Theology

Front 1

If reasoning/arguments cannot bring one to faith, why are they important?

Back 1

Arguments can help test what you know about your faith.

Front 2

What does Kreeft mean by Mere Christianity?

Back 2

The heart of faith that unites diverse believers with eachother. This includes miracles, reliability of Scripture and reality of resurrection, heaven and hell.

Front 3

Why did God create man?

Back 3

Out of goodness so we could share in his own blessed life.

Front 4

Why does man search for God?

Back 4

Since God created us in his image, he wrote upon our heart to see him because only in him will we live the fullness of truth and happiness.

Front 5

In what does our eternal happiness consist?

Back 5

Our eternal happiness consists of loving God above all things.

Front 6

Why is knowning the truth so important according to Sheed?

Back 6

Truth is food and light, without it we would be hungry and in complete darkness.

Front 7

What is the relationship between knowledge and love of God?

Back 7

You so not have to know everything about the Church and God to love him, bur the more you know, the more you can love Him because knowledge clears up misunderstanding you have about God. Knowledge gives us new reasons to love.

Front 8

Why does the task of sharing the truth of God fall primarily to the liaty?

Back 8

The laity are in daily contact with the people who are starved from the truth.

Front 9

Give an example of each of the following: truths of faith and not of reason, truths of faith and reason and truths of reason and not of faith

Back 9

'truths of faith and not of reason'- the Trinity, Christ's death atoned for my sins.
'truths of both faith and reason'- existence of one God, an objective moral law, life after death.
'truths of reason and not of faith'- natural sciences

Front 10

Can Christians prove by reason, all of the things they believe?

Back 10

No, only arguments against them can be disproved by reason.

Front 11

If Christianity and reason are true, can there ever be a contradiction between them?

Back 11

No, truth cannot condradict truth, rather they work together.

Front 12

What is entailed in belief in God?

Back 12

Full surrender of ourselve to God and the acceptance of the truth insofar as it is guarenteed by the One who is Truth itself, to adhere to God himself, entrusting oneself to him and giving assent to all the truths which God has revealed because God is Truth, believing in one God in three Persons, Father, Son and Holy Spirity

Front 13

Can faith ever contradict reason or science? Why or why not?

Back 13

No, both originate in God, He gives us the light of both reason and of faith.

Front 14

Summarize the 'argument from efficient causality' in your own words. Why must there be an "Uncaused Being"?

Back 14

For ever effect there has to be something that caused it, in order for the first cause to have been started there had to be and "Uncaused Being" to start the chain of cause and effect to get to where we are today,

Front 15

Summarize the 'design argument' in your own words. Why must there be an 'Intelligent Designer'?

Back 15

The world is too complex to have been created by chance, there has to be thought behind what is created and an "Intelligent Designer" has the mind to create that thought.

Front 16

What are the three steps of the kalam argument?

Back 16

1. Whatever begins to exist has a cause for its coming into being. 2. The universe began to exist. 3. Therefore, the universe has a cause for coming into being.

Front 17

What is the common-sense observation which serves as the basis for the 'moral argument'?

Back 17

To do good and avoid evil.

Front 18

Why is it, according to the 'argument from conscience', that we feel an absolute obligation to obey our conscience?

Back 18

The source of absolute moral obligation is something superior, this binds my will morally-the voice of God is our conscience and we feel the need to listen to obey what our conscience is saying.

Front 19

Summarize in your own words the 'argument from desire'.

Back 19

There are things we all desire naturally, and for everything that we naturally desire there is something to fulfill it, ultimately there is one desire that nothing on Eart can fulfill, it can only be satisfied by what people call "God" and "life with God forever".

Front 20

According to Pascal's Wager, why is atheism a 'foolish bet'?

Back 20

If you believe in God and it turns out there is no God, there is nothing to lose, but if you do not believe in God and it turns out there is a God, you lose everything.

Front 21

Summarize the 'problem of evil' in one sentence as Kreeft describes it on the first page of the chapter. Why does the existence of evil pose a problem for the belief in God?

Back 21

If God exists and He is all-good and all-powerful, then there should be no evil, but evil does exist.

Front 22

What does Kreeft mean when he says, 'evil is not a thing'?

Back 22

Evil is in the will, the choice, the intent, the movement, which puts a wrong order into the physical world of thinkgs and acts, evil cannot make itself, therefore it is not a thing.

Front 23

What does Kreeft mean by his distinction betewwn 'physical' and 'moral' evil?

Back 23

Physical sin- evil we passively suffer, evil that is against our will, evil we are not responsible for; moral evil- evil we actively do, evil we freely will, evil we are directly responsible for.

Front 24

What is 'determinism' and what is the simplest argument against it?

Back 24

Determinism- everything we doe can be totally accounted for by two causes: heredity plus environment. Free will adds a third cause to our actions: our wills, which in turn are not entirely the result of heredity.

Front 25

If God is omnipotent, why couldn't He create a world where sin was not possible?

