Francis Fiorenza and John Galvin offered the Systematic Theology Roman Catholic Perspectives in two volumes to expound on the major elements of Roman Catholic Theology. The major doctrines of the Roman Catholic Church were developed in the wake of the Second Vatican Council (Vatican II). The authors called this postcoliniar theology that was faithful to the Roman Catholic tradition and influenced by historical and ecumenical studies, relevant to new philosophical mindsets and sensitive to different historical and cultural situations.
This text was made as a complementary work to Karl Rahners Foundations of Christian Faith, which served as a seminal source for the major areas of Roman Catholic theology. The authors were able to gather works from high caliber theologians in order to create a comprehensive collaboration that simplified and illustrated the basics of Roman Catholic theology, with reference to contemporary developments in theological method and categories.
VOLUME 1
Systematic Theology Task and Methods
The first section of the first volume discussed about the task and methods of systematic theology. This was the first chapter because it presented an introduction to the Roman Catholic conceptions of theology and the theological method that was observed throughout the text. Fiorenza discussed about the three classic conceptions of theology, coming from Augustine, Aquinas and Neo-Scholasticism. These approaches were considered to be significantly influential in studying Roman Catholic theology as an academic discipline.
This chapter also discussed numerous contemporary Roman Catholic theology that had distinctive methods and approaches. The ideal types included transcendental, hermeneutical, analytical, correlation, and liberational. These practices were not considered to be mutually exclusive and were often combined.
Augustine
Augustine was considered as the first who have made a major impact in the development of Christian systematic theology in the West, as opposed to Origens arrangement of theology and philosophical categories, based on the fact that his theological method was founded on his conception of theology as wisdom. He also presented hermeneutical rules in the method of interpreting Scripture and his influence in the structure of medieval summa. The significance of Augustine conception of Christian doctrine was his distinction between wisdom and knowledge, wherein wisdom focuses on eternal and unchangeable reality, while knowledge is rational insight of what was visible, changeable and temporal.
Furthermore, the importance of Augustines hermeneutical theory was based on the signification upon the ontological priority of the unchangeable eternal to the changeable and material. The importance was given to this because it was critical to have an understanding of the eternal to explain the material. In this context, there was some form of spiritual ascent and purification that was needed in order to understand eternal reality, which is needed for interpreting Scripture.
Augustine had a significant influence in the method, content and arrangement of medieval theology. The clarity and relationship that he espoused between faith and understanding was a critical factor for medieval theology and theological method, which was based on Isaiah 79, Unless you believe, you will not understand. The implications of this in theology were broad and dictated theological method, such as the determination of canonical doctrines and use creeds of faith to interpret Scripture.
Aquinas
Thomas Aquinas was considered to have had significant influence in Christian Theology. He provided an understanding of the Sacra Doctrina, which served as the first article of his Summa Theologiae. The argument referred to Sacra Doctrina, as neither faith nor to theology, but the knowledge that was revealed by God. There had been a rich medieval time about sacra doctrina, but Thomas reveals that the knowledge proper comes to man only through Gods revelation, similar to Augustines association of systematic theology with wisdom. The principles of sacra doctrina were based on the revelation of divine knowledge and wisdom. The sacra doctrine was intended to be an academic discipline alongside philosophy and further described it to be a science of the second Aristotelian principle, which discussed things that were from a superior knowledge.
The sacra doctrina, becomes a science because of the process of reducing theological statements into articles of faith. It was important for personal faith to exist in the articles of faith because the theological method was anchored on pre-scientific faith, in its content and certainty. This reflected the hermeneutical character of the sacra doctrine because its task was to interpret pre-scientific faith. God is considered as the source and goal of all things, as a distinct object of the sacra doctrina. Thomas also regarded God as the end that provided the unity of the sacra doctrina.
Neo-Scholasticism
From the teachings of Thomas, there were significant transformations and shifts from medieval Scholasticism to Neo-Scholasticism, as influenced by the controversies that surrounded Protestant Reformation and theological censures. The issue that surrounded that time was based on the recognition of theological and philosophical errors that brought about a renewal in the theological method. This changes led to an increase in the emphasis on authority and the growing number of theological sources. While Thomas assumed that the basic harmony that existed between natural reason and supernatural revelation produced disharmonies from the errors in philosophy, there was a necessity to correct errors through the teaching of the Scripture and the acknowledgement of authority from the doctors of the church.
Melchior Cano wrote the De Locis Theologicis, which literally meant concerning theological places, and offered 10 sources of authority that included Scripture, oral tradition, the Catholic church, the general councils, the Roman church, the fathers of the church, the Scholastic theologians, human reason, philosophers and history. Thus Neo-Scholastic conception of theology as a scientific discipline was characterized by deductive and syllogistic theological conclusions. The Neo-Scholastic approach involved the development of a theological manual, which became the instrument of theological instruction. Neo-Scholasticism influenced the incorporation of scientific ideals into the theological approach. These ideals involved considering church teaching as the starting point for study, they also gathered proof from Scripture and tradition, as well as speculative exposition. The third step was viewed to have given a systematic application of the thesis and provided for a more profound understanding of the Scripture. Proofs were collected from analogies and comparisons from natural experiences.
Theology and Theological Methods
There were diverse dimensions and trends that shaped Roman Catholic Theology, coming from the basic foundations from Augustine, Aquinas and Neo-Scholasticism. These dimensions reflected that theology was a theoretical-practical discipline. It entailed judgments that were not only based on tradition but on the practical dimension of ongoing experience.
The text pointed out to the fact that task that involved theology came with constant challenges to the church in faith and discourse. It was critical to consistently reconstruct the integrity of the churchs tradition for it to maintain its relevance. However, this was a complex task because of the need to protect the integrity of Church doctrines and the desire to become more open to discourse. According to Fiorenza, the emphasis on combining retroductive warrants, background theories, the integrity of tradition, and the catholicity of the church as a community of discourse heightens the requirement of comprehensiveness for theological method. An adequate theological method embraces diverse sources and a plurality of criteria.
Faith and Revelation
Revelation
The concept of revelation was based on the etymological meaning that meant a removal of a veil and how God reveals Himself in the Bible. The rationalists attempted to minimize the value of this fact, which made the Vatican Councils I and II defend it. As a product, the Constitution of Divine Revelation was created. There were Biblical terms that were presented to refer to how revelation was understood in modern theology, such as the Word of God, manifestation, appearance, knowledge and truth.
It was important to recognize that were different types of revelation in order to understand how these Biblical terms related to revelation. Revelation was simply described as the process of Gods self-disclosure, which is considered to be gradual and extends in long periods of time. The fruits of revelation are transmitted to believers by education in the church. It is described to be immediate for people who receive it directly from God. On the other hand, it is mediate when it was passed on from the first recipient to other believers.
There were also natural and historical types of revelations. Natural revelation was characterized by the self-manifestation of God through a regular order of nature. The disclosure of God was made through ones inner voice of conscience, in the same way that the law is inscribed in the human heart. On the other hand, historical revelation is made through to specific individuals or groups through events, during special times and places. Natural revelation was further illustrated through the understanding that revelation was a free and personal self-manifestation of God that called for a free and personal response of faith, whereas natural knowledge was achieved through human reason. The difference between natural and historical revelation should not be associated with the terms natural and supernatural. The purpose of discussion here was more of how public revelation is experienced and communicated. Revelatory modes of communication included the order of nature, historical events, symbolic words, interior illuminations and propositional statements.
On the other hand, doctrines were not independent revelations, but they lived off the power of symbols for the church. The true content of revelation was described to be divinely intended, as well as perceived by people through events and words. Through the participation in the community of faith, the individual believer was described to have access to the revelatory meaning of signs and symbols that ushers in Gods self-disclosure. Thus, the sign and the symbols helped aid believers to fully grasp Gods revelation.
Karl Barth, a Swiss Protestant, contrasted revelation and religion, as he noted that revelation was Gods word and religion was an effort to lay hold of the divine. However, the author pointed out that revelation itself, demands a human response it achieves a human and public presence when taken up into religion. Religion, insofar, as it is rooted in revelation, is holy and divine. Even the Vatican Council II released the Declaration on Non-Christian Religions, that hinted that revelation was at the root of nonbiblical religions because these religions acknowledges the recognition of a supreme divinity. While nonbiblical religions may not acknowledge revelation in their doctrines, Christians should make an effort to see the good in their ways in recognition of the grace that God has made available, even for nonbelievers.
Faith
As defined within the context of Catholic systematic theology, the term faith was used to designate provisional knowledge or awareness of the divine that has given life to believers who responded to revelation. As quoted in the text, The Vatican Council I (DS 3008 described it as the full homage of intellect and will to God who reveals. Faith was the beginning of human salvation and that believers furthermore hold to the truth that God has revealed.
