1. Explain St. Augustine's concept of homo incurvatus in se.
St. Augustine’s concept of homo incurvatus in se means to turn in on ourselves. We focus on our selfish wants, desires, and needs instead of on God and others. God is no longer the foundation and center of our lives, but we make ourselves into gods and idols of our own lives; placing ourselves in the place where only God should occupy.
5. What does living in community expose in our lives and why is this important to our spiritual formation?
Living in community will expose selfishness, ambition, jealousy, dissension and impurity in ourselves, allowing us to experience loss, despair, and stress. Even so, all of this is important to our spiritual formation because we mature as Christians,
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We often read the parable of "the good Samaritan." Who were the Samaritans and what was their relationship with the Jewish people in the time of Jesus life on earth? Briefly explain.
Samaritans were foreigners brought from Babylon that settled among and intermarried with the poor and uneducated Jews. They mixed their pagan practices with some Jewish traditions, however, the Jews that returned from captivity rejected them because they viewed them as outsiders and non-heirs to the Kingdom of God. So, when Jesus came the relationship between the Samaritans and the Jews was extremely strained.
3. What is the spiritual result if I arrange my life so that "I keep others who are different at a distance"; so that "I am surrounded only by churched people or those who have the same socio-economic background"?
The spiritual result is that I am not loving my neighbor as myself or going after those different from me like Jesus did. How am I imitating Christ is I am not following and modeling my ministry after his? Jesus went after those considered unworthy and underserving just because they were different. If I refused to follow those principles, I can never uphold the Christian faith, as that is the core of Jesus death and resurrection. Additionally, I will never learn to understand the worldview of others, to be empathetic, learn to show compassion, or learn to show unconditional love, all which imitates the image of
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As we pour into others, God continually pours into us; continually working in and through us conforming us to the image of Christ through serving others.
Chapter 8:
2. How did the church father Tertullian depict the Trinity?
Terullian depicted the Trinity as a tree.
4. What characterizes the life of the Trinity?
Mutual submission and complete sharing characterizes the life of the Trinity.
5. Each of the members of the Trinity exercises a primary function in the relation between people and the Godhead. Describe the function of each member of the Trinity.
Each member of the Trinity has a primary function. The Father is the creator, who originates the plan of salvation. The Son is the Redeemer, who provides the remedy for human sin. Lastly, the Spirit, who is the Sanctifier applies this salvation, growing new spiritual life.
7. The Greek terms theia physis have what meaning to Christians?
To Christians, the Greek term theia physis means that they are incorporated into the very life of the Father, the Son, and the Spirit.
12. What is meant by the "immanent Trinity" and the "economic Trinity"?
The immanent Trinity is God in Himself, which differs from the economic Trinity of God going out to
Every person deserves the right to experience a sense of community amongst people who share a common characteristic. A sense of fellowship amongst similar people allows a person to become more comfortable with who they are through interactions with others who are going through—or have gone through—the same triumphs or hardships. Without this feeling of belonging, one could be driven into insanity. Anxiety due to isolation and desolation could run rampant through a person’s mind because of the loneliness that comes with a lack of community—making it an essential part of a humanhood. By definition however, community invites inimitability. Community can be defined as a group of unique individuals with shared characteristics. From that a
The first four chapters of Genesis indicate that God is the eternal Creator the universe; that God communicates with His creation and evaluates his own work, and that God is sovereign, exercising “supreme authority and absolute power over all things” (Lecture 2, para. 5). There is but one true God, who exists as a Triune Being and is three Persons in one essence; a Divine essence which exists wholly, invisibly, simultaneously and eternally, within three members of the one Godhead—God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit (Lecture 2, para. 7). Harmoniously linked, “each divine figure of the Trinity exercises dominion over creation and is involved in the biblical narrative in its own unique, yet cooperative, way” (Johnson, p. 178). The unity of the Trinity not only illustrates the full divinity of God, the immeasurable power, benevolence, wisdom and omnipresence distinctly setting Him apart from His creation, but also shows that He is the source of all that is good, true, beautiful, loving, just, and
Community impacts our daily lives. It brings us together and it provides the support we need through tough situations. Every day we engage with our community whether it is with a person from the community or with service to help the community flourish. It is important to better ourselves as a community member or a neighbor because a community needs strong members to flourish. To become a strong community member, one must practice all types of altruism, give more than what is required, and work together with members of the community.
