The Road so far...............
A Semester 1 Theology Exam by Karissa Udenze
The Mystery of Redemption
- God created Adam and Eve out of his great love.
- They enjoyed a state of original holiness with God but that ended when they disobeyed God.
- The Fall of Adam and Eve introduced sin , suffering, and death.
- This sinful state without redemption prevents people from entering into Heaven
- Original Sin has caused the human conscience to become lax and unreliable to judge truthfully between good and evil actions.
- Since The Fall of Adam and Eve the human person tended to focus inwardly on the self, which led to a further alienation from God.
- Before the Fall, Adam and Eve possessed a clear awareness of God's presence and enjoyed a loving relationship with Him.
- The original state a man had preternatural gifts that included: immunity from sickness, suffering, and death.
Chapter 3- The Word Became Flesh
- The word became Flesh is a phrase meaning Jesus was born
- There are four reasons the Word became flesh a. to make expiation for sins, reconcile man with God, and restore human nature lost by sin:
- To make expiation for sins, reconcile man with God, and restore human nature lost by sin; The Fall of Adam and Eve created a rift between God and the Human race. By eating from the tree of knowledge, Adam and Eve disobeyed God and closed the gates of Heaven. Human beings on their own could never repair the damage caused by the sin of Adam and Eve. Thus there is a need for a savior who possesses the natures of both God and Man.
- To manifest the infinite depth of God's love; God became man to show all people how much he loves them. God displayed the immensity of his love for man so people might serve him not out of fear but out of fear. Even when Adam and Eve sinned, God did not give up on them but devised his plan of redemption.
- To offer a model of holiness; He gave an example of how, with grace, a person can overcome the temptations of the world, the Devil, and the flesh. His life and his teachings coincide with the goal of holiness of life. They are designed to challenge the Christian to work toward heroic sanity by putting his words and example to practice.
- To allow people to share in his divine life; Through the sanctifying grace received in Baptism, a person truly shares in the life of Christ. It is essential to keep in mind a person cannot become Christ-like by his or her effort alone but inly through the transforming grace won by Christ's redemption.
Jesus's divinity
Jesus suffering for our sins.
Jesus preaching to the crowd on how to be holy.
Jesus showing God's love.
Chapter 4- The Paschal Mystery
- The Paschal Mystery is the Passion, Death, and Resurrection of Jesus Christ.
- Refers to Jesus being the paschal lamb, which is sacrificed at Passover in Judaism, and how he sacrificed himself for us and our sins.
- From Christ's Paschal Mystery people have learned to appreciate the great evil of sin and the even greater love of God.
- The Resurrection was Christ's greatest miracle because it proved that he is truly the Son of God.
- By His Passion and Death, Christ offered himself to his heavenly Father to save all people from sin, including Original Sin, and sanctify them.
Chapter 6- The Theological Virtues
- The Theological Virtues are Faith, Hope and Love.
- God gives us these virtues to help us achieve holiness and help us live our life in holiness.
- To have faith means to accept truths guaranteed by the authority of God
- The practice of Faith shouldn't be reduced to a mere intellectual or academic acceptance of Catholic doctrine
- Sins against Faith are: voluntary doubt, schism, heresy, apostasy and atheism.
- the virtue of hope is the confident expectation God will give the capacity to respond to his love so as to achieve a life of sanctity.
- Sins against hope are: despair and presumption.
- Charity enables a person to love God above all things.
- Charity also moves Christians to love their neighbors out of love for God with the heart of Christ.
- Sins against Charity are: indifference, Ingratitude, lukewarmness, acedia( sloth), and Hatred of God.
Chapter 7- Prayer
- Prayer is a special communication between us and God.
- God is all-Knowing but it is still important for us to pray to Him so we can form a bond with Him
- The Lord's Prayer is a model for all Christian prayer because it sums up the entire gospel of Jesus Christ.
- God answers all prayers
- There are 3 forms of prayer: vocal, meditative and contemplative.
The Church
Chapter 5- The Four Marks of the Church
- The 4 Marks of the Church are: one, holy, catholic and apostolic.
- No other church can validly claim these marks
- The Church founded by Christ is One and unique because of her origin.
- In establishing the Church on earth Jesus gives all mankind the opportunity to be united to him, the one savior of the world, by becoming part of his one mystical body.
- wounds to unity are: Apostasy, heresy, schism
- The Church receives her holiness from Christ her founder.
- The Church is holy because her goal is the glory of God.
- The Church is catholic because catholic means 'universal'
- The church is catholic because she has received universal authority from Christ to full fill her mission
- Apostolic relates primarily to Christ's selection of the 12 apostles as the foundation of the Church.
- She is founded on a threefold sense: Apostolic foundation, faith, and succession.
catholic
Chapter 7- The Last Things; Parousia
- The last things are Heaven, Hell, and Purgatory
- Purgatory is a state of purification from venial sins so that souls achieve the purity necessary to enter the joy of Heaven.
- Purgatory is not a another form of hell but the antechamber of Heaven
- Hell is eternal self-exclusion from communion with God and the blessed in Heaven.
- The souls of Hell continually thirst for God while hating him.
- Heaven is the state of everlasting life in which we see God, become like him in glory, and enjoy eternal happiness.
- All souls in Heaven are in light of glory and have an immediate vision of God
- The Second coming of the Lord is known as the Parousia, a Greek word meaning "apparition" or "presence"
- It is the final judgement.
- the parousia marks the definitive triumph of Christ over sin and death