Transcript Religion Review Unit One - This Webs.com site has not yet been

Four Ways of Locating the Ethical
in You
What is Ethics?
•
•
•
•
•
the nature of the good and the search for the infinite good
Greek word “Ethika”
Having to do with good character
the good that humans aim for
guide morality and gives vision to our actions. They try to
explain the higher good and give us the principles that
underline our moral actions.
What is Morality?
 System of right conduct based on fundamental beliefs and
obligations to follow certain codes, norms, customs and
habits of behaviour.
 Translates to the search for the good into the way we
conduct ourselves in our day to day lives
 Moralities →Latin →Habits of daily life
1) The scream- the experience of
personal response
-something like a scream breaks through your reverie, forcing you to awareness
for your responsibility for another person
-the scream is an appeal and urges you not to think but to act
-Without thinking about it, you feel an inner tension to respond.
-It is not a decision you make, rather an automatic response
The beggar- the experience of the other
-
Comes from French-Jewish philosopher Emmanuel Levinas (1905-1995)
-
When encountering another person, we have an ethical experience because
face-to-face encounters remind us of our responsibility for the “Other”
-
For example: When you come across a beggar, you debate with yourself how
to respond...whether you choose to give or not, as you walk away you defend
your decision to yourself, ie. a response has been evoked
-
You cannot look at the “Others” face neutrally, it makes you feel responsible
and through this you have an ethical experience
“I have to”- The experience of
obligation
-Your
ethical sense is turned on when someone orders you to do something
- Example:
If your parents tell you to be home by midnight, as time passes you grow
increasingly aware of your need to get going. If you choose to ignore this and stay anyways,
you experience feelings of unrest.
-Your
ethical side obliges something in you to follow the law, or do what is
considered the right thing to do
-Your
response to an order from someone you consider to have authority
over you, such as your parents, has everything to do with ethics, as you
show yourself to be an ethical being
4) This is intolerable! This isn’t fair!The experience of contrast
-An
ethical experience occurs when you feel outraged
by something blatantly unjust or unfair happening to
yourself or to others
-Example: Your feelings of indignation towards the
abuse of children is an experience of contrast to what
ought to be
-It is an ethical experience to recoil from destruction
and the intolerable
The Myth of Narcissus

Narcissus was a physically beautiful man, who rejected the longing of a
woman named Echo, as he lacked any feeling. One day when he was thirsty
after hunting and was about to drink from a well, he noticed his own
reflection and fell so in love with it that he died of thirst at the edge of the
well.

A healthy individual will find a balance between self love and love for others
and work on relationships with others trusting there will be sufficient reward
for “me”

The narcissist refuses to look beyond the self to acheive this balance
Aristotle’s Teleological Ethics

The pursuit of happiness
-Human life is shaped to its full extent in the context of a community- it is there
the citizen will find happiness
-Happiness is not equated with pleasure, pleasure is only momentary while
happiness is an enduring state of someone who does well the tasks typical of
a human being
-
For Aristotle, ethics aims to discover what is good for us as human beings,
what permits us to reach our potential, what is our internal compass, or what
we are intended to be

Teleology
-
We are intended to be rational and our greatest capacity as humans is our intelligence
-
Humans are rational beings and so we must base our actions on reasoning
-
Therefore: to act ethically is to engage our capacity to reason as we develop good character, and
that is the highest form of happiness
-
The good person is one whose actions are solidly based on excellent reasoning and who spends a
great amount of time thinking

Human excellence
-When people seek to become who they are intended to be, they develop habits that represent the best
of what it means to be human -> these are excellent virtues
-To act virtuously means allowing reason to guide ones action’s
-Aristotle held that a good person would use reason to control desire

The mean
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There is a need to maintain balance in our actions
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Aristotle’s doctrine: Be moderate in all things
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This applies to moral qualities because they are
destroyed by defect and by excess
-
For example: In the case of self control, one who
shuns everything becomes a coward
Immanuel Kant’s Ethics

