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Praising God for what he has done.

Thinking of God and praying to him by giving thanks.

Helps us be grateful for the blessings that God has given us.

Helps us recognize and appreciate the things we have that others might not.

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We praise God for who He is. We acknowledge God, His powers, His works, His attributes, His characteristics (e.g. goodness, mercy, love) and praise Him for it.

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All of us are made with a 'spark of the divine' within us.

->We freely direct ourselves to this happiness & holiness

->God created a desire for the good in all of us

->We grow in virtue and avoid sin with God's Grace

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~ formed from God's desire for us.

~ our reality is a gift from/of God.

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2)  Humans are a mixture of earth and divine breath.

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2)  Humans are a mixture of earth and divine breath.

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~ partly drawn towards the earth or our physical selves.

~ partly drawn towards the divine or our spiritual selves.

~ we embody an aspect of the divine.

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~ all creation is an exchange of goodness.

~ we are response-able to God; in other words,

we can enter into a relationship with God.

~ prayer and ritual are ways to communicate with God and one another.

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Humans are rational and free

Humans can contemplate/think about the impact our actions may or may not have on others, the world around us, and ourselves

We are free to make our own choices and held responsible for them

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Humans are moral beings

Humans, as rational beings, have the ability to make good, evil, right, or wrong decisions based on their intentions.

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Humans have passions or feelings

The experience of emotion is part of being human. These emotions or feelings are neither morally good or evil. It is how we choose to deal with, or act upon, the emotions we experience that may be good or evil

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Humans are blessed with a conscience

We are created in the image and likeness of God, he's a part of all of us. When we pray we are willing to listen to God within us. Our conscience allows us to know what is right and just

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Humans are able to sin

Our freedom to choose allows us to go astray and commit offence against reason and truth. Sin distances us from God, impacts those around us, and may influence others to also sin.

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The nature versus nurture debate focuses on the question of whether genetic or environmental factors matter most in the course of human development.

What is it that makes you who you are? Some might say that it is your genes that have the greatest influence in controlling your personality and preferences. Others might say that it is your environment and the unique experiences you have had over the course of your life that have a greater role.

In this article, learn more about the nature vs. nurture debate and what research has found about the contributions of genetic and environmental factors.

What Is the Nature vs Nurture Debate?

The nature vs. nurture debate is often described as one of the big philosophical and scientific questions facing psychologists. So what exactly does this debate mean? Why is it important for understanding the human mind and behavior?

Let's start by learning more about each of these factors.

Nature: This side of the debate argues that genes have the greatest influence over who we are, from the way we look to the way we behave. Genes determine physical traits such as height, eye color, hair color, and face shape, but they can also contribute to other attributes such as your personality traits and cognitive abilities.

Nurture: This side of the debate argues that environmental variables such as how we were raised, individual experience, and other social relationships play a more important role. Your upbringing, your early social interactions, school, and peers all play a role in shaping who you are and how you behave.

Let's consider an example. If a student excels at math, is it because they inherited that ability from their parents or is it because they work hard to learn the subject?

Nature would suggest that they do well because they are genetically inclined to do so, while nature argues that their talent stems from their upbringing and educational background.

History

The debate over nature and nurture predates psychology and goes back to the days of the ancient philosophers. In philosophy, this is often referred to as the nativism versus empiricism debate. What do these two terms mean and how do they relate to nature and nurture.

Nativism

The nativist approach suggests that inheritance plays the greatest role in determining characteristics. Nativism proposes that people's characteristics, both physical and mental, are innate. These are things that are passed down genetically from our ancestors. The nativist approach essentially espouses the nature side of the argument.

Noam Chomsky's theory of language acquisition is one of the best-known examples of nativism in psychology. Chomsky suggested that language develops as a result of an innate language acquisition device. He believed that people are able to learn language because they have an innate, hard-wired capacity for what he referred to as universal grammar.

