Introduction to Theological Studies Prof. Felix Just, S.J.

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Introduction to Theological Studies Prof. Felix
Just, S.J.

• What Is Theology?
• (revised Jan. 27, 2005)

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Theology lt Greek Theos Logos

• Theos God
• not a personal name, but a generic title for the
  divine being
• God vs. gods (more on this below)
• Logos Word Phrase Speech Reason
• Not just a single w-o-r-d, but any language-based
  thought
• Talking about Study of
• Anthropo-logy Study of Humans Bio-logy
  Study of Life
• Geo-logy Study of the Earth Zoo-logy
  Study of Animals
• Theology Study of God Talking about God
• Gods being, essence, nature, and/or attributes
• Gods relation to human beings and the whole world

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Philosophy lt Greek Philos Sophia

• Philos Love Friendship
• Four Greek words for love eros, philos,
  agape, storge
• Philadelphia lit. Love of Brothers (City of
  Brotherly Love)
• Philanthropy lit. Love of Human Beings (i.e.
  Charity)
• Sophia Wisdom
• Wisdom vs. intelligence vs. knowledge vs.
  understanding
• Philosophy Love of Wisdom
• Socratic Method asking questions!
• Not just reading books, but dialogue between
  persons
• About what? Everything! Including God?

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Love of Wisdom / Talking about GodQuest for
Knowledge / Search for Truth

• Ancient World
• Classical Greece Philosophers
• Ancient Israel Prophets Priests
• Other Cultures Magi, Physicians, Kings, etc.
• No separately specialized Theologians
• Medieval Universities
• Four Disciplines Philosophy, Theology,
  Medicine, Law
• Modern Universities
• Liberal Arts, Humanities, Social Sciences,
  Natural Sciences, Engineering, Arts, Business,
  Education, Religious Studies

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Types of Belief in God(s) lots of -isms

• Theism
• Atheism
• Agnosticism
• Gnosticism, Polytheism
• Pantheism, Deism
• Henotheism, Monotheism
• Paganism, etc.

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Types of Belief in God (I)

• Theism
• Belief in the existence of a God or any gods
• The generic term, of which other isms are
  subcategories
• Atheism
• The opposite Belief that God and/or gods do not
  exist
• Agnosticism
• Not knowing whether God exists overall
  non-belief
• Gnosticism
• A religious system that believes salvation comes
  through knowledge (Gk. gnosis) of ones divine
  origin and destiny

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Types of Belief in God (II)

• Polytheism
• Belief in the existence of many (Gk. poly) gods
• Egyptian many gods, mostly in animal form
• Greek Roman a large family of gods, on Mount
  Olympus
• Pantheism
• Belief that divinity resides everywhere (Gk.
  pan)
• The whole universe is divine divinity is within
  everything that exists
• But there is no God separate from or external
  to the world
• Deism
• Belief that God created the world, but then
  abandoned it
• God exists, created us, but exerts no further
  influence on the world
• Based on 18th-century rationalism (e.g. Thomas
  Jefferson)

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Types of Belief in God (III)

• Henotheism
• Allegiance to one god over the others
• All nations have their own gods Our god is
  better than your gods
• Monotheism
• Belief in the existence of only one God
• What others call gods are at most spirits, but
  not divine
• Christians believe in one God, but Jesus Spirit
  also divine
• Trinity one divine nature, three divine
  persons (not 3 diff. gods)
• Paganism
• Religions of others who dont believe in our
  God/gods
• Popular connotations negative pagans, heathens,
  unbelievers
• Academic meaning neutral all non-Jewish,
  non-Christian religions

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Identifying God (Titles Names)

• Generic Titles
• God / god, Deity, Divine Power, El, Elohim,
  etc.
• Father, Mother, Creator, Lord, King, etc.
• Proper Names
• Jewish YHWH (Yahweh? Jehovah?) Ya/Ja
• Mesopotamian Asherah, Baal Ishtar, Marduk,
  Tiamat, etc.
• Egyptian Aten, Horus, Isis, Osiris, Ra, Seth,
  Thoth, etc.
• Greco-Roman / Olympian ZeusJupiter
  AthenaDiana etc.
• Muslim Allah

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Talking about God (Philosophically)

• God is Absolute (positive negative)
• ALL omnipotent (all powerful) omniscient (all
  knowing) omnipresent (everywhere)
  omni-benevolent (all merciful)
• NOT invisible (not seen) immutable
  (unchanging) immortal (not dying) infinite
  (not limited) etc.
• Language is Limited (analogies opposites)
• God is transcendent (beyond) immanent
  (internal)
• So God-talk is possible, but always analogical /
  inadequate
• Both/and Approach via positiva via negativa

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Summary / Review

• Philosophy Theology
• Philosophy lt Greek Philos Sophia
• Theology lt Greek Theos Logos
• Types of Belief in God (-isms)
• Theism vs. Atheism vs. Agnosticism
• Deism vs. Pantheism vs. Polytheism
• Henotheism vs. Monotheism (incl. Trinitarian
  Christianity)
• Talking about God
• Generic Titles vs. Proper Names
• Analogical Language absolutes opposites