21st ecumenical council 1962-1965

• observers from protestant groups
• over 3,000 people in attendance
• first modern council
• first council that wasn't called to condemn other viewpoints or people.
• purpose was aggiornamento=updating
• 1958-John     elected-called for Vatican II, died one year after council opened.
• Paul    continued council

1.) Mass translated into vernacualar

2.) Religious Freedom

3.) Communion mutual(standing, both species-body&blood)

4.) Excommunications removed

5.) Age restrictions

6.)Jews not to be blamed for death of Jesus

A.) Definition: an attempt to liberate people in all areas of life(economiss, politics, as well as spirituality.)-to be in charge of their own lives

• ortho-straight

-straight thinking or praise.

-mainline teachings of the Church correct

-Liberalism argues that correct action/practice should be more concerning than teaching.

Liberation thinks people are thinking too much and not practicing enough.

Liberation Theology

B.) History

• After Vattican II ended, Bishops in Latin America met(1968) to discuss what they can do in LA to apply Vatican II's principles.
• origin of liberation theology-became difficult for them to carry out what they wanted to b/c of their relationship w/ military dictator(poor were victimized by dictators.)
• Some Catholic priests basically became revolutionaries-left priesthood to fight dictator
• RCC has love/hate relationship w/ liberation theology.
• -RCC great defender of the poor/marginalized
• Protestantism picks up liberation theology

Liberation Theology

C.)Key Theologians

Gustavo Gutierriez-wrote Theology of Liberation(first book about Liberation Theology)

Theology comes second. It reflects on pasoral activity, it doesn't produce it.

A.)Task of Conscientization

• raising awareness of an issure, making people conscious or aware
• 1st step of social change(or LT) is bringing awareness to the people tht they're not just victims, they are subjsects in charge of their own life.

• type of injustice that reaches the level of an institution(institutionalized) govt, church, business, schools
• injustices that are built into systems
• occur everywhere
• very difficult to eradicate
• ex: tax deductions for home ownership but not renting

Key Concepts

C.) Violence and Liberation

-Early understanding of Liberation Theology was that it promoted violence.

LT didn't intentionally promote violence but a social change so large usually results in violent break outs.

LT stance: violence may occur but it doesn't have to occur

Dom Helder Camara wrote Spiral of Violence.

Injustice-revolt-suppression in a circle. Violence starts/begins at injustice.

Ex: Rodney King being beaten by white policement who were found innocent. Revolts occured, national guard sent to suppress.

Key Concepts

D.) Who are the poor, Marginalized,and Oppressed

RCC 1.) "Preferrential Option" for the poor

• God has a special place in his heart for the poor
• God cares for the poor & marginalized
• widows, orphans, "stranger in your midst" (immigrants)

Protestant 2.) "Prophetic position" of the poor

prophetic-telling people truths that they need to hear, but don't want to hear

• poor have nothing to lose. they can tell the truth. they can say what needs to be said w/o having to protect jobs/other important things
• they can tell us things that we completely miss due to privelege
• in a position to teach us something about justice

Key Concepts

E.) Overcoming Ideological Captivity

-Ideology-set of beliefs/values

• Ideological captivity-everyone is a product of their own background, so they tend to view through that lens
• traveling, immersing in other cultures

F.)Liberation Theology and the Bible

Base community- group of people who get together to study the bible.

• often no pastors
• reading for implications of liberation theology
• ex: Costa Rica-bananas
• first world country's laws can encourage underdevelopment in other countries

• hermeneutical- how you get the message out of the document
• hermeneutical suspicion-if you interpret the bible only in ways that it confirms your own prejudices you're probably missing its radical message
• Bible should challenge you to look at yourself, and your beliefs in a deeper way.

Christianity in Dialogue w/ Non Christian Religions

I.) Why the Interest in NonChrsitian Religions today?

A.) Globalization & multiculturalism

• inner relationship of counrties in terms of trade, technoloty, health, etc.
• made contact with other religions much more likely
• have many religions that fluorish in the same place.

Christianity in Dialogue w/ Non Christian Religions

I.) Wy the Interest in NonChristian Religions Today?

B.) Choice & diversity celebrated

• not just tolerated
• contributes to the richness of the human race

Christianity in Dialogue w/ NonChristian Religions

I.) Why the Interest in NonChristian Religions Today?

C.) Post-modernism & relativism

• relativism shouldn't be seen as a philosophy forced on anyone
• can be beneficial

Christianity in Dialogue w/ non Christian Religions

II.) Traditional Apologetic & the Calim for Christian Exclusivity: The Limitations of this Approach

Apologist: defender of one's faith

A.) Biblical Claims

• citing a passage from the bible to someone who doesn't hold the bible to be divinely inspired-worthless
• empirical evidence-theological meaning given by writers may not mean anything to others

IV. A.) A dialogue is not evangelizing

• has to do with learning about other religions and unlearning myths

4 types of Dialogue

Dialogue of Life-sharing with another person issues of everyday life

Action, Religious Experience, and Theiological Ideas

Life-dialogue about everyday life experiences not pertaining to religion

Action-different religions come together for a cause; acting together; despite of differences there's a sense of community

Religious experience-talking about own experience with God; what religion means to them personally

Theological ideas-professional theologian

Religion and Science

I.) The Nature of Religious Knowledge

How we gain Religious Knowledge

A.) Experience

• of fear/wonder
• Numinous-experience of both awe and fear that occurs in the face of the unexplainable.
• ex: Jesus performed a miracle adn the peope "were afraid."

