Christ and culture

• Jesus is fully divine and fully human, two natures in one person; distinct yet inseparable.
• • Sin: a deed against good order to harm God's creation
  • Disorder: to bring fault into creation, to disturb the ordered
  • Creation Story: 7 days, each day God created something including light, sky, land, sun/moon, ocean and sky creatures, animals, and humans
• Key Terms:

  • Human: a person
  • Persons: any man/woman/child with rights
  • Anthropology: study of origin, development, and customs of humankind
  • Physical anthropology: biology and evolution of humans
  • Cultural anthropology: customs, practices, and cultures
  • Freedom: free will rooted within reason, power to act or not act
  • Creation: exchange in goodness, the original bringing into the universe
  • Culture: set of meanings, beliefs, values shared with a group as an identity
  • Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC): official teachings of the church
  • Community: a group of people loved together by a sense of united
  • Solidarity: coming together as one, humans are social beings
  • Trinity: divine community of persons
  • Vocation: a divine call to serve God and do His will
  • Talents: given abilities for the benefit of yourself and others
  • Encyclical: official letters written by the Pope for the entire people of God
  • Goodness: anything connected to good since, God = Good
• Characteristics distinguishing animals from humans:

  • Humans can reason
  • Humans can demonstrate a higher form of love, agape
  • Humans can follow a code of proper conduct
  • Humans can use free will, not a slave to urges/desires
• Anthropology:

  • Study of the origin, development, and customs of humans
  • Physical anthropology: biological and anatomical evolution of humans
  • Cultural anthropology: social development, custom practices, and beliefs of human beings
  • Anthropology studies fossils, artifacts, human behavior, and genetic research
• Function of the Catechism of the Catholic Church:

  • Official compendium of Catholic teaching
  • Looks at the profession of faith, celebration of the Christian mystery, life in Christ, and Christian prayer
  • Rich source of information on Catholic faith and way of life
• Bible on being human:

  • Humans are a creation of God
  • Humans are of the Earth and divine breath
  • Humans are good
  • Humans are male and female
  • Seven traits of human beings:
  • Created in the image and likeness of God
  • Called to happiness and holiness
  • Rational and free
  • Moral beings
  • Capable of passions or feelings
  • Blessed with a conscience
  • Able to sin
• Five Principles of Humanity:

  • All humans are sacred
  • Our world and lives are evolving
  • Maturity comes through working with others
  • Humans need to make choices and be responsible
  • Reflect and seek truth and meaning
• Church teaching on "community":

  • Human communities mirror the divine community of persons, the Trinity
  • Living in community is part of our vocation
  • Society is a group of persons bound together by unity, both physical and spiritual
• Why humans need relationships:

  • Humans are social beings
  • Positive relationships help the human soul thrive, including romantic, platonic, and parent-child relationships
• Sin in society:

  • Sin exists due to free will
  • Lesson from Cain and Abel: live with sincerity, sins have consequences
• Addressing violence, disorder, and sin:

  • Christians should call out wrong in society
  • We can help bring people to the truth and change
  • Violence, disorder, and sin will always be present, but we can make a difference
• Jesus is

  Fully divine and fully human, two natures that are distinct yet inseperable
• Solidarity


  Coming together as one, humans are social beings
• Creation


  An exchange of goodness, an original brining to the universe
• Talents

  Given abilities for the benefit of yourself or others
• Siblings


  • Brother: Aaron
  • Sister: Miriam
• The Egyptians were killing first born sons of Hebrew people


  To prevent an uprising
• How Moses did not become a slave

  1. His mom sent him down the Nile River in a basket

  2. The Princess of Egypt rescued him and raised him
• It was revealed he was Hebrew, and he went to see how the Egyptians were treating his people
• He got so bad with one, he ended up killing an Egyptian with a rock
• He had to escape to escape a death penalty because he left his amulet behind
• He fled to the Sinai Desert (Midian) for 40 years
• He married Zipporah there
• What Moses saw


  God as a burning bush, in which God said "I am"
• God told him he would free His people


  But Moses was hesitant
• The ten plagues


  • Turned the Nile River into blood
  • Frogs
  • Lice
  • Flies
  • Livestock dead
  • Boils
  • Hail
  • Locusts
  • Darkness
  • Killing of firstborn children
• The passover is how Israelites avoided the killing of firstborn children, the paschal lamb blood on each door
• How Moses parted the Red Sea

  1. The Egyptians wanted revenge on the Israelites, and were closing in on them

  2. Moses needed to part the sea to get across
• The 10 Commandments


  • Thou shall have no Gods before me
  • Don't make idols
  • Don't take the Lord your God's name in vain
  • Remember the Sabbath day, keep it holy
  • Honor thy Mother and Father
  • No killing
  • No adultery
  • Don't steal
  • Do not bear false witness
  • Do not covet your neighbor's goods
  • Do not covet your neighbor's wife