Truths From The Text

Truths From The Text

By Aaron Ventura & Ryan HurdReligion & SpiritualityChristianity
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Truths From The Text episodes

  • Ep. 6 - God's Passions (Part 1)

    Key Takeaway:

    Just as Scripture makes us to say that God is not a body (John 4:24), and therefore hands, feet, nose, ears, eyes, etc. are to be understood metaphorically, so also bodily passions/emotions are said of God metaphorically, such as wrath, sorrow, anger, fear, joy, pity, compassion, mercy, etc.

    Genesis 6:5-7

    And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. And it repented the Lord that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart. And the Lord said, I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth; both man, and beast, and the creeping thing, and the fowls of the air; for it repenteth me that I have made them.

    St. Thomas, Summa Contra Gentiles, Book 1. C.91

    Love is the source of all the emotions. For joy and desire are only of a good that is loved; fear and sorrow are only of evil that is contrary to the beloved good; and from these all the other emotions arise.

    St. Augustine, Eighty-Three Different Questions, Question 52 ON THE SCRIPTURE: "I AM SORRY THAT I HAVE MADE MAN'

    To raise us from the earthly and human meaning up to the divine and heavenly, the divine Scriptures have [themselves] come down to those words which even the most simple customarily use among themselves. And so those men through whom the Holy Spirit has spoken have not hesitated to employ in those books, as the occasion best demands, names of even those passions which our soul experiences and which the man who knows better already understands to be completely foreign to God. For example, because it is very difficult for a man to avenge something without experiencing anger, the authors of Scripture have decided to use the name wrath for God's vengeance, although God's vengeance is exercised with absolutely no such emotion. Again, since husbands are wont to protect the chastity of their wives through jealousy, the Scripture writers have used the expression the jealousy of God to indicate that providence of God whereby he admonishes the soul and seeks to prevent its corruption and, as it were, its prostitution through following after various other gods. In the same manner they also use the expression the hand of God for that power whereby he acts, the feet of God for that power whereby he perseveres in sustaining and governing all things, the ears of God or the eyes of God, for that power whereby he perceives and understands all things, the face of God for that power whereby he manifests himself and is known, and so on. The reason for this is that we, the people to whom this word comes, are accustomed to working with our hands, walking with our feet, going where our mind directs, perceiving physical objects with our ears and eyes and other bodily senses, and being recognized by our face; and the same holds true for anything else which comes under a kind of rule like this. Therefore, in accord with this rule, since we are not easily accustomed to changing something begun and to turning to something else, except with regret, and although Divine Providence appears to observers of clear mind to administer all things by an absolutely fixed order, nonetheless, in a manner most suited to insignificant human understanding, those things which begin to be but do not continue as long as it was hoped that they would continue are said to be stopped by a kind of regret on the part of God.

    47 min
  • Ep. 5 - God's Body Parts

    Overview: If God is not a body (He is incorporeal/spirit), then what does it mean when Scripture attributes body parts to God? That is the question we tackle in this episode.

    Aquinas on incorporeality: https://aquinas.cc/la/en/~ST.I.Q3.A1

    Aquinas on Psalm 8: https://aquinas.cc/la/en/~Psalm.Ps8.n54.4

    St. John of Damascus (On the Orthodox Faith, Chapter 11):

    Since we find many terms used symbolically in the Scriptures concerning God which are more applicable to that which has body, we should recognize that it is quite impossible for us men clothed about with this dense covering of flesh to understand or speak of the divine and lofty and immaterial energies of the Godhead, except by the use of images and types and symbols derived from our own life. So then all the statements concerning God, that imply body, are symbols, but have a higher meaning: for the Deity is simple and formless.

    • Hence by God's eyes and eyelids and sight we are to understand His power of overseeing all things and His knowledge, that nothing can escape: for in the case of us this sense makes our knowledge more complete and more full of certainty.
  • By God's ears and hearing is meant His readiness to be propitiated and to receive our petitions: for it is this sense that renders us also kind to suppliants, inclining our ear to them more graciously.
  • God's mouth and speech are His means of indicating His will; for it is by the mouth and speech that we make clear the thoughts that are in the heart:
  • God's food and drink are our concurrence to His will, for we, too, satisfy the necessities of our natural appetite through the sense of taste.
  • And God's sense of smell is His appreciation of our thoughts of and good will towards Him, for it is through this sense that we appreciate sweet fragrance.
  • And God's countenance is the demonstration and manifestation of Himself through His works, for our manifestation is through the countenance.
  • And God's hands mean the effectual nature of His energy, for it is with our own hands that we accomplish our most useful and valuable work.
  • And His right hand is His aid in prosperity, for it is the right hand that we also use when making anything of beautiful shape or of great value, or where much strength is required.
  • His handling is His power of accurate discrimination and exaction, even in the minutest and most secret details, for those whom we have handled cannot conceal from us aught within themselves.
  • His feet and walk are His advent and presence, either for the purpose of bringing succour to the needy, or vengeance against enemies, or to perform any other action, for it is by using our feet that we come to arrive at any place.
  • His oath is the unchangeableness of His counsel, for it is by oath that we confirm our compacts with one another.
  • His anger and fury are His hatred of and aversion to all wickedness, for we, too, hate that which is contrary to our mind and become enraged thereat.
  • His forgetfulness and sleep and slumbering are His delay in taking vengeance on His enemies and the postponement of the accustomed help to His own.
  • And to put it shortly, all the statements made about God that imply body have some hidden meaning and teach us what is above us by means of something familiar to ourselves, with the exception of any statement concerning the bodily sojourn of the God-Word. For He for our safety took upon Himself the whole nature of man, the thinking spirit, the body, and all the properties of human nature, even the natural and blameless passions.
    • 43 min
  • Ep. 4 - Positive & Negative Divine Names

    Quotation:

    John 4:24 

    "God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth."

