DCT Flashcards

1
Q

Augustines view on Human Nature

A
  • He was one of the most important theologians of all time, developing core Christian beliefs from the fall of man to original sin.
  • Work includes ‘Confessions’ and ‘City of Theology’
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2
Q

Manicheism

A
  • A Belief in two souls, one light and one dark, warning over the person, and throughout the universe we must return to God by choosing God.
  • Achieved y living an axestic life
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3
Q

Platonism

A
  • manicheism could explain maths and philosophy
  • he turned to neo-platonism
  • to contemplate God the mind and the body had to work in unison, however the soul cannot control the body so this couldnt happen.
  • only after death can the soul be reunited with God.
  • Evil was a lack of Goodness.
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4
Q

Augustines teaching on the Pre-Lapsarian Will

A
  • Genesis 1-3
  • Humans in the world were created perfectly with free will. In the image of God (Imagio Dei).
  • Body, soul and reason all work in harmony, direct the m with pure living with God.
  • The Human, all 3 parts, are directed by the will.
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5
Q

Augustines Teaching on Human Will

A

-Human will is the driving force behind all of their actions
-He claims that there is a kind of love that causes us to act in a kind of way. He claims that it is split into two parts.
CUPITIDAS: A kind of self love ideally driving one to personal perfection.
CARITAS: Generous love which allows one to look after their community and play a positive part in their creation.

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6
Q

Augustines Teaching on Friendship

A
  • For Augustine, friendship is the highest expression of human existence
  • In the Garden of Eden, Adam and Eve were in a perfect, loving friendship with eachother and with God.
  • even though they had sex, it wasnt lustful as the will of love was in harmony with the needs of the body.
  • They were in perfect unobscured unison with God.
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7
Q

Augustines teaching on the Post Lapsarian Will

variation

A
  • God created a level of variation within everything.

- This applied to the angels he created aswell as some were created with more pride and less reverence.

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8
Q

Augustines teaching on the Post Lapsarian Will

pride

A
  • Due to Humans free will, we can also be proud.
  • Satan envied the humans perfect state so encouraged Adam and Eves pride.
  • This lead them to eat from the tree of wisdom, a sign that they wanted to be like God.
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9
Q

Augustines teaching on the Post Lapsarian Will

disobedience

A
  • the idea of pride, having entered the human will, caused the fall of the man.
  • the act of human rebellion is down to human free will.
  • In this way,pride (disobedience) is the first and greatest of all vices and obedience is the first and greatest of all virtues.
  • This meant that the will, not the body is fallen. The body remains in the same state, however the will cant control it.
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10
Q

The Divided Will

A
  • After disobeying God, it weakened the will.
  • Cupitidas often overrides caritas and humans become more self centered.
  • This means that the will is at a constant war with itself, it is because that we do things which we know is wrong.
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11
Q

Concupiscence

A
  • The human body was created with the desire for those things that fulfill and sustain the basic functions of a human to eat, sleep and reproduce.
  • Augustine calls the desire for these things, the ‘libido’ which is roughly equvalent to sex drive.
  • Concupiscene is the reason humans sin and it distracts us from loving God.
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12
Q

Free Will

A
  • he used to think that Humans can reach a virtous state by their own merits
  • he saw concupiscence and sin as a punishment for disobedience which can never be overcome
  • he thought that humans were fettered by sin and would not escape it.
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13
Q

pre-destination

A
  • The inability to escape sin meant that Augustine adopted a strict belief on pre-destination and limited election.
  • he thought that only the elect would be saved by God,none by their own actions.
  • Jesus Christ saving us all?
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14
Q

Jesus as the Son of God

A
  • Although Jesus never specifically said that he was the Son of God, he alludes to it frequently, throughout his conversations and speeches with those he encountered.
  • frequently refered to as God throughout scripture
  • Jesus referenced God as his father
  • At his baptism, a voice declares ‘this is my Son’
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15
Q

Jesus being directly associated with God

A
  • John calls Jesus the word and “the word of God”
  • Thomas refers to Jesus as “My lord my God”
  • John says that “Gods spirit will come again through Jesus”.
  • Matthew records Jesus as having a God like power.
  • Throughout the Church, Jesus was worshipped, something done to a God.
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16
Q

How human was Jesus

A
  • For Jesus to redeem the world, he must be God, as only God has the power.
  • If he is God, then he cannot write and save humanity.
  • Jesus is the same substance as God.
17
Q

Jesus’ Self Knowledge

A
  • If he was human consciously, how could he predict the future.
  • If he had divine conciousness, then his displays of pain, suffering, joy and anxiety are false which then reduce his humanity.
  • Medieval theologians understood him to have one of three types of knowledge
    1. Knowledge of the divine reality of God.
    2. An infused or combined knowledge
    3. Knowledge of a human life.
18
Q

Scholars on the interpretation of Miracles

A
  • HUME- we dont see miracles today, we should’nt trust of the New Testament writer.
  • EDWARD SCHLIERBECK-Miracles have a special and metaphorical meaning today, not just a miraculous event of the past.
19
Q

Jesus and the Ressurection

A
  • It is a central belief within Christianity.
  • ST PAUL “And if Christ has not been raised then all our preaching is useless and so is your faith.”
  • Distinguishes Jesus from the many other important beliefs in religious figures in history.
20
Q

the significance of the ressurrection

A
  • the greatest of all miracles.
  • this was because the miracle defied the most defining feature of human existence (death.)
  • the resurection justifies Jesus’ claims that God’s kingdom is yet to come.
  • the resurrection seals the meaning of Jesus’ life work and death.
  • St Paul calls it “the beginning and end of all things”
21
Q

Jesus as a Teacher

A

-He tought in synagogues and temples throughout the area, and he spoke in parables and often made suprising or controversial statements to those who were listening..