Back 25

God did create a world withouth sin, but He also gave man freedom, without freedom there would be a world without humans, a world without hate but also without Love, Love proceeds only from free will, free will is the source of sin.

Front 26

If God is all good, why doesn't He prevent us from suffering?

Back 26

God allows suffering and deprives us of the lesser good of pleasure in order to help us toward the greater good of moral and spiritual education.

Front 27

Does God's sovereign providence leave room for free human cooperation or collaboration? If so, how?

Back 27

Yes, through actions, prayers, and sufferings, thus awakening in us the desire"to will and to work for his good pleasure".

Front 28

Is God the cause of evil?

Back 28

God is not the cause of evil.

Front 29

What is at the root of all evils?

Back 29

Human sin is the root of all evils.

Front 30

Why does God permit evil?

Back 30

So that good can come from evil.

Front 31

What are some of the boldest, most shocking claims that Jesus made, according to the Gospel?

Back 31

Jesus called himself the "Son of God"-that is, of the same nature as God, claimed to be sinless, to forgive sins, to save us from sin and death, he had come from heaven, not just earth, and that he would return again from heaven at the end of the world to judge everyone.

Front 32

Other than the conclusion that Christ is God, what 'alternative' conclusions exist?

Back 32

The New Testament text lies, traditional Christianity is a myth, a fairy tale, a fantasy.

Front 33

Summarize the argument put forward by Kreeft as ;Lord, liar, or lunatic'.

Back 33

Jesus was either God or a bad man, Jesus was not a bad man, therefore Jesus was (is) God.

Front 34

Why is it difficult to imagine that Jesus was a liar?

Back 34

Jesus was a good man, therefore could not be a liar.

Front 35

Why is it difficult to imagine that Jesus was a lunatic?

Back 35

Jesus was wise, therefore could not be a lunatic.

Front 36

Why is it difficult to imagine that early Christians simply invented Jesus' claims?

Back 36

They were not lunatics- no lunatic could have invented a single character of the Gospels, much less all of it.

Front 37

What, for Kreeft, is the 'most popular argument against the Christian religion today'?

Back 37

It is only one of many religions- choices for the religion.

Front 38

What does Kreeft mean by saying that other religions are 'partly' true?

Back 38

The West's definintion of "true" meant that they are partly true- some things are good and some are bad in a religion.

Front 39

What is the one 'other' religion that Christians can accept as wholly true?

Back 39

Biblical Judaism

Front 40

According to Kreeft, is Christ the only Savior?

Back 40

Yes

Front 41

According to Kreeft, is it true that only professing Christians will be saved?

Back 41

No

Front 42

Why might it be useful to learn from other religions?

Back 42

1. To appreciate our own religion by contratst. 2. To reinforce and deepen our understanding of similar aspects of our religion. 3. To seek and find truth wherever it may be.

Front 43

The mind can generate ideas, which are immaterial. What does this tell us about the mind (or spirit)?

Back 43

It produces thought, and thought is the most powerful thing in the world- unless love is, which spirit also produces.

Front 44

Does spirit have parts?

Back 44

No

Front 45

Does spirit occupy space?

Back 45

No

Front 46

Can spirit be turned into something else?

Back 46

No

Front 47

What does 'infintite' mean, when applied to God?

Back 47

God is without limit or boundary or end.

Front 48

Why does God not have to 'receive' existence from anything else?

Back 48

Because He is existence.

Front 49

What does it mean to say that God is 'in' everything?

Back 49

God is everywhere; everything receives the energy of God, bringing it into existence and keeping it there, that is the sense in which God is in everything.

Front 50

Why does God's infininty require us to say that He is also changeless?

Back 50

God is not time, time measures change and if God is not time then He cannot change.

Front 51

What does eternity mean, in reference to who God is?

Back 51

God's total possession of Himself.

Front 52

What are the two activies which God carries out?

Back 52

Knowing and loving.

Front 53

Does God 'have' attributes in the same way we do?

Back 53

No

Front 54

If God is so mysterious then how is it possible to talk about Him?

Back 54

God is the cause and the answer, by meditating on His effects we can know something of their cause, shed some light on God himself.

Front 55

List all of the 'attributes' of God which are discussed here by Kreeft.

Back 55

God exists absolute, infinite, one, spiritual, eternal, transcendent, immanent, intelligent, omniscient, and omnipotent.

Front 56

What does Kreeft mean by saying that 'God exists absolutely'? Why must this be true of God?

Back 56

He is the source of being for all things, there is no difference between what he is and that he is.

Front 57

What are the true reasons, presented by Kreeft, why it is important to retain 'masculine' pronouns for God.

Back 57

We do not have the authority to change the names of God used by Christ, the Bible, and the Church; it is historical

Front 58

Why are the 'formulas of faith' (creeds) important?

Back 58

Permit one to express, assimilate, celebrate, and share together with others the truths of the faith through a common language.

Front 59

Which are the most important two creeds?

Back 59

The Apostles' Creed and the Nicene-Constantinoplitan Creed

Front 60

With what name did God reveal Himself to Moses?

Back 60

"The God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob"