Theology Final Exam Questions

Front 1

Is the human person able to arrive at true knowledge of God by reason alone- according to the teachings of the Catholic faith?

According to the teachings of the Reformers?

Back 1

Yes according the Catholic faith.

No according to the Reformation.

Front 2

Why is there a difference between the Catholic and Reformation views on this matter?

Back 2

The difference revolves around the different beliefs and understandings of the effects of original sin.

The Catholics believes our nature (likeness, being able to know God) is damaged but not destroyed.

The Reformers believe that human nature is radically perverted; we are not capable of good via grace; believe that the effects of original sin were so destructive that we are incapable of knowing that truth.

Front 3

If natural knowledge of God is possible is it sufficient for salvation. Why or why not?

Back 3

No it takes accepting and believing of what is known.

Front 4

What does it mean to say our language about God is analogous?

Back 4

The words have a likeness with a difference; For example, "God's faith and love for us is greater than we can ever imagine" In that sentence, the words "faith" and "love" are used analogously.

Front 5

Can we say true things about God?

Back 5

Yes if there's revelation; Language about God is true but it is either analogous or negative theology.

Front 6

Do we fully understand what we mean when we say, for example, that God is good?

Back 6

No because using the word 'good' in speaking about God has a different meaning, way more than we can ever imagine, than using the word to describe a book.

Front 7

What is "negative theology"?

Back 7

Describing God rightly and truly but saying what God is not rather than what he is.

Example: infinite - not finite
eternal - not in time

Front 8

What is faith?

Back 8

Excepting something is true based on the word or authority of another; we all exercise it- a natural human thing; can obtain true knowledge through faith.

Front 9

What is necessary for a human being to make an act of faith in God?

Back 9

Divine faith is an act of the intellect which, moved by a will that is in turn moved by grace, assents to God and all God has revealed; Intellect doesn't move unless your will allows it.

Front 10

Is faith opposed to reason in the Catholic view?

Back 10

Faith IS NOT opposed to reason; it is the acceptance that something is true based on the true word/ authority of another.

Front 11

Which are the Christian Scriptures?

Back 11

the Old and New Testaments.

Front 12

What does the Catholic Christian mean when he says the scriptures are "inspired" and "inerrant" ?

Back 12

God is God, God is the author- therefore, God doesn't make mistakes.

The Scripture is written without error with respect to saving truth and it is written by people of which God chose to write, with their minds, vocabulary, etc. Scripture is inspired by the Word of God and everything that is in there, God wanted in the Scripture.

Front 13

In what sense is Scripture the "Word of God"?

Back 13

Scripture was written by certain humans that God chose- making use of their facilities (sight, vocab, mind, imagination, etc.); They write what God wanted and nothing else; ITS WRITTEN BY THE PEOPLE, WITH THE WRITING OF THOSE PEOPLE, BUT FROM THE INSPIRATION OF GOD

Front 14

Do all Christians mean the same things by the terms inspiration and inerrant?

Back 14

No

Front 15

Which are the Jewish Scriptures?

Back 15

the books of the Christian Old Testament

Front 16

What is a Gospel?

What is it NOT?

Back 16

Gospel is an account of the teachings, deeds, death, and resurrection of Jesus that's written from the perspective of faith with purpose to take other people to faith.

Gospel is not a biography in a strict sense.

Front 17

Name 4 theological truths that are figuratively expressed in Genesis 1-3.

Back 17

1. God created our world through wisdom and love
2. God created man in the image and likeness of God.
3. When Adam and Eve chose to disobey God, original sin from then on was contracted from their descendants and they last his likeness.
4. God isn't directly or indirectly the cause of evil but it's present in our free will. When Adam and Eve decided to go against God's wishes and eat the fruit, the consequence of denying him was evil. They were then subject to feel shame about being naked, have great pain when bearing children, and struggle to do labor work.

Front 18

Did God create evil?

Back 18

No, God isn't directly or indirectly the cause of evil.

Front 19

How did evil enter the universe?

Back 19

Evil exists through our free will, through free choice of rational creatures; Evil is the consequence to making the decision to reject God giving us the ability to choose to accept his love.

Front 20

What are the effects of Adam's sin on his descendants according to the Catholic teachings?

Back 20

His descendants are subject to ignorance, suffering, dominion of death, and is inclined towards sin.

Front 21

What does the Christian mean when he says "there is one God in three divine persons"?

What does he not mean?

Back 21

God is the Holy Trinity- The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

He is not saying that God is each of these persons individually.

Front 22

What does the Christian mean when he says "Jesus is one divine Person in two natures?

What does he not mean?

Back 22

Jesus is the Son in the Holy Trinity; he has two natures, divine and human.

He is not saying that Jesus is a Person in the Holy Trinity.

Front 23

Where is Jesus' body?

Back 23

In Jesus' resurrection, both his body and soul rose from the dead.

Front 24

What does, "I believe in the resurrection of the body mean"?

Back 24

I believe that when Jesus ascended, both his body and his soul rose into Heaven.

Front 25

How is grace received in the Catholic understanding?

Back 25

Grace is received through the (7) sacraments.
Baptism, Eucharist, Penance, Confirmation, Anointing of the Sick, Matrimony, and Holy Orders.

Front 26

How is grace received in the Protestant understanding?

Back 26

Grace is received through the (2) sacraments.
Baptism and Eucharist.

Front 27

Can grace once received be lost?

Back 27

Yes; Example, Adam and Eve

Front 28

How many sacraments are there in the Catholic view?

Back 28

Seven; Baptism, Eucharist, Penance, Confirmation, Anointing of the Sick, Matrimony, and Holy Orders.

