THEOLOGY
communication.
-faith and understanding
- unending search of god and truth
Requirements of theology:
Sense of faith
Sense of understanding
ANCIENT: PAGANISM
-mythology
Paganism - is a term first used in the fourth
century by early Christians for people in the
Roman Empire who practiced polytheism. (gods
and goddess)
MEDIEVAL
- development of theology during the dark ages
to the time of the Reformation
- concepts of free will
St. Anselm – faith seeking and understanding
ST. Thomas Aquinas – discussion and
rationality.
- Separate idea of Anselm
- He tried to compliment the idea of St.
Anselm. He said that before faith we
must understand.
CONTEMPORARY
- Globalization of theology
Karl Rhaner - Science of faith
- All science there must be faith
St. John Paul II - faith, understanding, love
- He mentioned cognitive process. It is
not enough to have faith and
understanding there must also be love.
Richard McBrien – theology is an act or a
process or bringing to speech the absolute.
 Should be channeled into
 Not confined only in the church or
school.
 Each member should know how to
spread different teachings.
 To be channeled into communication
DEFINITION:
Systematic – because it is a science
Understanding – because we are “rational
being”
Wholistic because it has spirituality and
rationality.
Spirituality - sense of connection to something
bigger than self
BRANCHES OF THEOLOGY
Systematics/Dogmatic Theology
- Attempts to combine Biblical,
Historical, and Philosophical
Theology to make a "systematized"
understanding of various subjects.
- doctrines which serve to enrich the
knowledge necessary or convenient
for man, whose destination is
supernatural.
- Uses theology as a convenient
manner of explaining the things of
the world particularly paradoxes.
 Christology – study of Jesus Christ
 Trinity – father, the son, the holy
spirit.
 Sacramental – object or actions
ritually blessed by a priest.
 Ecclesiology - The study of end times
   Anthropology. The study of man
****It is when were the discussion of
theology moved from the consideration of
God as the object of faith to the discussion
of man as the subject of faith… therefore,
was anthropological***
Biblical Theology
This is theological study drawn directly
from The Bible.
Moral Theology
- includes everything relating to man's
free actions and the last, or
supreme, end to be attained
through them, as far as we know the
same by Divine Revelation
- limited to those doctrines which
discuss the relations of man and his
free actions to God and his
supernatural end, and propose the
means instituted by God for the
attainment of that end.
- Man was made after the image of
God, by his intellect, his free will,
and a certain power to act of his
own accord – St. Thomas
 Fundamental
 Morality
- Christian
- Islam
- Buddhism
Religion
 From the Latin word “Religare” which
means “to tie” or “to bind fast”
 Is just any type of belief or is this a
special kind of belief.
 Religion is pursuit of transformation
guided by a sacred belief system.
Belief system
A belief system or worldview is a particular way
of ordering the realities of one’s world.
Elements of Religion
1. Reflects an effort to elevate their whole self
to a higher dimension of existence
2. Framework of transcendent beliefs
3. Text or scriptures
4. Rituals
5. Sacred Spaces (church, temple, mosque,
synagogue)
Worldviews of Religion:
1. All is one (Monistic)
2. Many Gods (Polytheistic)
3. One God (Monotheistic)
4. No God (Atheistic)
Non-Theism
-it is a rejection of belief that any deities/gods
-lack of belief in god/God
-N. B: non-theism is not an affirmative belief
that there is no god nor does it answer any
other question about what a person believes. It
is simply rejection of the assertion that there is
god/God
Monotheism
-Belief in the existence of only one god that
created the world, is all powerful and
intervenes in the world
Polytheism
-It is the worship of or belief in multiple deities,
which are usually assembled into a Patheon of
gods and goddesses along with their own
religions and rituals.
Two main definitions of religion
1.Substantive definition
2. Functional definition
Substantive Definition
• "Religion is any system of belief and practices
which connects this world with the beyond. It is
the bridge that allows humans to approach the
divine, the universal life force that encompass
the world."
