Deus Caritas Est

1. Deus Caritas Est Sections 1-8

2. Overview • Introduction [1] • Major theme • Purpose in writing this as the first encyclical • Part I Unity of Love [2-18] • Differences and unity of true eros and agape [4] • Path of ascent as renunciation, purification, healing [6] • Jesus Christ as personification of divine love [12]

3. Overview • Part II Caritas Practice of Love [19-39] • Caritas has always been part of the Church’s ministry, as much as the Word, and liturgy, since both flow from the Trinity [22] • Relationship between justice and charity [26] • Relationship between Church and State [28] • The distinctiveness of Christian charity [31] • Proper attitude of Christian engaged in charity: humility [35] • Conclusion [40-42] • Importance of saints and Mary • As both examples of true charity and intercessors for us

4. Section 1 • Starting Point is 1 Jn 4.16 • Image of God: God is love • Image of mankind: Abide in God’s love • Man’s destiny • When you live in God (love), He lives in you • Summary of Christian Life • “We have come to know and to believe in the love God has for us” • Love is synergistic (Kreeft) and Theotic (Fenton)

5. Explain what this means: • “Being Christian is not the result of an ethical choice or a lofty idea, but the encounter with an event, a person, which gives life a new horizon and a decisive direction”? • Explain: • Since “love is now no longer a mere command,” what is it?

6. Two Parts to the Encyclical • “The first part is more speculative” • Seeks “to clarify some essential facts concerning the love which God mysteriously and gratuitously offers to man” • And seeks to clarify “the intrinsic link between that Love and the reality of human love.” • “The second part is more concrete” • “it treats the ecclesial exercise of the commandment of love of neighbour.”

7. Section 2 • Explain • “God’s love for us is fundamental to our lives”

8. Section 3 • Benedict XVI’s definition of eros • Love between man and woman • Unplanned • Unwilled • Somehow imposes itself upon human beings

9. Section 3 • Nietzsche: Christianity, with its commandments and prohibitions, poisoned eros. • Why would some say he is right? Why would he get agreement? • Why is he wrong? What is he missing? • Irony in Nietzsche’s criticism • Suggests a “natural law” argument

10. Section 4 • Is eros a divine power? • Why would it be seen as “divine” • Recall the Pope’s definition • Recall the popular definition of eros • Purpose for temple prostitutes • How does the pagan definition differ from the Pope’s definition • What is the pagan definition? • Key: “erosneeds to be disciplined and purified”

11. Explain • The pagan definition of eros“represent a powerful temptation against monotheistic faith” • Explain • The pagan eros not an ascendency but a fall into degradation

12. Section 5 • Two Key Points in this relationship • “There is a certain relationship between love and the Divine” • Love promises eternity • Divine purifies and matures love • Anthropological Insight of erosfor Christians • Anthropology: man is a being made up of body and soul • Insight: Only when both dimensions are truly united, does man attain his full stature. Only thus is love —eros—able to mature and attain its authentic grandeur.

13. Modern Understanding of the eros • Serves only the flesh • “Love whomever you wish, marry whomever you love” • It’s all about sex, gratification, self • Love is a commodity • Not about commitment • Not about reaching, living, striving, attaining beyond the sun • no longer is it integrated into our overall existential freedom; no longer is it a vital expression of our whole being, but it is more or less relegated to the purely biological sphere.

14. Modern Understanding of eros

15. Section 8 • Key: “Love is a single reality, but with different dimensions” • “At different times, one or other dimension may emerge more clearly” • Yet breaking the two key dimensions (eros&apage) “will result in a caricature or at least an impoverished form of love.” • The Scriptures do not divide man into two parts, but see man as a whole • No “parallel universe” of soul riding alongside body

16. Section 9 • The Bible’s “image of God” presents two key elements or points • First: The one God is God of all • One God • “other gods” do not exist • God is creator • Creation is purposeful, not haphazard or accidental • Creation is contingent • God creates through His Word • All creation is willed by God • It is dear to Him, and so He remains active in it

17. Second: God loves • God loves man • God’s creation is a result of His love • God creates all for man • Inference: Man returns God’s love by loving what God has made for man • God’s love for man is personal • Not abstract (loving humanity) but concrete (loving each human) • Inference: God is not detached, but involved in His creation since it is based on His desire to be in relationship with us

18. Hosea • Portrays love of God for His own in marital terms • God chooses a bride • God redeems this bride (Eph 5) • Subsequently, idolatry is tantamount to adultery • Both are infidelity • Having another god (even an imaginary god or a god of self) is “stepping out” on God • God is jealous • Desires spouse to live for Him • Explained later

19. Section 10 • “God’s eros for man is totally apage.” • Love that is freely given, freely willed • Not “unplanned” or “unwilled” or imposed • Love given with true freedom • Unconditional (without an eye toward others) • Only desire is to be loved in return (response) • Yet with the freedom to walk away or say “no” • Love that is self-sacrificing, self-giving • Willing to empty self for another

20. “Passionate, yet forgiving” • Clearly protective • Not possessive • Not abusive • Wanting nothing but the best for His spouse • A love “so great that it turns God against himself, his love against his justice.” • “I desire mercy more than justice” • Always ready to take back the wayward spouse

21. Philosophical Dimension • God is absolute and the source of all being • Metaphysics • Who needs to be known, and as we know Him we know ourselves better • Epistemology • Yet “a lover with all the passion of a true love” • Ethics • Whose goal is that we live forever in His love • Ethics, Summumbonum

22. Answer to Nietzsche • “Eros is thus supremely ennobled, yet at the same time it is so purified as to become one with agape.” • Man can indeed enter into a relationship with God • A true, real relationship • A relationship which exceeds the relationship of husband and wife • A relationship with true intimacy • Not a fusion of man with God, but a perichoretic union

23. Section 11 • The Bible’s “image of man” • Man cannot live alone • A life alone, a solitary life, a truly individual life is a life of death • Man is made to be a person (in relationship) • A life without another is an incomplete life • “You complete me” (Jerry McGuire) • Completeness relies on complementarity • A key does not complete a key. A lock completes a key. • Not merely anatomical; also emotional and spiritual

24. Two important aspects of the “image of man” • Eros is innate to man’s very being • Eros directs man toward marriage • Males are made to seek another • Leave father and mother and cling to wife • Females are made to be the home, the resting place for males • Not speaking of “functions” or domestic duties, but on an emotional and spiritual level

25. This bond which innate eros moves toward is unique • Unique among all created beings • Unique within humanity • Incapable of being found in same-sex relationships • Why? Principle of complementarity • Unique as it mirrors the relationship between God and man • Amonotheistic God bespeaks a monogamous marriage • “Marriage based on exclusive and definitive love becomes the icon of the relationship between God and his people and vice versa. God's way of loving becomes the measure of human love.”

26. Key Question • What then of celibacy? • What then of monasticism? • What then of single life?