Faith belonged to the theological virtues that were discussed in Pauls epistles, which included faith, hope and charity. They were considered to be the disposition of the human spirit that was oriented towards good acts, with God as the object of motivation. Virtues were reflected through their acts. The principal act of faith is to believe. Belief manifests itself through the confession of a person with his or her lips. Silence or denial of ones belief was considered as a sin against the virtue of faith.
Saint Thomas and other Scholastic theologians distinguished the formal and material objects of faith. They viewed the formal object of faith was described as the ultimate reason for the assent to any truth that the church accepts about the authority of God. For one to have faith, one needed to acknowledge the authority of God. Material object of faith is reflected by revealed truths. Faith was not about an acceptance of disconnected truths, but the acceptance of the order of salvation as disclosed by God. In Gods eyes, the revealed truth served as one and undivided truth, even if the human mind perceived it as a series of truths.
The relationship between faith and salvation has been described eloquently by Saint Thomas Faith is the habit of mind by which eternal life is begun in us, making the intellect assent to things that do not appear. In the Catholic tradition, it was taught that faith was sufficient for justification and salvation, if and only if, it was informed by charity. According to this text, the affirmation of the necessity of faith did not correlate to the affirmation of the sufficiency faith. Faith was considered to be dead if it lacked the so-called vivifying element of charity. Thus, according to the Catholic position, living faith brings about salvation. Faith is given life through a correlation with hope and charity.
When it came to faith and revelation, the culmination of revelation in Jesus Christ gave rise to the Catholic character of faith. Furthermore, the universality of revelation produces the possibility of faith that was not exclusive to Catholics or Christians alone. The primary act of faith if belief, it is followed by the secondary act of word and deed.
Transmission of Revelation
Testimony. Revelation is expressed in a bodily and a social manner through external acts of confession. According to the author, it achieves a public and historical existence when the testimony of the first witnesses becomes constitutive of an enduring community of faith. In order for a testimony to result in a response of faith or to serve as a transmitter of revelation, it must be credible and divine through the assistance of the Holy Spirit. The mediation of revelation is not purely human, but is dependent on the movement of God.
Bible. The Holy Scripture is produced by human authors and were selected through divine guidance by different generations of the community of faith and confirmed by leaders of the church. God is considered as the author of the Bible, in the sense that the Holy Spirit inspired human authors to write a pure and reliable expression of faith.
Tradition. Tradition was also considered as a source of doctrine. Revelation was not contained in the Book alone and used as a basis for the living community of faith. The church has the task of discerning the meaning of the Holy Scripture. The Council of Trent believed that the traditions that came form the apostles had no less authority than the books of the Scripture. Thus, Catholic theologians spoke of revelation that was based partly on Scripture and partly on tradition, as independent sources.
Hierarchical Magisterium and Infallibility. Focusing on public revelation, the church required for a guideline for publicly proclaiming the doctrine that upheld safeguards the way the revelation was received. As Christ commissioned Peter and the apostles to oversee the life and the witness of the church, popes and other church leaders were tasked to keep the church aligned with the truth of the gospel through the proclamation of sound doctrine and condemnation of deviations.
God
The Trinitarian Mystery of God
The mystery of the Trinity is included in Catholic systematic theology because it addressed an important nature of God and doctrine of the church. The Council of Nicaea (325) defended Arian beliefs that Christ was created, instead it clarifies that he is the begotten of the substance of the Father. There was significant controversy in trying to stabilize the faith doctrine when it came to the Holy Trinity. In fact, there was intense controversy to the term homoousios, a word that was inserted in the Nicene profession of faith out of the insistence of the Emperor Constantine. The Greek theologians went against this term because they found it to be unbiblical and to mean numerical identity. In the attempt to make distinct the personhood of the Father and the Son, the term homoiousios, which meant of similar substance, substituted the former word. However, there were still other theologians that translated it from a subordinationist perspective, wherein the Son was different from the Father and was less than the Father. However, whether the term homoousios was a triumph of Hellenistic philosophy or a rejection of Arianism, there was a significant shift in Christian theology of God.
Athanasius was viewed as a great defender of the Nicene orthodoxy, which pointed out that if Christ was not divine, he could not save or make sinners like God. However, God became human that mankind could receive the righteousness of God, as Paul revealed through his letter to the Corinthians, God made him who had no sin to be sin or us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. Thus, the Logos (Word) incarnate in Jesus must be eternally with God the Father and of the same substance, otherwise a substitution could not be possible. Thus, the classic Trinitarian doctrine stated that God is in one nature, three persons. There were further defenses made by the Cappadocians and made a clear distinction between begotten (gennesia) and being created (genesia). Thus, this settled the issue about the Son and how he was begotten from all eternity and equal to God, instead of being made and being a creature. The end of the period of John of Damascus saw the conclusion of Greek theology with the idea of perichoresis (mutual interdependence) that held tension when it came to divine unity, plurality, persons and nature.