Theoretical reason
-
The area of reasoning by which we come to know how the laws of nature, or
cause and effect, govern human behaviour
-
An area of life where freedom of choice is not an issue
-
Kant tried to clarify how humans come to know things

Practical Reason
-
Using theoretical reason we can only know what people actually do, while using practical reason we can come to
understand what people ought to do
Example: Using theoretical reason we know the effects of alcohol consumption upon the body, while using practical reason
we know we ought not to drink and drive
Kant contributed the concept of moral duty to our understanding of ethics

Kant’s ethics
-Kant was primarily concerned about the certainty of the principles of ethical reasoning
-He recognized we cannot arrive at the same type of certainty we can in physics and mathematics
There are three areas of interest: God, freedom and immortality
These cannot be proven empirically but we need these practice principles to be able to pursue and attain the supreme good
1) God
2) Freedom
Immortality
• Humans cannot out
of their own power
achieve supreme
good
• God exists to allow
us to achieve the
supreme good
• If supreme good is
to be our
achievement then
what we ought to
do we Can do
• Therefore: by
nature humans are
free
• Achieving the
supreme good is an
immense task, it is
impossible to
obtain it
completely in this
life
• That is why there
is a life beyond,
where we can
achieve the
supreme good

Character- the way your actions, over time, tend to become fixed in your body

* remember to study the moral decision making model at the end of chapter 3*
Parousia
• Second coming of Christ, which is to take place "at the end of the
age"
 This time ends time: it is the ending of the story of salvation
 The end is described as a completion: the full revelation of God
 Jesus will come back to judge the living and the dead.
Interpreting Scripture
 Understand two important tools of spiritual scholarship,
exegesis and hermeneutics
 They mean analysis and interpretation. We use exegesis to
understand the context of Matthew's gospel, hermeneutics
to apply the findings of exegesis to understanding these
texts for our time.
Exegesis:
 the study of scriptures and texts in their original context
 Looks at the language and historical context in which they were written
 Religious traditions and other existing writings that influenced the authors of
texts
 Task: analyzing the text or event in question as much as possible within
original context
Hermeneutics:
 Task of interpretation with reference to something
else
 Matthew wrote in a different time than our own
 Hermeneutics helps us to identify key "lenses"
through which we read scripture
Apocalyptic Scripture
 When Matthew wrote his gospel, Jewish society felt a loss of identity and a sense of
hopelessness.
 Ruled by Romans, temples run by people who had no right to High Priests
 Culturally, experienced great Greek influence and the pressure to adopt all things
Greek
 They were still dealing with the collective memory of the exile of their ancestors
 Apocalyptic writings are writings of crisis, they reflect on how people who find their
surroundings corrupt and without hope impacts and reflects on their faith in the
Covenant of God.
Continued…
 Wonder whether God abandoned them or is testing them
 Conviction that God is coming soon. Emphasize an end to this evil dominated
history, God is coming to judge this world.
 Apocalyptic vision foresees a time of great distress. Battles between good and
evil, where the powers of evil are defeated.
 Jesus is presented in the gospels as preparing the coming of God.
 God comes as a free gift of salvation
Beatitudes
 A form of pronouncement that presupposes that a good
or happiness has already been given or is about to be
received. The Sermon on the Mount contains a list of
beatitudes.
 The new Torah and the new way of life for Jesus'
disciples.
Three Senses of Conscience:
To Recognize Right and Wrong
• Our capacity to know and do the good and to avoid
evil.
• Our fundamental sense of value and of personal
responsibility
• Our fundamental awareness that there is a right and
a wrong
Conscience as a Process of Moral Reasoning



