1 | Theology

Enculturation/ Inculturation
 is the gradual process by which people learn the culture of their own group by living in it, observing it, and being
taught things by members of the group.
 Your culture consists of the beliefs, arts, customs, and general ways of living of the people who are like you in some
way (the people who live in the same place as you or those who have a similar identity).
 In religious contexts, especially within the Roman Catholic Church, inculturation refers to the adaptation of church
doctrine and ritual to enreached or non- Christian cultures.
 In Catholicism, inculturation involves the adaptation of the liturgy to different cultures and the tolerance of various
pagan practices that are deemed part of the traditional culture.
 But inculturation is not an exclusively Catholic practice. Any time the gospel is presented in a new culture, the
matter of inculturation must be addressed.
In doing theology, the following elements are considered namely experience, culture, and language. For us Filipinos, we can
make sense of our faith if it is connected with our present context, in our culture and in our language. Thus, this becomes
meaningful and relevant to us because it is close to our experience and so we call it, Mabathalang Pag-aaral. (de Mesa and
Cacho, 2017)
The Bible
 The Bible – our primary witness to the disciples’ experience and therefore, our principal reference point in
understanding Jesus.
 It was their profound experience of Jesus as “the Christ” that propelled them to share it with others.
Christian Discipleship
 Christology – coined from the Greek words
 “Christos” (Christ) and logos (talk about), is a theological term for the study of the Way of Jesus of Nazareth from a
believer’s point of view.
 Jesus is crucial to Christianity because if there were no Jesus, there would be not be any Christian faith.
 No Jesus, no Christianity.
 The gospel is indeed a message.
 We allow the experience of the disciples with Jesus, as we understand it within our faith Tradition to illuminate our
own experiences today.
 Gaudium et Spes #46 – “…the consideration of the more urgent problems deeply affecting the human race at the
present day in the light of the Gospel and of the human experience…”
 … We must seek light for each of these problems from the principles which Christ has given us; in this way the
faithful will receive guidance and all men will be enlightened in their search for solutions to so many complex
problems..”
Doing Theology
 refers to the “process of carrying out theological reflection, articulation and action”

 “2 poles of theology” each throws light on the other.

 The interaction between our present day experiences and those of the first disciples is mutual and continuous.
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Two poles of theologizing that will help us in our theological reflections

1. Judaeo – Christian Tradition (JCT)
Which reminds us of our rich source of faith life. These are our faith traditions which were handed on to us by our
faith community.
2. Contemporary human experience (CHE)
Which is our present context. Thus, from this mutual interaction many theologies evolved to make sense of our
relationship with God.
Judaeo – Christian Tradition (JCT)

 handed down to us through generations, both Jewish and Christian. / handing on of life
 provide for us a rich resource or point of reference as we seek meaning into our life of faith.
 Sacred Scriptures, documents of the Church, and reflections of theologians through the years.
 We need to explicitly know what our contemporary experiences mean in the light of our faith in Jesus Christ.
 Jesus’ manner of living, relating, serving, dying and rising as passed on to us is what we try to embody and live by
in the world.
Contemporary human experience (CHE)

 Doing Theology becomes dynamic and meaningful only if it begins where we are–our present context.
 Culture – most influential factors in our interpretation of experiences.
 God is intimately involved in our lives.
 Knowing God is not merely a matter of studying or memorizing the abstract teachings of the Church about what to
believe regarding the GodSelf.
 The world where life flourishes is the very channel by which the sacred draws near to us. Thus, we are never alone
in our joys and hopes, griefs and anxieties. God is with us. Develops and grows through time.
 Culture – integrated system of beliefs, values, customs and institutions which binds society together and gives it a
sense of identity, dignity, security and continuity.
Characteristics of Filipino theology
1. Mabathalang pag-aaral preoccupies itself primarily with the themes of Filipino experiences.
 The experience of God: the starting point of Filipino theologizing. In our country where belief in God is an
integral part of the various cultural traditions of Filipinos, the starting point of theologizing will most likely be
the experience of God within our ordinary human experiences. It will not be like, due to the highly
secularized context of the West, human experience without an immediate reference to God.
 The reality of God is not in question, but perhaps the way this God relates with his people is. Filipino
theologizing should attend to themes that arise from concrete local experiences and not import both
theological questions and answers from the West.
 Filipino Theologizing and indigenous categories
 Experience, culture and language
 Behind every theology, there is also the intertwining of experience, culture and language.
 There is no “raw “ experience
 The reality of culture which is probably the most important source of interpretations
 Language is the voice of the culture speaking in its own terms
 Language is the culture’s perspective on any given reality in life.
2. Mabathalang pag-aaral seriously takes into account the cultural and historical presuppositions of Filipinos.
 Today the term “theology” is generally used to refer to the study of God and of christian faith.
 “Mabathalang aral” because this is what we try to learn from our experiences in life.
 Lessons learned from such experiences (mga aral na napulot sa karanasan)
 Popular TV series: “Maalala Mo Kaya?” kapupulutan ng aral
 Mabathalang Pag-aaral
 refers to a lesson from and for life drawn from our experience of God. “aral” would be equivalent of
what we call in English as “theology”
 “Mabathala” (divine) from the local root word from the Deity, Bathala.
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 Filipino theology can be referred to as “mabathalang aral” and the activity as well as the process of
doing theology can be called “mabathalang pag-aaral”