The Latin theology after Nicaea tackled Augustines psychological analysis in order to explain how one substance could exist in distinct representations, without partitioning the substance. This analysis concluded that one God existed in the generation of the Word and the procession of the Spirit. According to Augustine, there was one Godhead with three persons shared. In this argument, each divine person shared the same divine essence. Thus, all works of the Trinity was indivisible. Nevertheless, the doctrine of appropriations became necessary in order to describe the distinctive content of the divine persons. In this argument, the creation was appropriate to the Father, redemption to the Son and the sanctification to the Spirit.
A comparison was made about the way Greek and Latin thought displayed their conception about the Trinity. Greek theology focused on the divine persons, while Latin theology gave emphasis to the divine nature. It was noted that After Nicaea, theology from both traditions of thought shifted from the function of God to the ontology of God. The development of Trinitarian doctrine was studied in order to bring together the mystery of God and the mystery of salvation. The significant of the doctrine of the Trinity can be complicated but it also expresses, through the help of specialized language of ontology that the redemption of mankind through Christ in the Spirit was from an all-eternity, self-communication and creative love. The doctrine of the Trinity was a Christian way of explicating the meaning of participation in the life of the triune God. Furthermore, this doctrine was foundational to the liturgical and confessional expressions of the Catholic faith.
Creation
According to the doctrine of creation, God is the origin, ground and the goal of the world and of everything in it. Creation was considered as a major form of self-revelation of God. The biblical revelation presents creation in the beginning of the first book of the Holy Scripture. Even the Nicene Creed acknowledged God as the creator of heaven and earth.
Bible on Creation
Biblical creation faith was presented in stories and statements of faith about creation and influenced the creation doctrine of Christian tradition. The Old and New Testaments of the Bible presented significant accounts that were aligned with one another about the doctrine. It was noted that the account of the worlds creation has been of secondary importance until recent years, wherein Gerhard von Rad argued that creation was subordinate to human redemption.
The Genesis creation texts were not said to address scientific questions as to how the world came about. Instead, it was about the proclamation of God, in terms of his relationship with His creation. According to a literary-critical study of the bible, the initial chapters of Genesis presented different accounts of creation, wherein Genesis 11 significant the Priestly tradition, while Genesis 24b echoed the Yahwist tradition. A look at Genesis 1 in the context of history drafted the first perspective during the Babylonian exile in the sixth century B.C. Since the exile was considered to be a difficult time for Israel, those who survived revived the belief for Gods power over chaos. This was done in the development of a creation account that was influenced by the epic poem, as well as earlier motifs of the Egyptian account of creation. For both accounts from the different traditions, the beginning was chaos and then, the creation of everything else took place. Thus, the Priestly account of creation reshaped the Babylonian creation myth to portray how God established order out of the chaos for the elect people of Israel, in order to restore confidence in God. This account was described to demythologize the traditions by which the account was based on because the heaven and the were not given divinity. This was noted to be a preclude for scientific theories of origin.
The second account of creation was found in Genesis 24b to 324. This was considered as the literary and theological product of a much earlier generation. It was an account that reflected the concerns of the united kingdom of David and his successor, Solomon. The Yahwist tradition illustrated the appropriation of a royal ideology and the development of national entity. This tradition was not so much concerned with providing cosmogony answers. It was described as an etiology or a story rich in symbolism, which attempted to find and to express causes for the present condition of the people. The symbolisms included the experience of goodness and intimacy with God, the benevolent Gardener, as well as the experience of sin and estrangement from God.
In the New Testament, creation was not the primary focus. Instead, it was related with other themes, mostly it was associated with the saving significance of Jesus. One of the earliest theological interpretations about Jesus was closely related with the activity of creation. Christ was interpreted as the embodiment of the creative activity of God. Earliest theological conceptions associated Jesus with Wisdom. The Pauline epistles served as the written application of how Jesus was viewed as the God of Wisdom. One of examples of this was his letter to the Colossians, For in him all things in heaven and on earth were created, things visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rules or powers all things have been created through him and for him. In here, Christ was referred to as the wisdom of God. In another account that Jesus was portrayed, as the wisdom of God in connection with the Bible was when he was described in the Gospel of John, As the Word was with God in the beginning before the world existed.