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Knowing how to perceive accurately and to think correctly.
This is where moral disagreements and error, blindness and insight occur.
The conscience must be formed and examined
Formed in community, draws upon many sources of moral wisdom in order
to know what it means to be human in a truly moral way.
 Seeks to know the truth and to make it one's own.
 Searches for what is right through accurate perception and a process of
reflection and analysis.
Conscience as a Judgment
 The concrete judgment and decision of what I must do in the situation
based on my personal perception and grasp of values.
 Conscience makes a moral decision personal and the moral action
expressive of "me" by realizing and expressing my fundamental stance.
 The decision is not simply about this or that object of choice but also
about being this or that sort of person
 This is the conscience that I must obey to be true to myself
 This is our secret core and sanctuary where we are alone with God
Symptoms of a Misinformed Conscience
Rationalization: stealing may be wrong sometimes, but large
stores can afford it because they are making huge profits.
Trivialization: It's no big deal-everybody else does it.
Misinformation: My doctor said that all teenage girls should take
birth control pills to prevent pregnancy
The End Justifies the Immoral Means: I had to steal food because I didn't have
any money and hadn't eaten in hours.
Means to an End: By dropping a nuclear bomb to end the war, we'll end up
saving lives.
Difficult to Reason: Having been kicked out of his home and finding himself with
no place to go a teen acts without thinking. He breaks into an empty home to
keep warm when he could have asked for help from the police.
The Decalogue (Exodus 20)

On Mount Sinai, God named out the 10 commandments:

You shall have no other Gods before me

You shall not make for yourself an idol

You shall not make wrongful use of the name of the Lord your God

Remember the Sabbath day and keep it holy

Honour your father and your mother

You shall not murder

You shall not commit adultery

You shall not steal

You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor

You shall not covet your neighbour’s house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or male or
female slave, or ox, or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor
The Ten Commandments

The Decalogue is literally translated as Ten Words and known as the Ten
Commandments

Two versions: Exodus 20 (shortened on the previous slide) and the Book of
Deuteronomy which contains the shorter version

The Ten Commandments have been adapted and interpreted

Christians interpret them in light of their faith in Jesus Christ

Ex) “Keeping holy the Lord’s day” in the Christian concept refers not to the Sabbath
but to the first day of the week: Sunday, the day of the Resurrection

What God expects of the people bound by the covenant

The first 3 Commandments contain the words how to honour and love God; the
last 7 concern the human community. Jesus says that the first- to love God- is
like the second- to love your neighbour

The Ten Commandments make sense only in the context of the covenant. They are not
just rules and commandments on their own

They state the type of relationship to which Israel is privileged

At times this covenant is described using the language of adoption (ex: we read in Psalm 2 “You
are my son.” Israel is the Lord’s adopted son. That is why the first commandment directs Israel
to remember who it is with whom they have entered into a covenant)

The second tablet of the Decalogue describes this relationship with God in our relationship to
the other. Our relationship with others is part of our worship of God.

The covenant with God is at the same time a covenant with our neighbour. Our turning to the
Lord our God is expressed as a responsibility to our neighbour.
Covenant: Its Origins

To understand we need to look at their origins. The ancient Hittites were powerful people who
lived in Asia Minor between 2000 and 1200 BC. Covenants were treaties between a sovereign nation
and a vassal nation. They exhibited 5 traits:
1.
The Preamble- the treaty begins with the name, titles and attributes of the Great Hittite King
2.
The Historical Prologue-the Great King then gives a historical overview that describes the
3.
The Submission- states what the Great King expects from the vassal. This often includes a
4.
The Witnesses- every legal document/ treaty requires witnesses. In this case, the witnesses are the
5.
The Blessings and Curses- the treaty tells what will happen if the vassal remains faithful or is
and his genealogy
previous relations between the two contractors. It recounts the many benefits the sovereign has
bestowed upon the vassal
fundamental declaration on the future relations of the partners. It consists in a request of loyalty
gods of the two partners, but also the deified elements of nature; the mountains, the rivers, the sea,
the heavens and the earth
unfaithful to the demands of the treaty
Covenant: Its Origins Continued…

