Θ –It is living out your own understanding of
God and His movement.
-“Faith seeking understanding (St.
Anselm of Canterbury)”. needs to be a
combination of believing and reasoning1.
Common problems of Filipino Θ:
• Folk Catholicism: we become Catholics
because our kin are and because they
made us do so.
• Practical Atheism/ split-level Christianity:
We believe in a religious God but not
recognize Him in other aspects of life.
• Secularisation: the movement/shift in
focus from a God-centred life to a
human & technology-dependent life.
• Pluralism: exposure to diff. cultures due
to modernisation. The effect is ambiguity
and uncertainty.
How to do it:
• Life Integration: the Word of God in our
lives and how It moves us.
• Contextual Integration: Putting our faith
in application under a specific context
(proving the universality of the Word).
• Source Integration: Going back to the
context of Scriptures and applying the
lesson in life.
• A combination of integrations:
o Doctrine: ideas and knowledge
of God we have.
o Morals: Virtues upheld and
principles believed in.
o Worship: prayer and
sacramental life and worship
On God: God is neither feminine nor masculine;
God is transcendental. God using gender for
self-disclosure and for accommodating our
mind`s capacity.
God can be seen/ reveals himself/herself
through:
• Natural Signs: through nature and His/
Her creation.
• Biblical Signs: through the Scriptures/
JC
• Ecclesial Signs: Church (God’s people)
• Liturgical Signs: communal/ personal
worship and prayer
• Interior presence (conscience) and
“signs of the times”
1
makes beliefs clearer and judges whether it is
still to be believed or not.
God revealing Himself/ Herself to us is called
Revelation. It is a form of His/ Her
communicating to us and establishment of a
personal relationship. Acceptance of this is
called Faith.
The Bible, a form of revelation, was made out of
Divine Inspiration2. Another is through
Tradition3, and lastly, through the Magisterium,
the teaching authority of the Church.
N.B.: in revelation, it’s not an issue abt. The
messenger or the form of msg., it is what the
msg. means. It can also either be words or
deeds. Another important factor in revelation
(when analysing it) is the context: historical,
cultural or religious.
Scripture: It is inspired by God and it is inerrant4
and it is inspiring (gives inspiration and spiritual
growth). It is active and living in different forms
(creation, history, JC, HS, bible). It is also
sacramental because through it we feel/ meet
God. It is also the Church’s book. It is also a
work of art that possesses beauty5.
4 senses of Scripture:
• Literal sense: at its face value
• Allegorical sense: meaning of the story
• Moral sense: what should be done
• Anagogic sense: looking forward to
future.
Scripture interpretation:
Literal: critical analysis
Spiritual: meanings of words and images
Christian Imagination: world seen in the eyes of
Scripture
Performance hermeneutics: refer to integration
of Θ.
2
HS’s guidance to humans.
3
The appropriation process of the Church of its
teachings and traditions (the rites and customs
about faith).
4
It doesn’t have any mistakes, message-wise,
and not necessarily inerrant in historical data.
5
Beauty in form, gives pleasure, empowering.