Creation in the History of Roman Catholic Theology
In the context of Roman Catholic theology, creation was indoctrinated through the development of official statements of beliefs, creeds, and doctrines in response to the questions that were raised in the course of time. The doctrines became a way for the church to develop and transmit its belief as a living tradition. There were theologians that offered groundbreaking insights about creation.
One of the central doctrines for Christianity was that creation by God was ex nihilo, which expressed faith in the transcendence of God and in the agency of God in creation. This notion was developed in the second century as the Christian response to Greek cosmology. The ancient Greek taught that God was not the creator, but merely a designer who ordered preexistent material. Creation ex nihilio manifested the beliefs that God transcended the world. Naturalism also posited that the divine was needed to explain natural processes.
Another major concern for the church in the second century was Gnostic dualism. According to the Gnostics there was a supreme God who was the source of the fully spiritual, invisible world and in a lesser God, who created the material reality. Thus, the creator was the God of the Old Testament and the enemy of the supreme God of Jesus Christ. Irenaeus, the bishop of Lyons argued against the Gnostic teachers. He was convinced that the polytheism and dualism they taught were unbiblical. He then affirmed the unicity of God the Creator and the God of Jesus, the unity of creation, redemption and Gods plan for salvation. Augustine also defended the theology of creation against the Manicheans. Even if he formerly belonged to this sect, they professed the dualism of God that resembled the Gnostics. He disdained material reality and were hostile to marriage. Augustine defended the teaching of Genesis that God created out of nothing and saw that creation was good.
In the middle ages, Aquinas was able to bring together Aristotles first mover and the focus on God as the first cause. The analysis that led him to these conclusions underscored the transcendence of God and left no opening for any pantheistic conception of the universe. Furthermore, Aquinas understanding of God revolved around the fact the fact that he was the pure act of being, wherein God presents himself as the great I am.
In the enlightenment and the early modern periods. Creation theology of the patristic and medieval periods was focused on explaining the relationship between God and the world through the employment of central symbols. These explanations provided Christianity with responses to questions about God. As expected, there was a different set of challenges in these periods with the question about what it meant to say that God created out of nothing. The challenge was focused on the questions from science and about theories about the emergence of the forms of life. This was one of the most significant challenges to the creation doctrine. The detractors of the creation theology refused to talk about God as a personal being and began to talk about him as the rational architect of the universe. Deist interpretations rejected bible authority when they presented God as the first cause of all things, but said to have caused a singular event and then ended with that. Thus, God was presented as an impersonal principle. There was no attempt to address the problem that faced Christian thought on creation, responding to the tenets of evolutionary science.
Darwins theory is the major contended for this doctrine, in the context of how religion and science were commonly viewed, during the Enlightenment period by scientists themselves. The most common approach was concordism, an effort to interpret the Bible as if it corresponded to scientific data. He argued that the days of creation were merely epochs in successive phases in history of the earth against the fact of the six days of creation.
Creation in Contemporary Theology
There were significant debates in between theology and science. Discussions led to four broad conceptions about the relation them. The first type envisioned theology in continuity with scientific theory. The second conception offered science in continuity with religious belief, based on the literal interpretation of the Bible. The third major type argued that theology and science were in totally distinct and separate realms of discourse. The fourth offered that theology and science were distinct but interacted with approaches to reality. The conceptions of these relationships between theology and science continued to manifest themselves in theological discussions in different degrees with a special focus on creation. Contemporary discussions about the relationship between theology and science have been long running. It was significant to come to a conclusion that theology and the sciences must work together to come up with a solution against the ecological crisis that the world is experiencing.
VOLUME 2
Church
Roman Catholic theology recognized the use magisterium as accepted by the most official modern Catholic documents when it came to pastoral authoritative teaching of the hierarchy. The warned against the danger in conventional usage because of the risk of trivializing the complex formulation of church teaching, especially when it came to interpreting the signs of the times. The term magisterium is a medieval term, which was chosen in order to provide serious weight in the teachings of the church that spoke out of their knowledge in the tradition. The magisterium is considered as one of the key concepts of papal and Episcopal teaching.
