Theology Unit 2

Love consists in sharing what one has, and what one is, with those one loves. Love ought to show itself in deeds more than in words. -Ignatius of Loyola

Summary: Love is about what someone does, is, and loves, showing itself in actions

He had the gift of tears - he would be moved to tears very often while praying or during mass

We should recall that mediocrity has no place in Ignatius’ worldview;he demands leaders in service to others in building the Kingdom of God in the marketplace of business and ideas, of service, of law and justice, of economics, theology, and all areas of human life. He urges us to work for the greater glory of God because the world desperately needs men and women of competence and conscience who generously give of themselves for others.

Main idea: We are not and cannot be mediocre, it is everyone’s responsibility to use their talents to build the kingdom of God through our vocations.

God is a mystery, but a caterpillar mystery (it is always changing and unfolding, you will never have the right answer)

There are Agatha Christie Mysteries, ones that have hints and clues to be solved, and there are caterpillar mysteries (God)

What is the LEAST wrong way to describe God (we will never be able to fully describe God, but we can find the least wrong way to)

The least wrong way to describe God is agape

Agatha Christie, Lewis Carroll, the Good Samaritan, Prodigal Son, Beatitudes, Trinity, Nicene Creed

About agape, God’s love is not based on anything we do or don’t do, it is irrational and exceptional. We don’t deserve it, can’t ear it, yet be receive it

“orthopraxis proceeds orthodoxy” right practice comes before right teaching and right thinking. We should not walk around preaching that God is love if we do not practice it

We understand ourselves when we understand the imago dei

Every person is made in the image and likeness of God, so we have a responsibility to do God’s work

Robert Willie was a rapist and a murderer, but still a son of God.

It is the challenge of the Christian person to see that we are all made in the imago Dei (free will + intelligence according to Thomas Aquinas), and Robert Willie represents this challenge. it is not possible to lose our human dignity and imago dei, but doing bad things will start to eclipse our qualities. In order to recognize these qualities in others, we have to first recognize it in ourselves. It impacts us personally, socially (vocation), environmentally, and intellectually

The particular way we live out our godliness in the world

We are all made in the image dei, but in our own particular ways, so our vocation is our service to the world by revealing something of God that no one else can

Other creatures have a trace of the imago dei, but not as much as humans

Does it give you joy? (joy - the abiding sense of rightness of how one is living their life, endures through difficulty and unhappiness)

Are you any good at it? (If you enjoy it but are not good at it, it is just a hobby)

Does anyone need you to do it? (Does it benefit others?)

Careers are jobs done for money, vocations can be a career, but aren’t always

We can have multiple vocations in our lives, but there is one vocation that takes priority and has the last call

Our current era, the first moment in history in which human activity is changing the planet

A way of thinking that will get us out of what is got us into (that humans are different/above). Basically, we thought we were better so we ruined the earth and now we have a responsibility to use our difference from other creatures to fix the earth

Autonomy - self governance/rule

Beneficience - always acting in the patient’s best interest

Nonmaleficence - do not unjust harm

Justice - to render unto each their due

Incarnation - God acknowledging his humanity in Jesus

To be a creature means to have a creator, we did not create ourselves. This idea of creatureliness scares us because we have no control, so we do things to avoid our creatureliness

We are dust and unto dust we will return

We are creatures but we are frightened of this fact

How should we understand our creatureliness?

A creature is fundamentally good

• It is good that we are not in control, because our mistakes can be forgiven

• All of our experiences are human and through being human they are good

• Proven through the incarnation of god into Jesus, as God thinks that creatureliness and humanity is so Good that he became a human in Jesus

Jesus had to resist the temptation to escape his humanity and creatureliness, despite all that he went through, teaching us to resist temptation

We have to embrace our creatureliness in order to liberate ourselves

Mistakes are a part of life, but we must learn and grow from them

About letting God be God and letting us be God’s creatures

Humans are loving because love comes from God and returns from God

Agape

Eros

Philia

Goodwill is wanting something that is good for others, loving someone even if you do not like them

Pure, unconditional, overflowing, love of God which seeks nothing in return

MLK Jr was a preacher and a leader of the civil rights movement, received his PhD in theology and loved his neighbors + enemies as a Christian should

• He defined love as creative, understanding, redeeming, goodwill for all persons

To go beyond logic and try to understand the reason behind someone’s actions

A love of desire, a yearning for satisfaction that seeks fulfillment

Reciprocal/mutual love, love for family and friends

Utility - based on usefulness of one person to another

Pleasure - mutual enjoyment of shared activities

Excellence - highest form of friendship, both parties like each other and seek virtue together (rare, but necessary)

(Society of Jesus)

Spirituality vs. Religious

This brought together the theology of Aquinas with the existential philosophy of his day

Spiritual - loving something based on faith and following it, doing things with your soul based on beliefs

Religious - Physical, following a religion and living life according to it

Can you be spiritual without being religious?

Yes

Religion is engaging in the task of trying to connect with our spiritual existence

It is our innermost dynamic to be spiritual, it is not a choice, because the holy spirit is the innermost dynamic of the world and the mysteries of the world are the Holy Spirit at work

A human is _______ ← must apply to all people at all times (historically and in all stages of life)

1. A creature - finite, dependent, have a creator

2. Good - ontologically, because we are created by God (there is also ethical good)

3. Sinful - personal sin are results of personal choices, but original sin comes from Adam and Eve (there is also social sin)

4. Free - we can say yes or no to God

5. Loving - the things that we love tell us who we are, drive us, and our ability to love relies on God

6. Mystery - we will never truly know ourselves, every question leads to a new one

7. Relational - we will not survive without relationship (we require attention and care)

8. Historical - we all have individual pasts and experiences

9. Malleable - we hold on hope until the end, changing, shaping, and being formed as our lives progress

10. Spiritual - moments of mystery that reveal the spirit in our lives (spiritual is what we are, not what we do)

The use of execution as a form of punishment for crimes

John Rawls wrote extensively about justice - go behind the veil of ignorance

Neuroplasticity - the ability of our brain to develop, alter, change, and be changed

1. The change to punishment

   Historically, it has been justified because the criminal could be a threat to society

   Pope Francis changed the opinion, banning capital punishment because a person’s dignity is not taken away after committing heinous crimes, and we now have stronger prisons and security

2. That the change occurred

   Two extremes: the church never changes or the church always changes

   The church changes, but in accordance to principles of discernment - John T Noonan

60% of people support life without parole over the death penalty

Although Black Americans make up 13.6% of the national population, they make up 33.9% of all people executed on death row and 41% of death row prisoners

There have been 195 exonerations since 1975, so there is a high rate of error