Friday, February 24, 2006
Vatican II
The Documents of Vatican II
The old saying “The king is dead; long live the king” comes to mind when talking about the Council: “The Council is over, the Council has just begun.”
Lumen Gentium (Light of all Nations): Dogmatic Constitution on the Church
—Lumen Gentium are the first two words of the text.
—one of two Dogmatic Constitutions, the other one being on Revelation
—went through many drafts
—old vision of the Church very anti-Protestant, emphasizing the hierarchical and juridical aspects of the Church, and supremacy of the Pope.
—Council Fathers wanted to give a more biblical, historical, vital and dynamic picture of Church.
—It’s called a Dogmatic Constitution, but does NOT define any new dogmas.
—sets forth the Church’s present understanding of her nature.
—shows a preference for vivid and biblical language over rigid definitions and scholastic subtleties.
—Church is a “little flock” of weak and sinful men. Always stands in need of purification and renewal, while also feeling confident of God’s loving help.
—mystery of the Church viewed through paradoxical union between human and divine.
—Since it is human, the Church exists in time, and is subject to forces of history.
—Since it is divine, it presses forward toward a goal beyond history.
—Lumen Gentium is pastoral, Christocentric, biblical, historical, & eschatological.
—the tone is ecumenical
The document itself:
—begins NOT with a discussion of the structures of the Church.
—begins with the notion of Church as a people to whom God communicates Himself in love.
Chapter 3: deals with the hierarchy, particularly the episcopacy. Focuses mainly on the priestly role of the bishop and his sacramental consecration. The bishops are a body or college, collectively responsible for the needs of the Church.
The Church as a whole: first, Council considers the 3-fold office of Christ: prophet, priest, and king. Those with authority in the Church (usually ordained) are called to the 3 functions of teaching, sanctifying, and governing the people of God.
—all Christians (ordained and laity) have the task of witness, ministry, and fellowship: martyrion, diakonia, and koinonia.
Final Chapter: deals with Virgin Mary. Goal is to link her role to the Church as a whole.
Final Notes: Lumen Gentium is NOT a definitive document. Does not canonize the past or consecrate the present, but prepares the way for the future.
Another interpretation: http://faith-matters.blogspot.com/2005/10/lumen-gentium-general-commentary.html
“Jesus Christ is the light of all nations.” Jesus is at the center of Church identity.
Dei Verbum (The Word of God): Dogmatic Constitution on Divine Revelation
—equal in importance to Lumen Gentium. Together with it they are the most fundamental documents of Vatican II.
—Dei Verbum is in fact, if not in name, Vatican II’s pronouncement on the Bible.
Chapters 1 & 2: set the Bible in context of the whole Christian doctrine of salvation, and in this light explain its origin and function.
Chapters 3-6: deal expressly with sacred Scripture.
—God is a personal God who has spoken to men. He initiates dialogue with them, invites them to listen to his words, and to respond. God’s words are revelation, our response is faith.
Article 5: biblical faith is far more than an intellectual assent to propositions. It is a loyal adherence to a personal God.
Revelation—the main subject of the document.
—God manifests primarily Himself and secondarily His will and intentions: to particular men at particular times. Each revelation of God is part of a bigger plan for the good of all men.
**—all revelation is public. Even so-called private revelation is meant to be testified to others by the recipient.
—Revelation passed on orally is tradition; and recorded in writing, it becomes Scripture.
—Scripture contains revelation, in form of written record, but not all Scripture is revelation. It is a record of revelations effects, of human reactions to it, and men’s faith or lack of it.
Important Distinction: All Scripture is inspired, but NOT all Scripture is revealed.
—Much of tradition is only that of human origin, while some represents the revelation of Christ.
The New Testament—the permanent and unchanging testimony of the apostolic generation.
—NT writings are NOT a complete and balanced inventory of the early Church’s beliefs.
—they DO lay down the rule of faith as it was recorded; the Church is always bound to this: can develop it but never falsify or change.
—also important: written records are “dead” letters, i.e. cannot change, therefore always needing constant interpretation and commentary in succeeding ages.
—Sacred writings are always accompanied by continuous tradition of understanding and explanation.
—IF this tradition were only human, it would be liable to error. But, the Church’s magisterium is free from error in essentials of faith.
Article 10: Scripture, tradition, and the magisterium work together. All are necessary for the Church’s life.
—People are encouraged to read the Bible. Also, reminded to keep in mind tradition and the magisterium. One should not come to a Bible reading in total ignorance of what is to be found there.
—One must come to a reading of the Bible with a faith in Christ.
—A reader of Scripture must take care to understand the given particular time, place, historical and cultural setting, to understand what the author was saying, and get the meaning.
—Need to understand what type of writing you are reading, whether it be poetry, prophecy, history, proverb, psalm, apocalyptic, etc, etc.
Relation of Old Testament to New Testament
—Old Testament’s purpose is to prepare for the coming both of Christ, the universal Redeemer, and of the messianic kingdom, to announce this coming by prophecy and it to indicate its meaning through various types.
—The New Testament is hidden in the Old, and the Old is made manifest in the New.
—The New Testament is the word of God, which is the power of God for the salvation of all who believe in it.
—The Gospels have preeminence even among the other book of the NT. The Gospels are of apostolic origin.
—each Gospel writer took some things from the many known about Jesus Christ, and wrote it in a manner needed for their particular church community. Though they are all slightly different, and have some different stories, and different story orders, all tell the honest truth about Jesus.
Sacrosanctum Concilium: Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy
—the first completed work of Vatican II.
—liturgy is important. Other documents and issues may only have indirect bearing on the life of the faithful; the liturgy touches everyone immediately and vitally.
Liturgy—our public worship.
Article 50—the need to revise the rite of the Mass in a way that the intrinsic nature and purpose of its several parts and their connection is more clearly manifested.
—make the Mass more intelligible for the people. Much of this had been lost over the course of centuries.
—elements that over time came to be duplicated, or were added without much advantage, should be discarded.
**—should not change for change’s sake, or return to the past for the past’s sake, but for the benefit of the faithful.
—this document implemented quickly, changes scene, and the whole Council in general is scene as valuable, as relating to the people, not just the Bishops talking about matters “over the peoples heads.”
—The fundamental elements of the liturgy CANNOT change, but everything else is changeable.
—trim the Mass of useless accretions. Restore it to “noble simplicity”
—reform other practices to adjust certain aspects to the requirements of our times.
—Do not impose, but rather use what is good from other cultures in the liturgy.
—Gregorian Chant DOES have pride of place, but other forms of music may and should be adopted.
—a more generous use of the vernacular should be used in the liturgy.
—Do NOT let feasts of the saints take precedence over regular feasts of the church.
Scripture: Christ is present not just in the Sacraments (particularly Eucharist), but also in His Word. Real Presence of Christ is in the liturgy of the Word, as well as Liturgy of the Eucharist.
—The homily should be based on the Scripture texts of that mass.
Church Year: Revision of the Liturgical Year. Not all saints feasts days need to be celebrated in all parishes.
—New three year cycle, with Matt, Mark, Luke taking turns, John interspersed, and two readings before the gospels, one OT (usually) and one NT, instead of the past, where it was just one NT reading.
Gaudium Et Spes: Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World
Goal: engage in conversation with the entire human family.
—the Church can shed light on the human mystery and cooperate in solving contemporary problems.
—This constitution is addressed to (1) Catholics, (2) all Christians, and (3) the whole of humanity.
—The Church has a duty to read the signs of the times and interpret them in light of the Gospel.
Council’s view of contemporary society:
—We are in a new age of human history; social and cultural circumstances of life have profoundly changed.
—humans have passed from a static concept of reality to a more dynamic, evolutionary one.
—we are undergoing cultural and social transformation; rapid changes in industrialization, urbanization, communication, and socialization.
—changes happening in attitudes, values, norms of behavior.
—modern technical advances=growing dependence on others.
—increasing socialization causes problems and opportunities for development.
—a growing awareness in the world of human dignity, rights, and duties that belong to all and cannot be taken away.
Also some negatives about the modern world:
—splits in individuals, families, races, and nations.
—people find it difficult to find permanent values to apply to changing situations.
—a serious split between people’s faith and daily lives.
—economic and political tensions, increased warfare, nuclear weapons.
The modern world is at once powerful and weak.
—Church sets out to find a working relationship with the world.
—The Church has benefited the world and the world has benefited the Church.
—The Church has profited richly by the history and development of humanity.
—Whoever works to benefit the world helps the Church as well.
The Church’s mission: saving and eschatological, only fully attained in the next world. Her mission is religious, not political.
—The Church opens up to people the meaning of their own existence. People are precious for who they are, not what they have. Human dignity extends to the human body, human mind/intellect, and human conscience.
—Atheism is a serious problem in the modern world. Sometimes caused by the desire for humans to be ends unto themselves, sometimes caused by religious people being bad. Atheism is to be confronted with dialogue and a good presentation of the faith.
Social Justice: promote individual dignity and the community. Make sure that people have basic needs; food, shelter, freedom to chose a state of life and found a family, right to education, employment, good reputation, respect, information, privacy, religious freedom.
—our end time hopes do not diminish the need to make the world a better place in the here and now.
Unitatis Redintegratio: Decree on Ecumenism
Ecumenism for the Church before Vatican II: pray that Protestants “return” to the true Church and the Orthodox Schism ends. No involvement in real dialogue.
John XXIII calls Vatican II; invites Orthodox prelates and Protestants to be observers of the Council. John did NOT call them schismatics or heretics; he called them our “separated brethren.”
Document finished in 1963, discussed from November 18 through December 2. Refined during third session of the Council in 1964. Pope made some changes the day before the final version of the text was approved. November 20, voted in favor 2,054 to 64.
—Document has 5 chapters. 3 on principles and practice of ecumenism and relations with Protestants and Orthodox Churches, 1 on relations with the Jews, and 1 on religious freedom.
—Focus of the document is more on a pilgrim Church moving toward Christ than on a movement of “return” to the Catholic Church.
—does not focus on the typical “the Catholic Church is the true Church”; instead asserts that Jesus Christ, in His Spirit, is at work in the Churches and Communities beyond the visible borders of the Catholic Church. All baptized Christians are our brothers.
—admission of guilt: says that the divisions among Christians are the result of sin on both sides, Protestant and Catholic.
—all have an obligation to pray for the restoration of unity. All are called to dialogue.
**—the call to unity is also realistic. Does not call for watering down dogmas. Instead of pretending our differences do not matter, we need to respect differences and work together.
—the call to ecumenism is not an end, but a beginning.
—this document marks the Roman Catholic Church’s full entry into the ecumenical movement.
Nostra Aetate: Declaration on the Relationship of the Church to Non-Christian Religions
—Chapter 4 of Unitatis Redintegratio deals with Christian relations with Jews, however it was decided that (1) this was not enough space to discuss the issue and (2) it is an issue different than the scope of ecumenism, since Judaism is a different religion.
—Some Eastern Patriarchs were opposed to inserting the line that says Jews are not responsible for deicide. They think this will cause Palestinians to think the Church favors the State of Israel and lead to Palestinians persecuting Christian minorities in the area.
—It was ultimately decided to include the statement, however.
—since Scripture reinforces the relationship between the Church and the people of the Old Testament, discrimination against Jews is always wrong.
—This document ends the sad chapter of Church history where many believed that the Jews were Christ killers.
—this document also deals with other religions
—states that all peoples of the earth with their various religions form one community. The Church respects the spiritual, moral, cultural values of Hinduism, Buddhism, Islam.
—Does not call for conversion of non-Christians in this document, but a hoped for reunion of all believers at the end of history.
Dignitatis Humanae (Human Dignity): Declaration on Religious Freedom
November 19, 1963—first schema (draft text) on religious freedom is presented to conciliar Fathers. Over two years, five corrected versions of the text appeared. 3 public debates held, 120 speeches made. Out of all this debate came the 6th and final text.
—Religious freedom is a human right.
—the Declaration is not really a milestone in human history. Principle of religious freedom is recognized in constitutional law. The Church was late in recognizing this principle.
—the major issue in passing this document is the issue of development of document. What would passing this document say about the issue of the Church changing, considering the release of the Syllabus of Errors (1864) just 100 years prior.
—nevertheless, this document opens up new relations between the Church and other peoples.
—the old double standard—freedom for the Church when it is a minority, privilege for the Church and intolerance for others when Catholics are a majority—no longer flies.
—the dignity of man consists in his responsible use of freedom.
**—This document is the singular one addressed to the whole world.
The old saying “The king is dead; long live the king” comes to mind when talking about the Council: “The Council is over, the Council has just begun.”
Lumen Gentium (Light of all Nations): Dogmatic Constitution on the Church
—Lumen Gentium are the first two words of the text.
—one of two Dogmatic Constitutions, the other one being on Revelation
—went through many drafts
—old vision of the Church very anti-Protestant, emphasizing the hierarchical and juridical aspects of the Church, and supremacy of the Pope.
—Council Fathers wanted to give a more biblical, historical, vital and dynamic picture of Church.
—It’s called a Dogmatic Constitution, but does NOT define any new dogmas.
—sets forth the Church’s present understanding of her nature.
—shows a preference for vivid and biblical language over rigid definitions and scholastic subtleties.
—Church is a “little flock” of weak and sinful men. Always stands in need of purification and renewal, while also feeling confident of God’s loving help.
—mystery of the Church viewed through paradoxical union between human and divine.
—Since it is human, the Church exists in time, and is subject to forces of history.
—Since it is divine, it presses forward toward a goal beyond history.
—Lumen Gentium is pastoral, Christocentric, biblical, historical, & eschatological.
—the tone is ecumenical
The document itself:
—begins NOT with a discussion of the structures of the Church.
—begins with the notion of Church as a people to whom God communicates Himself in love.
Chapter 3: deals with the hierarchy, particularly the episcopacy. Focuses mainly on the priestly role of the bishop and his sacramental consecration. The bishops are a body or college, collectively responsible for the needs of the Church.
The Church as a whole: first, Council considers the 3-fold office of Christ: prophet, priest, and king. Those with authority in the Church (usually ordained) are called to the 3 functions of teaching, sanctifying, and governing the people of God.
