Thesis 1 - Theology of Religions

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·         Humans are religious beings animated by a divine dynamism that is in-built in them and their world. They follow the path of religion, namely, through the world of concerns to the world of faith in order to discover there a world of meaning (NA 1)

The theologies of religious experience are articulated as follows:

·         In an anthropo-theistic perspective it is a response (faith) to the divine initiative (revelation) [Semitic traditions: Jewish, Christian, Islamic].

·         In a cosmo-theistic tradition it is the awareness of the abiding but non-manipulable Presence in all things [Hinduism].

·         In an a-theistic world it is the outcome of the ‘silence of God’ that prevents absolutization of any being [Buddhism].

·         In a secular view it is the sense of mystery that fascinates and inspires commitment but escapes all attempts at objectification.

Thesis 2 - Faith and Revelation

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 The Catholic Church has articulated its doctrine of Christian God experience as Trinitarian (DV 2; Eph 2:18) It originates in the historical event of Jesus the Christ (Heb 1:1-2; Jn 1:1-18; Jn 14:9) who is the fullness of revelations (DV 2) The “obedience of faith is a personal and free entrusting of one’s whole self to God (DV 5; Rom 16:26) The Church keeps alive, transmits and celebrated the Revelation through scripture and Tradition and magisterial teaching (DV 8, 10) 

            The thesis places upfront the fact that one Christian experience of God is – God as a Trinitarian God. The origin of this experience is in Jesus Christ who is the fullness of revelation. We humans are called to respond in faith to this revealing God. And the thesis also explains how the church keeps this revelation alive, and passes it on to future generations I would like to begin with a title’

Thesis 3 - Inspiration

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    1.      The Church considers the Bible with its two testaments as ‘word of God’ and so as an infallible norm.

         Bible

    Ø  The word ‘bible’ comes from the Latin word ‘Biblia’ or from Greek word ‘Biblos’ and it means ‘BOOKS’ (in the plural ‘ta biblia’ is singular i.e. book)

  

Ø  The word ‘Bible’ is indicative of two things:

   o   That it is  1) the book , 2) the book of books 3) the great book

   o   The plural form suggests that it is a LIBRARY OF BOOKS

      Composition:

        In OT – 46

        In NT – 27  Totally 73 books.

        Testament

    Ø  The very word ‘testament’ come from the Latin ‘Testamentum’, which was chosen to translate the Biblical Idea of ‘Covenant’.

    Ø        The ‘ADJECTIVES’ Old and New indicate the TIME of composition of the book

    Ø          What unites OT and NT is the promise and the fulfilment of Jesus

Thesis 4 - Election Theology

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Statement: It is sometimes said that the `election theology' of Israel (Ex 19:3-8; Dt 7:6; Am 3:1-2)    makes it an inward-looking religion. This does not do justice to the various strands that are  

   found in the Pentateuch (e.g., Gn 12:1-3). 

Israel consciously reflected on its place and role 

in the    community of nations. The prophetical 

writers of the Pentateuch retrojected their views 

on God    and the human being, on the origin of 

sin and of evil into the Primeval History (Gn 1-11). The ancient Sumero-Akkadian myths which were adopted and adapted by the Biblical authors present a  marked difference in their theology and anthropology in comparison with the biblical narratives.   

Thesis 5 - Prophets

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The thesis can be divided into 8 parts.

     1.      The prophetical books contain oracles of the prophets.

     2.      The process of prophetical literature.

     3.      The prophets understanding of God.

     4.      covenantal Relationship

     5.      The difference between the pre-exilic and post         exilic so called monotheism.

      6.      Social justice in the prophets

     7.      Importance of individual responsibility

     8.      The unresolved issue of the new covenant in the OT.

       The thesis basically speaks about the identity- convictions –understandings of – Prophets. It also sheds light on their role in Israels faith journey, in growing as a people and as a monotheistic religion and concludes with the hope of the new covenant promised by Jeremiah and Ezekial.

1. Introduction

a) Who Is a Prophet?

Etymology(Gk): prophetes

‘Pro’ stands for  - in front of , on behalf of, be fore. ‘phetes’ – comes from –pheni = speak.

