Lesson 3.

Loving God: Father

Theology and Creator
Lesson 1. Foundation Statement: A. FOCUS Thomas Aquinas
ON COMMUNITY OSA Charism – “Community - St. Thomas Aquinas -San Tommaso d’Aquino
of Friends” - also called Aquinas, by name "Doctor
OSA Charism – “Community of Friends Angelicus" (Latin: “Angelic Doctor”)
Charism - an extraordinary - Born: 1224/25, Roccasecca, near Aquino,
power (as of healing) given a Christian by the Terra di Lavoro, Kingdom of Sicily (Italy)
Holy Spirit for the good of the church - Died: March 7, 1274, Fossanova, near
Terracina, Latium, Papal States
7 Charisms - Canonized: July 18, 1323
Wisdom - body of knowledge In his major work Summa Theologica, widely
,
Understanding - aware of other people's feelings considered as the highest achievement of
Counsel – fruit of this supernatural prudence medieval systematic theology, Aquinas
Fortitude - courage presented his five proofs of God's existence
Knowledge - a spiritual gift known as the Quinque Viae (Latin for "Five
Piety - being religious Ways").
Fear of the Lord - having a deep respect
Aquinas’ Five Pr!fs for the Existence of God
ST. AUGUSTINE OF Hippo
- Was a theologian and philosopher The Argument from Motion or The Unmoved
- Adapted Classical thought to Mover - there must be a First Mover that
Christian teaching and created a powerful creates this chain reaction of motions
theological system of lasting influence The Argument from Efficient Cause or The First
- canonized in 1303 by Pope Boniface VIII. He is the Cause - nothing can cause itself; Without a
patron saint of brewers, printers, and theologians first cause, there would be no others
- shaped the practice of biblical exegesis and The Argument from Necessary Being or Everything
helped lay the foundation for much of medieval Comes from Something - it is possible for those
and modern Christian thought objects to exist or not exist at any particular
ST. MONICA OF HIPPO time. However, nothing can come from nothing
- Patron saint of mothers. The Argument from Gradation or The Supreme
- Was an early North African Model - There are different degrees of goodness
Christian saint and the in different things
mother of Augustine of Hippo Great Chain of Being - states there is a
- St. Monica loved Augustine unconditionally even gradual increase in complexity
throughout his life of sin far away from the Lord The Argument from Design or The Grand
Hippo -Place where St. Augustine become Bishop Designer - This implies divine intelligence on
Lesson 2. Basic Education Department: the part of the designer
Vision & Mission – “Solidarity with our
People” Monotheism - (from the Greek monos "only",
Solidarity - Unity or agreement of feeling or action, and theos "god")
especially among individuals with a common interest; - believes in only one god (monotheist)
mutual support within a group - Judaism, Christianity, and Islam
Mission - ultimate goal or purpose toward which one
strives; one's reason or motivation Polytheism - (from the Greek poly "many" and
Vision - picture of your desired future; having a vision theos "god")
is having the ability to think about, imagine, or plan - belief or doctrine that there are multiple
for the desired future gods or deities (polytheist)
life vision is therefore a picture of the dream life Hinduism (from India) is a religion with various
that you would love to live today and every day Gods and Goddesses.
Atheism -originates with the Greek atheos, which
is built from the roots a- (“without”) and theos
(“a god”)
- the absence of a belief in the existence of deities or
to an active belief that deities do not exist
Agnosticism - coined by biologist T.H. Huxley and
comes from the Greek ágnōstos, which means
“unknown or unknowable
- doesn't believe it’s possible to know for sure
that a god exists
Secular Humanism - nonreligious, humanism, with
regard in particular to the belief that humanity is
capable of morality and self-fulfillment without
belief in God
- lifestance, or what Council for Secular Humanism
founder Paul Kurtz has termed a eupraxsophy: a
body of principles suitable for orienting a complete
human life
Naturalistic Philosophy - theory that relates
scientific method to philosophy by affirming that
all beings and events in the universe (whatever
their inherent character may be) are natural
Consequentialist Ethical System - Secular
humanists hold that ethics is consequential, to be seal between two or more parties
judged by results
- in contrast to so-called command ethics, in
which right and wrong are defined in advance and
attributed to divine authority
Cosmic Outlook Rooted in Science - Secular
humanism provides a cosmic outlook—a world-view
in the broadest sense, grounding our lives in the
context of our universe and relying on methods
demonstrated by science
Deism - belief in Godbased on reason rather than
revelation or the teaching of any specific religion
Lesson 4. God's Love and Creation
REVELATION (lat. revelatio) - translation of the
Greek word apokalypsis, which means the
removal of a veil so that something can be seen
DIVINE REVELATION - God makes himself known as Lord - shows that Jesus was fully God and fully
- given to all people through creation and human
nature and to specific people through events,
inspired human words recorded as Scripture, and
Jesus Christ himself
GENERAL (INDIRECT) REVELATION - available to everyone
- often used to describe the way God is revealed
through the natural world, conscience, people,
awareness of morality, scripture or reason
SPECIAL (DIRECT) REVELATION - directly to an
individual or sometimes a group
- often used to describe the way God is revealed
through a dream, a vision, a miracle, experience,
or prophecy
SALVATION HISTORY - the story of God and the
story of man
- how God has loved and cherished mankind since
the beginning of time
- story of how we are saved... –our redemption in
Jesus Christ
- comes primarily from the Bible
