KEY THINKERS PAPER 1

Typical exam questions: e.g.   Describe what St Augustine teaches on the creation of the universe

origins and meanings ST AUGUSTINE ON CREATION – THE CONFESSIONS​ CATHERINE OF SIENA – ON IMAGO DEI – THE DIALOGUES​ VATICAN II document GUADIUM ET SPES on JUSTICE/PEACE &RECONCILIATION (IMAGO DEI)

key thinkers for PAPER ONE

ST AUGUSTINE ORIGIN OF THE UNIVERSE

Early Catholic thinker – (everyone took the Bible literally at this point)​ GENESIS creation stories = true.  God is the origin of all life and living.​ God exists before creation ‘precreation’ and transcends time and space.  ‘YOU WERE AND BEFORE YOU WAS NOTHING’​ God creates ‘ex nihilo’ by his very word ‘Let there be……’ and ‘it was so’.​ In his ‘CONFESSIONS’ Augustine states ​ YOU O LORD CREATED THIS WORLD OUT OF NOTHING (Ex Nihilo)​ ‘THERE IS NOTHING THAT YOU CANNOT DO’  (Omnipotent)

Catherine of Siena - Imago Dei

Catherine of Siena wrote a spiritual journal called the ‘DIALOGUES’​ She says human beings are special because they are made IMAGO DEI​ God created us out of love and we have dignity.​ We did not do anything to deserve this – it is simply because God is omnibenevolent​ God gave us the ability to know right from wrong.​ She says ‘Her dignity is that of her creation, seeing that she is the image of God’​ She also says :  What made you establish man in so great a dignity? And says its is because of Gods ‘INCALCUABLE LOVE

GAUDIUM ET SPES ON peace

Respecting the dignity of each person is a duty for Catholics since everyone is made imago dei​ This involves working for a world where justice, equality and peace is achieved for everyone,​  Gaudium et Spes made it clear that the concept of the image of God has greatly influenced Church teaching on human dignity, equality, justice and peace.  ​ Peace is not merely the absence of war;  it is an enterprise of justice​ A firm determination to respect other peoples and their dignity is absolutely necessary for the establishment of peace​ Christians should ‘ join with all true peacemakers in pleading for peace and bringing it about.

key thinkers - paper 1 good and evil

typical exam questions Describe/ Explain what Pope John Paul II teaches about suffering   in Salvific Doloris.

AUGUSTINE ON THE TRINITY ( De Trinitate. 8:10)​ AUGUSTINE ON EVIL AS A PRIVATION (Enchiridion:3.11)​ POPE JOHN PAUL ON EVIL AND SUFFERING (SALVIFIC DOLORIS 13 AND 23)

Augustine on Trinity

ST AUGUSTINE AND THE TRINITY ​ St Augustine tried to explain the Trinity using an analogy about love in his work De Trinitate 8.10  (ON THE TRINITY)​ Augustine says God is Love. In order to have love there must be three things.  But these three things are all reflections of the same thing. ‘The father loves (which is the spirit) the son and the son loves (which is the spirit) the father.’ In other words, LOVE has to be in 3 parts – it cannot exist on its own – it must have a giver and receiver of love., JUST LIKE THE TRINITY that are 3 persons united together in LOVE.  ​ Augustine says ‘There are three things in love, as it were a trace of the Trinity….he that loves, and that which is loved, and love.’

AUGUSTINE ON EVIL

Augustine believed evil is simply the absence of good! A Privatio Boni; or a privation of good.​ Augustine used the analogy of blindness. ‘Blindness’ itself is not something you ‘catch’ or that spreads instead it is what we call the loss of sight. When sight is gone, blindness is present. ​ Augustine used this analogy to try to explain that evil is not a thing but it is what is left when good has gone – he referred to it as the ‘privation of good.’ ​  ​ In his work called the Enchiridion – on faith, hope and love, Augustine says​ What, after all, is anything we call evil except the privation of good?....... For such evil is not a substance; Thus, whatever defects there are in a soul are privations of a natural good ​ EVIL IS A PRIVATIO BONI

salvifici doloris - John Paul II

God has a plan for people's lives that they may not always understand. This may include evil and suffering but Christians should trust and have faith in God's plan.  God wants people to follow the example of Jesus and help those who are suffering. God must have a reason for allowing evil and suffering but the reason is beyond human understanding. Jesus himself entered into suffering and shared in our human condition. ​ Christians also pray for those who suffer and try to help them. ​ Catholics believe that love can arise from evil and suffering, and that love is an important part of human life. The Catholic Church sees human suffering as a chance to follow the example of Christ and believe that it is a part of God’s plan. ​ Love is the fullest source of the answer to the question of the meaning of suffering. This answer has been given by God to man in the Cross of Jesus Christ.   ​Salvifici Doloris 13 ​ ‘Through suffering we become open to the saving power of Christ. ​  Salvifici Doloris 23