Papal Primacy
The Catholic Church expressed that the conviction of having a primatial authority exercised in the church. In the context of Roman Catholic theology, the popes function was seen to be in continuity with the role of Peter among the twelve disciplines in the New Testament. The Pastor Aerternus included four chapters with the central theme of the primacy of Peter, the perpetuity of this primacy, the power and nature of the Roman pontiff and the infallible teaching power of the Roman pontiff. The first chapter of this text did not refer to primacy as a position of honor alone, but of jurisdiction. The second chapter of this text discussed about how the constant protection and unceasing good of the church must be provided by the same Founder and for authority to remain in the church. This protected them from any objections from other churches to the teachings of the papacy. The third chapter pointed out that one would be anathematized if one denied the full supreme power of jurisdiction over the whole church, not only about faith and morals, but in the matter of discipline and government of the church as well. The power of the pope referred to the authority that he had been granted or the rightful freedom to act, and not his power to impose his will on others by force and intimidation. Potestetas referred to the sense of right and not the sense of might. However, the gospel figure of the shepherd was described to place focus on jurisdiction.
The jurisdiction of the pope is described to be ordinary and immediate. It is ordinary in terms of the authority belonged to the papal office and it is not delegated to him or conceded to him. However, it takes extraordinary circumstances for this authority to be used. Furthermore, it is immediate in the sense that there is no need to intermediary authorities to access him. Intervention did not need to come from a local bishop or a local civil power. Thus, the full power that was given to the pope through the blessed Peter, by Jesus Christ to rule, feed and govern the universal church meant the pope was accountable for universal pastoral care, which was defined as a ecumenical shepherding function. Thus, aside from being ordinary and immediate, the power of jurisdiction of the pope is also truly episcopal. The First Vatican Council, in the necessity to present the pope as a symbolic center when nothing was going wrong, attributed this. This meant that individual bishops also had been given to burden to feed and rule over the individual flocks that were assigned to them.
Furthermore, there is also the rejection to the opinion of those who held that the communication between the pope, bishops and their flocks can be lawfully impeded or to make their communication subjected to the will of secular power. The papal jurisdiction also included maintaining the rights and liberties of the local church and its bishop, at the same time enable those who felt maltreated by the local leadership to appeal to higher judgment.
Evangelization and Other Tasks
A discussion was dedicated to understanding what the church tasks entailed. The most evident tasks of the church entailed keeping the memory of Jesus and his significance alive, preaching the gospel and the Word of God in the Christian community, organizing and celebrating public worship, joining in the heavenly liturgy presided over by Jesus, teaching the faithful how to pray. There were also significant tasks such as church missions. The Second Vatican Council called the church to read the signs of the time in order to understand the context of the church in the world. The mandate of the church widely involved the mission of preaching the gospel to believers and non-believers in the world.
Sin and Grace
Sin
In the chapter that was allotted for the theology of sin and grace, offers a perspective of the social dimension of sin. An accurate analysis of sin was described to go beyond the level of personal dynamics of each individual. Thus, the analysis of the social dimension of sin could not be added on to the previous analysis of sin as a mere complementary reflection. Instead, sin was considered as social, as well as individual. When the term social was used it usually referred to something that was associated with a form of routinized behavior of groups. It also described relationships and patterns of actions that human beings experience with one another and the world.
It was significant to look back in history and understand the process of sin, guilt and consequent suffering in the world, wherein no one was exempted. The existence of moral evil in human history is almost undeniable. Human existence is essentially egocentric, competitive, hostile, aggressive and lacked concern for others. However, these were mediated by concrete organized structures of behaviors and institutions that limited the consequence of the moral evil that existed in humanity.
The Christian doctrine of sin was described to be paradoxical in its teachings that held a universal condition of a propensity to sin is the exercise of freedom, is part of freedom itself and impacts the exercise of freedom. The power of sin in the world was said to be inescapable. On the other hand, sin was also simple, in terms of being the convergence of human freedom of false autonomy and egocentric desires against other human beings and God. Sin was fed by different factors on an individual and on the social level. Sin was also described as an abusive power within each persons freedom.
Grace
The general notion of Gods grace referred to Gods goodness, graciousness and benevolence toward human beings. In the midst of human weakness, Gods grace appeared through his mercy and forgiveness. In the background of human finitude and death, Gods love manifested through the power of the ultimate salvation that God provided through Jesus Christ with eternal life. It was observed that there was still no single systematic understanding for the theology of grace. One of the aims of systematic theology was to draw upon the different notions of grace to be understood in one consistent language. Furthermore, grace needed to be understood in the background of both sin and the finitude of human existence, which both led to death. Finally, grace was viewed to be the response to the fundamental issues underlying the theology of sin. Grace revolved around Gods relationships with human beings in their sinful existence and how human beings can stand before God who approached them with his grace.
