Joseph Hollcraft MA
Theological Foundations: CCP 210
Week 1: September 6, 2007

I. What is Philosophy and Theology: (1) Philosophy (Philo-sophia GK.): means “lover of wisdom” and (2) theology (theologia GK.) means “the study of God and the inner most life of the Blessed Trinity based on Divine Revelation.” Theology in its most classic sense is “faith seeking understanding”— St . Augustine .

A. What is our disposition of faith and questioning? Consider Zechariah and Mary. We are called to enter into a personal relationship with Jesus Christ (Rom.8.15; 1 Jn.3.1) through divine sonship so that we might learn to speak the language of God fluently—the language of inexhaustible love rooted in knowledge of Jesus Christ.

1. Science: Scientia (L.) meaning “knowledge”, was inverted to be something that it is not. Knowledge serves God as it offers more reasons to love him (cf. Rom.12.1-3)…“Scripture is the soul of all theology”—DV; “Ignorance of Scriptures is ignorance of Christ”-- St. Jerome.

B. Faith and Reason: “Two wings on which the human spirit rises to the contemplation of Truth.” Reason must always set itself upon some sort of faith. The rationale of Science concludes this.

1. Reason (Science) places its trust from a previous experiment that is built upon a previous set of credentials that is built upon a series of journal, etc…faith is necessary if reason is to exist. So why are science and religion opposed? Simply, we have replaced science’s objectivity to experience--this is a problem in a material world (Madonna was a reflection of society). Logic is an instrument of reason. What is logic? “Logic is simply a reflection of how the mind structures its thought, which is itself a reflection of the structure of reality” (Hahn, 19).

• Letters represent sounds, which in turn become words representing things all around us. We are mathematicians from adolescence and yet they produce immaterial things. Scientists who want to disprove God use numbers all the time!
• Virtue, which people innately see as a necessity, is immaterial in itself but yet objective!

II. The Spirit: What does it mean to be incorporated in to the body of Christ? We must first recognize the Spirit! What is “Spirit”: The Spirit is non-material and yet it has the capacity to produce because the mind wills it; the mind is the locus or the principle cause of motion, and our bodies are the instruments. If we continue to produce things that have no attribute like matter then it follows that there is some element in us, that produces them and that is called matter.

A. Ideas are immaterial. They have no identity in matter: shape size, color, etc…Neither has the spirit whose offspring they are. Ideas produce thought and contribute to the most powerful force in the world, love, which constantly interacts with knowledge to bear forth Goodness.

1. Materialism is repulsive; our mental capacity is hoarded by it. “It is as if a scientist proposes that we walk on all fours, our bodily habits are set against this…The man who knows of the Spirit walks upright while the materialist hugs the earth” (Sheed, 15).

2. The Christian journey elevates this idea of Spirit because it is an infinite person who has a very specific role in communicating infinite realities to finite beings. “God is Spirit and those who worship him must worship in Spirit and truth” (Jn.4.24).

a. John offers us a biblical vision to Spirit, which allows us to see that God is just not a spirit, but the spirit of life, love and community.

Homework Assignment: Reflecting upon Sheed’s treatment of the Holy Spirit on pgs.35-37, illustrate in at least two paragraphs how the Holy Spirit has strengthened your relationship with Jesus Christ.