—all Christians (ordained and laity) have the task of witness, ministry, and fellowship: martyrion, diakonia, and koinonia.
Final Chapter: deals with Virgin Mary. Goal is to link her role to the Church as a whole.
Final Notes: Lumen Gentium is NOT a definitive document. Does not canonize the past or consecrate the present, but prepares the way for the future.
Another interpretation: http://faith-matters.blogspot.com/2005/10/lumen-gentium-general-commentary.html
“Jesus Christ is the light of all nations.” Jesus is at the center of Church identity.
Dei Verbum (The Word of God): Dogmatic Constitution on Divine Revelation
—equal in importance to Lumen Gentium. Together with it they are the most fundamental documents of Vatican II.
—Dei Verbum is in fact, if not in name, Vatican II’s pronouncement on the Bible.
Chapters 1 & 2: set the Bible in context of the whole Christian doctrine of salvation, and in this light explain its origin and function.
Chapters 3-6: deal expressly with sacred Scripture.
—God is a personal God who has spoken to men. He initiates dialogue with them, invites them to listen to his words, and to respond. God’s words are revelation, our response is faith.
Article 5: biblical faith is far more than an intellectual assent to propositions. It is a loyal adherence to a personal God.
Revelation—the main subject of the document.
—God manifests primarily Himself and secondarily His will and intentions: to particular men at particular times. Each revelation of God is part of a bigger plan for the good of all men.
**—all revelation is public. Even so-called private revelation is meant to be testified to others by the recipient.
—Revelation passed on orally is tradition; and recorded in writing, it becomes Scripture.
—Scripture contains revelation, in form of written record, but not all Scripture is revelation. It is a record of revelations effects, of human reactions to it, and men’s faith or lack of it.
Important Distinction: All Scripture is inspired, but NOT all Scripture is revealed.
—Much of tradition is only that of human origin, while some represents the revelation of Christ.
The New Testament—the permanent and unchanging testimony of the apostolic generation.
—NT writings are NOT a complete and balanced inventory of the early Church’s beliefs.
—they DO lay down the rule of faith as it was recorded; the Church is always bound to this: can develop it but never falsify or change.
—also important: written records are “dead” letters, i.e. cannot change, therefore always needing constant interpretation and commentary in succeeding ages.
—Sacred writings are always accompanied by continuous tradition of understanding and explanation.
—IF this tradition were only human, it would be liable to error. But, the Church’s magisterium is free from error in essentials of faith.
Article 10: Scripture, tradition, and the magisterium work together. All are necessary for the Church’s life.
—People are encouraged to read the Bible. Also, reminded to keep in mind tradition and the magisterium. One should not come to a Bible reading in total ignorance of what is to be found there.
—One must come to a reading of the Bible with a faith in Christ.
—A reader of Scripture must take care to understand the given particular time, place, historical and cultural setting, to understand what the author was saying, and get the meaning.
—Need to understand what type of writing you are reading, whether it be poetry, prophecy, history, proverb, psalm, apocalyptic, etc, etc.
Relation of Old Testament to New Testament
—Old Testament’s purpose is to prepare for the coming both of Christ, the universal Redeemer, and of the messianic kingdom, to announce this coming by prophecy and it to indicate its meaning through various types.
—The New Testament is hidden in the Old, and the Old is made manifest in the New.
—The New Testament is the word of God, which is the power of God for the salvation of all who believe in it.
—The Gospels have preeminence even among the other book of the NT. The Gospels are of apostolic origin.
—each Gospel writer took some things from the many known about Jesus Christ, and wrote it in a manner needed for their particular church community. Though they are all slightly different, and have some different stories, and different story orders, all tell the honest truth about Jesus.
Sacrosanctum Concilium: Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy
—the first completed work of Vatican II.
—liturgy is important. Other documents and issues may only have indirect bearing on the life of the faithful; the liturgy touches everyone immediately and vitally.
Liturgy—our public worship.
Article 50—the need to revise the rite of the Mass in a way that the intrinsic nature and purpose of its several parts and their connection is more clearly manifested.
—make the Mass more intelligible for the people. Much of this had been lost over the course of centuries.
—elements that over time came to be duplicated, or were added without much advantage, should be discarded.
**—should not change for change’s sake, or return to the past for the past’s sake, but for the benefit of the faithful.
—this document implemented quickly, changes scene, and the whole Council in general is scene as valuable, as relating to the people, not just the Bishops talking about matters “over the peoples heads.”
—The fundamental elements of the liturgy CANNOT change, but everything else is changeable.
—trim the Mass of useless accretions. Restore it to “noble simplicity”
—reform other practices to adjust certain aspects to the requirements of our times.
—Do not impose, but rather use what is good from other cultures in the liturgy.
—Gregorian Chant DOES have pride of place, but other forms of music may and should be adopted.
—a more generous use of the vernacular should be used in the liturgy.
—Do NOT let feasts of the saints take precedence over regular feasts of the church.
Scripture: Christ is present not just in the Sacraments (particularly Eucharist), but also in His Word. Real Presence of Christ is in the liturgy of the Word, as well as Liturgy of the Eucharist.
—The homily should be based on the Scripture texts of that mass.
Church Year: Revision of the Liturgical Year. Not all saints feasts days need to be celebrated in all parishes.
—New three year cycle, with Matt, Mark, Luke taking turns, John interspersed, and two readings before the gospels, one OT (usually) and one NT, instead of the past, where it was just one NT reading.
Gaudium Et Spes: Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World
Goal: engage in conversation with the entire human family.
—the Church can shed light on the human mystery and cooperate in solving contemporary problems.
—This constitution is addressed to (1) Catholics, (2) all Christians, and (3) the whole of humanity.
—The Church has a duty to read the signs of the times and interpret them in light of the Gospel.
Council’s view of contemporary society:
—We are in a new age of human history; social and cultural circumstances of life have profoundly changed.
—humans have passed from a static concept of reality to a more dynamic, evolutionary one.
—we are undergoing cultural and social transformation; rapid changes in industrialization, urbanization, communication, and socialization.
—changes happening in attitudes, values, norms of behavior.
—modern technical advances=growing dependence on others.
—increasing socialization causes problems and opportunities for development.
—a growing awareness in the world of human dignity, rights, and duties that belong to all and cannot be taken away.
Also some negatives about the modern world:
—splits in individuals, families, races, and nations.
—people find it difficult to find permanent values to apply to changing situations.
—a serious split between people’s faith and daily lives.
—economic and political tensions, increased warfare, nuclear weapons.
The modern world is at once powerful and weak.
—Church sets out to find a working relationship with the world.
—The Church has benefited the world and the world has benefited the Church.
—The Church has profited richly by the history and development of humanity.
—Whoever works to benefit the world helps the Church as well.
The Church’s mission: saving and eschatological, only fully attained in the next world. Her mission is religious, not political.
—The Church opens up to people the meaning of their own existence. People are precious for who they are, not what they have. Human dignity extends to the human body, human mind/intellect, and human conscience.
—Atheism is a serious problem in the modern world. Sometimes caused by the desire for humans to be ends unto themselves, sometimes caused by religious people being bad. Atheism is to be confronted with dialogue and a good presentation of the faith.
Social Justice: promote individual dignity and the community. Make sure that people have basic needs; food, shelter, freedom to chose a state of life and found a family, right to education, employment, good reputation, respect, information, privacy, religious freedom.
—our end time hopes do not diminish the need to make the world a better place in the here and now.
Unitatis Redintegratio: Decree on Ecumenism
Ecumenism for the Church before Vatican II: pray that Protestants “return” to the true Church and the Orthodox Schism ends. No involvement in real dialogue.
John XXIII calls Vatican II; invites Orthodox prelates and Protestants to be observers of the Council. John did NOT call them schismatics or heretics; he called them our “separated brethren.”
Document finished in 1963, discussed from November 18 through December 2. Refined during third session of the Council in 1964. Pope made some changes the day before the final version of the text was approved. November 20, voted in favor 2,054 to 64.
—Document has 5 chapters. 3 on principles and practice of ecumenism and relations with Protestants and Orthodox Churches, 1 on relations with the Jews, and 1 on religious freedom.
—Focus of the document is more on a pilgrim Church moving toward Christ than on a movement of “return” to the Catholic Church.
—does not focus on the typical “the Catholic Church is the true Church”; instead asserts that Jesus Christ, in His Spirit, is at work in the Churches and Communities beyond the visible borders of the Catholic Church. All baptized Christians are our brothers.
—admission of guilt: says that the divisions among Christians are the result of sin on both sides, Protestant and Catholic.
—all have an obligation to pray for the restoration of unity. All are called to dialogue.
**—the call to unity is also realistic. Does not call for watering down dogmas. Instead of pretending our differences do not matter, we need to respect differences and work together.
—the call to ecumenism is not an end, but a beginning.
—this document marks the Roman Catholic Church’s full entry into the ecumenical movement.
Nostra Aetate: Declaration on the Relationship of the Church to Non-Christian Religions
—Chapter 4 of Unitatis Redintegratio deals with Christian relations with Jews, however it was decided that (1) this was not enough space to discuss the issue and (2) it is an issue different than the scope of ecumenism, since Judaism is a different religion.
—Some Eastern Patriarchs were opposed to inserting the line that says Jews are not responsible for deicide. They think this will cause Palestinians to think the Church favors the State of Israel and lead to Palestinians persecuting Christian minorities in the area.
—It was ultimately decided to include the statement, however.
—since Scripture reinforces the relationship between the Church and the people of the Old Testament, discrimination against Jews is always wrong.
—This document ends the sad chapter of Church history where many believed that the Jews were Christ killers.
—this document also deals with other religions
—states that all peoples of the earth with their various religions form one community. The Church respects the spiritual, moral, cultural values of Hinduism, Buddhism, Islam.
—Does not call for conversion of non-Christians in this document, but a hoped for reunion of all believers at the end of history.
Dignitatis Humanae (Human Dignity): Declaration on Religious Freedom
November 19, 1963—first schema (draft text) on religious freedom is presented to conciliar Fathers. Over two years, five corrected versions of the text appeared. 3 public debates held, 120 speeches made. Out of all this debate came the 6th and final text.
—Religious freedom is a human right.
—the Declaration is not really a milestone in human history. Principle of religious freedom is recognized in constitutional law. The Church was late in recognizing this principle.
—the major issue in passing this document is the issue of development of document. What would passing this document say about the issue of the Church changing, considering the release of the Syllabus of Errors (1864) just 100 years prior.
—nevertheless, this document opens up new relations between the Church and other peoples.
—the old double standard—freedom for the Church when it is a minority, privilege for the Church and intolerance for others when Catholics are a majority—no longer flies.
—the dignity of man consists in his responsible use of freedom.
**—This document is the singular one addressed to the whole world.
Canon Law
James A. Coriden, An Introduction to Canon Law
Roman Catholic Church—a highly organized community of religious belief, worship, witness, and action.
“Canon Law”—the name for its church order and discipline, its structures, rules, and procedures.
Churches—though based on divine revelation, are also human institutions, and as human communities, need rules.
—the Church has 850 million members (as of 1991), and is ancient; traces itself back to Jesus Christ. Over time, it has accrued a lot of rules. Generic English name for Church rules is “Canon Law.”
Law—a measure of norm or conduct. Directed toward the common good.
Canon—from the Greek kanon, meaning reed, rod, or ruler. Describes the measure or ruler used by a carpenter or designer. A standard by which things are measured. In English, we speak of the accepted standards of art or professional practice as canons.
**—both Greek and Latin have other words for law: nomos and lex. The Church chose to name its rules “canons” to show that its rules were different than the rules of the Roman Empire.
Ius Canonicum—The Latin for “canon law.” “Canon law” is our English translation of this Latin phrase, but is not a very good one. We do not have an exact equivalent in English for “Ius.” “Ius” can mean “legal system”, “subjective right”, or “objective of justice.” Most languages translate Ius as “right”, but in English, translating ius canonicum as “canonical right” would not work. It’s ambiguous.
Church Order—norms covering basic structures of the Church; papal and episcopal offices, sacramental system.
Church Discipline—norms setting forth individual regulations; age for confirmation, requirements for ordination, etc.
—Canon Law includes both Church Order and Discipline.
—Canon Law contains guidelines for actions and presents norms of conduct, NOT beliefs or the content of faith. If you want Church teaching, go to the documents of Vatican II or the Catechism.
—deals with church’s public governance, NOT the arena of conscience.
4 functions of law:
(1) Law is to aid society in the achievement of its goals. Canon Law aids the Chruch in carrying out its mission, helping it to save souls.
(2) Law give stability to society, provides good order. The Church needs tranquility of order in life, just like other societies.
(3) Law is to protect personal rights, and provide avenues of recourse and redress of grievances. The church is a human society, and it too deals with relationships involving rights and regulations; a juridic order.
(4) Law is to assist in the education of the community by reminding everyone of its values and standards. Canons help the Church in its teaching, though most of the teaching is done through other Church offices and areas.
New Testament Roots of the Rules
—books of the New Testament emerged from the early churches of the 1st century.
—these Gospels and letters tell us about rules that the early believers lived by and organized their communities by.
—local congregations linked together in a fellowship of faith and caring.
—structured authority within each church; had presbyters & bishops. Conciliar, consultative process for making decisions.
**—holding a position of authority among the disciples of Jesus meant serving others.
—rules requiring baptism with water, celebration of the Lord’s Supper, powers of binding and loosing sins, procedures of praying over the sick, and mention of laying on of hands as a way of installing people to offices and calling people to ministry, and rules on marriage and marital conduct, are all found in the texts of the New Testament books.
—There was much diversity among the different church communities on rules, titles, offices, etc., but we do see church order and discipline present from the beginning.
History of Canon Law
—The Church was not “born” with its administrative organization in place.
—it evolved rules and procedures as it grew and spread. Church rules are shaped by internal needs, surrounding cultures, & pressures of changed circumstances.
