Sharp Faith - Sunday Theology Talks (Week 21)

What is Charity?

Part of the event series Sharp Faith – Sunday Theology Talks

Sunday, November 12, 2023
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10:00 a.m.-10:45 a.m. | Parish House, 5th Floor, and via Zoom

Our Theologian in Residence, the Rev. Dr. Luigi Gioia, continues a year-long course to dive into all the main areas of theology: Faith, Scripture, Tradition, God, Christ, Salvation, the Holy Spirit, the Trinity, and the Church – always with an eye to their relevance for spirituality and for everyday life.

In his unparalleled hymn to love in the First Letter to the Corinthians, Paul states: “So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love” (13.13). It is not that faith and hope are not important, but they too draw their strength from love: trust (that is faith) works only if it is loving, and desire (that is hope) too is fueled by love. What do we mean by love though? Some theologians thought that the authentic form of Christian love has to be completely disinterested and opposed it to eros, that is “love that desires something”, which includes sexual love. This has introduced a wedge between love and desire which has plagued Christian spirituality for centuries. We shall see that desire and delight are defining features of the way God loves us and of the way he wants us to love him, each other, and ourselves.

The Adult Education program at Saint Thomas Church offers sound Christian teaching presented with intellectual vigor, teaching that is grounded in Holy Scripture, mediated by the catholic tradition that is the inheritance of Anglicanism and set forth in the Book of Common Prayer. For more information about our theology program and to receive links for weekly Sunday Theology Talks, please contact Fr. Gioia.

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Man Thinking by Linda Gail