Empiricism

Empiricism represents the nurture side of the debate. The empiricist approach suggests that all learning is the result of experience and environmental factors.

The philosopher John Locke took an empiricist approach and proposed a concept known as tabula rasa, which means "blank slate." This approach that the mind is essentially that -a blank slate-and that it is through learning and experience that all knowledge, skill, and behavioral patterns are acquired.

Behaviorism is one example of an empirical approach to understanding human behavior. Behaviorists such as John B. Watson and B.F. Skinner believed that all human behavior was the result of conditioning, either classical (associative) or operant (reinforcement and punishment).

Watson was famously known for proclaiming that he could train anyone to be anything using the principles of conditioning, regardless of that individual's genetics and background.

Approaches to Psychology

While few contemporary psychologists take an extreme, hard-lined empiricist or nativist approach, different branches of psychology do sometimes tend to emphasize one influence over the other.

Biological psychology, for example, tends to focus more on the nature side of the debate. This area of psychology focuses on how biological factors influence human behavior, so things such as the brain, neurons, and neurotransmitters are of greater interest than external factors.

Behavioral psychology tends to take the nurture side of the debate, focusing on how environmental factors and learned associations contribute to how people think and act.

Health psychology is an example of an approach that tends to lie somewhere in the middle. Health psychologists are focused on understanding how both biological and environmental factors contribute and interact to affect an individual's health.

Examples

Looking at examples can be helpful in order to understand why the nature vs nurture debate has been so important throughout psychology's history. The topic is not just an important philosophical debate. It has been critical for understanding what factors influence different aspects of human behavior and has been the source of considerable controversy at times.

IQ

Consider the long debate over the factors that influence intelligence. Those on the nature side of the debate suggest that the greatest influence on IQ is inheritance. Some early thinkers such as Francis Galton believed that intelligence could largely be attributed to genetic factors.

Such views have been used to justify discriminatory social policies and attitudes. When some research suggested that some groups of people had lower IQ scores, for example, some researchers interpreted such results to suggest that these individuals scored lower as a result of genetics.

Those taking the nurture side of the debate point out that other factors such as biased test construction, racism, and systemic discrimination impacting educational access and quality play a more important role.

Inequality, discrimination, and lack of access play a role in shaping how well people perform on intelligence tests and other assessments of educational outcomes.

Gender Differences and Education

Sex differences in school performance and attainment is another area where the debate between the contributions of nature vs nurture comes into play. Girls often perform better on verbal tests but less well on math. As they advance in school, girls also become less likely to enter STEM courses and STEM fields.

Those taking a nature perspective might suggest that girls are inherently less capable in these subjects. Nature advocates, however, would point out that social variables including gender stereotypes and discrimination have a greater influence.

Many researchers today believe that human behavior is influenced by both nature and nurture, and that it is often the interaction of the two variables that is even more important.

Impact of the Nature and Nurture Debate

Few modern psychologists would take an extreme nature or nurture position. Rather than asking which one controls specific variables, researchers are more likely to wonder about the degree to which each of these forces plays a role. So what exactly are the relative contributions of nature and nurture?

According to the research, the answer is about 50/50. Researchers collected the results of nearly every twin study conducted over the last half-century. Doing this allowed them to determine which factors played a role in determining certain characteristics.

Twin studies involve looking at twins who are either raised together or raised apart to examine similarities and differences. This allows researchers to determine the impact of genes versus the environment.

Researchers analyzed more than 2,700 twin studies involving a whopping 14.5 million pairs of twins from 39 different countries and discovered that genes and environment share a roughly equal role in determining who we are.

Variations in personality traits and disease were determined to be 49 percent due to genetics and 51 percent due to environment.

One important thing to note is that while the research suggests a 50/50 split, the findings did reveal that genes do play a greater role in the risk of certain diseases. Bipolar disorder, for example, was found to be approximately 70 percent heritable.

