Course Notes in CL 101, Man’s search for GOD. SY.

2015-2016, 1st Semester

For Student’s Use Only. College of the Immaculate Conception. Diocese of Cabanatuan

The Creed, I BELIEVE and the Doctrine of Trinity

- I believe in God is the affirmation of the Apostles’ Creed.

o The creed is called Apostles’ not because it was written by the apostles themselves; but because it is a faithful summary of
the apostle’s faith and teachings. (Rev. Fr. Chris de Guzman, SThD.)
- It is also the most fundamental.
- The whole creed speaks of God and when it speaks of man and the world it does so in relation to God.
o Ex. I believe in the Holy Catholic Church.
o I believe in the forgiveness of sins.
o I believe in the resurrection of the body.
o I believe in life everlasting.
- The Scripture begins here too “In the beginning God” (Gen.1:1) – because all reality begins here.
o That is what the different arguments (of God’s existence) want us to understand and embrace.
 He is the UNMOVED MOVER (1st Argument)
 He is the UNCAUSED CAUSE (2nd Argument)
 He is the NECESSARY BEING (3rd Argument)
 He is the PERFECT GOOD (4th Argument)
 He is the INTELLIGENT DESIGNER (5th Argument)
o There is God. He is PRIOR to everything and anything. He is above all.
o This is a reality. Reality means the real situation (Merriam Webster). Ito ay ang kalagayan. Ito ang sitwasyon. Ito ang realidad.
 Ano ang iyong kalagayan? ANo ang iyong kinalalagyan?
 Ang iyong kinalalagyan ay ang mundong ito na bago ka pa man nabuhay narito na ang Dyos.
- The first and the most basic requirement for living in reality is to BELIEVE IN GOD.
o Kapag tayo ay sumasakay ng jeep papunta sa isang lugar, agad natin iniaabot ang ating bayad, kahit hindi ito hingin ng driver.
o Ito ay naging natural na reaksyon mula sa atin.
o Natural din sa atin na kilalanin at paniwalaan ang Dyos, kaya naman ang una sa lahat na dapat natin gawin ay maniwala na
may Dyos.
- Faith in God comes precedes everything else because God comes first.

The Mystery of Trinity: The Three Persons in One God.

- The Doctrine of the Blessed Trinity states that there is ONE GOD, who is THREE EQUAL and DISTINCT PERSONS.
- It is the central of Christian Faith and Life.
- It is the primary doctrine of Christianity in that it reveals the ultimate truth – the nature of God.
- It does not define God because our language is limited to do so.
- But, the Doctrine of Trinity truly reveals God.
- The Catholic Church gradually defined the doctrine to explain the data in Scripture.
- The Scriptural Data from which the Church derives the doctrine of the Trinity are:
o There is only one God (Deuteronomy 6:4)
o The Father is God (Jn 5:18)
o The Son is God (Jn 8:58)
o The Holy Spirit is God (Mt.28:19)

The Three Divine Persons are Equal (CFC, 1328)

- The three Persons are equally eternal.
- God the Father dos not come first, then the Son and the Holy Spirit.
- The term father and son are relational terms. One exists in relation to the other.
- So God the Father and God the Son relate to each other with the Holy Spirit the Breath of Life.

The Divine Persons are distinct (CFC, 1329)

- Jesus affirmed “the Father and I are one” (Jn 10:30).
- This does NOT mean he is IDENTICAL with the FATHER
- Rather it means He is perfectly UNITED with the Father in LOVE, their Holy Spirit.

God’s Progressive Revelation (Kreeft)

- Revelation is God’s way of making himself manifested or known to people.
- God’s progressive revelation of himself first as the transcendent Creator, “outside” us; then as the incarnate Savior “besides” us; then the
indwelling Spirit “inside” us.
- The reason for this progressive revelation is found in the very being of God, which is Love;
o the purpose and motive for God’s Self-revelation to man is love.
o Therefore, the stages of the God’s revelation are the stages of increasing intimacy with man. (From OUTSIDE, BESIDE, INSIDE)
- God’s very being is love.
o By sending his only Son and the Spirit of LOve in the fullness of time, God has revealed his innermost secret:
o GOD IS THE EXTERNAL EXCHANGE OF LOVE, FATHER, SON and THE HOLY SPIRIT and he has destined us to share in that exchange
(CCC, 221)

Trinity and Love (Kreeft)

- The REASON God is TRINITY is because GOD IS LOVE.
- Love requires THREENESS: the lover, the beloved and the act (relationship)
- Because God is love, love is the supreme value,

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Course Notes in CL 101, Man’s search for GOD. SY.2015-2016, 1st Semester
For Student’s Use Only. College of the Immaculate Conception. Diocese of Cabanatuan

- Because it is the supreme value it is the meaning of our lives.

- From the Doctrine of Trinity we learn the nature of love.
- Love is ALTRUISTIC not EGOISTIC.
- God is other-love because he has otherness within himself.

How Man Can Know God

- We can know God in two ways: natural human mind and faith
o We come to understand and argue with natural evidences of God’sexistence (Natural human mind)
o God has revealed himself to people, in creation, in salvation history, in the Church (Faith)
o For us Christians, Christ is the fullness of God’s revelation

"In many and various ways God spoke of old to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by a
Son." Christ, the Son of God made man, is the Father's one, perfect and unsurpassable Word. In him he has said everything; there will
be no other word than this one. St. John of the Cross, among others, commented strikingly on (CCC.65, Hebrews1:1-2)

References:
Catechism of the Catholic Church