Define,
identify, and/or explain the following terms and phrases:
Catholic; necessary preconditions paving the way for the
Christian message; concept of Messiah; Greek as lingua franca; Pax
Romana; Roman tolerance; monotheism; deism; pantheism;
credo; pistis; fiducia; Enlightenment; concept of Progress;
autonomy; Immanuel Kant; Schleiermacher; naturalism vs. belief in the
supernatural; Graf-Wellhausen; Documentary Hypothesis (JEDP); general
revelation; special revelation; Aristotle; St. Augustine;
St. Thomas Aquinas; Canon; teleological argument; cosmological argument; BC;
AD;
Apocrypha; Deuterocanonical books; Torah; Pentateuch; Deuteronomic; Former
Prophets; Chronicler; Latter Prophets; Major Prophets; Minor Prophets;
Writings; Noah; Fall;
original vs. actual sin; 3 Patriarchs; Abram; Abraham; Isaac; Jacob (Israel);
Leah; Rachel; Joseph; Exodus; Sinai Covenant (10
commandments); Moses; Settlement of Canaan; Judges; Joshua; Samuel; United
Monarchy; Saul; David; Solomon; Northern
Kingdom (Israel); Southern Kingdom (Judah); 587BC Babylonian Captivity and
Exile; Daniel; Nehemiah; Ezra; Persians; Greeks;
Maccabean Revolt; Judith;
A.
Kreeft, Fundamentals of the Faith
Introduction:
What are the three aspects of faith? How
is the book divided and subdivided? Why?
Ch. 1: What
is apologetics? How does it
relate to reason and faith, nature and the supernatural?
Why is apologetics not popular today, according to Kreeft?
Why is it important? Why
are we “starved for reasons”? Explain
Kreeft’s third practical tool; and his seventh.
Ch. 2: What is the point of Kreeft’s Cape
Canaveral joke on p. 25? Which of
Kreeft’s arguments against the hypothesis that the apparent design in the
world is a product of random chance are the most convincing?
Why? How would you assess
them? Why would there be fewer
atheists among neurologists and brain surgeons than among psychologists and
sociologists (p. 27)?
Ch. 3: Explain the first-cause argument.
What is the Principle of Sufficient Reason?
Summarize St. Thomas Aquinas’s versions of the argument?
Ch. 4: Summarize the argument from conscience.
What does St. Thomas Aquinas say about conscience that is surprising
(p. 38)? Why is conscience
not an instinct, according to Kreeft?
Ch. 5: In
what way is the argument from history both weaker and stronger than the
others? Give several
examples.
Ch. 6: Summarize
Pascal’s “Wager.” What is
the objective of his argument? Explain.
Ch. 7: Define the problem of evil.
What are the four parts to its solution, according to Kreeft?
Ch. 8: What is C.S. Lewis’s argument for the
divinity of Christ? Explain.
How would you assess this argument, and why?
Ch. 9: Explain the first two forms of the common
objection to miracles in this chapter (p. 64).
What considerations make arguments against the bodily Resurrection of
Christ implausible, or at least seriously problematic (p. 67f.)?
Ch. 10: Why does Kreeft insist that one can’t drop the
idea of life after death and still be Christian? How does he respond to the objection that belief in the
afterlife diverts us from useful work in this life?
Or that only the poor believe in the next world?
Which do you think are his strongest or weakest arguments?
Why?
Ch. 11: How does Kreeft argue that all religious are not
the same, deep down? How does he
respond to the argument that all roads lead to Rome, or to the top of the
mountain with God at the top? Why
is “sincerity” not all that counts?
Ch. 12: How is Judaism similar to and different from
Christianity?
Ch. 13: How is Islam similar to and different from
Christianity?
Ch. 14: Why does Hinduism say that individuality is
illusion? What are the
implications and consequences of this?
Ch. 15: How is Buddhism significantly different from the
monotheistic religions (Judaism, Christianity, and Islam)? What
is Buddhism’s view of the self? God?
What are the Four Noble Truths? How
does Buddhist compassion and love differ from Christian compassion and love?
What is the point of the illustration of the man-eating tiger?
Ch. 16: How is the new paganism different from the old?
Why does Kreeft (and Chesterton) respect the old more than the new?
In what way is the new form of paganism a more serious threat to
Christianity today than the old, or any other religion?
Bible:
Note: click
here for Analytical list of Canonical books of the
Old Testament, New Testament, and Deuterocanonical Books ('Apocrypha')
Genesis:
How do the creation stories in chs. 1 & 2 differ?
What are the critical events of ch. 3, and why are they so important
for everything else, including the understanding of Western political history?
Who was Noah? What’s his
story? What about Abraham’s
story? Why was his son named
“Isaac”? What did God command
him to do with Isaac, his only son? What
happened? Tell the story of
Joseph’s sojourn in Egypt: how did he wind up there?
How did God use him to save his family?
Exodus: Summarize the story
of the Exodus. List the ten
commandments (ch. 20)
Joshua 1-2, 6: summarize the
story of the spies sent into Jerico and Rahab’s treatment of them, and the
fall of Jerico.
Judges: Summarize the story
of Gideon’s victory
I Samuel: How did David
defeat Goliath? Explain.
What did David do to Saul in the cave?
Ezra:
What’s ch. 1 about?
Isaiah: Explain how the
Christian tradition sees certain passages from Isaiah as prophetic of Christ.
Offer examples.
Ezekiel: How may we
interpret the passage about the valley of the dry bones.
What is its significance?
Hosea: Summarize the story
of Hosea and Gomer.
Amos: What’s the major
theme of Amos?
Micah: What does the Lord
require of us, according to Micah 6?
Ruth: Tell the story of
Ruth, Naomi, and Boaz. What
biological connection to Christ is found in it? (See Matthew 1:5)
Psalms:
What are the themes of the assigned psalms?
Which is penitential? Which
is sung every morning by religious communities (monks and nuns)?
Which is structured around the Hebrew alphabet?
Which are the most famous? Comfort
psalms? A praise psalm?
Proverbs:
To whom is this book attributed? What
are proverbs? What is the theme of the book?
Ecclesiastes:
What is the theme of this book (ch.
1)?
Judith: Discuss the details
of the story of Judith (in the "Apocrypha" or "Deuterocanonicals").