Good, Evil And Suffering Homework.

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  • Created by: cieran_10
  • Created on: 08-10-18 22:49

Catholic Belief About The Relationship Between God

  • God is good, meaning creation is too, given that He created it and anything that God makes/does is good, given that He is omnibenevolent.
  • Humans are generous, kind, forgiving and compassionate, even though they have the free will to not be. 
  • The human form of goodness is not as great as God's, but is stil quite significant to humans on earth. This shows Catholics that God must be supremely good, given that humans are made imago dei, meaning they have a fraction of God's goodness.
  • The sheer greatness and awe that humans experience by the beauty of the oceans, forests and starry skies (all a part of God's good creation) shows how beatutiful God is if He created such beauty. 
  • This view is supported by the CCC quote, "the beauty fof creation relfects the infinite beauty of the Creator."
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Christ's Death And Isiah 53.

  • The Book of Job says that God tells Job, who is suffering, that he is capable of understanding why He allows suffering.
  • This word of God influences Catholics to trust the reasons why God allows suffering to happen.
  • Isiah 53 says that the acceptance of suffering, by those who are suffering or have suffered, is why humans can recieve salvation, as Jesus suffered on the cross for this to happen. 
  • Christians have a strong belief that suffering brings them closer to understanding Jesus' suffering for the benefit of humanity and, just as Jesus' suffering brought about good, so will thier suffering.
  • The belief in this is due to Christians believing that Jesus' actions and life should be a model for thier own. 
  • Suffering is, therefore, a mystery for Christians to diliberate.
  • However, Christians do not believe that evil brings about good. Only suffering does.
  • Catholics will share their suffering with God through: prayer and mass, in which they will ask for God to help those suffering from sickness, grief and other factors troubling people internationally. 
  • Catholics will support those in need through charity and thier vocation.
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The Trinity.

  • The following are all Christian beliefs on God and His nature:
  • There is only one God (monotheism.)
  • God exists as the trinity, which means that He is: the Father, the Son (Jesus) and the Holy Spirit and that each of the parts of the trinity have different charecterisitcs and purposes.
  • There are not three Gods, due to the trinity, as they are all fully God in one being.
  • The belief in the trintiy is known as the Doctrine of the Trinity and is fundamental to the Catholic faith.
  • The Doctrine of the Trinity is a mystery for all Catholics to diliberate.
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The Importance Of The Trinity In The Christian Fai

  • Without the Doctrine of the Trinity Christians would be unable to believe that Jesus and God are the same person.
  • The importance of the trinity is demonstrated in common Catholic practices, such as: in Catholic prayers like the sign of the cross, which is trinitarian and prayers said in the name of the trinity, such as: the Eucharistic prayer ("in the unity of the Holy Spirit.")
  • The Nicene Creed is recited at every mass and druing bapstisms and references the trinity, giving it its importance for Catholics, this is also due to: it reminding worshippers of the main points of thier faith, being a way of worshippers publically confirming thier faith, it showing that the beliefs are shared by all Catholics as it is recited by all and it binds Catholics together as a family throug their beliefs.
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The Bible And The Doctrine Of The Trinity (Not HWH

  • The following are quotes from the New Testament, which reference the Doctrine of the Trinity:
  • "baptising them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit" (Matthew.)
  • "no one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him [through the Holy Spirit.]" (Matthew.)
  • "Jesus Christ as the divine word, the light and life of the world [the Holy Spirit], the only-begotten Son of the Father." (John.)
  • Jesus baptism was one of the first apparent apperances of the Holy Spirit, which was told by Mark in his gospel.
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St. Augustine's De Trinitate (The Trinity.)

  • St. Augustine made use of John's idea that "God is love", in order to explain the trinity by saying that:
  • Love requires all three parts: the person doing to the loving (the Son), the person who is being loved (humans) and the love itself (the Father and the the Holyn Spirit.)
  • The three parts of the trinity are all present in God, even before God created the universe. This means that St. Augustine says that the trinity is of love. the lover and the beloved, due to this.
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The Meaning And The Importance Of Incarnation.

  • God incarnated himself as the Son of God/as Jesus of Nazareth, to make Himself visible in the flesh.
  • Jesus is also referred to as the incarnated Son by Christians.
  • Christians believe that Jesus is both fully God and fully human, meaning that that He has both a human nature and a divine nature.
  • John calls Jesus "the word" in his gospel, given that God's word is the creative power, which caused Jesus to be incarnated. This is escpeically known when he says that "The Word became flesh and made his dwelliong among us." 
  • In the kenosis/emptying hymn in Phillipians, St. Paul show us how Jesus emptied himself of his divine nature to become human.
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Scripture On Incarnation.

  • The following are quotes used to explain Jesus' incarnation using the Bilbe:
  • "the Word was God" (John.)
  • "being born in the likeness of men" (Phillipians.)
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Incarnation And The Problem Of Evil.

  • Jesus allows for Christians to understand why God allows suffering in the world, as His Son endured suffering on earth and is, therefore, an example to all humans of how to react and deal with it.
  • It also shows how God can identify with with human suiffering, as Jesus endured it Himself.
  • The incarnation was another way of God showing His great love for the human race.
  • Christians see Jesus as the presence of God amongst them, which is a comfort when they suffer, as they can ask Jesus (who has endured human suffering) for His support.
  • It is believed that Jesus is always present when a human suffers, given that He bore His suffering out of love and did not run from it.
  • Therefore, Christians do not often question why God allows suffering, as they know that God understands what they are going through.
  • Just as Catholics should accept the help of Jesus, they should follow His example and try to help to stop suffering by: helping a charity or supporting an upset friend.
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John Paul II And Salvifici Doris.

  • The title, "Salvifici Doris" means "the saving power of suffering" from Latin into English.
  • It says that the problem of evil is a difficult mystery to understand and that the only way that humans can understand it fully is if they try to understand the depth of God's love for humans, which was shown by Jesus when He died on the cross for the salvation of humanity.
  • He says that, if Christians offer up thier suffering willingly for others, then they will truly understand that depth of God's love for humanity.When a Christian does this, they are being like Jesus and following his teaching.
  • He says that prayer is a useful tool to communicate with God, in order to unerstand Jesus' sacrifice and, through this, God's love for humans.
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Jesus' Moral Teachings.

  • Christians try to model thier lives and thier actions on those of Jesus.
  • Christians always try to follow the Golden Rule, which Jesus gave to us, by "doing unto others as we would want thewm to do to us." The Golden Rule is a summary for the Sermon on the Mount.
  • Jesus told His disciples to love everyone, meaning that Christians today should also do this. He said that we should "love one another as [He]  has loved [us.]" Jesus showed that we should love everyone, when he cured the leper, when everybody feared and disliked them and when he made an outcast sinner welcome (the story of Jesus and Zacchaeus.)
  • Jesus showed His forgiveness to those who had Him crucified, showing that we should also how mercy to those who have sinned against us.
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The Beatitudes.

  • The Sermon on the Mount began with a series of blessings, which are now knows as the Beatitudes/blessings in Latin.
  • The whole messgae of the sermon is that God is often closer to those who are not recognised or valued by the rest of the world.
  • An example of one teaching is, "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
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The Sermon On The Mount.

  • Jesus said, during the Sermon on the Mount, that the requirements of being a follower of Him goes much deeper than the Laws of Moses. This is why the Sermon on the Mount is sometimes known as the "fufilment of the law."
  • During the sermon, He would say that we have "heard it said that [insert a law of Moses]" and then He would alter the Moses law, to bring about new more modern and diverse teachings.
  • Jesus was showing His followers that being a Christian cannot just be done by following the laws of Moses/the Torah.
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The Teachings On The Sermon On The Mount.

  • Do not murder...but nobody should be angry and should settle arguments quickly.
  • Do not commit adultery...but nobody should ever look lustfully at another woman.
  • Divorce is allowed...but there shouldn't be divorce.
  • Do not break an oath...but do not make an oath if you cannot keep it.
  • An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth...but people should always turn the other cheek.
  • Love your neighbour, hate your enemies...but we should always love our enemies and pray for those who persecute you.
  • Give to the needy...but always give in secret.
  • Pray and fast...but do not do this for show.
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Natural Law.

  • Natural law is the idea that there is a discoverable moral law, which applies to all humans no matter who they are or where they are.
  • This theory was put forward by St. Thomas Aquinas.
  • Natural law includes the common human duty to: preserve life, be steawards to the earth, to seek the truth and to live in a society worhshipping God.
  • The duties for all humans to follow lead to there being laws ofr all humans to follow, such as: those against murder, child abuse, theft and lying. 
  • Natural law says that humans should avoid evil and always endeavour to do good.
  • Catholics say that the ability to find natural law shows that God is the creator and that He is omnibenevolent.
  • The ability to recognise suffering as being evil is a sign that everyone has the God-given ability to tell the difference between good and evil. 
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Conscience.

  • St. Thomas Aquinas defined conscience as being the mind of human beings making moral decisions.
  • Catholics say that conscience is the ability to discover and understand natural law.
  • This is why Cartholics have an obligation to follow thier conscience, as long as it is infromed by the Bible and tradition, which is interpreted by the Church.
  • When Catholics make moral decisions, they should be using thier conscience.
  • Catholics follow the belief thatm if humans followed thier conscience more often, then there would be less moral evil in the world and, through this, less suffering.
  • The exisitence of conscience is just another proof of God's omnibenevolence and is often used as an argument to understand why there is suffering in the world.
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Virtues And Suffering.

  • Catholics have a belief that living a good life and obeying consciene does need practice.
  • Catholics say that there are certain moral habits, which Catholics need to practice, to become true good people.
  • These good habits are virtues.
  • For virtues to be practiced, a person's selishness and desire to keep safe needs to be overcome, so that they can be practiced properly without concern for themselves
  • Virtues are a possible reason for the exsistence of suffering in the world, as it can lead to people being more understanding, to then go on to help others, for example: if you suffer poverty and hunger, then you will be more likely to help others in that situation.
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Comments

danrogerson

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Thanks a lot!
danrogerson

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