Front 29

How many sacraments are there in the Protestant view?

Back 29

Two; Baptism and Eucharist.

Front 30

What does grace do for the person that receives it?

Back 30

Restores and strengthens that interpersonal relationship with God.

Front 31

Baptism

Back 31

-Instituted after Christ rose from the dead when Christ told his disciples to baptize- those will be saved
-Gateway to the other sacraments.
-A Father/Deacon can administer Baptism, however in emergencies, anyone can do it because the real baptizer is Christ.
-Anyone can receive it who hasn't already been baptized.
-Water is poured over the person's head, or they are submerged in the water- at the same time, the person administering the sacrament says, "I baptize you, in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit."

Front 32

Confirmation

Back 32

-Instituted when Jesus sent the Holy Spirit to his disciples.
-a free gift
-A Bishop ordinarily administers this sacrament
-Received, usually, in mid-teens
-We receive the Holy Spirit- bestow upon a person to make better able witness to Christ.
-Receive it after Baptism

Front 33

Penance

Back 33

-Instituted by Christ when Jesus tells his disciples to receive the Holy Spirit and their sins will be forgiven
-Sins committed after Baptism are forgiven.
-Priest ministers this sacrament- "I absolve you of your sins in the name of the Father, of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit"
-Catholic understanding, we can lose the grace of God with a serious sin- restored sacramentally.
-You are forgiven if;
1. NO intention to sin again
2. Confess all serious sins by number and kind
3. Willing to make satisfaction

Front 34

Anointing of the Sick

Back 34

-Instituted when Jesus healed the sick during his ministry.
-Priest ministers the sacrament
- Strengthening to ensures ones who are suffering, are doing so with grace.
-Can have a physical effect

Front 35

Holy Orders

Back 35

-Instituted because Jesus had 12 disciples
-A man becomes a priest.
-Only men can be ordained.

Front 36

Matrimony

Back 36

-Becomes a husband and wife in Christ.
-Priest/Deacon WITNESSES
-Husband and wife are conferring the sacrament on one another.
-In the Catholic understanding, matrimony is forever.
-Christian marriage is when:
1. Free consent- give and live consent
2. Intend what the church understands to be a Christian marriage
-permanence
-openness to having children
-Doesn't recognize divorce but does recognize annulments.

Front 37

Eucharist

Back 37

-"Thanksgiving" or "good grace"
-Institutes from Jesus telling his disciples to eat/drink the body and blood of Christ.
-The priest
-What used to be wine, seizes to be wine, and what used to be bread, seizes to be bread; Body and blood and divinity in the whole.

Front 38

Luther's position on the Eucharist

Back 38

Believes in consubstantiation however, believes Christ is present in the Eucharist (bread and wine) but only for the duration of the service.

Front 39

Protestant position on the Eucharist

Back 39

Believes Christ is not consubstantially in bread and wine but is symbolically present in the sacrament (spiritually).

Front 40

Catholic understanding of what happens when a person dies.

Back 40

When a person dies, a person is buried in hopes of resurrection; the soul ascends to God, and goes through Purgatory or the purification of the soul; the ultimate goal is to go to Heaven, definitive happiness, with God after Purgatory, however, Catholics believe in the state of definitive separation from God or Hell.

Front 41

Protestant understanding of what happens when a person dies.

Back 41

Protestants have the same views as Catholic, however they do not believe in Purgatory; It was found in the Maccabees which isn't considered Scripture to Protestants or Lutherans.

Front 42

Why do Christians bury their dead?

Back 42

In the hopes of the body and soul to be Resurrected.

Front 43

In what sense is Mary Mother of God?

Back 43

Since Mary is the mother of Jesus, and Jesus is the Son of God, we can say that Mary is the Mother of God.

Front 44

In what sense is Mary NOT the Mother of God?

Back 44

God does not have a mother because he's God.

Front 45

What do Catholics believe happened to Mary when the course of her earthly life ended?

Back 45

Mary was assumed into heaven meaning, in the anticipation of the Resurrection, Mary was brought to heaven, body and soul.

Front 46

What do Catholics mean when they say Mary was "ever virgin"?

Back 46

In conceiving her son, giving birth, carrying him, nursing him, always a Virgin

Front 47

Virginal Conception

Back 47

Jesus was conceived with Mary remaining a virgin by the power of the Holy Spirit.

Front 48

Immaculate Conception

Back 48

When Mary was conceived, she was preserved from the effects of original sin because God foresaw her role in salvation history.

Front 49

Are the Catholic doctrines of the Immaculate Conception and Assumption found in Scripture?

Back 49

No

Front 50

Do the Immaculate Conception and Assumption doctrines contradict anything in Scripture?

Back 50

No they don't because if they did, the Catholic church wouldn't teach it.

Front 51

What is the goal of Christian life- that is, what did God make us for in the Christian understanding?

Back 51

God wants every person to enjoy a loving relationship with him because being known and loved by God will make us utterly happy; He made us because he wanted to satisfy our happiness by loving us forever

Front 52

Why, or in what sense, do we say "God is Love"?

Back 52

God giving himself to us unselfishly, which brings about blessings in our lives.

Front 53

In the Catholic understanding, can a non-believer (a non-Christian) be saved?

Under what conditions?

Back 53

Christ instructed us to seek baptism; Anyone who seeks the truth and does the good as he knows it, that person CAN be saved.

Front 54

What is the essence of Christian faith?

Back 54

1. There is one God in three divine persons.
2. Jesus Christ is one person in two natures.

Front 55

What is God's name?

To whom did he reveal it?

What does his name signify?

Back 55

"I AM WHO AM"

Moses- Burning bush

means "Being Itself"- signifies his essence is to be.