Importance of salvation history
- In a sense salvation history is past history,
but it’s also present
- Understanding God’s actions in history, his
dealings with mankind, reveal the inner truth
of who God is
- It is the gospel, the good news of God’s
saving actions
COVENANT - may be described as “a legal way to
make someone part of your family.”
- means a binding agreement, a legal contract;
- derives from the same root word meaning “to
cut.”
- means that in the culture of the Bible, covenant
carried weight and was often cut, or sealed, in
blood
FAITH - complete trust or confidence in
someone or something
- strong belief in God or in the doctrines of a
religion, based on spiritual apprehension
rather than proof
Lesson 5. Jesus Christ: Lord and
Savior
THE INCARNATION - Christian belief that God
took human form by becoming Jesus.
Incarnation literally means ‘to take on flesh
human and, in many ways, it forms the basis
of Christianity
Four Reasons for the Incarnation
1. To save us by reconciling us with God
2. To reveal God's love to us
3. To show us a perfect model of holiness
4. To make us "partakers of the divine
nature" (2 Peter 1:4) In other words, to
"divinize" us.
 SALVATION - healing of a broken relationship
between people and God
- gift of freedom from our sins that Jesus
made possible by taking the punishment for our
sins on the cross
Salvation is God's grace
Insincere Salvation - type of redemption
- occurs when a person does not
completely surrender to God
Genuine salvation - total surrender to
the will of God
- when you decide to do away with your
old nature and allow the spirit and
word of God to penetrate your heart
IMPORTANCE OF SALVATION:
Salvation is essential to have a
relationship with God while on earth, and
to have eternal life with God in heaven
after death
PASCHAL MYSTERY - closely linked to ideas
about redemption and salvation
- refers to four ideas about the process
that Jesus went through to save
humanity from sin
FOUR IDEAS OF PASCHAL MYSTERY
His Life - For God so loved the world, that he
gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever
. responsible for creating the entire
believeth in him should not perish, but have
everlasting life. John 3:16
Resurrection - Luke 24:6-7: "He is not here; he
has risen!"
Death - But God demonstrates his own love
for us in this: While we were still sinners,
Christ died for us. Since we have now been
justified by his blood, how much more shall
we be saved from God's wrath through him!
Romans 5:8-9
Ascension - After the Lord Jesus had spoken
to them, he was taken up into heaven and he
sat at the right hand of God.-mark 16:19
Lesson 6. God: His Gifts
and Promises
Seven Covenants of the Bible
ADAMIC COVENANT -two-part statement of
God's promise to Adam
- First, in the garden
during the time of man's innocence, and
secondly, after the fall of man
- outlines the parameters of Adam's
existence in and outside the garden of Eden
NOACHIC COVENANT - God promises never again
to destroy all life on Earth by flood and
creates the rainbow
ABRAHAMIC COVENANT - God promised great
blessings to Abraham and his family
MOSAIC COVENANT - establishes with
the people of Israel at Mt. Sinai after he led them
out of Egyptian slavery
- God supplies the Law that is meant to govern and
shape the people of Israel in the Promised Land
DAVIDIC COVENANT - God promises a
descendant of David to reign on the throne over
the people of God
- continuation of the earlier covenants in that it
promises a Davidic king as the figure through
whom God would secure the promises of land,
descendants, and blessing
NEW COVENANT - defined as responding to
the gospel internally, from the heart, by faith in,
and reliance on, the promises of God, resulting in
an obedience that issues naturally through the
indwelling of the Holy Spirit, who writes God's law
on one's heart
CATHOLIC BELIEFS ABOUT GOD AS CREATOR
OMNIPOTENT - God is all powerful and is
universe and everything in it.
OMNIBENEVOLENT - Creating an entire universe
demonstrates God’s loving nature. Humans are
seen as the most important part of this creation.
ETERNAL - Christians believe God has always
existed as the three persons of the Trinity
and has no end.
EFFECTS OF ORIGINAL SIN
Sin - offense against reason, truth, and right
conscience
- failure in genuine love for God and neighbor
caused by a perverse attachment to certain goods
- wounds the nature of man and injures human
solidarity
PRETERNATURAL GIFT - abilities that do not
belong to our nature but are abilities that our
level of nature can have
THREE PRETERNATURAL GIFT
INFUSE KNOWLEDGE
- means mankind came with all the
knowledge in the natural universe
- We did not need to study or experience
things to know things
IMMORTALITY
- means our bodies are impervious to disease and
death
- Since we are spiritual beings, our soul
cannot be destroyed; and the gift of
immortality allowed our material bodies
to be forever with our immortal souls forever

INTEGRITY
- means“adherence to moral or ethical principles”
which as Christians, we would define as Biblical
principles
- involves consistency as well — someone who always
does the right thing
SANCTIFYING GRACE
- grace that allows us to share the divine nature of God
- supernatural state of being infused by God, which
permanently inheres in the soul
- vital principle of the supernatural life, as the
rational soul is the vital principle of a human being's
natural life
SANCTIFYING GRACE is supernatural because..
• it is above (super) our nature to become like God, but
this gift does just that.
• it transforms a sinner into a holy child of God,
• it is an umbilical cord that attaches us to God.
THE ORIGINAL SIN
The Serpent
- caused Adam and Eve to disobey God through a very
malicious temptation
- got them to disobey God by telling them they didn’t
need God to tell them what they can and cannot eat
Concupiscence
- Bible always refers to passionate desire for something
that God has forbidden