Post-Apostolic and Early Church (Late 1st to late 4th centuries)
—after NT period, local churches scattered all around Mediterranean basin. Mutual recognition and some communication between them, but no central authority or single rule-making power.
Didache (Teaching of the Twelve Apostles)—anonymous collection of moral, liturgical, and disciplinary instructions. Written c. 100 AD, maybe earlier.
—contains rules on how to baptize, keep the Lord’s day, prayer, elections of bishops and deacons, and moral rules, such as prohibitions on abortion, etc.
—Other collections from first 2 centuries AD: Tradition Apostolica of Hippolytus (c. 218), Didiscalia Apostolorum (c. 250), Canones Ecclesiastici Apostolorum (c. 300).
—not issued by a formal authority. Just compiled customs written down by communities and circulated to other communities.
Synodal (Conciliar) Process—patterned after the Council of Jerusalem (Acts 15). Leaders of local churches of an area come together, talk, and seek consensus on matters of doctrine or discipline.
—local councils held in North Africa, Spain, Italy, France, & Asia Minor.
—decisions made at local councils shared with other churches when they gathered in council. System of mutual acceptance and common usage.
Ecumenical Councils—4th century: system of local councils expanded to gatherings of the entire communion of Churches. Ecumenical, from Greek oikoumene (the inhabited world, the universe).
Council of Nicea—First Ecumenical Council. Called by Constantine. 325 AD. Attended by 318 bishops. Most famous for issuing the Creed.
—bishops also debated, agreed upon, and issued 20 “canons”: various rules of discipline.
—these canons were widely circulated and accepted throughout the churches.
—canons dealt with self-mutilation, clerical chastity, ordination of bishops, mutual recognition of excommunications, reconciliation of those who denied the faith, clerical usury, distribution of Holy Communion, and appropriate posture for prayer.
The Church of the Empire (4th to 8th centuries)
Early 4th century—Constantine recognizes Christianity. Granted freedom and a privileged position. Became the established religion.
—took time to work out relationship between Church and State. Emperors tried to dominate the Church, favor heretical factions, and even persecute Church members.
Late 4th century—Bishop Ambrose and Emperor Theodosius I made an agreement: Church and state recognize each other as supreme in their own respective realm.
—Church respected Rome’s imperial authority and policies.
—Rome honored Church’s authority in matters of faith, discipline of the clergy, liturgy, and administration of Church property.
—Church began to borrow from Roman law in making its own laws.
Church began to grow in numbers and spread to the countryside. Results of this:
—Bishops had to send presbyters to rural towns and villages to be pastors. Bishops started losing personal relationships with members of local churches.
—Bishop of Rome grew in power. Rome’s connections to Peter and Paul, plus being the imperial capital, led many bishops in the West to refer questions to Rome.
—answers they received from Bishop of Rome were treated as authoritative.
Leo I (440-461)—by his reign as Bishop of Rome, Bishop of Rome was seen as Patriarch of the West with undisputed primacy. The East recognized him as Patriarch of the West, but NOT as undisputed leader of all. Leo argued that he was the heir of Peter.
—Bishops of Rome, referred to as Popes, began issuing decretals in 5th century. These letters seen as having broad authority.
Pepin—ruler of Frankish Kingdom, given title of King of the Franks by the Pope.
Charlemagne (768-814)—crowned Holy Roman Emperor on Christmas Day 800 AD by Pope Leo III..
—by this time, the Church’s growth in territory and people, plus the influence of Roman Law, led to centralization and monarchical rule within the Church.
—shrinking of local congregational autonomy and participatory governance.
—Rise in authority of bishops. Bishop has sole authority in each diocese, and Roman pontiff has sole authority for the whole Church.
The Church and Feudalism (8th to 12th centuries)
—peoples of Northern Europe who replaced the crumbling Roman Empire ruled themselves not on laws set in writing, but on oral traditions of how things were done.
Feudal System—based on vassalage (personal promise of loyal service in return for protection and recompense), fealty (oath of loyalty), and benefice (beneficium, income for the performance of a certain task).
Ex: local lord gives priests revenue from certain lands in exchange for the performance of parochial duties. The bad side: Lord’s did not usually care whether a particular priest was the best choice for the needs of the people.
Church Laws—used some of these traditions, including oaths in judicial proceedings, stipends and stole fees for sacramental ministries, replacement of personal penances with offerings of money or a substitute task, etc. This led to the:
Lay Investiture Controversy—(late 11th century) power struggle between the Pope and kings.
—German kings, and lords (laypersons—non clergy) had grown accustomed to having the right to install their own chosen bishops and abbots in offices by investing them with the symbols of office (pastoral staff and ring).
Pope Gregory VII (1075)—decrees that NO clergy member is to receive investiture from any layperson. If he does, the investiture is bereft of (does not have) apostolic authority, and that person is excommunicated until reconciliation is made.
—The Lords did not listen. 50 years of power struggle would ensue.
Synod of Worms (1122)—compromise reached. Bishops are to be canonically elected. Lay lords no longer can invest them with ring and staff. But, they could present for elections and receive the homage of newly elected prelates for the feudal lands of their churches.
—basically, lay persons could no longer invest clergy into offices of bishop or abbot, but they had veto power over candidates for office.
Split between East and West (1054)—bonds of unity between Eastern and Western Christianity are broken. The two canonical traditions further diverge & cease to interact.
Classical Period of Canon Law (mid 12th to mid 14th centuries)
12th & 13th centuries—the canons of the church are assembled into an organized and rational body of knowledge.
—this “body of knowledge” studied as a science and practiced as an art from that time on.
3 “factors” make this period the “classical epoch”:
(1) A new and unparalleled collection of canons. John Gratian compiled a collection called Concordantia Discordantium Canonum (c. 1140), better known as Decretum Gratiani (Gratian’s Decree). He analyzed the meaning of the terms in the used in canons, looked at the sources for canons, and determined which canons had greater authority.
(2) The systematic study of this new science in educational centers. Gratian’s Decree is used in all universities where Canon Law is studied. Ex: Paris, Oxford, Salamanca, Montpellier, Padua. Teachers taught it, students studied it, authors commented on it. Became the standard reference work for those in papal and episcopal offices.
(3) Its mutually reinforcing relationship with a very strong papacy. Papacy at this time establishing itself in Europe as a centralized and dominant power, spiritually and temporally. Newly organized system of canon law assisted this growth. Popes now issue more rules and decisions that expanded the canons. Leading popes of the period: Alexander III (1159-81, a student of Gratian), Innocent III (1198-1216), Innocent IV (1243-54), & Boniface VIII (1294-1303) all were canonists.
Boniface VIII—issued Papal Bull Unam Sanctum: To be saved (go to heaven), a person must be subject to the Roman Pontiff.
—along with papal decrees, four ecumenical councils of the period also contributed to the canons: Lateran III (1179), Lateran IV (1215), & two in Lyons (1245 & 1274).
Decretal Gregorii IX (1234)—Pope Gregory IX has all the decrees and conciliar canons since Gratian’s collection compiled. He issues it as an authentic, official, and exclusive source of rules for the whole church.
—two other important developments: (1) mendicant religious orders (Franciscans, Dominicans, etc.) are founded and flourish at this time, creating their own constitutions and statutes to run themselves, and (2) Roman Law still had a big influence. Many canonists received their degrees in Roman Law and recognized Roman Law as supplementary. Whatever isn’t covered by Canon Law is dealt with through Roman Law.
Decline and Reform (mid 14th to 18th centuries)
Black Death (1348-49)—broke the spirit of Western Europe.
Avignon Papacy (1309-77)—weakened the papal office. Two or three rivals claimed the Chair of Peter for about 40 years. Shook the Church to her foundations.
Protestant Reformation (1517-1560)—decline in discipline and morality, unity is splintered.
—an even more centralized Church:
Popes of Avignon—reserved the right to themselves to fill ecclesiastical offices all over Europe. Intervened in the normal course of elections not just for major appointments, but also for smaller offices such as canons, chaplains, monks, and friars. Usually done for political and financial reasons.
Council of Constance (1414-18)—greatest representative assembly of the Middle Ages. More canonists than bishops in attendance! Rid the Church of anti-popes, restored the papal office, made a constitutional change: decreed that general councils should be convened every 10 years as means of ongoing church reform.
—unfortunately, after the next 2 popes, regular general councils fell out of practice.
Protestant Reformation happens, Church realizes a need to reform:
Pope Paul III (1534-49)—calls for ecumenical council in Trent in 1545.
Council of Trent (1545-1563 intermittently)—enacted a series of reforms:
—assigned clear responsibilities for bishops and parish priests.
—outlawed simony, possession of many benefices, absenteeism.
—stressed the needs of the people.
**—with the discovery of the New World, new issues for Canon Law rose up.
2 important canonically collections of this period:
(1) Corpus Iuris Canonici (Body of Canon Law)—a compendium of Gratian’s Decree, the Decretals of Gregory IX, and 4 more collections of decretals, all publishes as single work in Paris in 1500. Corrected and revised under Pope Gregory XIII in 1582. The Corpus is the main source of regulations issued before Trent, and remainedthe Church’s guiding book of rules until the first Code of Canon Law in 1917.
(2) Liber Septimus/Decretales Clementis VIII—begun in the 1580’s as an attempt to gather together decrees of the councils of Florence, Lateran V, & Trent, along with papal decrees issued after the Corpus.
The Church in the Modern World (18th and 19th centuries)
—The Church had trouble in the age of Enlightenment, rationalism, French Revolution, liberalism, modern secular state, etc.
—presuppositions of a shared Christendom are gone.
—Church no longer held the power, wealth, and privilege it had in the past.
Debate arises: between Ultramontanists and Gallicans & Febronians
Ultramontanists—support strong, centralized, papal government for the Church.
Gallicans and Febronians—argued for rights and freedoms of the Churches of France and Germany, and for episcopal authority.
—Febronians further say that we need to recognize bishops as successors to the apostles. Bishops hold authority by divine right; are not vicars and delegates of the Pope.
—together with the Pope in general council, bishops are the true representatives of the body of the Church.
—Pope is center of unity, but not Universal Bishop with unfettered jurisdiction.
*—Ultramontanists won out. Not necessarily by canon law arguments, but a recognition that national, local, churches are weak compared to governments, and a sovereign and strong papacy was a good diplomatic advantage for the Church.
Vatican Council I (1870)—First ecumenical council held since Trent, so first in more than 3 centuries.
—Declaration of papal supremacy (Pastor aeternus) and papal infallibility. Effectively ended the debate.
Canon Law in this period: becomes formulaic and repetitive. Its study in seminaries is shallow and ahistorical. Combined with moral theology, which was beneficial for neither. Issues are settled by which side had the better “authorities”, not the better argument.
The Codification of Canon Law (20th century up to Vatican II)
—No new official collection released since Pope John XXII in 1317.
—many extant laws had piled up over the years; usually were just listed in alphabetical order; sometimes contradictory
Pope Pius X—in 1904, sets the task of collecting the laws of the Church, putting them in a clear and concise order, and adapting them to the conditions of the time.
—The choice was made to make a Code, rather than a collection.
Codification—reduce the rules to terse and abstract formulations, arrange them in a carefully constructed system.
—strong on clarity, brevity, consistency, and order.
—but, the rules are entirely set apart from social and historical context.
1914—reformulations were completed. But, Pius died and World War I broke out.
Pentecost 1917—first Code of Canon Law is promulgated by Pope Benedict XV.
Pentecost 1918—The Code takes affect. Gives people a year to get used to it.
Canonical Sources, Forms, and Distinctions
Sources for Canon Law—Sacred Scripture, Natural Law, Custom, Councils, Fathers of the Church, Popes, Bishops, Rules of Religious Orders, Civil Law, and Concordats
The 1983 Code of Canon Law
History:
Pope John XXIII—on January 25, 1959, announces his vision: (1) a synod for diocese of Rome, (2) an ecumenical council, and (3) a modernization (aggiornamento) of the 1917 Code of Canon Law.
—created Commission for the Revision of the Code in 1963, soon after the beginning of Vatican II and soon before his own death.
Pope Paul VI—November 1965, set the commission to work soon after the close of Vatican II.
—their task: more than just updating the Code; task is to reorganize the Church’s discipline and accommodate it to the teachings of the Council.
—a need to transcend old ways of thinking: formalism, legalistic hairsplitting, & secular juridicism.
—goal is to help the faithful share in whatever assistance towards salvation the Church offers them.
1968—commission is organized into about a dozen groups. Came to Rome regularly for meetings. Circulated their drafts to the bishops of the world, weighed responses, and modified the draft.
1980—a final draft of the Code is ready.
October 1981—approved by the Cardinals of the commission.
April 1982—the draft presented to Pope John Paul II. He and his advisors spent months reviewing and adjusting it.
January 25, 1983—JPII promulgated the Code of Canon Law. Declared it into effect on November 17, 1983.
Organization of the Code
(1) General Norms—define terms, persons, instruments & powers which are employed throughout the Code.
(2) The People of God—largest and most important part of the Code. Reveals the Constitution of the Church. Members, rights, & duties set forth, then ordained ministry & associations of the faithful. Roles for the hierarchy and other religious groups described and outlined.
(3) The Teaching Function—sets forth who is to preach, catechize, do missionary work, roles of Catholic schools, etc.
(4) The Sanctifying function—2nd longest and 2nd most important book of the Code. The canonical discipline of the Sacraments.
(5) Temporal Goods of the Church—shortest book of the Code. Rules for acquisition, disposition, administration of church’s monies, lands, and buildings, and rules on wills and bequests.
(6) Sanctions in the Church—Crimes in the Church and their appropriate punishments.
(7) Procedures—judicial processes used for trials in church courts, some administrative procedures, e.g. administrative recourse and removal of a pastor.
Roman Catholic Church—a highly organized community of religious belief, worship, witness, and action.
“Canon Law”—the name for its church order and discipline, its structures, rules, and procedures.
Churches—though based on divine revelation, are also human institutions, and as human communities, need rules.
—the Church has 850 million members (as of 1991), and is ancient; traces itself back to Jesus Christ. Over time, it has accrued a lot of rules. Generic English name for Church rules is “Canon Law.”
Law—a measure of norm or conduct. Directed toward the common good.
Canon—from the Greek kanon, meaning reed, rod, or ruler. Describes the measure or ruler used by a carpenter or designer. A standard by which things are measured. In English, we speak of the accepted standards of art or professional practice as canons.
**—both Greek and Latin have other words for law: nomos and lex. The Church chose to name its rules “canons” to show that its rules were different than the rules of the Roman Empire.
Ius Canonicum—The Latin for “canon law.” “Canon law” is our English translation of this Latin phrase, but is not a very good one. We do not have an exact equivalent in English for “Ius.” “Ius” can mean “legal system”, “subjective right”, or “objective of justice.” Most languages translate Ius as “right”, but in English, translating ius canonicum as “canonical right” would not work. It’s ambiguous.
Church Order—norms covering basic structures of the Church; papal and episcopal offices, sacramental system.
Church Discipline—norms setting forth individual regulations; age for confirmation, requirements for ordination, etc.
—Canon Law includes both Church Order and Discipline.
—Canon Law contains guidelines for actions and presents norms of conduct, NOT beliefs or the content of faith. If you want Church teaching, go to the documents of Vatican II or the Catechism.
—deals with church’s public governance, NOT the arena of conscience.
4 functions of law:
(1) Law is to aid society in the achievement of its goals. Canon Law aids the Chruch in carrying out its mission, helping it to save souls.
(2) Law give stability to society, provides good order. The Church needs tranquility of order in life, just like other societies.
(3) Law is to protect personal rights, and provide avenues of recourse and redress of grievances. The church is a human society, and it too deals with relationships involving rights and regulations; a juridic order.
(4) Law is to assist in the education of the community by reminding everyone of its values and standards. Canons help the Church in its teaching, though most of the teaching is done through other Church offices and areas.
New Testament Roots of the Rules
—books of the New Testament emerged from the early churches of the 1st century.
—these Gospels and letters tell us about rules that the early believers lived by and organized their communities by.
—local congregations linked together in a fellowship of faith and caring.
—structured authority within each church; had presbyters & bishops. Conciliar, consultative process for making decisions.
**—holding a position of authority among the disciples of Jesus meant serving others.
—rules requiring baptism with water, celebration of the Lord’s Supper, powers of binding and loosing sins, procedures of praying over the sick, and mention of laying on of hands as a way of installing people to offices and calling people to ministry, and rules on marriage and marital conduct, are all found in the texts of the New Testament books.
—There was much diversity among the different church communities on rules, titles, offices, etc., but we do see church order and discipline present from the beginning.
History of Canon Law
—The Church was not “born” with its administrative organization in place.
—it evolved rules and procedures as it grew and spread. Church rules are shaped by internal needs, surrounding cultures, & pressures of changed circumstances.
Post-Apostolic and Early Church (Late 1st to late 4th centuries)
—after NT period, local churches scattered all around Mediterranean basin. Mutual recognition and some communication between them, but no central authority or single rule-making power.
Didache (Teaching of the Twelve Apostles)—anonymous collection of moral, liturgical, and disciplinary instructions. Written c. 100 AD, maybe earlier.
—contains rules on how to baptize, keep the Lord’s day, prayer, elections of bishops and deacons, and moral rules, such as prohibitions on abortion, etc.
—Other collections from first 2 centuries AD: Tradition Apostolica of Hippolytus (c. 218), Didiscalia Apostolorum (c. 250), Canones Ecclesiastici Apostolorum (c. 300).
—not issued by a formal authority. Just compiled customs written down by communities and circulated to other communities.
Synodal (Conciliar) Process—patterned after the Council of Jerusalem (Acts 15). Leaders of local churches of an area come together, talk, and seek consensus on matters of doctrine or discipline.
—local councils held in North Africa, Spain, Italy, France, & Asia Minor.
—decisions made at local councils shared with other churches when they gathered in council. System of mutual acceptance and common usage.
Ecumenical Councils—4th century: system of local councils expanded to gatherings of the entire communion of Churches. Ecumenical, from Greek oikoumene (the inhabited world, the universe).
Council of Nicea—First Ecumenical Council. Called by Constantine. 325 AD. Attended by 318 bishops. Most famous for issuing the Creed.
—bishops also debated, agreed upon, and issued 20 “canons”: various rules of discipline.
—these canons were widely circulated and accepted throughout the churches.
—canons dealt with self-mutilation, clerical chastity, ordination of bishops, mutual recognition of excommunications, reconciliation of those who denied the faith, clerical usury, distribution of Holy Communion, and appropriate posture for prayer.
The Church of the Empire (4th to 8th centuries)
Early 4th century—Constantine recognizes Christianity. Granted freedom and a privileged position. Became the established religion.
—took time to work out relationship between Church and State. Emperors tried to dominate the Church, favor heretical factions, and even persecute Church members.
Late 4th century—Bishop Ambrose and Emperor Theodosius I made an agreement: Church and state recognize each other as supreme in their own respective realm.
—Church respected Rome’s imperial authority and policies.
—Rome honored Church’s authority in matters of faith, discipline of the clergy, liturgy, and administration of Church property.
—Church began to borrow from Roman law in making its own laws.
Church began to grow in numbers and spread to the countryside. Results of this:
—Bishops had to send presbyters to rural towns and villages to be pastors. Bishops started losing personal relationships with members of local churches.
—Bishop of Rome grew in power. Rome’s connections to Peter and Paul, plus being the imperial capital, led many bishops in the West to refer questions to Rome.
—answers they received from Bishop of Rome were treated as authoritative.
Leo I (440-461)—by his reign as Bishop of Rome, Bishop of Rome was seen as Patriarch of the West with undisputed primacy. The East recognized him as Patriarch of the West, but NOT as undisputed leader of all. Leo argued that he was the heir of Peter.
—Bishops of Rome, referred to as Popes, began issuing decretals in 5th century. These letters seen as having broad authority.
Pepin—ruler of Frankish Kingdom, given title of King of the Franks by the Pope.
Charlemagne (768-814)—crowned Holy Roman Emperor on Christmas Day 800 AD by Pope Leo III..
—by this time, the Church’s growth in territory and people, plus the influence of Roman Law, led to centralization and monarchical rule within the Church.
—shrinking of local congregational autonomy and participatory governance.
—Rise in authority of bishops. Bishop has sole authority in each diocese, and Roman pontiff has sole authority for the whole Church.
The Church and Feudalism (8th to 12th centuries)
—peoples of Northern Europe who replaced the crumbling Roman Empire ruled themselves not on laws set in writing, but on oral traditions of how things were done.
Feudal System—based on vassalage (personal promise of loyal service in return for protection and recompense), fealty (oath of loyalty), and benefice (beneficium, income for the performance of a certain task).
Ex: local lord gives priests revenue from certain lands in exchange for the performance of parochial duties. The bad side: Lord’s did not usually care whether a particular priest was the best choice for the needs of the people.
Church Laws—used some of these traditions, including oaths in judicial proceedings, stipends and stole fees for sacramental ministries, replacement of personal penances with offerings of money or a substitute task, etc. This led to the:
Lay Investiture Controversy—(late 11th century) power struggle between the Pope and kings.
—German kings, and lords (laypersons—non clergy) had grown accustomed to having the right to install their own chosen bishops and abbots in offices by investing them with the symbols of office (pastoral staff and ring).
Pope Gregory VII (1075)—decrees that NO clergy member is to receive investiture from any layperson. If he does, the investiture is bereft of (does not have) apostolic authority, and that person is excommunicated until reconciliation is made.
—The Lords did not listen. 50 years of power struggle would ensue.
Synod of Worms (1122)—compromise reached. Bishops are to be canonically elected. Lay lords no longer can invest them with ring and staff. But, they could present for elections and receive the homage of newly elected prelates for the feudal lands of their churches.
—basically, lay persons could no longer invest clergy into offices of bishop or abbot, but they had veto power over candidates for office.
Split between East and West (1054)—bonds of unity between Eastern and Western Christianity are broken. The two canonical traditions further diverge & cease to interact.
Classical Period of Canon Law (mid 12th to mid 14th centuries)
12th & 13th centuries—the canons of the church are assembled into an organized and rational body of knowledge.
—this “body of knowledge” studied as a science and practiced as an art from that time on.
3 “factors” make this period the “classical epoch”:
(1) A new and unparalleled collection of canons. John Gratian compiled a collection called Concordantia Discordantium Canonum (c. 1140), better known as Decretum Gratiani (Gratian’s Decree). He analyzed the meaning of the terms in the used in canons, looked at the sources for canons, and determined which canons had greater authority.
(2) The systematic study of this new science in educational centers. Gratian’s Decree is used in all universities where Canon Law is studied. Ex: Paris, Oxford, Salamanca, Montpellier, Padua. Teachers taught it, students studied it, authors commented on it. Became the standard reference work for those in papal and episcopal offices.
(3) Its mutually reinforcing relationship with a very strong papacy. Papacy at this time establishing itself in Europe as a centralized and dominant power, spiritually and temporally. Newly organized system of canon law assisted this growth. Popes now issue more rules and decisions that expanded the canons. Leading popes of the period: Alexander III (1159-81, a student of Gratian), Innocent III (1198-1216), Innocent IV (1243-54), & Boniface VIII (1294-1303) all were canonists.
Boniface VIII—issued Papal Bull Unam Sanctum: To be saved (go to heaven), a person must be subject to the Roman Pontiff.
—along with papal decrees, four ecumenical councils of the period also contributed to the canons: Lateran III (1179), Lateran IV (1215), & two in Lyons (1245 & 1274).
Decretal Gregorii IX (1234)—Pope Gregory IX has all the decrees and conciliar canons since Gratian’s collection compiled. He issues it as an authentic, official, and exclusive source of rules for the whole church.
—two other important developments: (1) mendicant religious orders (Franciscans, Dominicans, etc.) are founded and flourish at this time, creating their own constitutions and statutes to run themselves, and (2) Roman Law still had a big influence. Many canonists received their degrees in Roman Law and recognized Roman Law as supplementary. Whatever isn’t covered by Canon Law is dealt with through Roman Law.
Decline and Reform (mid 14th to 18th centuries)
Black Death (1348-49)—broke the spirit of Western Europe.
Avignon Papacy (1309-77)—weakened the papal office. Two or three rivals claimed the Chair of Peter for about 40 years. Shook the Church to her foundations.
Protestant Reformation (1517-1560)—decline in discipline and morality, unity is splintered.
—an even more centralized Church:
Popes of Avignon—reserved the right to themselves to fill ecclesiastical offices all over Europe. Intervened in the normal course of elections not just for major appointments, but also for smaller offices such as canons, chaplains, monks, and friars. Usually done for political and financial reasons.
Council of Constance (1414-18)—greatest representative assembly of the Middle Ages. More canonists than bishops in attendance! Rid the Church of anti-popes, restored the papal office, made a constitutional change: decreed that general councils should be convened every 10 years as means of ongoing church reform.
—unfortunately, after the next 2 popes, regular general councils fell out of practice.
Protestant Reformation happens, Church realizes a need to reform:
Pope Paul III (1534-49)—calls for ecumenical council in Trent in 1545.
Council of Trent (1545-1563 intermittently)—enacted a series of reforms:
—assigned clear responsibilities for bishops and parish priests.
—outlawed simony, possession of many benefices, absenteeism.
—stressed the needs of the people.
**—with the discovery of the New World, new issues for Canon Law rose up.
2 important canonically collections of this period:
(1) Corpus Iuris Canonici (Body of Canon Law)—a compendium of Gratian’s Decree, the Decretals of Gregory IX, and 4 more collections of decretals, all publishes as single work in Paris in 1500. Corrected and revised under Pope Gregory XIII in 1582. The Corpus is the main source of regulations issued before Trent, and remainedthe Church’s guiding book of rules until the first Code of Canon Law in 1917.
(2) Liber Septimus/Decretales Clementis VIII—begun in the 1580’s as an attempt to gather together decrees of the councils of Florence, Lateran V, & Trent, along with papal decrees issued after the Corpus.
The Church in the Modern World (18th and 19th centuries)
—The Church had trouble in the age of Enlightenment, rationalism, French Revolution, liberalism, modern secular state, etc.
—presuppositions of a shared Christendom are gone.
—Church no longer held the power, wealth, and privilege it had in the past.
Debate arises: between Ultramontanists and Gallicans & Febronians
Ultramontanists—support strong, centralized, papal government for the Church.
Gallicans and Febronians—argued for rights and freedoms of the Churches of France and Germany, and for episcopal authority.
—Febronians further say that we need to recognize bishops as successors to the apostles. Bishops hold authority by divine right; are not vicars and delegates of the Pope.
—together with the Pope in general council, bishops are the true representatives of the body of the Church.
—Pope is center of unity, but not Universal Bishop with unfettered jurisdiction.
*—Ultramontanists won out. Not necessarily by canon law arguments, but a recognition that national, local, churches are weak compared to governments, and a sovereign and strong papacy was a good diplomatic advantage for the Church.
Vatican Council I (1870)—First ecumenical council held since Trent, so first in more than 3 centuries.
—Declaration of papal supremacy (Pastor aeternus) and papal infallibility. Effectively ended the debate.
Canon Law in this period: becomes formulaic and repetitive. Its study in seminaries is shallow and ahistorical. Combined with moral theology, which was beneficial for neither. Issues are settled by which side had the better “authorities”, not the better argument.
The Codification of Canon Law (20th century up to Vatican II)
—No new official collection released since Pope John XXII in 1317.
—many extant laws had piled up over the years; usually were just listed in alphabetical order; sometimes contradictory
Pope Pius X—in 1904, sets the task of collecting the laws of the Church, putting them in a clear and concise order, and adapting them to the conditions of the time.
—The choice was made to make a Code, rather than a collection.
Codification—reduce the rules to terse and abstract formulations, arrange them in a carefully constructed system.
—strong on clarity, brevity, consistency, and order.
—but, the rules are entirely set apart from social and historical context.
1914—reformulations were completed. But, Pius died and World War I broke out.
Pentecost 1917—first Code of Canon Law is promulgated by Pope Benedict XV.
Pentecost 1918—The Code takes affect. Gives people a year to get used to it.
Canonical Sources, Forms, and Distinctions
Sources for Canon Law—Sacred Scripture, Natural Law, Custom, Councils, Fathers of the Church, Popes, Bishops, Rules of Religious Orders, Civil Law, and Concordats
The 1983 Code of Canon Law
History:
Pope John XXIII—on January 25, 1959, announces his vision: (1) a synod for diocese of Rome, (2) an ecumenical council, and (3) a modernization (aggiornamento) of the 1917 Code of Canon Law.
—created Commission for the Revision of the Code in 1963, soon after the beginning of Vatican II and soon before his own death.
Pope Paul VI—November 1965, set the commission to work soon after the close of Vatican II.
—their task: more than just updating the Code; task is to reorganize the Church’s discipline and accommodate it to the teachings of the Council.
—a need to transcend old ways of thinking: formalism, legalistic hairsplitting, & secular juridicism.
—goal is to help the faithful share in whatever assistance towards salvation the Church offers them.
1968—commission is organized into about a dozen groups. Came to Rome regularly for meetings. Circulated their drafts to the bishops of the world, weighed responses, and modified the draft.
1980—a final draft of the Code is ready.
October 1981—approved by the Cardinals of the commission.
April 1982—the draft presented to Pope John Paul II. He and his advisors spent months reviewing and adjusting it.
January 25, 1983—JPII promulgated the Code of Canon Law. Declared it into effect on November 17, 1983.
Organization of the Code
(1) General Norms—define terms, persons, instruments & powers which are employed throughout the Code.
(2) The People of God—largest and most important part of the Code. Reveals the Constitution of the Church. Members, rights, & duties set forth, then ordained ministry & associations of the faithful. Roles for the hierarchy and other religious groups described and outlined.
(3) The Teaching Function—sets forth who is to preach, catechize, do missionary work, roles of Catholic schools, etc.
(4) The Sanctifying function—2nd longest and 2nd most important book of the Code. The canonical discipline of the Sacraments.
(5) Temporal Goods of the Church—shortest book of the Code. Rules for acquisition, disposition, administration of church’s monies, lands, and buildings, and rules on wills and bequests.
(6) Sanctions in the Church—Crimes in the Church and their appropriate punishments.
(7) Procedures—judicial processes used for trials in church courts, some administrative procedures, e.g. administrative recourse and removal of a pastor.
Thursday, February 23, 2006
Augustine--On The Trinity
On The Trinity (from Hans Kung’s The Catholic Church: A Short History)
—Augustine was concerned to present a deeper, more convincing reinterpretation of the doctrine of the Trinity.
First, the Greeks:
Greek Church—begin from the one God and Father, who for them, as well as for the New Testament, was “the God” (ho theos).
—defined the relationship of God the Father to the Son and Spirit in light of this one God and Father.
—A star which gives its light to a second star (light of light, God of God) and finally to a third. To our human eye, all three stars appear one after the other only as one star.
—Augustine differed completely:
Augustine—did NOT begin from one God and Father. Began from the one nature of God, or divine substance, that is common to Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
Greeks—the principle of unity in the Trinity is the Father.
Augustine and Latin West—the principle of unity in the Trinity is the one divine nature, or substance.
—Three stars do NOT shine one after the other (like the East/Greeks say). Three stars shine side by side in a triangle at the same level. Here the first and second stars together give light to the third (Spirit proceeds from Father and Son, as opposed to the East, where Spirit only proceeds from the Father).
—Similarity between 3-fold God and 3-dimensional human spirit:
(1) between Father and memory
(2) between Son and intelligence
(3) between Spirit and the will
**—The Son is “begotten” from the Father “according to the intellect.” The Father knows and begets the Son in his own word and image. But the Spirit “proceeds” from the Father (as lover) and Son (as beloved) “according to the will.”
—The Spirit is the love between the Father and Son become person. Proceeds from both Father and Son (the Filioque). The Trinity is a self-unfolding of God.
—Augustine was concerned to present a deeper, more convincing reinterpretation of the doctrine of the Trinity.
First, the Greeks:
Greek Church—begin from the one God and Father, who for them, as well as for the New Testament, was “the God” (ho theos).
—defined the relationship of God the Father to the Son and Spirit in light of this one God and Father.
—A star which gives its light to a second star (light of light, God of God) and finally to a third. To our human eye, all three stars appear one after the other only as one star.
—Augustine differed completely:
Augustine—did NOT begin from one God and Father. Began from the one nature of God, or divine substance, that is common to Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
Greeks—the principle of unity in the Trinity is the Father.
Augustine and Latin West—the principle of unity in the Trinity is the one divine nature, or substance.
—Three stars do NOT shine one after the other (like the East/Greeks say). Three stars shine side by side in a triangle at the same level. Here the first and second stars together give light to the third (Spirit proceeds from Father and Son, as opposed to the East, where Spirit only proceeds from the Father).
—Similarity between 3-fold God and 3-dimensional human spirit:
(1) between Father and memory
(2) between Son and intelligence
(3) between Spirit and the will
**—The Son is “begotten” from the Father “according to the intellect.” The Father knows and begets the Son in his own word and image. But the Spirit “proceeds” from the Father (as lover) and Son (as beloved) “according to the will.”
—The Spirit is the love between the Father and Son become person. Proceeds from both Father and Son (the Filioque). The Trinity is a self-unfolding of God.
Wednesday, February 22, 2006
Schillebeeckx--Christ the Sacrament of the Encounter With God
E. Schillebeeckx, Christ the Sacrament of the Encounter with God
Foreword, by Cornelius Ernst, O.P.:
—Schillebeeckx and Rahner stand in a class by themselves
The Christian Religion—an encounter of God and man in Christ the “primordial Sacrament.”
Intro.
—Sacraments are meant to be an encounter with God. Too often, this is lost in a too objective examination of an impersonal, mechanistic approach to the physical categories of the Sacraments.
—in this old understanding, we are passive recipients of sacramental grace, which is just “put into” us.
Religion—above all, a saving dialogue between man and the living God.
—we can reach God through creation, but we cannot alone establish immediate and personal contact with God.
—we can by ourselves desire a personal relationship with God.
—we cannot get to this relationship with God by ourselves. We need grace, God’s own generous initiative in coming to meet us in grace.
—this act of itself of encounter between God and man, taking place on earth through faith, is called salvation.
—God’’s part of the encounter, a disclosure of Himself, is Revelation. Our part of the encounter, devotion to God’s service, is Religion.
—This whole encounter, seen from man’s side, is sanctifying grace—cannot be separated from either God’s personal love for man or man’s response to this divine advance.
—God, through revelation, personally intervenes on behalf of mankind, not just as Creator who guides history, but as someone who takes part in the unfolding play of history and comes to take his place at our side.
Sacrament—every supernatural reality which is realized historically in our lives.
—God’s saving activity “makes history” by revealing itself, and it reveals itself by becoming history.
The Sacraments—the properly human mode of encounter with God.
Chp. 1: Christ, Sacrament of God
1—Humanity in Search of the Sacrament of God
S—uses Augustine to show how sacramentality has been practiced since pagan times.
1—Sacrament in Pagan religion: Sacramental Church is present in the life of the whole of mankind.
—we all receive the inward word God calling us. We can dimly suspect that there is a redeeming God occupying Himself personally in our salvation.
—Man cannot sever himself from God, because God will not let him go.
—pagan religions contain a mixture of true devotion to God, fallible human elements, dogmatic distortion, moral confusion, and sometimes even diabolic influence, since (1) there is that inward spark of holiness and the true God calling us, but (2) they have not yet received the Revelation to come forth in the Old and New Testaments.
**—Man exists in an I-Thou relationship of dialogue with God. Man lost his living contact with God, the attitude of child to father, and of himself could not regain it. Only in visible fulfillment, first in the holy ones of Israel, then definitely in the man Jesus, do we see the substance of truth which lay hidden in the myths of heathen religion.
Pagan religion—the first “providential sketch” of the true Church of Christ to come.
2—Israel as Sacrament of God—grace was and is “anonymous”, so to speak, in pagan religions.
—the clear shape of this grace becomes explicit only in special divine revelation, first occurring with Israel.
The history, as described by S.—“a group of Bedouin of various ethnological origins, whose forefathers had been enticed into the region by the fertile abundance of the Nile Delta, wearied beyond endurance by the forced labour which Egypt imposed, formed themselves into the caravans of the Exodus. Out of the different clans thrown together in this way, each of which seems to have had its own religion, there grew one people which united itself in the desert under the name of the God Yahweh who had appeared to Moses. This was the birth of Israel, the people of God.”
—Israel, the first phase of the Church, is the fruit of God’s merciful intervention, a foreshadowing of that which St. Paul says of the Church of Christ.
—Israel’s visible religion, its faithful people, its cults, its sacraments, sacrifices, and priesthood, was the first phase of the great Church.
—Israel was a partial realization of the mystery of Christ.
—Church of the Old Testament is a sign and cause of grace insofar as in it the Christian age had really begun.
Old Testament Revelation—historical process arising out of God’s fidelity and the often repeated infidelity of the Jewish people. There would be continual failure until God Himself raised up a man in whom was concentrated the entirety of mankind’s vocation to faithfulness, and who would Himself keep faith with the Covenant in the perfection of his fidelity. In Him there was a visible realization of both sides of faith in the Covenant.
**—Christ Himself is the Church, an invisible communion with the living God (the Son made man with the Father) manifested in visible human form.
2—Christ the Primordial Sacrament
1—Encounter with the Earthly Christ as Sacrament of the Encounter with God
Council of Chalcedon—Christ is “one person in two natures”. This means that one and the same person, the Son of God, also took on a visible human form. Even in his humanity Christ is the Son of God.
—The 2nd person of the most Holy Trinity is personally man; and this man is personally God. Christ is God in a human way, and man in a divine way.
—the love of the man Jesus is the human incarnation of the redeeming love of God.
**—Because the saving acts of the man Jesus are performed by a divine person, they have the power to save. Since this divine power to save appears to us in visible form, the saving activity of Jesus is Sacramental.
A Sacrament—a divine bestowal of salvation in an outwardly perceptible form which makes the bestowal manifest; bestowal of salvation in historical visibility.
—when we interact with others, even spiritually, we do it bodily, since we are bodies.
**—the man Jesus, as the personal visible realization of the divine grace of redemption, is the sacrament, the primordial sacrament, because this man, the Son of God himself, is intended by the Father to be in his humanity the only way to the actuality of redemption.
“For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Jesus.” 1Tim2:5
—Human encounter with Jesus is sacrament of the encounter with God.
2—The Actions of Jesus’ Life as Manifestations of Divine Love for Man and Human Love for God: Bestowal of Grace and Religious Worship
—By the Incarnation of the Son, God intended to divinize man by redeeming him; by being saved from sin man is brought into a personal communion of grace and love with God. Implies 2 things:
(1) The fullness of grace belonging to Jesus in virtue of his existence as God was intended by God to be a source of Grace for others; from him all are to receive.
(2) Also shows the man Jesus’ love of God. Jesus is not just revelation of the redeeming God, but also supreme worshipper of the Father. Jesus became the Redeemer by freely living his life in religious worship of and attachment to the Father.
**—Jesus is both the offer of divine love to man made visible and prototype (primordial model); the supreme realization of the response of human love to this divine offer.
—mankind is truly redeemed objectively in the man Jesus, as its Head.
The Incarnation—the foundation of all this. Not just a matter of a moment, at Jesus’ conception in Mary’s womb or at his birth. Not merely a Christmas event. To be man is a process of becoming man.
—Jesus’ manhood grows throughout his life; finds completion in supreme moment of incarnation, his death, resurrection, and exaltation. The Incarnation in the Son itself redeems us.
3—Jesus’ Humiliation in the Service of God and His Heavenly Exaltation: The Redemptive Mystery of Christ
—“It was God who reconciled us to himself in Christ.” 2 Cor. 5:18
—Our redeemer is the living God himself, Father, Son, & Holy Spirit. He brought about redemption in the human nature of the 2nd person, the Son of God, who in union with the Father and together with him is the source of the life of the Holy Spirit.
4 phases of Jesus’ Redemptive Mystery:
(1) Initiative of the Father through the Son in the Holy Spirit.
(2) Human response of Christ’s life to the Father’s initiative in sending Him…becoming obedient unto death.
(3) The Divine Response to Jesus’ obedience in the humiliation of his life. Jesus has become Lord, the Kyrios, meaning “the Mighty”.
(4) The sending of the Holy Spirit upon the world of men by the glorified Kyrios or Lord. Last phase of the mystery of Christ, between ascenscion and parousia, is the mystery of the sending of the Holy Spirit by Christ as the climax of his work of salvation.
—Christ redeems us in sanguine, through his blood. It is impossible to “spiritualize” Christ’s sacrifice, to make it merely an act of internal love. The act of love is embodied in the sacrifice of blood.
—The person of the humiliated and glorified Christ is the saving reality.
to be continued...
Foreword, by Cornelius Ernst, O.P.:
—Schillebeeckx and Rahner stand in a class by themselves
The Christian Religion—an encounter of God and man in Christ the “primordial Sacrament.”
Intro.
—Sacraments are meant to be an encounter with God. Too often, this is lost in a too objective examination of an impersonal, mechanistic approach to the physical categories of the Sacraments.
—in this old understanding, we are passive recipients of sacramental grace, which is just “put into” us.
Religion—above all, a saving dialogue between man and the living God.
—we can reach God through creation, but we cannot alone establish immediate and personal contact with God.
—we can by ourselves desire a personal relationship with God.
—we cannot get to this relationship with God by ourselves. We need grace, God’s own generous initiative in coming to meet us in grace.
—this act of itself of encounter between God and man, taking place on earth through faith, is called salvation.
—God’’s part of the encounter, a disclosure of Himself, is Revelation. Our part of the encounter, devotion to God’s service, is Religion.
—This whole encounter, seen from man’s side, is sanctifying grace—cannot be separated from either God’s personal love for man or man’s response to this divine advance.
—God, through revelation, personally intervenes on behalf of mankind, not just as Creator who guides history, but as someone who takes part in the unfolding play of history and comes to take his place at our side.
Sacrament—every supernatural reality which is realized historically in our lives.
—God’s saving activity “makes history” by revealing itself, and it reveals itself by becoming history.
The Sacraments—the properly human mode of encounter with God.
Chp. 1: Christ, Sacrament of God
1—Humanity in Search of the Sacrament of God
S—uses Augustine to show how sacramentality has been practiced since pagan times.
1—Sacrament in Pagan religion: Sacramental Church is present in the life of the whole of mankind.
—we all receive the inward word God calling us. We can dimly suspect that there is a redeeming God occupying Himself personally in our salvation.
—Man cannot sever himself from God, because God will not let him go.
—pagan religions contain a mixture of true devotion to God, fallible human elements, dogmatic distortion, moral confusion, and sometimes even diabolic influence, since (1) there is that inward spark of holiness and the true God calling us, but (2) they have not yet received the Revelation to come forth in the Old and New Testaments.
**—Man exists in an I-Thou relationship of dialogue with God. Man lost his living contact with God, the attitude of child to father, and of himself could not regain it. Only in visible fulfillment, first in the holy ones of Israel, then definitely in the man Jesus, do we see the substance of truth which lay hidden in the myths of heathen religion.
Pagan religion—the first “providential sketch” of the true Church of Christ to come.
2—Israel as Sacrament of God—grace was and is “anonymous”, so to speak, in pagan religions.
—the clear shape of this grace becomes explicit only in special divine revelation, first occurring with Israel.
The history, as described by S.—“a group of Bedouin of various ethnological origins, whose forefathers had been enticed into the region by the fertile abundance of the Nile Delta, wearied beyond endurance by the forced labour which Egypt imposed, formed themselves into the caravans of the Exodus. Out of the different clans thrown together in this way, each of which seems to have had its own religion, there grew one people which united itself in the desert under the name of the God Yahweh who had appeared to Moses. This was the birth of Israel, the people of God.”
—Israel, the first phase of the Church, is the fruit of God’s merciful intervention, a foreshadowing of that which St. Paul says of the Church of Christ.
—Israel’s visible religion, its faithful people, its cults, its sacraments, sacrifices, and priesthood, was the first phase of the great Church.
—Israel was a partial realization of the mystery of Christ.
—Church of the Old Testament is a sign and cause of grace insofar as in it the Christian age had really begun.
Old Testament Revelation—historical process arising out of God’s fidelity and the often repeated infidelity of the Jewish people. There would be continual failure until God Himself raised up a man in whom was concentrated the entirety of mankind’s vocation to faithfulness, and who would Himself keep faith with the Covenant in the perfection of his fidelity. In Him there was a visible realization of both sides of faith in the Covenant.
**—Christ Himself is the Church, an invisible communion with the living God (the Son made man with the Father) manifested in visible human form.
2—Christ the Primordial Sacrament
1—Encounter with the Earthly Christ as Sacrament of the Encounter with God
Council of Chalcedon—Christ is “one person in two natures”. This means that one and the same person, the Son of God, also took on a visible human form. Even in his humanity Christ is the Son of God.
—The 2nd person of the most Holy Trinity is personally man; and this man is personally God. Christ is God in a human way, and man in a divine way.
—the love of the man Jesus is the human incarnation of the redeeming love of God.
**—Because the saving acts of the man Jesus are performed by a divine person, they have the power to save. Since this divine power to save appears to us in visible form, the saving activity of Jesus is Sacramental.
A Sacrament—a divine bestowal of salvation in an outwardly perceptible form which makes the bestowal manifest; bestowal of salvation in historical visibility.
—when we interact with others, even spiritually, we do it bodily, since we are bodies.
**—the man Jesus, as the personal visible realization of the divine grace of redemption, is the sacrament, the primordial sacrament, because this man, the Son of God himself, is intended by the Father to be in his humanity the only way to the actuality of redemption.
“For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Jesus.” 1Tim2:5
—Human encounter with Jesus is sacrament of the encounter with God.
2—The Actions of Jesus’ Life as Manifestations of Divine Love for Man and Human Love for God: Bestowal of Grace and Religious Worship
—By the Incarnation of the Son, God intended to divinize man by redeeming him; by being saved from sin man is brought into a personal communion of grace and love with God. Implies 2 things:
(1) The fullness of grace belonging to Jesus in virtue of his existence as God was intended by God to be a source of Grace for others; from him all are to receive.
(2) Also shows the man Jesus’ love of God. Jesus is not just revelation of the redeeming God, but also supreme worshipper of the Father. Jesus became the Redeemer by freely living his life in religious worship of and attachment to the Father.
**—Jesus is both the offer of divine love to man made visible and prototype (primordial model); the supreme realization of the response of human love to this divine offer.
—mankind is truly redeemed objectively in the man Jesus, as its Head.
The Incarnation—the foundation of all this. Not just a matter of a moment, at Jesus’ conception in Mary’s womb or at his birth. Not merely a Christmas event. To be man is a process of becoming man.
—Jesus’ manhood grows throughout his life; finds completion in supreme moment of incarnation, his death, resurrection, and exaltation. The Incarnation in the Son itself redeems us.
3—Jesus’ Humiliation in the Service of God and His Heavenly Exaltation: The Redemptive Mystery of Christ
—“It was God who reconciled us to himself in Christ.” 2 Cor. 5:18
—Our redeemer is the living God himself, Father, Son, & Holy Spirit. He brought about redemption in the human nature of the 2nd person, the Son of God, who in union with the Father and together with him is the source of the life of the Holy Spirit.
4 phases of Jesus’ Redemptive Mystery:
(1) Initiative of the Father through the Son in the Holy Spirit.
(2) Human response of Christ’s life to the Father’s initiative in sending Him…becoming obedient unto death.
(3) The Divine Response to Jesus’ obedience in the humiliation of his life. Jesus has become Lord, the Kyrios, meaning “the Mighty”.
(4) The sending of the Holy Spirit upon the world of men by the glorified Kyrios or Lord. Last phase of the mystery of Christ, between ascenscion and parousia, is the mystery of the sending of the Holy Spirit by Christ as the climax of his work of salvation.
—Christ redeems us in sanguine, through his blood. It is impossible to “spiritualize” Christ’s sacrifice, to make it merely an act of internal love. The act of love is embodied in the sacrifice of blood.
—The person of the humiliated and glorified Christ is the saving reality.
to be continued...
Tuesday, February 21, 2006
Augustine (Part 2)
City of God vs. City of Man
City of God—the city of the righteous. It is a city of the Universe, but not including the whole universe. City of God excludes the fallen angels, the souls of the unrighteous, and the unrighteous who are living on earth.
—It is an invisible city; it can’t strictly be identified with the Church, because the Church has baptized members who belong to its society, yet are not righteous, therefore don’t belong to the society of the city of God.
—City of God contains earthly membership—most, but not all, members of the Church, plus people from other ‘tribes’ who strive to live righteously.
City of Man—the “earthly” city. In strictness, no formal, visible, enumerable society.
—Is simply all the unrighteous, wherever they be in the universe: fallen angels, souls of the unrighteous, the unrighteous who are living on earth.
—CANNOT be identified with any actual society. NOT a synonym for Roman Empire.
—It is both more and less than the earthly society. More because it includes fallen angels as well as fallen men; less because it does not include the righteous men living on earth.
“Two loves have created two cities: love of self, to the contempt of God, the earthly city; love of God, to the contempt of self, the heavenly” (XIV. xxviii)
“The only true basis and bond of a true city is that of faith and strong concord—which is, in its highest and truest character, God Himself—and men love one another, with full sincerity, in Him, and the ground of their love for one another is the love of Him from whose eyes they cannot conceal the Spirit of their love…and these two cities, and these two loves, shall live together, side by side, and even intermixed, until the last winnowing and the final separation shall come upon the earth in the day of judgment.”
Remember: (1) The earthly city (City of Man) does not equal the Roman Empire or any form of actual state.
(2) The heavenly city (City of God) does not equal the Catholic Church.
**The earthly and heavenly cities are ideal conceptions. To be more exact, the earthly city is an ideal negation, or antithesis of the ideal.
—The earthly city (City of Man) is a city of unrighteousness. The actually state, as it really exists, is something different. It is not absolutely unrighteous.
—The actual state can aid, be a coadjutor, of the City of God.
Absolute Righteousness vs. Relative Righteousness
Absolute Righteousness—system of right relations to God; relations which are at once religious, moral, and, if you will, legal: relations that are total.
—does not have to deal with sin, because sin has been swallowed up.
Relative Righteousness—system of right relations mainly in the legal sphere. Reckons with, and adjusts to, the sinfulness of human nature.
—It is the best available considering the defect of sin. Still, it is only a 2nd best to Absolute Righteousness.
—State institutions are forms of dominium: of government over subjects, owners over property, masters over slaves.
—dominium is a form or ordo, and to that extent good, but it is relative to the sin it has to correct, and as such, only relatively good.
Example: ideally, all Christians would share all things in common. Because of sin, we have greed, and to partly remedy this, it is necessary for the state to allow private property. But, this is only a relative, not absolute, good.
—God wills the state, but He wills it conditionally; as a propter remedium peccatorum (a remedy for sin).
*The state runs somewhere between the City of God and the City of Man. It is a city of both the righteous and unrighteous.
Augustine vs. Donatist and Pelagian heresies
Donatists—Bishop Donatus. Turned their back on the church of the masses as too worldly and unholy.
—taught that all baptisms & ordinations by bad bishops and presbyters (those who were unworthy, lapsed into great sin) were invalid. Also, baptisms and ordinations by their successors are also invalid, since, even if the successors were good, they were ordained by bad men, making their places as bishops and presbyters invalid.
Augustine’s rebuttal: people who are baptized and ordained should not be penalized because of the sinfulness of the person conferring the sacrament upon them. Validity of the Sacrament is not dependent on the performer of the Sacrament’s personal holiness, but on whether the Sacrament is performed correctly.
Pelagianism—lay monk Pelagius. Facing a lax nominal Christianity among Rome’s well-to-do elite, he attached great importance to morality, human will, freedom, responsibility, and practical action. God’s grace not as important.
Augustine’s rebuttal: Grace is a force that works inside of us. Comes from God, not deserved or warranted. We are saved by God’s Grace, not by good “works.” Pelagianism struck at Augustine personally, since he had been caught up in sins of the flesh and lust.
Did the City of God set the groundwork for the Medieval Papacy?
—Some medieval Popes, such as Hildebrand, saw themselves as heirs to the City of God. As for Augustine’s understanding himself, it’s a little more complex.
Augustine—believed in a universal church comparable to the moon & individual churches comparable to the stars.
—an especial authority resided in the particular Churches founded by the apostles.
—among these, a primary, or more especial, authority resided in the Roman Church.
—Roman Church is to be consulted for authoritative pronouncements on disputed questions, but a ‘plenary Council of the Church universal’ has primary authority.
Relation of the Church to the City of God
—remember: Church and City of God are not quite the same. Not all who have been baptized and confirmed are righteous.
—But, the fervor of faith may sweep away the difference. The Church sometimes glows with the greatness of the city of God, and sometimes falls short.
Relation of Church and State
—Augustine does not deal strictly with the issue of a ‘concordat’ between Church and State or a State ‘establishment’ of Church.
—Church is a pilgrim society, living by faith and looking to the hereafter.
—lives on earth by the side of the State; it acknowledges the divine institution and relative righteousness of the State.
—Recognize the State for what it is worth, but move on, always looking elsewhere. Acknowledge the king, give him due obedience, then pass on.
**—also a little subversive; ancient Romans thought of the Roman Empire as the one and only great society. Augustine says the State is only a small part; there is a greater society, the City of God.
—ultimate goal: elimination of the State, enthronement of the Church (or the heavenly city that is more and more identified with the Church) as the one and only final society. Rome has fallen: Christ has risen.
City of God—the city of the righteous. It is a city of the Universe, but not including the whole universe. City of God excludes the fallen angels, the souls of the unrighteous, and the unrighteous who are living on earth.
—It is an invisible city; it can’t strictly be identified with the Church, because the Church has baptized members who belong to its society, yet are not righteous, therefore don’t belong to the society of the city of God.
—City of God contains earthly membership—most, but not all, members of the Church, plus people from other ‘tribes’ who strive to live righteously.
City of Man—the “earthly” city. In strictness, no formal, visible, enumerable society.
—Is simply all the unrighteous, wherever they be in the universe: fallen angels, souls of the unrighteous, the unrighteous who are living on earth.
—CANNOT be identified with any actual society. NOT a synonym for Roman Empire.
—It is both more and less than the earthly society. More because it includes fallen angels as well as fallen men; less because it does not include the righteous men living on earth.
“Two loves have created two cities: love of self, to the contempt of God, the earthly city; love of God, to the contempt of self, the heavenly” (XIV. xxviii)
“The only true basis and bond of a true city is that of faith and strong concord—which is, in its highest and truest character, God Himself—and men love one another, with full sincerity, in Him, and the ground of their love for one another is the love of Him from whose eyes they cannot conceal the Spirit of their love…and these two cities, and these two loves, shall live together, side by side, and even intermixed, until the last winnowing and the final separation shall come upon the earth in the day of judgment.”
Remember: (1) The earthly city (City of Man) does not equal the Roman Empire or any form of actual state.
(2) The heavenly city (City of God) does not equal the Catholic Church.
**The earthly and heavenly cities are ideal conceptions. To be more exact, the earthly city is an ideal negation, or antithesis of the ideal.
—The earthly city (City of Man) is a city of unrighteousness. The actually state, as it really exists, is something different. It is not absolutely unrighteous.
—The actual state can aid, be a coadjutor, of the City of God.
Absolute Righteousness vs. Relative Righteousness
Absolute Righteousness—system of right relations to God; relations which are at once religious, moral, and, if you will, legal: relations that are total.
—does not have to deal with sin, because sin has been swallowed up.
Relative Righteousness—system of right relations mainly in the legal sphere. Reckons with, and adjusts to, the sinfulness of human nature.
—It is the best available considering the defect of sin. Still, it is only a 2nd best to Absolute Righteousness.
—State institutions are forms of dominium: of government over subjects, owners over property, masters over slaves.
—dominium is a form or ordo, and to that extent good, but it is relative to the sin it has to correct, and as such, only relatively good.
Example: ideally, all Christians would share all things in common. Because of sin, we have greed, and to partly remedy this, it is necessary for the state to allow private property. But, this is only a relative, not absolute, good.
—God wills the state, but He wills it conditionally; as a propter remedium peccatorum (a remedy for sin).
*The state runs somewhere between the City of God and the City of Man. It is a city of both the righteous and unrighteous.
Augustine vs. Donatist and Pelagian heresies
Donatists—Bishop Donatus. Turned their back on the church of the masses as too worldly and unholy.
—taught that all baptisms & ordinations by bad bishops and presbyters (those who were unworthy, lapsed into great sin) were invalid. Also, baptisms and ordinations by their successors are also invalid, since, even if the successors were good, they were ordained by bad men, making their places as bishops and presbyters invalid.
Augustine’s rebuttal: people who are baptized and ordained should not be penalized because of the sinfulness of the person conferring the sacrament upon them. Validity of the Sacrament is not dependent on the performer of the Sacrament’s personal holiness, but on whether the Sacrament is performed correctly.
Pelagianism—lay monk Pelagius. Facing a lax nominal Christianity among Rome’s well-to-do elite, he attached great importance to morality, human will, freedom, responsibility, and practical action. God’s grace not as important.
Augustine’s rebuttal: Grace is a force that works inside of us. Comes from God, not deserved or warranted. We are saved by God’s Grace, not by good “works.” Pelagianism struck at Augustine personally, since he had been caught up in sins of the flesh and lust.
Did the City of God set the groundwork for the Medieval Papacy?
—Some medieval Popes, such as Hildebrand, saw themselves as heirs to the City of God. As for Augustine’s understanding himself, it’s a little more complex.
Augustine—believed in a universal church comparable to the moon & individual churches comparable to the stars.
—an especial authority resided in the particular Churches founded by the apostles.
—among these, a primary, or more especial, authority resided in the Roman Church.
—Roman Church is to be consulted for authoritative pronouncements on disputed questions, but a ‘plenary Council of the Church universal’ has primary authority.
Relation of the Church to the City of God
—remember: Church and City of God are not quite the same. Not all who have been baptized and confirmed are righteous.
—But, the fervor of faith may sweep away the difference. The Church sometimes glows with the greatness of the city of God, and sometimes falls short.
Relation of Church and State
—Augustine does not deal strictly with the issue of a ‘concordat’ between Church and State or a State ‘establishment’ of Church.
—Church is a pilgrim society, living by faith and looking to the hereafter.
—lives on earth by the side of the State; it acknowledges the divine institution and relative righteousness of the State.
—Recognize the State for what it is worth, but move on, always looking elsewhere. Acknowledge the king, give him due obedience, then pass on.
**—also a little subversive; ancient Romans thought of the Roman Empire as the one and only great society. Augustine says the State is only a small part; there is a greater society, the City of God.
—ultimate goal: elimination of the State, enthronement of the Church (or the heavenly city that is more and more identified with the Church) as the one and only final society. Rome has fallen: Christ has risen.
Saturday, February 18, 2006
St. Augustine
St. Augustine (354-430 AD)—“The antique man of the old classical culture, and the Christian man of the new Gospel, meet in Augustine.” Ernest Barker
De Civitate Dei (The City of God)—We see Classical and Christian Augustine at grips with one another.
—stands on the confines of two worlds, the classical and the Christian, and it points the way into the Christian.
Augustine—baptized in 387 at age 33, ordained a presbyter in 391, skipping all minor orders, and consecrated a bishop in 395.
397-426—writes De Doctrina Christiana (On Christian Doctrine).
413-426—writes City of God
—also wrote Confessions (finished 400); commentaries on Genesis, Psalms, Gospel of St. John; homilies: De Bono Conjugali, De Nuptiis; treatises on Free Will and Predestination, the Trinity and the Grace of Christ; and the Retractationum Libri.
—dies in 430, as the Vandals are sieging Rome. He is the ‘last of the Romans’.
City of God—started as a response to the sacking of Rome by Alaric and the Goths in 410.
—Rome, intact up until then for 1000 years, had fallen.
—Her fall happened in the hour of victory for Christianity.
Is it Christianity’s fault? Did Rome fall because they abandoned the ancient civic gods?
—Augustine started City of God as a response to these questions.
—City of God took 13 years to write, and its message transcended its original design.
—22 books long
2 goals: (1) provide a philosophy of history in answer to pagan murmurings and (2) provide a justification of the whole philosophia Christi in answer to human philosophy of the ancient world.
22 books divided into 2 parts: Part 1: Books I-X, part 2: books XI-XXII.
Books I-V—speak against the belief that human prosperity is dependent upon the maintenance of a civic worship of the many gods of the pagan pantheon. In particular, his goal is to disprove the opinion that the outlawing of pagan worship rites contributed to the decline of the Empire.
Books VI-X—refutes more moderate pagans who did not blame the decline on what the pagans described in I-V did, but nevertheless still thought that belief in the ancient gods had its own advantages.
—yet, it was not enough to refute pagan claims. He also wanted to draw thoughtful pagans to the Christian side.
Part 2 (books XI-XXII)—3 divisions:
XI-XIV—the origin of the two cities, the city of God and the city of this world
XV-XVIII—their process or progress.
XIX-XXII—their appointed ends.
4 “grades” of human society:
(1) domus or household
(2) civitas—City, and the State founded upon and co-extensive with the City, also extended to mean the State in general.
(3) orbis terrae—the whole earth and the whole human society than inhabits the earth.
(4) mundus—the Universe, including the heavens and their constellations as well as the earth, and includes God and His angels and the souls of the departed, as well as the human society still on earth.
The City of God transcends the grade of the civitas. It belongs to the universe and is co-extensive with the mundus.
—from St. Paul, the Divine City is distinct from the Human City based on righteousness. The Divine City is completely righteous; nothing unclean may enter it.
—The Greek word for “righteousness” is translated in Latin as justitia, or justice, which evokes a legal connotation, when the Greeks and St. Paul, and Augustine, meant something in the moral realm.
To be continued…
De Civitate Dei (The City of God)—We see Classical and Christian Augustine at grips with one another.
—stands on the confines of two worlds, the classical and the Christian, and it points the way into the Christian.
Augustine—baptized in 387 at age 33, ordained a presbyter in 391, skipping all minor orders, and consecrated a bishop in 395.
397-426—writes De Doctrina Christiana (On Christian Doctrine).
413-426—writes City of God
—also wrote Confessions (finished 400); commentaries on Genesis, Psalms, Gospel of St. John; homilies: De Bono Conjugali, De Nuptiis; treatises on Free Will and Predestination, the Trinity and the Grace of Christ; and the Retractationum Libri.
—dies in 430, as the Vandals are sieging Rome. He is the ‘last of the Romans’.
City of God—started as a response to the sacking of Rome by Alaric and the Goths in 410.
—Rome, intact up until then for 1000 years, had fallen.
—Her fall happened in the hour of victory for Christianity.
Is it Christianity’s fault? Did Rome fall because they abandoned the ancient civic gods?
—Augustine started City of God as a response to these questions.
—City of God took 13 years to write, and its message transcended its original design.
—22 books long
2 goals: (1) provide a philosophy of history in answer to pagan murmurings and (2) provide a justification of the whole philosophia Christi in answer to human philosophy of the ancient world.
22 books divided into 2 parts: Part 1: Books I-X, part 2: books XI-XXII.
Books I-V—speak against the belief that human prosperity is dependent upon the maintenance of a civic worship of the many gods of the pagan pantheon. In particular, his goal is to disprove the opinion that the outlawing of pagan worship rites contributed to the decline of the Empire.
Books VI-X—refutes more moderate pagans who did not blame the decline on what the pagans described in I-V did, but nevertheless still thought that belief in the ancient gods had its own advantages.
—yet, it was not enough to refute pagan claims. He also wanted to draw thoughtful pagans to the Christian side.
Part 2 (books XI-XXII)—3 divisions:
XI-XIV—the origin of the two cities, the city of God and the city of this world
XV-XVIII—their process or progress.
XIX-XXII—their appointed ends.
4 “grades” of human society:
(1) domus or household
(2) civitas—City, and the State founded upon and co-extensive with the City, also extended to mean the State in general.
(3) orbis terrae—the whole earth and the whole human society than inhabits the earth.
(4) mundus—the Universe, including the heavens and their constellations as well as the earth, and includes God and His angels and the souls of the departed, as well as the human society still on earth.
The City of God transcends the grade of the civitas. It belongs to the universe and is co-extensive with the mundus.
—from St. Paul, the Divine City is distinct from the Human City based on righteousness. The Divine City is completely righteous; nothing unclean may enter it.
—The Greek word for “righteousness” is translated in Latin as justitia, or justice, which evokes a legal connotation, when the Greeks and St. Paul, and Augustine, meant something in the moral realm.
To be continued…
Saturday, February 04, 2006
Morality & Sexuality
Human Sexuality: An All-Embracing Gift, by Gerald D. Coleman, SS
Chp. 1—Principles and Presuppositions
—sex, sexuality is a gift from God, an integral part of life.
Why did Jesus exclude it from his life? Jesus was already in full relationship with his Father and the Holy Spirit in and through love.
—He already attained completion
2 bad extremes: (1) Pansexualism—the divinization of sex. Maximizing sexual pleasure,
sex as an absolute.
(2) Sex as demonic and evil.
—Our sexuality is not something we have; it is who we are.
*—love and sex are distinct, but in emotionally healthy people they merge together into one—Abraham Maslow
The Moral Life of Jesus—we are to imitate Jesus.
—Jesus always displayed compassion, understanding, & forgiveness, while at the same time holding to strict moral principles.
—Our goal is divine friendship.
—God can be experienced both in intimacy and loneliness.
Chastity
Basic Moral Principles:
Aquinas—there are (1) sins against nature (contra naturam) and (2) sins according to nature (peccata secundum naturam).
(1) Sins according to nature: the sin is “contrary to right reason”—fornication, rape, incest, adultery, sacrilege.
(2) Sins against nature: not just against reason, but also inconsistent with the venereal act—masturbation, bestiality, homosexual activity, contraception.
—Some acts are intrinsically evil—always wrong no matter what.
An act has 2 features: (1) common features that make it part of a class of acts.
(2) particular features, which distinguish it from all other acts in its class.
A moral evaluation of an act must take into account 3 factors:
(1) purpose—the reason the agent is acting.
(2) circumstances—the situation in which he acts.
(3) object—material out of which the act(ion) is fashioned.
—For the act to be morally good, all 3 parts must be good.
—The moral law is not just what God has revealed to us (e.g. 10 Commandments).
—The moral law is in our hearts, and can be understood through reason. (St. Paul: Gentiles who do not know the Law, but still follow it are a law unto themselves)
Synderesis vs. Conscientia
Synderesis—from the Greek “anamnesis”. An original memory of the good planted in us. We know that our being naturally resonates with some things and clashes with others.
—synderesis is the ontological level of conscience, the (Aquinas): inner repugnance to evil and attraction to good.
Conscientia—the act of conscience that applies the basic knowledge of synderesis to a particular situation.
—conscientia is the judgment and decision level of conscience.
3 elements of conscience:
(1) recognizing (recognoscere)
(2) bearing witness (testificari)
(3) judging (iudicare)
**even the erroneous conscience binds. A person should follow his conscience (e.g. a person who truly believes that fornication is good does not sin by fornicating)
—Is a person who rightly follows his flawed conscience free of error? No. While he is free of sin in that he followed conscientia, there is an error in that he somehow used conscientia to stifle the protest of synderesis.
Changes in Moral Theology after Thomas Aquinas:
Aquinas—achieved a good balance between objectivity and subjectivity.
—in the centuries to follow, this balance would be upset.
Nominalism—William of Occam: we cannot come to understand what good and bad are through a close examination of the nature of things. No inherent moral order to God’s creation.
—God is absolutely free. God could have made things absolutely different.
—morality comes from the free decision of God’s will. Things are only right or wrong because God arbitrarily made them that way.
—our task in moral terms is obey the commands of God.
—morality does not issue from within morality, but is painted on from the outside.
Parvity of Matter
The Old Manuals (pre-Vatican II)—sin is the free transgression of the divine law.
3 elements for every sin: (1) transgression of a law
(2) knowledge of the transgression
(3) free consent to the act
2 different aspects to each sin:
(1) objective sin—the act itself.
(2) subjective sin—the act as it appears in the consciousness of the individual.
Material Sin—an objectively evil act without the full subjective consent.
Formal Sin—when knowledge of the transgression and free consent are present.
Manualists—the determination of the sinfulness of an action is made on the basis of divine revelation interpreted by the Magisterium of the Church and a rational analysis of the act.
Mortal Sins—matter so evil that no situation exists in which the gravity of the evil can be lessened; intrinsically evil.
Venial Sins—matter that is always light as long as there are no added circumstances that might change the species of the act.
**Some sins of the same act can be serious or minor depending on the seriousness of the matter. (e.g. stealing from a rich man could be minor while stealing from a pauper would be serious)
Some modern teachings:
Proportionalism—Fr. Joseph Fuchs, Fr. Richard McCormick, Fr. Charles Curran: The “Catholic” version of consequentialism (utilitarianism).
—a moral judgment CANNOT be made based on the act itself. The judgment must be based also on intention and circumstances.
Pre-moral Evil—things like murder, abortion, etc., but they cannot become evil acts unless taken up as evil intentions, and if the consequences are worse if they are done than if they are not done.
—for proportionalists, the ends DO justify the means.