B.) Story-people begin to tell stories about their experiences.

ex: great flood(Noah's ark)-myth-word for these stories

C.) Symbol-something that represents something else

can be universalized(water-cleansing/purification)

D.)Ritual- enact the story again(participating in the story)

action that takes place

ex: communion-ritualizes Last Supper

E.) Doctrine- teaching/statements about God/religion

• what we study formally
• stories become creeds
• F.) Holy Writings- scriptures/Holy books
• include symbols, stories, doctrines, etc.

II.) Nature of Scientific Knowledge

A.) Imagination(analogies, models, paradigms)

• a lot of discoveries stem from this
• B.) Empirical, observational data
• empirical data is cornerstone of science
• it can be measured, studied, quantified, repeated

C.) Hypothesis/theories

• group of hypotheses that explai empirical data
• theories
• Phenomenal- bible speaks in phenomenal language. how stuff pertains to us(sun rises vs. earth rotating) ex. heaven-up

III.) The Bible and Science

A. Differences in questions, purposes, and methods

A.) Cosmology: the Universe(Copernicus)

Ptolemeic view of the universe-earth-center

no longer supported by new empirical evidence

new theory-heliocentrism

church put Galileo under house arrest b/c they resisted the new theory-defending(the traditional theory-not anti-science/ also b/c of his theological writings

wound to Church according to Freud b/c Chruch considers earth to be specially made by God

B.) Anthropology-living organisms(Darwin)

1859-Darwin published Origin of species

-most successful adapters would survive

some believed God created original man and woman

wound: even though Chrisitians absorbed cosmological wound, they're being told they can't retreat to the idea that God intentionally created humans

humans can be explained apart from God

C.) Psychology: origin of the soul(Freud)

Psyche-greek work for "soul"

church says soul is directly created by God

Freud says-soul id sum total of all your traits; it isn't an eternal component of yourself, it is your personhood and how you develop over time. Don't need God to explain the soul

RCC insists the soul is directly created by God and survives death

V. Models of Relating Science and Religion Today

A.) Conflict

• comes from both science and religion
• some scientists believe religion inevitably conflicts with science-they can't coexist
• ex: Richard Dawkings- considers religion evil and destructive
• teaches/researches evolution
• can't hold science and religion to be true

• Bishop Ussher
• Chronology: Universe created 4004 B.C.
• October 18-24
• Adam at 10AM
• Bible is a scientific account of creation
• Creation science or young earth theology

V. Models of Science and Religion Today

B.) Independence

• religion and science can coexist-they're independent of each other
• they ask different questions- science tells us how to make atomic bomb, but can't tell us whether to drop it..only religion can
• Steven J. Gouhl-proponent of this model

C.) Integration/Dialogue

-religion and science can work together

VI. Scripture and Creation: Fundamental Questions

A.) Who?-God-father,son, and holy spirit

B.)Why? -God createss because God delights

-creation is an overflow of God's joy

C.) How?

1.) Out of nothing-God alone is eternal, matter is not eternal

2.) Making not emanating-universe doesnt' emanate from God's being, God made it

-God speaks the universe into existence

D.) What?

-God creats both Matter and the Spirit

VII.) Genesis and Creation: Approaches to Creation Accounts

A.) Scholastic Models-literal reading of Genesis

creation took 6 literal, 24 hour days

1.) Flat/or Plot Creationism: instantaneous

2.) Intelligent Design

• universe is old

evolution occured pretty much as science tells us but some aspects of life that are so

"irreducibly complex" that an intelligent designer had to intervene in evolutionary process to create these complex beings ex: blood clotting etc.

court case on Intelligent Design

-school board mandated it be taught in public schools as scientific theory

• judge declared it as a religious view and not scientific so can't be taught in school

VII.) Genesis and Creation

B. Dynamic Models of Inspiration

1.)Age/DayTheory(Augustine)

• when Genesis talks about 6 days of creation it means 6 periods of time
• ex: "back in the day" refers to an era
• days were figurative not literal

2.) Religious/Poetic Theory(Aquinas)

Day 1: light/darkness Day 2: water/sky

Day 3: land/water Day 4: sun, moon, stars Day 5: fish, birds Day 6: Animals/man

• writer of genesis was using a peotic method that draws parallels
• writer is writing as poetic account focusing on how God intentionally created rather than when/how long creation took

the universe developed the way science tells us but God in some way controlled the process.

this view says we shouldn't turn Genesis into science textbook, let science be science