The covenant at Sinai of the Book of Exodus displays these traits clearly

While the covenant at Sinai displays similarities with the other covenants found
among contemporary cultures, it is also far greater than these contractual
agreements. God’s covenant is a bond of love, calling us in our freedom to
respond in love. God’s commitment to us is founded in love, and God’s
commitment is forever
The Structure of a Call Story:
1. The Confrontation with God- It begins with an encounter with God, each encounter is different.
There is disproportion between God and the one being called
2. Introductory Speech- It is God who speaks first. Before the call, God makes a self-announcement. At
the heart of each call is an assurance from the Lord- a promise of “God with you”
3. Imparting of a Mission- The prominent phrase in these call stories is “I send you”
4. Objection by the Prophet-to-Be- The prophets are strongly aware that their mission to the people
will set them apart from the people…that is their burden
5. Reassurance by God- God reassures the prophets as they receive their mission. The word that the
prophets are to speak is God’s word. The prophet’s word is taken over by the Lord’s word.
6. The Sign- The sign is not always clear. Ex) Moses is given a sign: “ And this shall be the sign for you
that it is I who sent you: when you have brought the people out of Egypt, you shall worship God on
this mountain” …Isaiah's sign is the destruction of the land and the
Introduction

We examine six aspects of the human person that are important
for ethics
a)
The importance of others
b)
The importance of having a direction in life
c)
The importance of communication and language
d)
The importance of character and one’s body
e)
The importance of conscience
f)
The importance of the development of one’s conscience
A philosophical view of what it means to be human is important for
ethics, as this viewpoint lets us interpret how we as individuals
interact with others, our community, our culture and our religion in the
process of becoming moral agents .
a. The Importance of others

We ask: Can you be a free, unique individual while bearing
responsibility for the other?

In Aristotle’s, Kant’s and Levinas’ theories, the “other” plays a
central role

Levinas makes the strongest argument; your relationship with
others is a powerful incentive for your actions, what you do and
how you do it

The other is central to your search for good
a. The Importance of others...

In Western society the idea that “I am my brother and sister’s
keeper” isn’t very popular

We tend to think of others as an obstacle to personal freedom
and initiatives, because the Western Culture views the person as
an individual, emphasizing autonomy, independence and
freedom

Humans are singular and unique individuals, BUT that does not
mean we need to see others as enemies of our autonomy

Rather, the other makes it possible for us to become our true
selves, individuals in freedom

Example, celebrate other people’s successes before your own
failures
a. The Importance of others...

The Danger of Narcissism

The Greek man Narcissus fell in love
with his own reflection in a well, and
he became so consumed with the
image that he died of thirst at the
edge of the well

A healthy mature personality must
find a balance between self-love and
love for others

A healthy individual will work on
relationships with others, trusting
there will be sufficient reward for
“me”

The narcissist refuses to look beyond
the self to achieve this balance and
often feels rage against those who
don’t support the self and its needs
b. The importance of having direction in
life

The second anthropological trait of the human self is about being committed to
particular values

Knowing who you are = knowing where you stand

Knowing where you stand and what your commitments are is essential to your selfidentity and your moral self

Example: As a member of Students Against Drunk Driving, you make known to others
you stand for responsible action and speak out against those who selfishly risk the lives
of others

1. my identity lies in my the commitments- spiritual background provides a frame
within, without one may encounter an “identity crisis”

2. Identity emerges from the direction I take in life- essential link between moral
direction and identity, fundamental direction

3. Where do I stand? Comes in form of a name, to answer one’s self is to know where
one stands, defines where you answer from
c. The importance of communication
and language

Your stance in life is also shaped by your community, that shares a common
language

Your values and aspiration where made known to you by others in your life,
who also taught you what was right and what was wrong

To answer the question “Who am I” you must recognize the community into
which you were born, by whom you were raised, and whose language you
speak

We are inducted into personhood by being initiated into a language

We first learn languages of moral and spiritual discernment by being brought
into an ongoing conversation by those who bring us up. As a result,
meanings key words first had for “me” they have for “us”