—There are no moral absolutes in and of themselves in the concrete, e.g. do not kill, do not steal. Absolutes can only be spoken of on the level of the abstact, e.g. act lovingly, act justly.
*Proportionalism vs. Aquinas—whereas for Aquinas, all 3 parts, purpose, circumstance, and object, must be good in order for the act to be good, with proportionalists, a bad object itself cannot make an act bad; only bad circumstances and purpose.
Biblical Perspectives
God’s Word and Calling—God creates us and calls us back to Himself. We are most free when we seek God’s peace.
God’s Call to Repentance and Salvation—We have sinned, and we are saved by repenting and trusting in God’s grace. Ex: God calls Noah to fidelity and trust. Those who refuse are warring against themselves.
God’s Call: Election and Promise—history is history of God and his people. God calls Abraham, and makes promises with those who follow God.
God’s Calling: Liberation and Covenant—God makes a covenant with Moses, a covenant morality, as He leads them to liberation from Egypt.
The People’s Repentance and God’s Calling of Charismatic Leaders—When people forget God, become unfaithful, they are in distress and embattled with their enemies. When they repent, God intervenes by sending charismatic leaders. This is the theme in Judges and 1 & 2 Samuel. Liberation happens through conversion and God’s mercy, which is undeserved.
God Elects and Rejects Kings—a major OT theme is the value and ambiguity of authority. In Genesis 3:16, we see the abuse of power (male domineering over female) as they symbol & reality of the fall away from God. When people do not adore God, they yield to lust for power.
—Monarchy is a source of curse. Kings sin, and people sin by wanting a king as a symbol of national power.
—God is with the kings when they listen to the prophets and are faithful.
God Calls Prophets and They Respond—Summit of the OT is the history of the prophets. Prophets given a profound experience of God, never separated from the sorrows, needs, hopes, and anguish of the people of the times. They point out that those who do not show mercy towards the downtrodden are really hidden atheists, for they do not know God. Prophets receive no honor in this life; are at the service of God, and often must suffer.
The Servant of Yahweh—Second Isaiah teaches of the “servant of Yahweh”, the One who God will call and send to be the faithful Servant of God. This is the messianic hope.
The Covenant and the Law—By His saving covenant, God grants Israel the gift of the Law. The Law is not externally added to the covenant, but flows forth from it. The Law is not a burden, but a gracious gift from God.
Christ is the New Covenant—When Christ chose to be baptized, he revealed his will to bear the sin-burden of all in saving solidarity. In & with Christ, we fulfill his law. Jesus knows the Father and reveals Him to us. We are justified by grace and faith.
Sexuality in the context of Biblical teaching:
Old Testament
—For the Israelites, God is Other. God is different from his creation. Vs. the fertility religions surrounding the Hebrews, who saw creation as the result of sexual union between male and female gods.
Fertility religions—creation is procreation, sex is divine.
Israelites—creation is by the Word of God, is spiritual. Becoming a child of God is not just physical, but spiritual. Fertility is demythologized.
—Sexuality is within the realm of creatures. It is not divine, but a normal human activity.
—likewise, sexuality is not demonic either. It is human and good.
Gen 1-3—men and women are a psychophysical unity. No dualism. The soul (nephesh) is our life-principle.
2 creation stories:
Priestly Account—Gen 1:1-2:4a. written c. 500 BC. God created man in His own image. God’s spiritual, not physical, image. Man and woman are created simultaneously. Neither is superior. God’s creation is complete when man and woman are brought together in a sexual relationship.
—Sexuality is an intended part of creation. God commands the man and woman to multiply.
**Important: the desire to procreate is not a punishment for sin; it is an original intended part of God’s creation.
Jahwist Account—Gen 2:4b-3:24. written c. 950 BC.
—The man is created. He is lonely. God creates animals as companions. Man is still lonely.
—God creates woman as companion. Man and woman are only complete in relation with each other.
Original Sin—humans try to put themselves before God, be like God. Result: shame. Weakness exposed before just authority.
Marriage—an analogy for the relationship between Yahweh and his people.
Song of Songs—praises human love as a gift of God. Tells us that God is love.
—Reproductive power is significant. Relationships should cooperate, not go against, this power. Hence, sex w/in marriage for procreation.
New Testament
Jesus appeals often to God’s will as originally intended in creation.
—religion and morality are united.
—we are to understand the law in terms of the will of God, not God in terms of the law. —Jesus goes behind the law of Moses and appeals to God’s original intention.
—in the story of the woman caught in adultery, Jesus points out that her sin is no worse than the Pharisees subtle sins of pride and hypocrisy.
—the decisive trait in moral determination is not the act but the will.
St. Paul—we can see God’s will by observing “nature.” Urges the right use of sexuality.
—Sexual expression must involve the whole person and not just the sexual organs.
—Sex in marriage is “Sacramental”: a channel through which the material is used to bring spiritual results.
Chp. 1—Principles and Presuppositions
—sex, sexuality is a gift from God, an integral part of life.
Why did Jesus exclude it from his life? Jesus was already in full relationship with his Father and the Holy Spirit in and through love.
—He already attained completion
2 bad extremes: (1) Pansexualism—the divinization of sex. Maximizing sexual pleasure,
sex as an absolute.
(2) Sex as demonic and evil.
—Our sexuality is not something we have; it is who we are.
*—love and sex are distinct, but in emotionally healthy people they merge together into one—Abraham Maslow
The Moral Life of Jesus—we are to imitate Jesus.
—Jesus always displayed compassion, understanding, & forgiveness, while at the same time holding to strict moral principles.
—Our goal is divine friendship.
—God can be experienced both in intimacy and loneliness.
Chastity
Basic Moral Principles:
Aquinas—there are (1) sins against nature (contra naturam) and (2) sins according to nature (peccata secundum naturam).
(1) Sins according to nature: the sin is “contrary to right reason”—fornication, rape, incest, adultery, sacrilege.
(2) Sins against nature: not just against reason, but also inconsistent with the venereal act—masturbation, bestiality, homosexual activity, contraception.
—Some acts are intrinsically evil—always wrong no matter what.
An act has 2 features: (1) common features that make it part of a class of acts.
(2) particular features, which distinguish it from all other acts in its class.
A moral evaluation of an act must take into account 3 factors:
(1) purpose—the reason the agent is acting.
(2) circumstances—the situation in which he acts.
(3) object—material out of which the act(ion) is fashioned.
—For the act to be morally good, all 3 parts must be good.
—The moral law is not just what God has revealed to us (e.g. 10 Commandments).
—The moral law is in our hearts, and can be understood through reason. (St. Paul: Gentiles who do not know the Law, but still follow it are a law unto themselves)
Synderesis vs. Conscientia
Synderesis—from the Greek “anamnesis”. An original memory of the good planted in us. We know that our being naturally resonates with some things and clashes with others.
—synderesis is the ontological level of conscience, the (Aquinas): inner repugnance to evil and attraction to good.
Conscientia—the act of conscience that applies the basic knowledge of synderesis to a particular situation.
—conscientia is the judgment and decision level of conscience.
3 elements of conscience:
(1) recognizing (recognoscere)
(2) bearing witness (testificari)
(3) judging (iudicare)
**even the erroneous conscience binds. A person should follow his conscience (e.g. a person who truly believes that fornication is good does not sin by fornicating)
—Is a person who rightly follows his flawed conscience free of error? No. While he is free of sin in that he followed conscientia, there is an error in that he somehow used conscientia to stifle the protest of synderesis.
Changes in Moral Theology after Thomas Aquinas:
Aquinas—achieved a good balance between objectivity and subjectivity.
—in the centuries to follow, this balance would be upset.
Nominalism—William of Occam: we cannot come to understand what good and bad are through a close examination of the nature of things. No inherent moral order to God’s creation.
—God is absolutely free. God could have made things absolutely different.
—morality comes from the free decision of God’s will. Things are only right or wrong because God arbitrarily made them that way.
—our task in moral terms is obey the commands of God.
—morality does not issue from within morality, but is painted on from the outside.
Parvity of Matter
The Old Manuals (pre-Vatican II)—sin is the free transgression of the divine law.
3 elements for every sin: (1) transgression of a law
(2) knowledge of the transgression
(3) free consent to the act
2 different aspects to each sin:
(1) objective sin—the act itself.
(2) subjective sin—the act as it appears in the consciousness of the individual.
Material Sin—an objectively evil act without the full subjective consent.
Formal Sin—when knowledge of the transgression and free consent are present.
Manualists—the determination of the sinfulness of an action is made on the basis of divine revelation interpreted by the Magisterium of the Church and a rational analysis of the act.
Mortal Sins—matter so evil that no situation exists in which the gravity of the evil can be lessened; intrinsically evil.
Venial Sins—matter that is always light as long as there are no added circumstances that might change the species of the act.
**Some sins of the same act can be serious or minor depending on the seriousness of the matter. (e.g. stealing from a rich man could be minor while stealing from a pauper would be serious)
Some modern teachings:
Proportionalism—Fr. Joseph Fuchs, Fr. Richard McCormick, Fr. Charles Curran: The “Catholic” version of consequentialism (utilitarianism).
—a moral judgment CANNOT be made based on the act itself. The judgment must be based also on intention and circumstances.
Pre-moral Evil—things like murder, abortion, etc., but they cannot become evil acts unless taken up as evil intentions, and if the consequences are worse if they are done than if they are not done.
—for proportionalists, the ends DO justify the means.
—There are no moral absolutes in and of themselves in the concrete, e.g. do not kill, do not steal. Absolutes can only be spoken of on the level of the abstact, e.g. act lovingly, act justly.
*Proportionalism vs. Aquinas—whereas for Aquinas, all 3 parts, purpose, circumstance, and object, must be good in order for the act to be good, with proportionalists, a bad object itself cannot make an act bad; only bad circumstances and purpose.
Biblical Perspectives
God’s Word and Calling—God creates us and calls us back to Himself. We are most free when we seek God’s peace.
God’s Call to Repentance and Salvation—We have sinned, and we are saved by repenting and trusting in God’s grace. Ex: God calls Noah to fidelity and trust. Those who refuse are warring against themselves.
God’s Call: Election and Promise—history is history of God and his people. God calls Abraham, and makes promises with those who follow God.
God’s Calling: Liberation and Covenant—God makes a covenant with Moses, a covenant morality, as He leads them to liberation from Egypt.
The People’s Repentance and God’s Calling of Charismatic Leaders—When people forget God, become unfaithful, they are in distress and embattled with their enemies. When they repent, God intervenes by sending charismatic leaders. This is the theme in Judges and 1 & 2 Samuel. Liberation happens through conversion and God’s mercy, which is undeserved.
God Elects and Rejects Kings—a major OT theme is the value and ambiguity of authority. In Genesis 3:16, we see the abuse of power (male domineering over female) as they symbol & reality of the fall away from God. When people do not adore God, they yield to lust for power.
—Monarchy is a source of curse. Kings sin, and people sin by wanting a king as a symbol of national power.
—God is with the kings when they listen to the prophets and are faithful.
God Calls Prophets and They Respond—Summit of the OT is the history of the prophets. Prophets given a profound experience of God, never separated from the sorrows, needs, hopes, and anguish of the people of the times. They point out that those who do not show mercy towards the downtrodden are really hidden atheists, for they do not know God. Prophets receive no honor in this life; are at the service of God, and often must suffer.
The Servant of Yahweh—Second Isaiah teaches of the “servant of Yahweh”, the One who God will call and send to be the faithful Servant of God. This is the messianic hope.
The Covenant and the Law—By His saving covenant, God grants Israel the gift of the Law. The Law is not externally added to the covenant, but flows forth from it. The Law is not a burden, but a gracious gift from God.
Christ is the New Covenant—When Christ chose to be baptized, he revealed his will to bear the sin-burden of all in saving solidarity. In & with Christ, we fulfill his law. Jesus knows the Father and reveals Him to us. We are justified by grace and faith.
Sexuality in the context of Biblical teaching:
Old Testament
—For the Israelites, God is Other. God is different from his creation. Vs. the fertility religions surrounding the Hebrews, who saw creation as the result of sexual union between male and female gods.
Fertility religions—creation is procreation, sex is divine.
Israelites—creation is by the Word of God, is spiritual. Becoming a child of God is not just physical, but spiritual. Fertility is demythologized.
—Sexuality is within the realm of creatures. It is not divine, but a normal human activity.
—likewise, sexuality is not demonic either. It is human and good.
Gen 1-3—men and women are a psychophysical unity. No dualism. The soul (nephesh) is our life-principle.
2 creation stories:
Priestly Account—Gen 1:1-2:4a. written c. 500 BC. God created man in His own image. God’s spiritual, not physical, image. Man and woman are created simultaneously. Neither is superior. God’s creation is complete when man and woman are brought together in a sexual relationship.
—Sexuality is an intended part of creation. God commands the man and woman to multiply.
**Important: the desire to procreate is not a punishment for sin; it is an original intended part of God’s creation.
Jahwist Account—Gen 2:4b-3:24. written c. 950 BC.
—The man is created. He is lonely. God creates animals as companions. Man is still lonely.
—God creates woman as companion. Man and woman are only complete in relation with each other.
Original Sin—humans try to put themselves before God, be like God. Result: shame. Weakness exposed before just authority.
Marriage—an analogy for the relationship between Yahweh and his people.
Song of Songs—praises human love as a gift of God. Tells us that God is love.
—Reproductive power is significant. Relationships should cooperate, not go against, this power. Hence, sex w/in marriage for procreation.
New Testament
Jesus appeals often to God’s will as originally intended in creation.
—religion and morality are united.
—we are to understand the law in terms of the will of God, not God in terms of the law. —Jesus goes behind the law of Moses and appeals to God’s original intention.
—in the story of the woman caught in adultery, Jesus points out that her sin is no worse than the Pharisees subtle sins of pride and hypocrisy.
—the decisive trait in moral determination is not the act but the will.
St. Paul—we can see God’s will by observing “nature.” Urges the right use of sexuality.
—Sexual expression must involve the whole person and not just the sexual organs.
—Sex in marriage is “Sacramental”: a channel through which the material is used to bring spiritual results.
