IET Lucknow SGWT 12 - Questions of life and questions of faith - SGWT notes

Questions of life and questions of faithWhat is Theology?- “Theology is a process or a practice of consciously and methodically reflecting on our experience of God in the ordinariness of life and in the social and historical events in our world, in the light of our faith.” The What, Where, and How of Theology(What) Experience of God: - It is about our encounter with God/Superior being- “The subject matter is God” = Greek Theos , “God” and logos, “word”, speaking about God(Where) In the ordinariness of life and in social and historical events in our world: - “it is not just an abstraction”, it is not only a feeling, it is concrete! Simply because it is about our experience of God in our personal lives and of the world.(How) a practice of conscious and methodological reflection: - We must be aware of our surroundings yet wemust be able to pause and reflect“Theology is our primary tool/guide to understand what God is saying through our human experiences and other events happening in the world driven by our faith (our belief in God)”.Goals of Theology1. The ultimate or life-long goal of theology is for us to have a closer and richer relationshipwith God-in-Jesus.If God is part of our being human therefore:- We do not only want to know what the Godself is saying into our lives- But we want to deepen and strengthen our relationship with God, Who we have known through Jesus 2. To gain a coherent and comprehensive understanding of ourselves and the world welive inIf in faith we acknowledge that God is the creator of all things therefore:- Through Theology in knowing what God is saying to us we discover the meaning of things, reason of our existence, the reason why things happens in the world.3. To communicate our faith in words and action in our present lives so that we becomebetter disciples of Jesus, especially for the sake of the underprivileged and marginalizedpeople in our world- Now, the implication of all other goals of Theology is to live-out God’s message. That it must be a living theology, not just an academic pursuit.- It is imitating God in living-out His message through Jesus- We do this not only for our selves but for the poor like St. Vincent de PaulMethod of doing TheologyBasic teaching & learning methodology:“SEE – DISCERN – ACT/PRAY”- “What must be done?”- ContemporaryHumanExperience- Judeo-Christian TraditionDoing Theology todaySEE:  COVID-19 PandemicDISCERN: Sin caused by selfishness of Adam and Eve, result: original sin, death. COVID-19 caused by selfishness of Chinese business industry , result: Pandemic, death  God’s response: Selflessness through Jesus, result: life everlastingACT: Be selfless like God Social distancing Hand washing  Whatever we do individually affects the people around