Inquiring After God by Repentance and Forgiveness
PH 330
11/17/04
St. Catherine background
- died
at age of 33 only eating Eucharist as her food
- she
wrote hundreds of letters
- Charry
– see her as a serious, medieval theologian
- saint
and is the patron saint of Italy
- one of
the most important female theologians
- 1970 –
doctors of the church – first women to be honored, along with St. Teresa
- more
saints than doctors (based on theology that you write)
- medieval
cities – walled
- gothic
period – Jesus showed up on crosses in large amounts
- lived
150 years before Martin Luther
- St.
Francis of Asissi – started reform of the church, St. Catherine part of
this group
Coronation of Mary
- occurred
after Jesus
- represents
continuation of salvation through the church
- “queen
of heaven”
- represents
the church
- faithfulness
of Mary – symbol of Christian faithfulness
Visions vs. Miracles
- role
in Catholic church vs. Protestant church
- visions
–
- miracles
did not become controversial until the 18th century
- Protestant
church
- not
Protestants
- 200
years of Protestanism before 18th century when miracles
challenged
- it
is moderns who have problems with miracles
- science
wants to explain away everything
ordo salutis – order of salvation
- first
codified by Thomas Aquinas in Summa Theologie
- steps
of salvation based on a theologians rendering of it
- repentance
and forgiveness are two steps
- medieval
order – very important to keep this order
- repentance
comes first (Jesus preached this)
- repentance
is necessary for forgiveness or absolution (sacramental system)
- contrition
– medieval word for repentance
- contrition
- complete
and full confession
- attrition
– partial repentance
- can
people remember all of their sins?
- broader
category
- people
feel they did the best that they could
- Presbyterian
– confession before Lord’s supper, based on this medieval pattern
- Luther
– penance is no longer a sacrament but it is still necessary
- Reformation
– question of if this order should be kept
- no
repentance before absolution required
Repentance
- Before
salvation
·
role before salvation
·
allows for entering into the body of Christ without
original sin
- After
salvation
·
his death was once for all
·
questions about re-enactment of Christ’s death over and
over
·
decision to not re-enact his death over and over
·
are we called to repent after baptism?
Personal Confession
- oricular - personal sin
- penance
- do
something to atone for something you’ve done wrong
- recitation
of prayers (Hail Mary)
- charity
to the church
- penitial
manuals for specific sins
- mostly
done away with at Vatican II
- done
in small groups
- Pope
John II – tried to resuscitate it
- Protestant
churches mostly done away with this – not liturgically marked
Categories of Sins
- cardinal
sins
- requires
sacramental absolution
- murder
- adultery
- could
possibly in excommunication for a time
- venial
sins
Judaism
- month
of atonement
- must
locate each person you have offended and ask for forgiveness
- must
go 3 times
JL – Forgiveness Question
- one-time
event to transition to being “in Christ”
- sins –
past/present/future forgiven
- what
is purpose of repentance?
- what
is purpose of confession?
- what
is purpose of forgiveness?
Christians
- lent
– 40 days of pentinance
- idea
for reviving lent
- clearness
– sit with other Christians and assess my Christian ministry (we are all
ministers)
Anselm
- we
cannot harm/offend God – we are not that powerful
- we
can only create disorder
St. Catherine – Theological Themes
themes are not presented in a systematic theology but still
very present
Issues
- corruption
of the church’s ministers
- can
a corrupt minister impact a congregation? no.
- the
sacraments themselves are incorruptable
- effacy
of the sacrament not impacted by the server
- why?
agent is the Holy Spirit, not the minister (Augustine)
- sacramentalist
– what happens in the sacraments is done by God the Holy Spirit
- memorialist
– community remembering, then it is the purity of the community (in
particular, the minister)
- bitterness
– offense to God
Doctrines
- prayers
and tears calm God’s wrath
- laity
is exceptionally powerful
- ecclesiology
– lay-oriented, puts authority on the prayers of the people
- over
corruption of the church
- forces
and chains God to their devotion
- ministers
moved back to own repentance
Look at her Christology
- doctrine
of Incarnation / associated soteriology
- salvation
does not belong to the death of Christ
- belongs
to the Incarnation AND the death of Christ
- modern
theologians have separated the Incarnation from the death of Christ
- bridge
that God has built – humanity is divinized
- becoming
one with God (Iraneaus – becoming God)
One of the first to see corruption in the church and address
it with theological responses.
Christ himself is the source of the reform of the church.
Calling the church to account by using external criteria of
justice, Christ himself is the criteria.
Julian of Norwich was about the same time – she played a
role as well
Instead of saying “let’s pass new rules or make new laws”