How Nature and Nurture Interact

Today, many experts suggest that we should be more concerned with how nature and nurture interact to determine how we develop. We might be genetically inclined toward a certain trait, for example, but our experiences can determine to what degree that trait is expressed.

Height is a good example of how genes and the environment can interact to make you who you are. Even if you inherit genes for tallness, proper nourishment is important for reaching that height. Kids who come from tall families might not become tall if they do not receive proper nutrition during their childhood.

So while we know that both factors are equally important, the question we are left to ponder is just how much of a role each factor plays in the development of certain characteristics. As the research suggests, some diseases are more strongly linked to genetics than to the environment.

As researchers continue to explore how nature and nurture interact, we will continue to gain a deeper understanding of the factors that contribute to who we are.
Sources:
Haworth, C. M., Davis, O. S., & Plomin, R. (2013). Twins Early Development Study (TEDS): a genetically sensitive investigation of cognitive and behavioral development from childhood to young adulthood. Twin Research and Human Genetics, 16(1), 117-125.

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The nature versus nurture debate focuses on the question of whether genetic or environmental factors matter most in the course of human development. What is it that makes you who you are? Some might say that it is your genes that have the greatest influence in controlling your personality and preferences.

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Moral ~ adj. is to have an understanding for/to consider what is right or wrong.

~ n. also, a lesson to learn what is the most correct behaviour.

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Immoral refers to behaviour or actions that violate the moral principles or teachings of that particular faith. These teaching include honesty, compassion, integrity, and respect for others. Immoral actions are considered sinful.

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Amoral means not understanding or considering what is right or wrong.

Also, having or showing no concern about whether behavior is morally right or wrong.

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Psychopathology is the scientific study of mental and social disorders and is also referred to as a mental illness. Psychopathology is used to describe the symptoms, behaviors, causes, and treatments of various mental health disorders.

A psychopath is a person who has an extreme lack of empathy, conscience and/or guilt.

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Sociopathology is the study of sociopathic behaviour, including its causes, effects, and traits.

A sociopath is a person diagnosed with antisocial personality disorder (ASPD) exhibits a persistent disregard for moral principles and the rights and emotions of others. This disorder is characterized by a lack of empathy, resulting in an inability to comprehend or show concern for others' feelings.

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Cutting or gathering a crop or harvest.

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Planting seeds in or on the ground especially be scattering.

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The husk of corn or other seeds. It surrounds and holds a seed, and is the part of the grain that is generally thrown away.

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Person/adjective for characteristics of a person/s;

having the nature or form of a person ;

akin to homo=man and humus=soil

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In Christian theology, the church is considered as the bride while Jesus is the bridegroom.

This is related to patriarchy, a type of society where higher ranks of dominance are held by men. The Greek word "patri" translating to "father."

Christian theology uses patriarchy as the church gives love and provides life as a mother while Jesus rules over her, being our saviour as a father.

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"The Church is the Bride of Christ: he loved her and handed himself over for her. He has purified her by his blood and made her the fruitful mother of all God's children." (CCC 808)

For many preachers, Saint Paul's Letter to the Ephesians 5:22-33 is a landmine. In fact, some homilists, when this reading comes around on a Sunday, choose to use the edited version. (Don't worry. It is legitimate to do so if the lectionary permits it.)

We need to read this passage in the broader context. It's not merely about the duties and the dignity of marriage - as important as it is today to clearly, boldly and unequivocally to state that Christian marriage is no mere civil union. No, the line upon which the Apostle wishes us to focus is the second to last line of this passage from the Epistle: "This is a great mystery, but I speak in reference to Christ and the Church." The husband/wife imagery is done for the purpose of illustration of Paul's greater point - namely that Christ is the head of the body, the Church, which Paul tells us in Colossians 1:18.

Christ is distinct from the Church, certainly, but is identified completely with the Church. He is her bridegroom. He is her savior. She is his Bride. And just as in the marital union, husband and wife become one flesh - Christ's Mystical Body continues on in her. This Bride is the object of Christ's redemptive love. The great 19th-entury German Catholic theologian J.S. Mohler states that "the whole social structure of the Church is nothing else but the embodied love."

