FCL 102 Course Introduction & Orientation

Ferdinand D. Salagan, MA MPA PhD Applied Cosmic Anthropology ( Candidate) Assistant Professor College of Liberal Arts-DLSU-MLA, DLS-CSB / UPSHD-LAS PIAS CITY

THEOLOGY & ITS METHODS? Who do people say that I am ( Mk 8:27) Peters response: You are the Messiah - Peters expression of personal faith
in Jesus - in attempting to bring to expression in language, Peter was also making a theological statement

THEOLOGY is concerned with our experience of God, particularly our experience of God as a community of faith. It is the effort to understand & interpret the faith experience of a community.
St. Anselm defines Theology- fides quarens intellectum- faith seeking understanding Theology is different with Religious Studies or history of religions.

 Theology helps us understand and justify

our faith. It enables every believer to make a wellfounded and responsible decision. For example, I am drawn to believe Jesus as a figure of central importance in my life. As I reflect on the act of total personal trust I have place in him, I may turn to Theology for answers to certain questions that arise:

 Questions:

What is the meaning of salvation that Jesus

offers? How can we relate the human and divine in his life? How are we understand the miracles of Jesus?

To do Theology- is to attempt to give expression to ones faith from within a particular religious tradition. THEOLOGY AS A WORK OF THE CHURCH: Theology seeks to safeguard the faith entrusted to the Church & proclaimed by its official teachers, the bishops.

THEOLOGY AS A SCIENCE: Theology is

the conscious & methodological explanation & explication of the divine revelation received and grasped by faith

AREAS OF THEOLOGY: Biblical Theology- to recover the historical meaning of the biblical text, the meaning intended by the author. Historical Theology- studies the devt of the Churchs faith & theological tradition in different periods

Systematic Theology- seeks to

understand the basic doctrines of the faith & to show how they are related to one another.

Moral Theology- concerned with articulating

the values which inform the Christian life & identifying the kind of conduct which is inappropriate to it. Thus it represents a theological ethics, both personal & social. It asks, how are moral decisions made from & what kind of guidance comes from Scripture & the Christian tradition.
Pastoral Theology & Allied Disciplines -concerned with serving & building up the Christian community through preaching, counseling, religious education, & service. * Spirituality-vision of the Christian life & the manner of living it * Liturgical Theology- concerned with Churchs official *Canon Law- study of the Code of Church Law, first codified in 1918 & revised in 1983

Criteria for Theological Statements 1. Is it consistent with the biblical tradition? - The bible, as the written expression of the faith experience of Israel & the primitive Christian community remains the normative expression of the Christian tradition. - any theological expression of Christian faith must be consistent with the witness of the biblical tradition.

Criteria for Theological Statements 2. Is it supported by the official tradition of the Church? - The Churchs faith comes to official expression in its creeds, in its official liturgy and sacraments, & in the teachings of the Churchs teaching office or magisterium.

Criteria for Theological Statements 3. Is it consistent with the faith of Christian people? - The Churchs faith comes to official expression in the sensus fidelium or sense of the faithful. - Sensus fidelium refers to what Christian people believe. It is the result of the Holy Spirit working in the entire Church.

Criteria for Theological Statements 4. Is it consistent with scientific knowledge? - A theological statement cannot be proved according to the methods of the physical or social sciences. But good theology should be at least consistent with what is known from other sources of knowledge. - There need to be No conflict with Evolution & doctrine of Creation