• Limits religion to the belief in a supernatural
being
Functional Definition
• Religion is anything that provides a person
with the ultimate meaning that organizes his
entire life and view of the world.
• “Religion doesn’t exist to understand
ourselves or to explain the world (substantive)
but rather to help us survive in the world,
whether by binding us together socially or by
supporting us psychologically and emotionally.”
RELIGION IN THE AGE OF GLOBALIZATION
SECULARIZATION
• “Modernization necessarily leads to a decline
of religion, both in the society and in the minds
of individuals.”
• Replaces tradition with science-based
knowledge
FUNCTION OF RELIGION ACCORDING TO EMILE
DURKHEIM
 Religion promotes social cohesion – it
unites various types of people even
though they may have different cultural
orientations
 Religion enhances social control – it is
used as a tool by the society to exact
obedience from the people
 Religion can provide what science
cannot, which is meaning and purpose -
religion is relevant in a world
characterized by too much rationality
and emphasis on science
Types of Religious Organizations
Sociologist categorize the many religion in the
world into three categories:
CULT
A religion which practices unconventional ways
and is largely outside the society’s traditions.
SECT
A type of religious organization that stands
apart from society in general
CHURCH
A religious organization that is well integrated
into a larger society – Ernst Troeltsch
Major Religions of the World
1. Christianity
2. Islam
3. Judaism
4. Hinduism
5. Buddhism
6. Confucianism
Christianity
✓ One of the oldest religions in the world
inspired by Jesus Christ who lived during the
time of the New Testament in bible history
✓ 2.4 billion followers (33% of world
population) – PEWS Research Center, 2015
Four Synoptic Gospels of Christianity:
 Mark
 Matthew
 Luke
 John
Islam
✓ Centers on the message of Allah to
Muhammad, a prophet of God who wrote the
message of God in a sacred book for Muslims
called the Koran
✓ 1.8 billion followers (24.1 % of world
population) – PEWS Research Center, 2015
 Kaaba, the most sacred site in Islam
 Rasul – messenger, an individual who
was given new sharia or code of law by
Allah
Judaism
✓ Predates Christianity for a millennium
✓ Jews started in Mesopotamia as herding
nomads before they made a covenant with the
one true god
✓ 14 million followers (0.20 % of world
population) – PEWS Research Center, 2015
 Torah, the Sacred book for Jewish
people
 Jewish
3. Hinduism
✓ Oldest of all world religions
✓ Originated in the Indus river some 4500 years
ago
✓ Hindus believe that gods reside in the
entirety of the cosmos
✓ Hindu Trimurti:
Brahma (the creator),
Vishnu (the preserver),
and Shiva (the destroyer)
✓ 1.15 billion followers (15 % of world
population) – PEWS Research Center, 2015
 Maa Kali, Hindu goddess of time, death
and doomsday
 referred to as a “way of life” or a
“family of religions,”
 believe in the doctrines of samsara (the
continuous cycle of life, death, and
reincarnation) and karma (the universal
law of cause and effect).
 “atman,” or the belief in soul. This
philosophy holds that living creatures
have a soul, and they’re all part of the
supreme soul. The goal is to achieve
“moksha,” or salvation, which ends the
cycle of rebirths to become part of the
absolute soul.
Buddhism
✓ Originated in India
✓ Siddhartha Gautama Buddha believed that
problems will be solved by withdrawing oneself
from the world through meditation
✓521 million followers (7% of world
population) – PEWS Research Center, 2015
 Buddhism don’t acknowledge a
supreme god or deity. They instead
focus on achieving enlightenment—a
state of inner peace and wisdom. When
followers reach this spiritual echelon,
they’re said to have experienced
nirvana.