Trinity: The Trinity was a key feature of Christianity. The Trinity symbolized the three persons of God, the father, the son, and the Holy
God the Son is revealed in the Christian Scriptures. God the Spirit is revealed in the Church. The Trinitarian doctrine states that there are three co-eternal, equal persons in God, which is the notion of unity within community. The Trinitarian doctrine was further developed and defined at the councils of Nicaea in 325 CE and Constantinople in 381 CE. God was always trinity, however gradually this reality became known through revelation. Jesus calls God and speaks of the spirit which indicates a plurality in God. The difficulty is reconciling the concept of monotheism with the notion of God existing as three persons. The divine essence is common to all three, however the three persons have attributes or properties which distinguished them eg Fatherhood, sonship and sanctifying power. Once essence means that the actions (creation, redemption, sanctification) are attributable to all. Mutual relations is the concept that the terms Father and Son are not titles but expressions of a relationship and thus all three persons are co-equal
Communities play an essential role in the development of the self and learning about the stranger. Through communities, individuals are able to socialize and create a greater understanding of each other. In The Glass Castle, Jeannette Walls describes the community of which she felt most part of during her childhood. Walls says, “. . .
Living in Christian community is a necessity for the everyday life of a Christian. Without community, the Christian has no one else to “sharpen” them, no one else to understand the everyday struggle of living in the world, sharing the Gospel, but not partaking in the sinful ways of the world. In “Life Together”, Dietrich Bonhoeffer explores Christian community, and presents not only the benefits of Christian community, but also the toxins that can destroy the community. Living in Christian community brings incomparable joy and community in and through Jesus Christ, but can be easily lost due to humanistic ideals, or “dreams”.
Community is built of two main elements. First, community requires communal caring. Members need to put themselves in positions where they are able to relate to other members and does everything “within reasonable limits of self-sacrifice” (65). The second is communal reciprocity. Individuals will serve other members of the community, not for exchange of goods, but to provide generosity and support. These elements of community appear in the lives of all individuals, even the most capitalist ones. Humans are entirely capable of these.
Trinity is one God. Each of the persons of the trinity, Father, Son, and Spirit “is God whole and entire”. I believe that the trinity of persons consists of one substance and one essence. Each of the persons is that supreme reality, the divine substance, essence or nature. Each of the three persons are distinct from one another, but known to be related to one another.
They teach us that people are stronger together than when they are separate. A loving community is a very significant part in a person’s life because people would do anything to help them, it is like having another family, and they gain friendships that are hard to live without.
The Trinity consists of God, the Father, Jesus, the Son of God and the Holy Spirit. The Christian faith recognizes there is one God and He is one with His Son, Jesus and the Holy Spirit. The purpose of this essay is to describe the interrelationship of the three persons of the Trinity. This will include the concepts of the economic trinity, the essential trinity and the social trinity.
The Samaritans were the people of Israel that remained. They believed they had the original religion based on the Samaritan Pentateuch. They think that Judaism is related but altered for the true form of the religion of Israel. The Samaritans were a racially mixed people with both Jewish and pagan ancestry (http://www.catholic.com/quickquestions/who-were-the-samaritans-and-why-were-they-important). They only accepted the first five books of the Bible. Because of their imperfect adherence to the Jewish religion; they were despised by the
The Trinity is a doctrine that has and will continue to bring much controversy to the Christian faith. Yet it is important to understand that a practical approach to this topic can be very important. Having a full understanding of the Trinity is vital to the life of a Christian. The distinct, yet interwoven aspects of God’s character will affect every aspect of a believer’s life.
Mary Ann Fatula’s The Triune God of Christian Faith provides for the reader the inner life of God as well as insight into the human reality. Fatula’s writing draws the devotional discussion of the Trinity as the present-day effect of the Trinitarian faith is called to support attempts to articulate and live the Trinitarian mystery. The Trinity in a human’s life is the content of our definition of our human meaning and for an infinite gift: love. Each of us has a desire for achieving meaning, for love, and for wholeness. Fatula in her book develops the study of the divine ‘persons’ and states the importance of understanding what it is to be truly a ‘person’ of both human and divine potential.
The role of the son or Jesus is the savior and teacher. The role of the Holy Spirit is the empowerer and evangelist. All these roles combined equal a mystical element that describes the Trinity or another name is Godhead. To understand the Trinity, God is the sun that shines while Jesus is the rays of the sun and the Holy Spirit is the warmth that is felt from the sun. All personalities are equal and combined together called the Trinity.