Therefore we learn what concepts like love and anger are through “mine
and other’s” experience of these objects, only later do we innovate and
develop original ways of understanding them

However, this innovation can only take place from the base of our common
language
c. The importance of communication
and language

In this sense, I am a self only in relation to the conversation partners who
were essential to my achieving self definition

The self only exists within “webs of conversation”

Therefore: the full definition of someone’s identity usually involves not
only his stance on moral or spiritual matters but also some reference to a
defining community

Since language contains and shares with others
common experiences and commitments, it can be
meaningless to those who don’t share the same
experience

For example: Words like “Eucharist” and “Trinity” do
not have the same meaning for non- Catholics as they
do for Catholics. Knowing the dictionary definition is
not the same understanding as a term’s meaning
within the catholic tradition
d. The importance of character and one’s body

You become a self with your body, and might say that it is through your body all
human traits become possible.

For this reason your actions too are embodied; they shape your character

Building character

The word character refers to the way your actions, over time, tend to become fixed
in your body.

The same way your capacity to run when training for a race depends on your body, so
you your choices in life

“moral fibre” is like muscle fibre- the more you exercise it, the stronger your
character

Repeating moral and ethical actions embeds them into your character, and others will
recognize you by these character traits

Once the traits take root, they are not easily changed..you become set in your ways,
for good or for bad

The choices you make each day are often the product of what you believe and value,
and the habits you have formed over the years

The moral principles you learn also help to make up your character- your character
determined what you see, how you interpret what you see, and how you respond to
what you see
e. The importance of conscience

Your conscience is more complex than it may appear at first

Conscience is the place where we hold our own selves in our hands

The Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World says conscience
is an inner voice that tells us “at the right moment: do this, shun that”

Our conscience is our most secret code and sanctuary where we are alone
with God whose voice echoes in our depths
Conscience in the teaching of the church

From the Catechism of the Catholic Church:

1778 “Conscience is a judgment of reason whereby the human person recognizes
the moral quality of a concrete act that he is going to perform, is in the process or
performing, or has already completed. In all he says and does, man is obliged to
follow faithfully what he knows to be just and right. It is by the judgement of his
conscience that a man perceives and recognizes the prescriptions of the divine
law”
Conscience in contrast to Freud's concept of superego

As people develop a mature conscience, they move
from the experience of rules imposed by someone in
authority to directing their actions more from within

Conscience is not a feeling that something is right or
wrong, or a feeling of guilt, its our capacity to know and
do the good

Freud’s psychoanalytic theory helps explain the
distinction between conscience and superego
Conscience in contrast to freud’s
concept of superego

There are three structures to our personality

ID- instinctual drives largely dominated by the pleasure principle

EGO- the conscious structure which operates on the reality principle to mediate
the forces of the id, the demands of society, and the reality of the physical world

SUPEREGO- the ego of another superimposed on our own to serve as an internal
censor to regulate our conduct by using guilt as its powerful weapon

The superego tells us we are good when we do what we are told to, and makes us
feel guilty when we don’t do what authority tells us
Three senses of conscience
Conscience as capacity
Conscience as Process
Conscience as Judgement
• Our capacity to know
and do the good, and to
avoid evil
• Our fundamental sense
of value and personal
responsibility
• Our fundamental
awareness that there is
a right and a wrong
• Knowing how to
perceive accurately and
think correctly
• The conscience must be
formed and examined,
moral disagreements
may occur
• Seeks to know the truth
and to make it one’s
own
• Searches for what is
right through accurate
perception and a
process of reflection
and analysis
• Your conscience is
incomplete until you
act on it
• You commit yourself to
do what you believe to
be right and avoid what
you believe to be wrong
• Conscience makes a
moral decision “my
own” and the moral
action expressive of
“me” by realizing and
expressing my
fundamental stance
F. The development of one’s conscience

Your conscience develops as you mature; your sense of right and
wrong becomes increasingly refined

Your conscience develops as you take account of and follow the
norms, values, virtues and commandments found in our Christian
tradition as guidelines for your conscience