Hebrew understanding of Prophet: is that

·         Prophet is the mouthpiece of God.

Popular understanding of a prophet is that he is able to predict the future.

Thesis 6 - Gospels

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     1  .      The Gospels are not eye-witness reports of what Jesus did and said, but are collections of traditions about him, written from the perspective of the Resurrection in response to the respective needs of the community (ND 241-244).

   2.      The true significance of the text, in fact, emerges from an open dialogue between the text and its context on the one hand, and the reader and his/her context on the other (ND 272-274).

  3.      Though the Synoptic Gospels have much in common they differ from one another in their presentation of Jesus Christ. However, the Johannine perspective is significantly different from them.

     4   .      In their various kerygmata, the Gospels provide us with a basis for diversity in unity.           

     5   .       This could serve as a model for Christians living in a multi-religious context like India.

    Thesis can be divided into four parts.

     a.       Gospels are not eye-witness reports.

     b    .      True significance of the text emerges from the text from its open dialogue through historical         critical method.

     c.       Synoptic and Johanine presentation of Christ. 

     d.      Kerygma of the gospels as basis for diversity in unity.

Thesis 7 - Pauline Corpus

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Statement: The focal point of the New Testament is the person of Jesus Christ.  The Damascus experience constituted Saul, the Pharisee and the persecutor of the Church, into a believer in Jesus Christ and an apostle to the Gentiles. The theological perspective of the Pauline Corpus is centred on the salvific events of Jesus’ Death and Resurrection (1 Cor 15, 3-5). Paul

expresses these saving events also through metaphors: reconciliation (2 Cor 5, 18-21), redemption and sacrifice (Rom 3, 24b-25). The salvific effects of these saving events are appropriated through faith in Jesus Christ (Rom 1:16-17); and the touch-stone of authentic Christian life is Agape (Rom 13:8-10; 1 Cor 13:13)

Introduction

·                   This thesis mainly deals with Paul’s experience of the Risen Christ and his            understanding of salvation      which is expressed in various metaphors such as reconciliation,                redemption, sacrifice etc.

·                     This thesis also focuses on the justification = salvation through faith in Jesus Christ and salvation to          be experienced and shown here on earth by agape.

Thesis 8 - Trinity

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1. The Christian experience of the Ultimate articulated in the Bible as the self-disclosure of God as Father, Son and the Spirit (Ex 4:22-23a; 6:6-7; Mk 14:36; Rom 8:15-16; Gal 4:6), is the
   
   foundation of the Trinitarian doctrine in the Christian tradition.
2. The Trinitarian mystery is the source, model and reference point of all human communities.
3. In the context of inter-religious dialogue we need to explain meaningfully the Christian experience of God as Trinity to those who have other designations for the Ultimate Mystery.

9 - Christology

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The Christian encounter with God is in and through the person of Jesus Christ. Christianity claims to possess the fullness the fullness of divine revelation (DV 2, 7) in Jesus Christ, the Word become flesh

(Cf. Jn 1, 14). It confesses and proclaims that Jesus Christ is “truly God and truly man” (ND 614-15) and in him is salvation as he is the only mediator and saviour of humankind (Mk 16,16; Acts 4, 12; 1 Tim 2,5; ND 646) through his life, death and resurrection. How do you meaningfully understand the historical development of these faith affirmations? In the Indian religious context would it be appropriate to speak of Jesus as an avatar?

10 – Human Person

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In the Christian vision of faith, humans are rational beings. The relational dimension of humans is seen in their being the image of God, being male and female as well as embodied and Sexual, being

able to exercise dominion over creation through work, being graced and being capable of exercising freedom for or against God and God’s creatures.(Gen 1-3) Jesus is the real symbol of the encounter between God and humans and reveals the mystery of authentic personhood(GS 10). the church’s approach to various issues affecting human existence is based on a distinctive theological understaning of human person(GS 12-17,22, LE 9,25,27, SRS 29,40) The recent discoveries in the natural and human sciences provide new opportunities to deepen the Christian understanding of human person, while also raising serious questions in the realm of faith.