1. THE TASK OF THEOLOGY Introduction to Catholicism Fr. Llane Briese

2. Key Terms for Quiz Tomorrow Culture Religion Faith Justice Theology Creed Atheism Agnosticism Rationalism Pantheism Monotheism Deism/Theism Polytheism

3. Catholic Response to the “God-Question” God, a triune communion of Three distinct Persons, is intimately involved in the world; the Father created all that is and when all was broken by sin, re-created humanity by sending his only- begotten Son into the world in the person of Jesus Christ, born of the Virgin Mary, to take away the sin of the world and the Holy Spirit to make humanity into his own sons and daughters so that we could enter into his divine life here in the present through prayer and the Sacraments and remain with him forever in Heaven.

4. St. Augustine “[Y]ou have made us for yourself, and our heart is restless until it rests in you.” 354-430, Bishop of Hippo

5. Faith as a Response to God Faith has two distinct dimensions: Objective (fides quae creditur): “The faith that is believed.” Subjective (fides qua creditur): “The faith by which it is believed.” In the Bible, faith (Gk. pistis) requires both an intellectual belief as well as action.

6. A Few Biblical Examples of Faith Gen 15:6 — “Abram believed God and it was credited to him as righteousness.” Gal 2:19b-20 — “I have been crucified with Christ; yet I live, no longer I, but Christ lives in me.” Jas 2:17— “So faith of itself, if it does not have works, is dead.”

7. What is Theology? From Greek: theos (God) + logos (word, matter, subject) Basic level: the study of God. In greater detail: the task of “faith seeking understanding” (fides quaerens intellectum). Contrast with: Rationalism Fundamentalism / Fideism. 2 ways a theology can fail