    St. Thomas, On Separate Substances (De substantiis) c 19.

    “Scripture habitually designates something [to be] incorporeal through the name spirit.”

    Key Takeaways:

    1. Holy Scripture makes us to say many names/predicates about God. The first and most fundamental distinction that organizes all divine names is whether we affirm or negate these predicates of God, saying either "God is [insert predicate]" or "God is not [insert predicate]."

    2. A Positive Divine Name is an affirmation about God. For example, "God is love." "God is wise." "God is good." etc.

    3. A Negative Divine Name is a negation about God. For example, "God is not a body." "God is not finite." "God is not composed of parts." etc.

    4. In theology and in Holy Scripture, many negative names are stated periphrastically (rephrased/restated) in positive terms. For example, "God is a spirit" sounds like a positive name, but it is actually identical in meaning to the negation, "God is not a body."

    5. We must be careful then to not "positivize" our negative names. We must remember that saying "God is not a body" or "God is incorporeal" or "God is a spirit," are all identical in meaning and are negative names that tell us nothing about God except what He is not.

    For further reading on Incorporeality: https://aquinas.cc/la/en/~ST.I.Q3.A1

    https://aquinas.cc/la/en/~SCG1.C20

     

    47 min
  • Ep. 3 - Introduction to Divine Names

    Romans 1:19-20 

    That which may be known of God is manifest in them; for God hath shewed it unto them. For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead…

    ST I q 39 a 8 resp

    Our intellect, which from creatures is led by the hand into knowledge of God, must consider God insofar as it usurps from creatures.”

    ST.I.Q12.A12, response to the question,

    Whether God can be known in this life by natural reason?

    Our natural knowledge begins from sense. Hence our natural knowledge can go as far as it can be led by sensible things. But our mind cannot be led by sense so far as to see the essence of God; because the sensible effects of God do not equal the power of God as their cause. Hence from the knowledge of sensible things the whole power of God cannot be known; nor therefore can His essence be seen. But because they are His effects and depend on their cause, we can be led from them so far as to know of God whether He exists, and to know of Him what must necessarily belong to Him, as the first cause of all things, exceeding all things caused by Him. Hence we know that His relationship with creatures so far as to be the cause of them all; also that creatures differ from Him, inasmuch as He is not in any way part of what is caused by Him; and that creatures are not removed from Him by reason of any defect on His part, but because He superexceeds them all.

    Key Takeaway:

    A "divine name" is a predicate, the contents of which is taken ("usurped") from creaturely reality, and then affirmed or removed/negated of God.

    For example, in the sentence "God is wise," "God" is the subject, and "wise" is the predicate. However, in order to say "God is wise" with any level of understanding, we have to first know what "wisdom" is with us among creatures, and only after that, can we begin the process of saying this divine name "wise/wisdom" of God.

    50 min
  • Ep. 2 - Dogmatics Vs. Systematics

    Quotation (paraphrased from: https://aquinas.cc/la/en/~QIV.Q9.A3)

    From St. Thomas Aquinas, Quod. IV.Q9.A3.response to the question:

    “Whether a master by determining theological questions ought more to use reason or authority?

    A disputation can be ordered to a twofold end.

    1. When it is ordered towards removing a doubt, authorities much be used with whom those disputing will accept. For example, if when it is disputed with Jews, it is necessary to introduce authorities of the Old Testament; if with Manichees, who reject the Old Testament, it is necessary to use only the authorities of the New Testament; yet if with schismatics, who accept the Old and the New Testament, yet not the doctrine of our holy ones, just as are the Greeks, it is necessary to dispute with them out of the authorities of the New and the Old Testament and of those doctors whom they accept; yet if they accept no authority, it is necessary to flee unto natural reasons to convince them.

    2. A disputation can be ordered towards instructing the hearers in order that they might be led unto the understanding of the truth which they (already) believe. And then it is necessary to lean on reasons investigating the root of the truth and making to know how what is said is true. Otherwise, if with bare authorities a master should determine a question, a certain hearer shall be certified that it is such, but shall acquire nothing of science or understanding but shall depart empty."

    Other Notes

    Dogmatics: Focuses on determining our will to hold the truth by using various authorities. For example, the authority John the Apostle says that "God is love," therefore we believe the truth that "God is love."

    Systematics: Focuses on increasing our understanding of the truths we already hold. For example, giving the formal cause or explanation for the truth that "God is love" (How does "God is love" differ or compare with "God is a rock").

    48 min
  • Ep. 1 - Scholastic Theology & Bible Reading

    Proverbs 4:5-7

    "Get wisdom, get understanding: Forget it not; neither decline from the words of my mouth. Forsake her not, and she shall preserve thee: Love her, and she shall keep thee. Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom: And with all thy getting get understanding."

    Overview

    In this inaugural episode of Truths From The Text, we give some personal introductions and an overview of what we hope to accomplish in future episodes.

    36 min

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We exist to help the church read Holy Scripture more truly.