Karl Rahners theology of grace was considered to have summed up the substance of the whole Christian message. In this context, grace is salvation, wherein human existence was called to a personal communion with God. Grace was Gods personal communication of Gods self to the human beings. The first definition of grace was seen as theologically synonymous with the scriptural symbol of God as Spirit. The logic of personal communication of Gods own self represented how he opened up to human beings in personal love, it was viewed to be unowned and unmerited. Grace was considered to be given to human beings even prior to the unworthiness the was caused by sin. The effects of grace had different notions. The different views as to the benefits of grace provide the central tenets of Christian life. There are four significant effects of grace, which included liberation from sin, liberation to love, and active cooperation of God with human freedom and participant in Gods life.
Saints and Mary
Christian theology dictated that God alone is the Holy One, while there are chosen ones that receive the holiness of Christ through sacraments and through the grace of God. The Hebrew Scriptures reflected that holiness was a mark of the people of Israel who were liberated from bondage and chosen for a covenant with God. Thus, early Jewish Christians transferred this to the living and made it relevant to the present-day Church. Paul was known for addressing the recipients of his epistles as saints. Saints was taken from the Greek term hagioi, which meant people who form the holy community that was favored by God. They also experience being redeemed in Christ and reflect this in their faith and in their behavior.
The impact that Christians experienced from persecutions expanded the term to Christian believers who experienced death because of the name of the Lord. It included how they were already with Jesus Christ in glory because of their sacrifices on Earth for the sake of the Gospel. Thus, saints was used in such a manner that it exclusively referred to people who lived an exemplary Christian life and have passed on to enjoy their destiny in Christ. The first thousand of years in the history of the church, the people and the bishops of the local churches honored especially those who were deceased, in a special manner. It was only in the tenth century, wherein bishops in the council made the pope an official part of this process. The participation of the pope grew in such a manner that decision regarding new official saints was restricted to the papacy.
The decision as to who were considered and honored, as saints had become a complex wherein a process of canonization is implemented. The term saint was not used in a canonical and juridical perspective, wherein they were referred to as deceased believers who were canonized or inscribed on the list of those who were officially recognized to be holy. The church celebrates the memory of certain saints on particular dates throughout the year. Most of these saints have already been canonized some were not, such as the apostles and Mary. The calendar of the church included celebrations for the lives of noteworthy men and women, which culminated in the Feast of All Saints.
The historical development of this process was based on the practicing of honoring the holy people in the Bible who have already passed on. The remembrance of these people provided an avenue to praise God who provided the victory of faith or as an exhortation to believers to lead equally noteworthy lives. Examples of these commemorations were found in the Epistle to the Hebrews, which recounted numerous people who lived victorious lives of faith. The devotional practices that were practiced in commemoration of these saints were done in the postapostolic era of Roman persecution. There were many Christians who were condemned, tortured and executed. They were considered as martyrs for Christ and were viewed as icons of Jesus Christ. Christians loved the example and the testimony of these martyrs that they looked for ways to express it. The shrines they had built near their graves, which became places of pilgrimage, for devotees. In Catholic theology, saints did not replace Christ, but they differentiated veneration with worship, which meant they desired to be like them in the way they had lived their lives for Christ.
Mary, as the Mother of Christ, is the most commemorated saint. There were even two Marian dogmas that were papally defined. The dogma of the Immaculate Conception declared that she conceived of Jesus by the grace of God and that she was preserved free from the original sin. Furthermore, the dogma of assumption declared that after her life on earth Mary assumed body and soul into heaven. Devotions to her witnessed new places of pilgrimage, which attracted millions and created a theology of Mary as the mediatrix of grace and the co-redemptrix.
The Second Vatican Council was considered to have a pivotal impact in the theology of the saints and Mary. The role of Mary and the pre-eminent members of Church were included in the last chapter of this council, which revealed the theological importance of the saints and Mary, in relation to Jesus Christ. The theology of Mary was heavily related with her relationship with Jesus. Her pilgrimage of faith was observed in her dynamic life from the time the messenger angel appeared to her, to the cross. The reality of her life was said to be intertwined with the significant events that led up to the act of salvation that Jesus Christ did on the cross. While Christ remains to be the sole mediator between God and men, the saints and Mary were viewed to be participants of this mediation as they continue to intercede for the world through their prayers.
Sacraments
Sacraments in General
In Roman Catholic theology, sacramental encounter implies an ongoing dialogue between God and ourselves that results in a relationship that is both ecclesial and personal. Edward Schillebeeeckx was quoted in this chapter in his definition for sacraments, which were the face of redemption turned visibly towards us, so that in them we are truly able to encounter the living Christ. The church was noted to have developed a belief that sacraments enabled the church to provide a symbolic manifestation for Christ. As Jesus, in his humanity was the symbol of Gods redemption the church as basic and expressive acts of the church practiced the sacraments in order to fully realize the saving work of Christ.