Your conscience helps you to deal with you moral failures and sins.
Through your faults you become aware of your weakness and
fragility as a human being and your need for support from others,
especially God

Your conscience develops as you participate in the Eucharist and
prayer life of the church

Your conscience develops as you grow in the virtue of humility
The Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and
John

Matthew wrote his gospel for the Jewish followers of Jesus

Mark wrote his gospel for the Christian community in Rome in an atmosphere of
persecution and fear during a time when it was illegal to be a Christian

Luke wrote his gospel for non-Jewish Christians who lived in a Greek-speaking
urban environment

John wrote his gospel to a now unknown community of Jewish Christians
Schism-
the refusal of submission to the Roman Pontiff or of
communion with the members of the church subject to him. The schism
divided the Eastern and Western Churches, then the division between the
Catholic and Protestant Christians.
Grace-
God’s self gift of love in us. Our participation in the
relationship of love that is the trinity, the active presence of God’s love
in our lives. The church is intended to be an instrument of God’s love or
grace. Our justification comes from the grace of God. Grace is favour,
the free and undeserved help that God gives us in response to his call to
become children of God, adoptive sons, partakers of the divine nature
and eternal life
Eschatological- pertaining to the end of time, in the sense of its
fullness. The coming of the kingdom of God at the end of time, according
to Jesus, has already begun in his life, death and resurrection. Ethics
that insist we can already live what God will realize/reveal to the world
Gentile- A person who is not part of the Jewish faith or not of Jewish
ancestry.
Magisterium

The official teaching of the Church on moral matters, the teaching office of the
Church. Bishops- in union with the Bishop of Rome, the Pope hold the
responsibility to teach with this authority.

Magisterium’s task to teach the faith and to ensure that believer’s honour the
values of tradition in their lives

Mission is accomplished by:
A)
Bishops delegate- cannot do all teachings by themselves, assign others
such as teachers and catechists
B)
Give a teaching mission to theologians and to all those who speak in
their name
C)
Teach directly- publish formal definitions of faith, write encyclicals,
pastoral letters and declarations
D)
2 levels- Extraordinary (2 situations, ecumenical council, the college of
all bishops united with pope pronounce solemn decree OR solemn decree
when the pope speaks explicitly as the head of the church), Ordinary
(normal daily teachings of the bishop throughout the world)
Saul’s Conversion to Paul
(more info on pgs. 109-111)

Saul (Jewish) went around persecuting Christians (called “followers of Jesus” at the
time) since for Saul Jesus was a dangerous person

He received letters of authority to go to Damascus to "harass" the believers and put
them in prison

While on the road to Damascus, he saw a light and heard a voice claiming to be Jesus.
He became blind for three days, but at the same time, he believed and became a devout
follower of Jesus

When Saul heard Jesus from out of the blinding light, he realized he had been wrong about God
and that Jesus was the Messiah

Saul, took on his new name “Paul” when he turned to Christ

For the rest of his life he gathered communities of Christians into the Church and because he
was convinced that the Gentiles were to play a part in fulfilling God’s promise with the
resurrection, Paul became the Apostle to the Gentiles
Paul’s Conversion

Conversion- radical transformation of values, a turning around that take
places at an intellectual level as an awareness and openness to the truth

Before conversion he was known as Saul, “Jew with an agenda”

Law was a weapon and his sword was to divide the true Israel from the false

Went to the high priest and asked him for the letters to the synagogue at
Damascus so if anyone belonged to The Way, he would bring them bound to
Jerusalem

Light from heaven flashed down on him and asked him “why do you persecute
me”, could no longer see, went 3 days without sight, he did not eat or drink

Lord called the disciple Ananias to go to the house of Judas to look for Saul,
then Saul regained his vision with the touch of Ananias

Paul was then baptized and proclaimed Jesus in the synagogues
Moral Stance

“My moral orientation or direction in life, what I stand
for”

