A true education should be an unforgettable experience, which makes an indelible impression on a student 's soul. This impression should be a learning foundation that he can work from continuously. So that he might proceed to bring to light the truth and beauty of God 's creation. It is important for a person to be in a strong spiritual state for life experiences to be fruitful and to be beneficial to his souls. Consequently, it is important for students, when being educated in school to obtain a strong spiritual understanding. So that they may perceive and discover the world as God created it to be viewed. In a truly Catholic school, the strengthening of the soul of the student must be the primary goal in order for the school to grant their students a true Catholic education. Naturally, the school must strengthen the students’ souls by helping them practice virtue in their daily lives, the most important virtues, the theological virtues; faith, hope and charity.
While a true education develops a person 's mind to discover truth, a true Catholic education also has the responsibility to develop one 's soul to discover their faith. Faith is a strong belief based on spiritual apprehension while reason is the justification for a certain belief. The Catholic Church teaches that faith and reason together bring Catholics to the fundamental truths about God and man and are not separate. In school, teachers train students to ask questions so they may be able to use resourceful reason and logic to discover truths. Eventually a student will be in the habit of questioning everything, and yet, not everything can be answered with reason alone but also through spiritual belief, that is faith. Students, consequently, must be thoroughly educated...
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... be more than an educational system, but a community, a family, that serves their society to make a unified Catholic entity for the poor and needy.
A School with true Catholic goals is a true catholic school. The goals must not only be to provide a Catholic education where they are educated in the Catholic church 's doctrine and teachings, but to create an environment by which young Catholic students grow in virtue and show others in their example what it means to be Catholic. The school should endeavor for a strong Catholic identity of each student so that as a unit the school itself benefits not only the students, but of all that the those students meet. As Christ taught his disciples so that they might evangelize the world, Catholic schools must teach their student how to become saints and live within their Church and community as a living example of God 's word.
In Paul Tillich’s 1957 work Dynamics of Faith, he mentions that there are six major components of faith. These six components of faith describe the Franciscan perspective of “faith”. According to Tillich, the first component of faith is “the state of being ultimately concerned”. The second component of faith is that it is supposed to be at the center of all of our personal lives and everything that we do throughout our own individual lives. The third component of faith is that we should have an awareness for “infinite” things such as God himself. The fourth component of faith is that we need to understand that faith can act as fear, fascination, or both of these qualities at the same time. The fifth component of faith is that doubt is a major product that will always exist with faith. The last component of faith is that we need a community in order to have a “language of faith”.
“Education is the kindling of a flame, not the filling of a vessel” This quote by famous Greek philosopher, Socrates touches upon educations purpose as an instrument used in the creation and cultivation of a desire for knowledge. Higher education provides for an opportunity where emerging adults can find the tools needed to further develop and question the world in which they live. In relation, Dr. Sharon Parks’ theory of faith development explores this important period. This paper seeks to examine her notion of meaning and how it can be used and facilitated within a core curriculum.
One of the three basic pillars of the Roman Catholic Church is Tradition. The Church often uses this pillar of Tradition to validate its actions or to establish its own infallibility. One unspoken foundation that I feel is more essential, however, is that of Love. Love is what is taught in Scripture, another pillar of the Church, and should, therefore be the root of any traditions in the Catholic faith. By judging human actions or the spirit of God by cold laws enforced by the Church, we lose important insight into what our faith and our existence are truly about. Even the Church, in its humanness, sometimes forgets that love of God, others, and ourselves should be the core of every decision we make. The Church that many see as harsh and archaic could easily be refreshed and renewed, not by peppier music or stand-up comic priests, but by emphasis on the spirit of love rather than the letter of the law.
Deeply rooted in Catholic tradition, he was able to see and embrace “ante litteram” the entirety of Christian principles of education, as would be defined by Pius XI in his encyclical Divini illus Magistri
The Catholic Intellectual Tradition claims the church can endorse both faith and reason, but this must happen through dialogue with the outside world. Literally and figuratively, closing the doors
The Roman Catholic Church is the largest body of Christians in the world. Catholics are concentrated more heavily in North America, Europe and South America than any other place. The traces of the beginning of the Catholic Church began about A.D. 30; this is the time when Jesus Christ was mandating his apostles to spread the teachings about the Kingdom of God. (Gills Web). Catholics have the belief that Christ inaugurated the church to carry to his people the salvation that he had brought to the world. They also believe that with the aid of God they have managed to preserve his teachings. Belief in God’s revelation is religious faith. Some beliefs that the Roman Catholic’s acquire are the Trinity and creation, Sin, the Incarnation, and salvation, Life after death, Worship and Baptism, Confirmation, and Mass. (Gills Web). Trinity and creation is where Catholics presume there is only one God. This one God exists of a unit of three persons – The Father, The Son, and the Holy Spirit. These three persons form the Holy Trinity. (Gills Web) Although this is true there is still only one God.
After reviewing all the issues studied in this course, the one area where I feel most confident, and would therefore call the "easiest issue" is in the area of Catholic identity. Studying at Marymount has allowed me to deepen my understanding of Catholic identity, and that understanding conforms to the discussion of Catholic identity found in the Handbook of Research on Catholic Education (Hunt, Joseph & Nuzzi, 2004), where identity is included in the theology that makes Catholic schools Catholic (p.31). Simply put, Catholic identity emerges from the theology of Catholicism and the truths taught by the church. Moreover, in an age when Catholic school enrollment is on the decline, successful schools are those who have remained true to their
Through the close study of two of the aspects shown in the diagram, their contributions allow Christianity to be considered a living religious tradition. The significant contributions of Pope John XXIII, during both his papal and Pre-papal life have had everlasting effects on not only Catholicism, but Christianity as a whole and lead to the sense of Christianity being a living religious tradition. His works include two Papal encyclicals, Mater et Magistra and Pacem in Terris, along with his work being Apostolic Delegate of Greece and Turkey. Moreover, The significant practice of Baptism has further contributed to Christian being considered a living religious tradition as it accounts for the premise of most Christian beliefs to be initiated, especially in terms of salvation and affirming the beliefs in the trinity and following the teachings of Jesus Christ.
Those these other Christian religions made significant progress, Catholicism still intertwined itself deeply with the educational system. Unlike other countries who have prohibited rel...
The statement “philosophy of Christian education” contains much information to be unwrapped. The term philosophy literally means, in the Greek, “love of wisdom.” In this case, the study of philosophy involves a “critical study of the basic principles and concepts of a particular branch of knowledge” (Philosophy). My understanding of Christian education is what I hope to unveil in this brief document. A high-quality education of children must embrace a student’s intellect, spiritual nature, social life, emotional growth, and physical health. I see evidence for this in scripture as Jesus grew in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and man (Luke 2:52). The goal of education should be the training of children, in every area of their life, for adulthood. What makes my philosophy of education different from the secular world is the distinctively Christian biblical worldview. It is this biblical worldview that sets apart Christian education from the public schools in our culture because we address the spiritual dimension of children that the secular humanistic education denies.
Thomas Aquinas was a teacher of the Dominican Order and he taught that most matters of The Divine can be proved by natural human reason, while “Others were strictly ‘of faith’ in that they could be grasped only through divine revelation.” This was a new view on the faith and reason argument contradictory to both Abelard with his belief that faith should be based on human reason, and the Bernard of Clairvaux who argued that one should only need faith.
Pope John Paul II once said, “Faith and reason are like two wings on which the human spirit rises to the contemplation of truth; and God has placed in the human heart a desire to know the truth – in a word, to know himself – so that, by knowing and loving God, men and women may also come to the fullness of truth about themselves.” (Fallible Blogma) Based on this significant and powerful quote, one can infer that faith and reason are directly associated and related. It can also be implied that the combination of faith and reason allows one to seek information and knowledge about truth and God; based on various class discussions and past academic teachings, it is understood that both faith and reason are the instruments that diverse parties are supposed to use on this search for truth and God. There are many stances and viewpoints on the issues of faith and reason. Some believe that both of these ideas cannot and should not be combined; these parties deem that faith and reason must be taken as merely separate entities. However, this writer does not understand why both entities cannot be combined; both terms are so closely compatible that it would make sense to combine the two for a common task. Based on various class discussions and readings, there are many philosophers and theologians who have certain opinions regarding faith, reason and their compatibility; these philosophers include Hildegard of Bingen, Ibn Rushd, Moses Maimonides, and St. Thomas Aquinas. The following essay will examine each of the previously stated philosopher’s viewpoints on faith and reason, and will essentially try to determine whether or not faith and reason are ultimately one in the same.
There have been many Catholic thinkers who have addressed this topic, most notably John Paul II in his 1998 encyclical Fides et Ratio, or Faith and Reason in English. In it, he attempted to point out that faith and reason are not opposed to each other and that faith does not contradict reason. Rather, they actually complement each other. This is clear from the very beginning of the encyclical, which states: “Faith and reason are like two wings on which the human spirit rises to the contemplation of truth; and God has placed in the human heart the desire to know the truth — in a word, to know himself — so that by knowing and loving God, men and women can come to the fullness of the truth about themselves. (FR 1).” Truth is discovered through the interacti...
The Spiritual Exercises: not only speak to the Jesuits but also to the religious of other congregations; not only to the religious but also to the laity; not only to Catholics but also to the Protestants. In other words, the Spiritual Exercises speak to all who believe in God and base their spirituality on the gospel message. First I will define what a spirituality of vocation is. Second I will explain what the Spiritual Exercises mean. Third I will try to show how the Spiritual Exercises are a representation of a universal call to the Christian gospel. Then I will conclude by stating my stand.
In the 19th Century, the Catholic Church’s survival depended, in part, on its success in developing a powerful role as a social provider. Catholic schools, hospitals, orphanages and other similar services increased and multiplied in the course of the 19th century. Overall, the Catholic Church’s role as a service provider was an extraordinary organisational achievement and exceeded anything that had been provided by any other non-state organisation.