The visible Body of the Church is this mystery, patterned on Christ as its supreme model (and charged with continuing his work and his way among men until he comes again). The Bridegroom, Christ, gives life and fruitfulness to his Bride, the Church, and thus, in this marriage, the Church become Mother, the one who on this plane of existence is the bearer of salvation. This Bride, Mother Church, in all ways is loving, and, as Mother, gives to us, her children, the saving energies of grace and new life. Therefore, we can say that the Church is an embodied grace, both sacramental and social.

Today, more than ever, our Church can be seen as divided and so flawed. The primary image we need to combat any discouragement that we might face in the world concerning the Church is to see that the Church is our Mother. She gives us life, which is born in her from her Bridegroom, Jesus.

Although clearly distinct, they are no longer two, but one. When one encounters the Bride, one should encounter the Bridegroom. This is true in a sacramental marriage; it is even more so in the union of Christ and his Bride, his Body, the Church. As friends of the Bridegroom, especially those who are priests and future priests, always need to present to the waiting world our friend's love, his Bride, the Church, in all her beauty, with her best face forward, for she is glorious and awesome, as both militant and triumphant; she is one, holy, catholic and apostolic.

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"The Church is the Bride of Christ: he loved her and handed himself over for her. He has purified her by his blood and made her the fruitful mother of all God's children." (CCC 808)

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The personal name of God in the Hebrew Bible, often translated as "the Lord" in English translations.

Also, the eternal "I am"; God who was, is, and shall be.

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Atheism is when someone doesn't believe in the existence of any Gods or higher powers. It's like not having a belief in a specific religion or deity. People who identify as atheists may have different reasons for their beliefs. It's a personal perspective on the concept of disbelief or lack of belief in the existence of God or Gods

A part of this term would be the Greek word Theos=God

and the prefix A=without.

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The divine law refers to the laws or commandments believed to come from a higher power, such as God. It is often seen as a moral and ethical guide for individuals to live by.

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Catechism is the history and tradition of the Church's doctrine in a complete summary and teaches principles of catholic faith. It's often used in Catholic traditions to teach things like prayers, beliefs, and moral values. It's a way to deepen one's understanding of their religion.

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Stewardship is the job of supervising or taking care of something that has been given to you.

For example, in 'The Creation Story' in Genesis, humans are the stewards of creation, not the rulers.

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Civil law regulates behaviours between individuals or entities, focusing on compensation or remedies rather than criminal offenses.

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Metaphysical is defined as something that is beyond the physical like the soul or spirit.

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Wisdom can be defined as an application of gained knowledge to new and unique circumstances.

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Existentialism is all about how individuals find meaning and purpose in life without relying on traditional religious beliefs. It's like exploring the idea that we create our own meaning and values through our choices and experiences. Existentialist thinkers often question religious teachings/beliefs and focus on personal freedom and responsibility, like creating our own meaning, but also about finding what resonates with us.

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Centered wholly on God's eternal, characteristics: His majesty, power, grace, love, mercy.

Personal, devotion prayers.

our dependence on him.

No deals and bargains.

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Where we ask God to help someone else.

Usually the person we ask God to help is someone that we ourselves cannot.

When we intercede for others, we come closest to God's heart.

Praying for one another is a very Christian thing to do.

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Acknowledge your sins

Repent or regret your sins

You sins become forgiven

Commonly done with a priest but can be done alone

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Humans are called to happiness and holiness

Humans have the desire to be happy

Only when we live in a relationship of love and gratitude with God and our neighbours will we discover true happiness (when we lead out lives as Jesus/God wants us too)

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~ both are equal in goodness and in the ability to sin.

~ both are equally made in the image of God.

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The action of asking or begging for something earnestly or humbly.

“He fell to his knees in supplication”