 The word Buddha means “enlightened.”
 a “way of life” or a “spiritual tradition.”
 embrace the concepts of karma (the
law of cause and effect) and
reincarnation (the continuous cycle of
rebirth)
5. Confucianism
✓Chinese philosopher Confucius (551- 479 BC)
✓Emphasis on the importance of family and
social harmony rather than otherworldly source
of spiritual values
✓6 million followers (0.09 % of world
population) – PEWS research center, 2015
 balance
 it is considered to be a code of ethics
 The five virtues:
(i) Jen – Helpfulness, empathy, and kind
nature
(ii) Yi – Rightness, duty as guardians of
nature and humanity
(iii) Li – Right conduct, appropriateness
and outward expression to
demonstrate your inner attitude
(iv) Chih – Wise thinking
(v) Hsin – Trustworthiness and
faithfulness
6. Taoism
✓ originated from China and was founded by
Lao Tzu in the 500 B.C.E.
✓Taoism teachings emphasize the idea of
“going with the flow” or doing what is natural
as a human being
 The best way for a person to live,
according to Taoism, is to submit to
whatever life brings and be flexible.
 Yin-yang
7. Shintoism
✓originated in the island of Kyushu in the
northern area. Shinto or “the way of the gods”
began during the period of yayoi culture around
the 2nd or 3rd Century B.C.E.
✓Shintoism worships the elements of various
landscapes as well as the forces of nature like
Mountains, forests, tsunami, earthquake, etc.
 Shinto is wholly devoted to life in this
world and emphasizes man's essential
goodness.
 Key Concepts in Shinto:
- Purity - both physical cleanliness
and the avoidance of disruption,
and spiritual purity.
- Physical well-being.
- Harmony (wa) exists in all things
and must be maintained against
imbalance.
- Procreation and fertility.
- Family and ancestral solidarity.
- Subordination of the individual to
the group.
- Reverence of nature.
- All things have the potential for
both good and bad.
- The soul (tama) of the dead can
influence the living before it joins
with the collective kami of its
ancestors.
POSITIVE EFFECTS OF RELIGION
 It gives meaning, purpose, and hope,
based on the beliefs and values, often
expressed in myths and stories.
 It allows community gathering for
rituals of worship and symbolic
celebrations of religious holidays.
 It gives personal identity as part of a
group with similar world views, beliefs,
values, practices and lifestyles,
relationships of commitment to giving
support and caring critique to one
another.
 It provides opportunities in community
to identify and provide needed action
and service to meet needs of wider
community and the world.
 It creates rituals and practices
experienced in community for life
transitions of birth, commitment,
forgiveness, and death.
 It provides private rituals that support  Is understood as an encounter
identity, calmness, stability, and hope. where people holding different
 It gives educational opportunities claims about ultimate reality can
providing history and understanding of meet and explore these claims in a
religious and cultural traditions and context of mutual respect.
beliefs translation of religious symbols,  In this respect dialogue is an act of
metaphors and language into non-othering the others but of
contemporary experiences and recognizing the others and their
language. faith convictions.
 It provides guidance for living in “right
relationship” with other persons
(respect and caring for the “out-group”
as well as the “in-group”) guidance for
living in the “right relationship” with the
natural world identification of personal,
cultural and environmental needs which
inspire concern and motivate responses
of outreach and service.

NEGATIVE EFFECTS OF RELIGION

 Religion promotes tribalism, infidel,

heathen, heretic. Religion divides
insiders from outsiders. Rather than
assuming good intentions, adherents
often are taught to treat outsiders with
suspicion.
 Religion anchors believers to the iron
age
 Sacred text including bible, torah, and
koran all preserve and protect
fragments of iron age culture, putting a
god’s name and endorsement on some
of the very worst human impulses. Any
believer looking to excuse his own
temper, bigotry, or planetary
destruction can find validation in
writings that claim to be authored by
God.
 Religion teaches helplessness. Que sera,
sera- what will be will be. Let go and let
God.
 Religion seeks power

WHAT IS INTERRELIGIOUS DIALOGUE?