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13 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
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What two observations about genuine relationships ground your critique of religious pluralism? |
1) All genuine relationships are fundamentally reciprocal in nature 2) All genuine relationships are particular in nature |
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What do you mean when you say that genuine personal relationships are fundamentally "reciprocal"? |
That genuine relationship is characterized by a kind of joyful giving and receiving of kindness, that is based on your delight in another person, and not on their capacity to precisely repay your expressions of kindness. |
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How would you illustrate the reciprocal nature of genuine relationships by reflecting on Christmas presents? |
When your girlfriend gives you a Christmas gift of significant value, you don't ask her for a receipt and then purchase her a "gift" that costs precisely the same as the gift she gave to you. To do so, would simply be an underhanded and perhaps perverse way of returning the gift you were given without simply saying that you didn't want it. |
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How would you illustrate the reciprocal nature of genuine relationships by reflecting on the actions of co-workers? |
I once saw a couple of co-workers who would punctually buy two cans of pop every day: One pop for one man, and one for the other. Day after day, they would simply trade who was paying for the pop. Ironically, although there arrangement appeared to be an example of reciprocal relationship, they were really only buying themselves a pop every day. |
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What do you mean when you say that genuine personal relationships are fundamentally "particular"? |
Relationships are fundamentally particular because the giving of a kindness must be directed to the particular one with whom you are in relationship with. |
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How would you illustrate the particular nature of genuine relationships by reflecting on the lovemaking of a husband and a wife? |
When a man's wife comes into their room and night and is dressed in a way that suggests she's ready for a "romp"; no man who has a genuine relationship responds to his wife's kindness by running down the street and soliciting sex with a stranger. Any man that does such a thing has completely dismissed the particular nature of genuine relationships. |
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How would you illustrate the particular nature of genuine relationships by reflecting on the dating relationship of a man and a woman? |
When a woman brings lunch to her future husband, does he ever respond to her kind gift by giving the thank-you card to another person? If he does, he has completely missed the particular nature of genuine relationships. |
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Can you have a meaningful relationship to another person that is not fundamentally reciprocal and particular? |
No. |
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After establishing that genuine personal relationships are fundamentally reciprocal and particular, how might you conclude your protest of religious pluralism? |
What is true of personal relationships with other people is also true of a relationship to God. It is impossible to have a genuine relationship with God unless that relationship is reciprocal and particular. |
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Cite the first reason that it is impossible to have a genuine relationship with God unless that relationship is reciprocal and particular. |
First, because no one who ever deliberates on the question of religious pluralism can escape the fact that we are all faced with the pervasive and bitter nature of the tyranny of death (moral, physical, and spiritual). Although one can ignore, suppress, or belittle the tyranny of death, one cannot escape it simply by denying it. |
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Cite the second reason that it is impossible to have a genuine relationship with God unless that relationship is reciprocal and particular. |
Second, religious pluralism prevents us from knowing with any assurance that at the very point of our deepest need (i.e. in the tyranny of death) God has entered into and defeated the tyranny of death. |
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Finally, cite 4 reasons why religious pluralism prevents us from knowing with any assurance that at the very point of our deepest need (i.e. in the tyranny of death), God has entered into and defeated the tyranny of death? |
1) Because religious pluralism teaches that every depiction of god is equally valid. 2) In teaching this, the pluralist makes it impossible to truly know God. How can one truly know God, and simultaneously believe that a contradictory portrait is also valid? 3) How can one possibly enter into a genuine relationship when the other person remains unknown? 4) If you cannot know God, then you cannot know whether he has defeated the tyranny of death. |
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Cite 2 of the most tragic losses that follow the embrace of religious pluralism? |
1) A loss of worship / A refusal to engage in genuine worship 2) A loss of God's any meaningful sense of God's love / God's wrath rightly belongs on those who refuse to give God the worship that is due to him alone for creating us and providing a rescue from the tyranny of death |
