01 Why is It Important to Study Theology - Copy

8/12/2019 01 Why is It Important to Study Theology - Copy

1/36

Why Is It Important to Study

Theology


2/36

ASSIGNMENT

Write an essay entitled My Faith

Experience in one piece bond paper.

Not less than 300 words

Font: Times New Romans #12

Single space

To be submitted next Thursday


3/36

Analysis

Due to the massive devastation of the

typhoon Pablo, many people are

entertaining the idea that the calamitywas sent by God to punish the people

who have become sinful. How will you

deal with this kind of reasoning?


4/36

What is Theology

1. St. Anselm: Theology means faith

seeking understanding

2. Christian theology is the centralintellectual activity of the Christian

tradition, consisting of critical

reasoning about what should be taughtin the Christian community, the church.


5/36

Theology means simply the word about

God or the study of the Godhead. It is

the formal attempt to understand andinterpret the things of God, both

theoretical and practical, revealed in

both Scripture and tradition, in ascholarly, methodical, and systematic

manner.


6/36

ANSELM OF CANTERBURY gave a

classic formulation to the theological

enterprise as fides quaerensintellectum, or faith seeking

understanding.


7/36

Let us try to understand:

Theology comes from the Greek words Theo,

which means God and Logos , which literally

means word. Therefore, literally, Theology isthe word about God or the study about God.

This study has its Greek because they are the

first to make a systematic study of the things

about every observable things andphenomena including the divinity.


8/36

It is a formal attempt to understand and

interpret the things of God.

Formal here means certain set of ruleshave to be followed in our study of

Theology.

Theology is the study of religion,especially the Christian faith and God's

relation to the world.


9/36

Lets take the definition in

detail: It is a study and religion is the subject of

this study, particularly Christian faith.

Since Christian faith proclaims belief inGod who created the world and governs

everything in it, the work of God as it

relates to the life of humans and thecreation becomes the subject of

Theology.


10/36

Theology is, as St. Anselm puts it, faith

seeking understanding. It is therefore an

attempt to understand faith using faithand reason. Again, this entails a study

but unlike other sciences where the

scientists make use only of reason andtreats faith as irrational, in Theology, the

totality of the person is involved

including intellect and faith.


11/36

Why is it important to study

Theology?


12/36

1. Theology is essential for

our relationship with God. - For starters, the word Theology comes from two

Greek words which mean God and word. For this

reason, theologians refer to theology as Words

about God. The goal in theology, therefore, is tothink Gods thoughts after him.

Whoever does not love does not know God, because

God is love. 1 John 4:8. Through Theology, one

arrives to this understanding. How?


13/36

Christian Faith Needs

Explanation One cannot be a Christian unless one believes

certain things about God. This is important because,

as has been said, there is no greater sin than to

think of God other than he is.

For the Christian, we believe that God is triune

Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. This means that God is

one in essence, but three in persons.

To begin to comprehend this truth, one must studythe Bible thoroughly; but it would also be wise to read

the theologians of the past who have helped the

church understand this great mystery.


14/36

Christian Faith Needs

Explanation Christians believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of

God. Not only did Jesus claim this about himself

(Jn.8:58), but he asked Peter, Who do you say that I

am? Peter responded, You are the Christ, the Son

of the living God (Matt.16:16).

But Jesus also experienced hunger (Matt.21:18) and

other human feelings and emotions (Lk.19:41;

Jn.11:35). This indicates that not only is Jesus God,but he is also human.


15/36

The Bible Needs to Be

Understood in the Right Way Studying theology helps us think deeply about our

faith, know what we believe, and read the Bible

better, all of which enrich our relationship with God

and cause us to love God more

Matt.22:37; He said to him, You shall love the Lord

your God with all your heart, and with all your soul,

and with all your mind.

cf. 1 Pet.3:15 - but in your hearts sanctify Christ asLord. Always be ready to make your defence to

anyone who demands from you an account of the

hope that is in you;


16/36

Examples

How do you interpret the following:

Those who eat my flesh and drink myblood have eternal life, and I will raise

them up on the last day Jn. 6:54

God is love


17/36

Thus, anyone who is a follower of Jesus must

believe the truth about Jesus. As Millard

Erickson writes, It is not sufficient to have awarm, positive, affirming feeling toward

Jesus.

One must have correct understanding and

belief.[5] In this respect, theology isimportant because it helps us understand and

believe what is true.


18/36

C. S. Lewis29 November 189822 November 1963

writer of The Chronicles of the Narnia

Theology is like the map. Merely learning and

thinking about the Christian doctrines, if you stop

there, is less real and less exciting than the sort of

thing my friend got in the desert. Doctrines are notGod: they are only a kind of map. But that map is

based on the experience of hundreds of people who

really were in touch with God-experiences compared

with which any thrills or pious feelings you and I arelikely to get on our own are very elementary and very

confused.


