Faith

Church
Sacred Sacred
Magisteriu
Scriptures Tradition
m
Holy Bible
Chapter 3 Unit 1
What is the Bible?
⚫ Etymology: Bible came from the Greek word “biblia” which
means “scrolls”(usually used papyrus - earliest form of writing
material) or “books”.

⚫ It is also known as Scriptures. (from the Latin “scriptura” which

means “writings”.

⚫ It is considered as faith-book (that is it is written by believers for

believers)
The Bible as the Word of God
⚫ The Bible as the Word of God:
(a) Word about God
(b) Word from God
(c) Word by God

⚫ Revelation in the Bible: written form of God’s revelation

⚫ Bible and Jesus: Christ is the center and fulfillment of the Bible
 2 Main Divisions of Bible
The Bible is a compilation of 73 books, letters and other literary
genres. Those 73 are divided into 2 main divisions:
(a) OldTestament
(b) New Testament
Note:
It is called “testament” (from the Latin “testamentum” which means
“covenant”Old Testament New Testament
or an eternal agreement) for it contains the agreement
Old Covenant with the Patriarch and Moses New Covenant with Jesus Christ
between God and his people.
“I will be your God and you will be my people” “For God so loved the world, he gave us his
only Son,that whoever believes in him will not
perish but will have eternal life”
Old Testement
⚫ Consist 46 books divided into 4 sub-parts:
Pentateuch Historical Wisdom Prophetic
Genesis Joshua Job Isaiah
Exodus Judges Psalms Jeremiah
Leviticus Ruth The Proverbs Lamentations
Numbers 1 – 2 Samuel Ecclesiastes Baruch
Deuteronomy 1 – 2 Kings The Song of Songs Ezekiel
1 – 2 Chronicles Wisdom Daniel
Ezra Ecclesiasticus / Sirach Hosea
Nehemiah Joel
Tobit Amos
Judith Obadiah
Esther Jonah
1 – 2 Maccabees Micah
Nahum
Habakkuk
Zephaniah
Haggai
Zechariah
Malachi
⚫ Pentateuch – the first five books, contains the most essential
teachings of faith (in the Old Testament it is found in the Laws of
Moses based on the 10 Commandments)

⚫ Historical – records of historical events (formation and history of

God’s chosen people)

⚫ Wisdom – tell believers what they ought to believe and how they
are to live their faith

⚫ Prophetic – call believers into conversion in view of future

salvation
New Testament
⚫ Consists of 27 books and divided into 4 sub-parts:
Gospel Historical Letters/Epistles Revelation
Matthew Acts of Apostles Romans Revelation
Mark 1 – 2 Corinthians
Luke Galatians
John Ephesians
Philippians
Colossians
1 – 2 Thessalonians
1 – 2 Timothy
Titus
Philemon
Hebrews
James
1 – 2 Peter
1 – 3 John
Jude
⚫ Gospel – written account of one’s faith-experience of Jesus
2 parts: (a) Synoptic – same synopsis (Matthew, Mark, Luke)
(b) Johannine – Gospel of John

⚫ Historical – Acts of the Apostles: records of historical events about

the formation of God’s people; the Church

⚫ Letters/Epistles – tell believers what they ought to believe and how

they are to live their faith, instructions for the early Church
2 parts: (a) Pauline Letters – letters of St. Paul
(b) Apostlic Letters – letters addressed to a
particular community but the message was for all
the early Christian communities
Unity of the 2 Divisions: the Old and New Testament complements
one another, that one cannot stand alone, that we cannot say one is
greater than the other.

One can only fully understand the OT in the light of the NT for NT is
the fulfillment of the OT.

Same is true with the NT, it can only be fully understand in the light of
the OT, for OT is the preparation of God’s people for the new
covenant and fulfillment of God’s plan in the NT.

What connects and unites them together is Chirst for he is the center
of the whole Sacred Scriptures.
The Bible as...
(a) Word of God – it is considered Sacred/Holy for it is the
written Word of God.

(b) written by men – God used men, their capacities/abilities

to make known his message revealed
through Jesus

(c) through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit – God through

the Holy Spirit, inspired men to write his
message about his revelation and message of
salvation
Inerrancy of Bible
Although the Bible is written by men, men who is susceptible to
errors, it doesn’t mean that same is true with the Bible.

The Bible is free from error as an effect of it being divinely inspired.

Although one could say that there are some grammatical errors,
difference from science and chronology, moral deficiencies and some
inconsistency, still the Bible is taught to be free from error for the
message of God still remains unchanged. The presence of the things
mentioned above is due to the limitations of the human writers and
their time.
Formation of the Scriptures
Inclusion
Actual Oral Written
to the
Event Tradition Tradition
Canon
Canonicity of the Scriptures
Canon:
⚫ from the Greek “kanon” (κανον) which means ruler or a stick used
for measurement.

⚫ It may also mean:

a. A rule or a norm, a standard
b. Official list of things

Canonicity of the Bible refers to the criteria used to measure the

authenticity of the books in the Bible. Canonization is the act of
declaring/recognizing the Inspiration of God in a book.
 Criteria for Canonicity
Old Testament New Testament
Prophetic origin Apostolic origin

Coherence with the Torah Coherence with the essential Gospel

message
Constant use in the Liturgy Constant use in the Liturgy

Language
(Use of Hebrew [Jews in Palestine] and
Greek [Jews in Diaspora] language)

Note:
there are books that are called “deuterocanonical” and “apocryphal” writings.
Interpretation of the Bible
⚫ Catholic Principle in Interpretation of the Scriptures:
1. Within the living tradition of the Church
2. Through human language and within human history
3. Relevance in our present time
4. Interpreted in relation to Christ, whole of the Scriptures, and life
of the Church

⚫ Senses of the Scriptures:

1. Literal sense – what the author intended
2. Spiritual sense – under the influence of the Holy Spirit
3. Fuller sense – intended by God
⚫ Significance of the Bible
The Bible is not for entertainment, it is for the attainment of salvation,
guide for life towards God and the key to find eternal happiness.

⚫ For individual Christians:

1. Divine origin and meaning of existence
2. Assurance of God’s providence
3. Guide on how to live rightly
4. View of what is sin and the problem of evil
5. Enables one to encounter Jesus and to enter into a personal
relationship with him

⚫ For the Church:

1. Bond of unity