22
Q

Jesus’ Moral teaching

A
  • His main messages covered repentance, forgiveness and love of God’s neighbour.
  • His vision is the unification and healing of all humanity.
  • The idea of agape love is central to his teaching.
  • He identified the need for moral purity and solidarity with the oppressed, including women.
  • He Offers wisdom, power and wealth, saying that both act as a barrier to loving eachother and God.
23
Q

“Jesus was one of many Holy people” (FOR)

A
  • John Hick said in his book “The myth of the God Incarnate” that the closeness of Jesus has with God is not unique.
  • He said that a similar understanding is found with several other central figures. e.g. Muhammad and Moses.
  • one must take a metaphorical approach understanding of the incarnation which means that many doctrines must be interpreted, but means that Christianity retains much of it’s significance and moral power.
24
Q

“Jesus was one of many Holy people” (AGAINST)

A
  • many Christians reject that his moral teachings can be separated from his divine nature.
  • CS LEWIS said that it is illogical to think that Jesus is so fundamentally deluded about his own personhood and think that he is a great moral teacher.
  • Boenhoffer suggests that without the incarnation, we cannot meet God in others and his nature and commands would remain unknown.
  • some atheists think that Jesus was not a Good moral teacher, they point to him saying “he who is blameless may cast the first stone.” and this would make society unable to prosecute anyone.
25
Q

Natural Knowledge of God’s Existence

A

Natural theology supposes that as God is the creator of the universe and humans are conscious elements of the universe, then they have a natural predisposition to know God as their creator.

26
Q

The innate human sense of God

A

Both John Calvin and THE CC start in similar ways
“the desire for God is written in the human heart”CCC
“Nearly all the wisdom we posses… consists of two parts: the knowledge of God and ourselves.” John Calvin

27
Q

Innate knowledge of God

A
  • the unknown God- Paul to the Athenians Acts 17
  • The constant quest for an unknown God.
  • Universal consent argument- Cicero -It is reasonable to suggest that God exists because so many people believe in the Gods or God.
  • Humans are religious beings- Catechism- “the practices of prayer, sacrifice and ritual and meditation are universal.
  • Natural Law- synderisis principle.
  • Conscience- conscience is our God given faculty. Gods presence which gives us our moral judgement.
28
Q

Humans ability to reflect, recognise and consider his existence.

A

-important to natural theology is the arguments for the existence of God.
-they dont prove the existence of God, however they give strong reason on why that may be so.
the knowledge of God is most likely by definition.

29
Q

Knowledge of God as seen in the order of creation and in the order of design

A
  • although the universe is by no means perfect it does demonstrate divine sparks of God’s glory.
  • principle of accomodation- God reveals himself through nature in ways which that human finite minds can best understand.
  • nature acts as a mirror for God, it allows us to understand some of God’s basic characteristics.
30
Q

arguments from purpose

A
  • Paleys watch argument is an example of a rational argument from purpose.
  • It rests on the analogy of the watch
  • However, it has been heavily criticised by Hume and Dawkins though the evidence of evil in this world, as well as evolution, not design leading to complexity.
31
Q

arguments from process

A
  • a revised version of the design argument is based around the understanding of quantumn uncertainty.
  • States that God has a dipolar nature
  • God respects the free will of his creation but seeks to maximise the potential of an induvidual on a decision by decision basis.
32
Q

revealed knowledge of God

A
  • this is knowledge disclosed by God himself to humanity
  • it is available to all, those who have faith.
  • IMMEDIATE REVELATION: a direct encounter with God.
  • MEDIATE REVELATION: knowing about God through someone else.
33
Q

Faith and God’s Grace- immediate revelation

A
  • prior to the fall, humans could know God through ‘sensus divinatis’ alone.
  • however, because Adam and Eve sinned, it cut off our ability to know through our own reason or severely confuse it.
34
Q

Faith

A
  • Belief that God is revealed through the prophets and God cannot be known through reason alone. It requires faith.
  • UNFORMED FAITH: intellectual reasons why one might accept life after death but hasnt accepted them.
  • FORMED FAITH: This is the faith of someone who fully asserts to what they cannot know through reason.
35
Q

Calvins view of Faith

A

FIRM AND CERTAIN KNOWLEDGE: the firm and certain knowledge of God’s benevolence which must be revealed by Christ and sealed by the holy spirit.
WILLINGNESS TO BELIEVE: faith is given to those who are willing to accept it, and is an emotional and cerebral moment of acceptance.

36
Q

Grace

A
  • no matter how strong the faith of one person, it is not strong enough to complete the relationship and understanding of God.
  • faith is a human decision which requires the reciprocal acceptance of God.
  • it is the benevolent nature of God which allows for this acceptance.
  • this in turn provides the gifts that are required to live as a Good Christian; strength of faith, wisdom and confidence.
37
Q

Mediate revelation- the bible

A
  • the major source for revealed knowledge
  • it does this through many different ways: beauty in the world, events in history, traditional wisdom, prophets, religious` experiences, natural laws and the person of Jesus.