19/36

Theology is Needed in our

Faith Formulation Creed is kind of faith formulation; it is a

concise expression or summary of ones

faith. Example: The Apostles Creed It summarizes the whole History of

Salvation, from Creation to the

expectation of the Next Life.


20/36

The Creed was a result of the

clarification of our faith. Some people

started to convince people with theirfalse teachings and the Church had to

make a solemn proclamation of what is

true and in the process rejected thewrong teachings

Ex. Jesus was God, therefore he did not

really suffer pain.


21/36

Examples of Heresies of False

Teachings Arianism- Jesus was a lesser, created being.

Docetism- Jesus was divine, but only

seemed to be human. Gnosticism- Dualism of good and bad and

special knowledge for salvation.

Monophysitism- Jesus had only one nature:

divine.

Nestorianism- Jesus was two persons.
http://carm.org/arianismhttp://carm.org/docetismhttp://carm.org/gnosticismhttp://carm.org/monophysitismhttp://carm.org/nestorianismhttp://carm.org/nestorianismhttp://carm.org/monophysitismhttp://carm.org/gnosticismhttp://carm.org/docetismhttp://carm.org/arianism


22/36

2. Theology Fuels Our

Worship. Hymnology is tied to Theology; the

Church songs are a product of Theology

Liturgy or the rituals and celebrationsare a result of Theology or the

understanding of the life of faith

Therefore, Theology is expressed interms of worship and worship is

influenced by the Theology behind it.


23/36

Bad Theology Leads to Bad

Living As G. K. Chesterton said, Heresy

always does affect morality, if its

heretical enough.[13] We simply cannot escape the fact that

what we believe influences how we live.

The way we live reveals the faith webelieve in.


24/36

Example of Bad Theology

Believe in God, have faith in Jesus and

you will prosper.

Why? Does it mean those who are poor donot believe in God?


25/36

Other Reasons to Study

Theology Theology might be undertaken to help

the theologian:

understand more truly his or her ownreligious tradition,[5]

understand more truly another religious

tradition,[6]and promoted understanding

make comparisonsamong religious

traditions,[7]and promote dialogue
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Traditionhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theologyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theologyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparative_religionhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theologyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theologyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theologyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparative_religionhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theologyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theologyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theologyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tradition


26/36

defendor justify a religious tradition,

facilitate reform of a particular

tradition,[8]

assist in the propagationof a religious

tradition,[9]or

draw on the resources (teachings) of a

faith tradition to address some present

situation or need,[10]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apologeticshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theologyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proselytismhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theologyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theologyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theologyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theologyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proselytismhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theologyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apologetics


27/36

draw on the resources of a tradition

(culture and history) to explore possible

ways of interpreting the world,[11]or explore the nature of God without

reference to any specific tradition.

challenge or purify (ex. biblical criticism)or oppose (ex. irreligion) a religious

tradition or the religious world-view.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theologyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biblical_criticismhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irreligionhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World-viewhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World-viewhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World-viewhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World-viewhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irreligionhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biblical_criticismhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theology


28/36

Augustine (354-430) -

It is God from whom all those who love him

derive both their existence and their love; it is

God who frees us from any fear that he canfail to satisfy anyone to whom he becomes

known; it is God who wants himself to be

loved, not in order to gain any reward for

himself but to give to those who love him aneternal rewardnamely himself, the object of

their love[1]


29/36

Life Situations

The State passed the law in favor of RH

in order to put the population under

control. They reasoned that manypeople are becoming poor due to the

big number children among poor

families.


30/36

A person close to you came to you

criticizing you for believing and

showing reverence to the statues ofJesus, Mary and the Saints. How would

you react and what would you tell the

person?


31/36

Overview of Theology

Courses Theo 1: Intro to Theology/Basic

Catechism

Theo 2: Intro to Sacred Scriptures

Theo 3: Christology

Theo 4: The Church and the

Sacraments

Theo 5: Christian Morality


32/36


33/36

Theo 2 Intro to Sacred

Scriptures Knowing the Bible

Knowing what is the Bible

Knowing God through the experiences

of the people in the Bible

Knowing how the Bible came to be

Knowing what the Bible means for the

Christian believers


34/36

Theo 3 Christology

The study on the Life and Words of

Jesus

Who is Jesus for the Jews

Who is Jesus for his disciples

Who is Jesus for the people who

followed his disciples

Who is Jesus for us now


35/36

Theo 4 The Church and the

Sacraments What is the Church

Who makes up the Church

What is the Life of the Church

How the Church nourishes its Life

The Seven Sacraments


36/36

Theo 5 Christian Morality

What is our final goal in life in relation to

our faith

Who are we before God and others

What are the choices to make to arrive

to the final goal

How do we evaluate our actions andmake sound decisions in relation to the

final goal

Documents

01 Why is It Important to Study Theology - Copy