God and evil
Theology describes God as a powerful supreme being who created the universe. He is omniscient, omnipotent and omnipresent. He is also loving, eternal, righteous and a gracious God. Evil originated from Satan. He was the head of a section of angels in heaven before he lured them to turn against God. God realized it, he chased them out of heaven. Satan’s core goal is to seduce people to commit evil deeds. Evil is acting against the will of God. Hatred, jealousy, and murder are good examples of evil.
Religious ethics
Various religions have different ethics. Ethics defines what is right and wrong. Christianity emphasizes love, forgiveness, mercy, and Grace. Christian ethics are teleological. They are oriented towards the heavenly kingdom. Hindu ethics also are known as the Dharma they stress on the need for courage, purity, forgiveness, truth, and wisdom.
Every religion has its ethics. Although some are similar across various religions. Ethics serve an essential purpose of shaping followers by identifying virtuous and wicked behavior, giving moral guidance and bringing about a form of happiness and satisfaction.
Gutierrez Gustavo Theology
Gustavo Gutierrez was a Roman Catholic theologian and a Dominican priest. He is one of the few theologians who dared mix religion and politics. Gustavo stood in solidarity with the poor by developing liberation theology. Liberation theology stresses the need for Christians to assist the poor and the oppressed through engaging in political affairs.
Gustavo was motivated by the fact that 60% of people in his continent were poor. He saw this as a consequence of unjust structures that exploited the poor. Gustavo urged Christians to engage in political and economic practices to end this exploitation and promote justice.
Hermeneutics.
Hermeneutics means the general principles involved in the interpretation of biblical texts, wisdom literature, and philosophical texts. There are different types of hermeneutics; Vedic hermeneutics, Buddhist hermeneutics, and biblical hermeneutics. Buddhist hermeneutics is the interpretation of Buddhist scripture. Vedic hermeneutics is the interpretation of the early holy text of Hinduism.
There are different types of biblical hermeneutics. Literal, moral, allegorical and anagogical. Moral defines and interprets the ethics outlined in the bible. Literal explains the bible as it is. Anagogical explains different events and their meanings to the future and allegorical interprets and believes that texts have another level of reference.
Philosophical theology
Philosophical theology is the use of philosophical methods to analyze theological concepts. Thomas Aquinas was the most famous philosopher and theologian in history. He argued that Christians can come to know more about God through rational demonstration. He also argued that God’s existence cannot be demonstrated as it is self-evident.
There are two types of philosophical theology the first one uses evidence to demonstrate the truth of religious claims. It is also known as natural theology. The second one highlights the consistency and probability of theological claims using philosophical methods.
Theological anthropology
Theology anthropology is a branch of theology that deals with the religious understanding of human beings. Human beings are created in the image and likeness of God. For instance, they were given dominion over the earth just as God has power over everything. Three views explain the understanding of human beings. The first one describes human beings as social beings, the second one views humans from a future perspective in which they will have a strong fellowship with God. The last views Christology as part of anthropology.
Revelation (Theology)
Revelation is the disclosure of information through communication with a deity. There are two types of revelation; individual and public. Public revelation is the disclosure of information from God to a large number of people. For instance, in the Old Testament God gave the Ten Commandments to Moses and the Israelites on Mt Sinai.
According to Aquinas, there are two types of individual revelation. The general revelation comes through nature. Special revelation consists of direct communication with God or through miracles.
Spirituality
Although there is no one particular definition that describes spirituality. Several definitions shed more light on this subject. Kees Waaijman describes spirituality as a reformation or molding man to the original form. Spirituality can also be described as a connection with a higher force. It can also be defined as innermost personal experiences in matters related to spirituality.
Spirituality looks at our way of life. It intermingles with Christian beliefs to produce a spiritual way of life. Spirituality concentrates on the heart. Believes and Christian faith affects spirituality. Although spirituality is a bit different from a religion they both have some similar characteristics.
References
Geach, P. T. (1956). Good and evil. Analysis, 17(2), 33-42.
Erickson, M. J. (1998). Christian theology. Baker Academic.
Little, D., & Twiss, S. B. (1978). Comparative religious ethics (p. 2880). New York: Harper & Row.
Palmer, R. E. (1969). Hermeneutics. Northwestern University Press.
Black American Catholics on the Path to Sainthood
Liturgical Leaders Black American Catholics on the Path to Sainthood There are several Black American Catholics who are in the early stages on the path to sainthood. We spoke briefly about some of these men and women in class, and some of you did a similar assignment last year in Liturgical Planning. This assignment is […]