Your identity, comes in form of a name

Naturally tend to talk of our fundamental stance in terms
of who we are

Once the stance is attained, defines where you answer
from, hence your identity
The Torah
-
Taught by Moses and is brought to its fullness by Jesus
-
Jesus is the law and the law is the love
-
Jesus is the fulfillment of the Torah, Jesus is the new Torah
-
Guided Jewish people in their intense and passionate search to live the will of God

5 Teachings of Jesus (Moses’ 5 teachings, 5 books of the Torah)
1.
Genesis
2.
Exodus
3.
Leviticus
4.
Numbers
5.
Deuteronomy

Matthew passes on authority that we and the church are instructed to pass on
The Trinity

The central mystery of the Christian faith and of the Christian life

God alone can make it known to us to by revealing himself as the
Father, Son and Holy Spirit

Distinct meaning for the word person, God is a union of three persons

An individuals who bears rights and responsibilities, to be autonomous

The Father, Son and Spirit in God are all persons singular and distinct
from one another, the one is not the other

However, there is unity, Theologians state love binds all three persons
together

The love generated the son and breathed forth the spirit

The trinity can also mean the outpouring love towards the other
The Formation of the Gospels

3 stages:
1.
Jesus’ Ministry, death and resurrection
2.
Stories and sayings (oral tradition)
3.
Written gospels: Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, the “Q”
to which Mark and Luke refer to
The Gospel of Luke

Jesus states, “Love your enemies, do good, and lend, expecting nothing in
return… Be merciful, jus as your Father is merciful.”

Forgive, give to others, love your enemies

Mark influenced Luke’s gospels

Luke refers to another source known as the “Q”

Wrote for non Jewish Christians who lived in a Greek speaking urban
environment
The Kingdom of God
•
•
Kingdom •
of
•
Heaven
Also known as the Kingdom of God, is not a place but a symbol or metaphor for God
A central image of Jesus’ message
God is not distant but close at hand
Jesus is someone in whom the kingdom has taken on flesh and bones
• God’s liberating action
• Jesus brought it so close that people could almost taste it, those who were sick tasted the
generosity of healing
Comes
among us • Jesus inaugurated the kingdom of God in human history
The
Church
• The people who follow the way of Jesus and accept the free gift of God’s salvation
• Those who gathered in the church are the “first fruits”, the beginning of the harvest
• Lives in the present time, what the full revelation of God will bring about
• Jesus proclaims the fulfillment of the Torah, Jesus delivers the new Torah from the mountain of
beatitudes
• Beatitudes- form of pronouncement, propose a good or happiness has already been given or is about
The Ethics to be received
The Kingdom of God…
 Makes
 Is
us righteous
an eschatological ethics
 To
be right with God is to be right with one
another
 It
is gospel ethics
Glossary Terms

Apocalyptic Literature- style of writing that evolved during Israel’s troubled history around the
time of Jesus. It focused on the end of history and the time of God’s purifying judgement. It
employed frightening imagery of end-time wars between good and evil and of convulsions in
nature

Beatitudes- form of pronouncement, presupposes that a good or happiness has already been
given or is about to be received, Sermon on the Mount

Eschatological- pertaining to the end of time, sense of fullness, the coming of the Kingdom of
God at the end of time, insists we can already live what God will realize or reveal at the end

Exegesis- analysis of text in original context

Gospel- literary genre that proclaims life, death and resurrection of Jesus from perspective of
the living faith of particularly early church communities

Hermeneutics- interpreting texts and events to understand what they mean for us in the 21st
century

Inspiration- sacred scripture in inspired by God

Parousia- refers to the 2nd coming of Christ at the end of time

Torah- 5 books of Moses, contain core teachings of: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and
Deuteronomy
Continued…

Humanism- a worldwide view centered on human interest and values, and the
individual’s capacity for self-realization through reason and action. Humanists
generally reject reference to the divine

Secularism- a worldwide view that rejects religion and religious
considerations. Secularists on accept critical reason