Baptism and Confirmation
The sacraments of baptism and confirmation were understood within the theology of initiation that was linked to the theology of church. Through Baptism, a personal yet ecclesial relationship is formed with the individual and with God. A Christian was said to stand in a unique and personal bond with Jesus that would begin in an initiation process. The initiation process was considered through practicing different sacraments. Baptism was then recognized as the entrance into the mystery of Christs death and resurrection.
Furthermore, the different accounts of baptism in the books of Luke to Acts could not deny the power of water baptism. In fact, it manifested the power of the Holy Spirit to enable conversion that was celebrated through the initiation to be true and continuous. Infant baptism was practiced in the Roman Catholic faith because they viewed infants partaking this sacrament could receive the same promises of the community of believers.
Penance
The term penance was widely used to indicate conversion of the initiated community and the term reconciliation was described in an ecclesial dimension of the same conversion. The image that this sacrament was intended to portray reflected on the eschatological dimension of healing. The initial conversion theology focused on providing penance for the remission of sins. Compassion, correction and challenge were terms that were used to describe the pastoral strategy that was involved in this sacrament.
The forgiveness of sin did not only address the issue of who was reigning over the sinners body but in the reconciliation of the sinner to the community of God. Thus, penance represented the sacraments authority to readmit an individual into the church and deliver the sinner from the power of the enemy. This sacrament was also held significant because of the recognized necessity for the church to intervene in behalf of those who lost their baptismal grace and have separated themselves from the community and the Eucharist. Furthermore, canonical penance revealed that conversion was a lifelong process. Contrition was understood to be a part of the process of this sacrament. It was the recognition that one offended a loving God this was the first step before confession.
Anointing of the Sick
The image of Christ as a physician made it more relevant to understand the context of this sacrament. The anointing of the sick of those who were not in canonical penance were anointed with oil and blessed by a bishop in the attempt to restore their health. The general background of this sacrament revolved around the wellness of the individual and the forgiveness of sins. It was widely based on the nature of God as a healer and a redeemer.
The anointing of the sick was mentioned to be a privileged liturgical expression of the ecclesial care and mission of the church. The book of James reminded believers about how the anointing of the sick was an existing custom in the church. When there were sick in the Christian community, the leaders would anoint them with oil and pray for them. The effects of such practices were described through the raising up of the sick and the forgiveness of their sins.
Eucharist
This sacrament was based on the encouragement of the participation of the faithful with regards the sacrament of Christs Body. According to Roman Catholic teaching about the Sacrament of the Eucharist, major doctrine components were based on four documents, which included the Sacred Liturgy of the Second Vatican Council, an encyclical letter of Pope Paul VI of 1965, the instruction of the Eucharisticum Mysterium of the Sacred Congregation of Rites in 1967, and the Dominicae Cenae of Pope John Paul II of 1980. These documents pertained to the important points that governed the liturgical practice and ritual. First, the sacrament represented the sacrifice that perpetuated the sacrifice of the cross, the memorial of the death and resurrection of Jesus, and the sacred banquet, that symbolized the new covenant with the churchs anticipation of the final coming of the Lord.
The current theological retrieval with regards to the evidence of the Lords Supper or the Eucharist could be summarized into points. It represented a manifestation to celebrate the sacrament, which had its center in the pasch of Christ and to commemorate the memory of the Last Supper. It also presented the doctrines of sacrifice, presence and priesthood in the emergence of their dispute in the centuries.
The text provided significant insights and expositions into the Roman Catholic theology. It provided significant connections with the background and connections for the formation of the doctrines of this church. The collection of essays widely revealed the importance of historical tradition in the modern day practice of the Roman Catholic Church. Rituals and practices were developed in the evolution of the communitys faith and the strengthening of the church.
Seminal theological developments were also discussed in accordance to the methods and practices that were influenced by theologians such as Thomas Aquinas and Augustine. There was a critical integration in the study of theology, as an academic discipline, which enriched the study of Roman Catholic belief and practices. Different councils and doctrinal documents were represented in the roles that they play in influencing the practice of the Roman Catholic church, based on their interpretations and understanding of the Holy Scripture. The text served as an integration of the Roman Catholic theological reflection and the exposition of Roman Catholic teachings that were applicable to major areas of this religion. The book served as a compilation of theological perspectives from within the theology of Roman Catholicism after the Second Vatican Council.