3. Mabathalang
pag- aaral is best
done in vernacular
 Bathala refers to
the supreme god
of “pagan”
 God – the words used by Western Christians are simply ordinary words in their own culture as referring to
the supreme being.
 theos - Greek
 deus – Latin
 Dios – Spanish
 Yahweh – Old Testament
 Jesus Christ – New testament
 In the Philippines the leaders of the Catholic Church opted the Spanish word for God instead of using the
already existing term Bathala. Now the Catholics are encouraged by Vatican II to make use of their
indigenous thought to understand and express their faith, a cultural approach to the doing of theology
makes more sense. In fact, this move was reaffirmed by the Second Plenary Council of the Philippines or
PCP II, the National meeting of the Philippine Church in 1991 aimed at renewing the whole Church.
 Faith must take root in the matrix of our Filipino being so that we may truly believe and love as Filipinos.
But for this to happen, the Gospel must must be presented with tools, methods and expressions coming
from the culture itself. It must be accepted within a person’s cultural heritage. (PCP II, art. 72)
Heritage
 Is the full range of our inherited traditions, monuments, objects, and culture. It is the range of contemporary
activities, meanings, and behaviors that we draw from them.
 preserving, excavating, displaying or restoring a collection of old things.
 Inheritance
 something that is handed down from the past, as a tradition: a national heritage of honor, pride, and courage.
The Season of Advent
 “O come, O come Emmanuel and ransom captive Israel”
Scripture
 “Therefore, stay awake, for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming. But know this, that if the master of
the house had known in what part of the night the thief was coming, he would have stayed awake and would not
have let his house be broken into. Therefore, you also must be ready, for the Son of Manis coming at an hour you
do not expect. – Matthew 24: 42-44
What is Advent?
 Advent is one of the five liturgical seasons of the Church cycle or year.
 The season of Advent marks the beginning of the liturgical cycle of the Roman Catholic Church and other reformed
Churches.
What is the meaning of the word Advent?
 The word Advent comes from the Latin word adventus which means coming.
 The word Adventus is equivalent of the Greek word parousia, commonly used in the letters of St. Paul to
refer the Second Coming of Christ.
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 Hence, that the season of Advent has a penitential as well as a eschatological character.
When does Advent begin?
 The season of Advent four Sundays before December 25th or Christmas Day
 The earliest Advent can begin in November 27 and the latest is December 3. Advent ends on December 24 th before
the vigil of Christmas.
 The vigil of Christmas begins at Evening Prayer later than day
What is the Liturgical Color of Advent?
 The liturgical color of Advent is purple.
 The color purple highlights the penitential character of the season of Advent
Why do priest wear pink on the third Sunday of Advent?
 The third Sunday of Advent is known as Gaudete Sunday or Rejoice Sunday.
 Gaudete Sunday is the Latin word that means rejoice. This is why priests have option of wearing pink on this
particular Sunday.
 The third Sunday of Advent indicates that the season of penance is coming to an end and soon we will be rejoicing
in the celebration of Christmas.
What is the spirit of Advent?
 Advent is a season of expectation, preparation and penance.
 Advent is a dual character. As a season of penance, it prepares us spiritually for the celebration of the Christmas
season, in which we Catholics celebrate and reflect upon the mystery of the Incarnation of the word of God.
Typically known as the first coming.
 Advent also has an eschatological character fill with a sense of expectation. Advent is a time to the house of the
soul in order before the arrival of the guest of honor Christ Jesus, who will come unannounced like a thief in the
night in his second coming.
 Every time we Catholics recite the Creed we say, “He will come again in glory to judge the and the dead and his
kingdom will have no end.”
History
 Thomas J. Talley in The Origins of the Liturgical year, sees the beginning of an advent season in the foutrh Canon
of the council of Saragosa in 380.
 In 567 the Synod of Tours established a December Fast.
 In 581 The Council of Macon ordered and advent fast for the laity from the feast of St. Martin (Nov. 11) to
Christmas.
 In the seventh and eight centuries, lectionaries provided for six Sundays in Advent.
 According to the theologian Richard P. Mc BRien, Gregory the Great, was the real architect of the Roman Advent.
 Pope Gregory fixed the season at four weeks and composed seasonal prayers and antiphons for this season.
 The Church iin Gaul, France enriched this season with eschatological overtones.
 The fusion of the Roman and Anglican observances returned to Rome by the 12th Century.
What is the Advent wreath?
 The Advent wreath is the liturgical symbol of Advent.
 It is composed of four candles, three purples and one pink.
 The color purple is a penitential color.
 Some Advent wreaths have a fifth candle (this is most common in the Reformed churches)
 Each Sunday during Advent a purple candle is lit with the exception of the third Sunday of Advent when a pink
candle is lit on Gaudete Sunday or Rejoice Sunday.