REL 100 – Study Sheet #3  

[Note: The Final Exam is cumulative.  Therefore, this study sheet should be used together with the earlier study sheets for the course.]

I. Kreeft, Fundamentals of the Faith

Ch. 28. Why are faith, hope, and love called “theological” virtues?  How are the three related to one another?  How are they related to other virtues?  How are the supernatural related to the natural virtues?  What three senses of “faith” does Kreeft distinguish?  (Define each.)  How does the third sense (“intellectual assent”) reveal how Catholics and Protestants misunderstood one another in the 16th century?  How does the term “faith” have different senses in the letters of Paul and James?  What attitude towards faith typify modernity?

Ch. 38.    What are the “four marks” of the Church?  Name some of the six ways in which the Church is not “one.”  In which ways is the Church essentially “one”?  What about inessentially?

Ch. 39.    What does “holy” mean?  How does the notion of “equality” complicate our understanding of holiness?  Why is holiness the most important mark of the Church?  How can something as corrupt as an earthly body of Christians be “holy”?

Ch. 40.    What does “Catholic” or “catholicity” mean?  How can a church, like the Roman Catholic Church, claim to be both “Catholic” and “Roman”?  What are the differences in Protestant and Catholic understandings of this mark of the Church?  What is distinguished according to the Catholic distinctions between the “Church militant,” “Church suffering,” and “Church triumphant”? 

Ch. 41.    What does “Holy Orders” mean?  What about “episkopoi”?  Define “apostolicity.”  How is apostolicity “earthy, human, and practical”? 

Ch. 43.    If Protestants come in “two different sizes,” what litmus test distinguishes them?  How do orthodox Protestants experience the Bible?  How do they think Catholics experience it?  What do orthodox Protestants believe about the Bible?  What do they think Catholics believe about it?  Why does Kreeft seem to think the differences between Catholics and Protestants can be bridged and overcome?  What “fraternal corrections” does he presume to offer Protestants on their view of Scripture?

Ch. 44.     What was Luther's view of “justification by faith”?  How did this issue become the defining issue of the Protestant Reformation?  What Catholic abuses existed in the Church at the time of the Reformation?  What did Luther mean by “faith alone”?  What different sense of the term “faith” are essential in understanding the differences between Catholic and Protestant perceptions of salvation?  What can Catholics lean from Protestants?  What can Protestants learn from Catholics?

Ch. 55.    What is the definition of a "sacrament" provided on p. 284?  What is the basic difference between how Catholics and most Protestants understand "sacraments"?  What is one basic Protestant objection to the "sacramentalism" of Catholics?  What does Kreeft say about this?  What does he mean when he says "the world is a sacrament"? What does he say (beginning on the bottom of p. 284) in answer to the Protestant objection that Catholic sacraments seem like "magic" (first mentioned on p. 282)?

II. The Bible

    A. From the book of Acts ~

    Acts 1-2: To whom is the Book of Acts addressed?  What event is recounted in Acts 1:9?  What happened to Judas? (Acts 1:15-20)  What did Peter and the Apostles do to choose a successor? (Acts 1:20-26)  What occurred at Pentecost?  (Acts 2:1-13)  What happened when Peter preached on Pentecost? (Acts 2)

   Acts 15: What was the issue that convened the Council of Jerusalem?  What decision was made, and how is the Holy Spirit invoked?

    B. From the Epistle to the Romans ~

   Romans 1-3: What does Rom. 1:18-20 say that human beings can know about God through "nature"? Whom is Paul addressing in Rom. 2:1, and why do they "have no excuse"?  How do Protestants and Catholics say we are "justified," when they interpret Rom. 3:28?

   Romans 7-8: Why does Paul not understand his own actions in Rom. 7:15?  For whom is there "no condemnation" (Rom. 8:1), and what can separate us from the love of Christ? (Rom. 8:31-39; see also Rom. 8: 12-13)

    C. From the Epistle of 1 Corinthians ~

   1 Corinthians 1: How does Paul argue against denominational divisions?

   1 Corinthians 7: What advice does Paul give to the married and unmarried?  What practical advantages does he describe for the celibate life?

   1 Corinthians 13: What is more important than faith, according to Paul?  Why?

   1 Corinthians 15: What is the significance of Paul's formula, "I delivered to you . . . what I also received"? (v.3) What doctrine is so important, according to Paul, that Christianity stands or falls with it? (vv. 12-19) What happens after death, according to Paul? (vv.20-58)

   D. From the Epistle to the Galatians ~

   Galatians 1-2: What "different gospel" does Paul warn against? (Gal. 1:6-9; see Acts 15:1)  What did Paul do before beginning his ministry? (Gal. 1:15-24)  What did Paul do again 14 years later?  Why? (Gal. 2:1-2) Why did Paul oppose Peter's behavior in Antioch? (Gal. 2:11-16)

    E. From the Epistle of Hebrews ~

   Hebrews 11-12: How is "faith" defined? (Heb. 11:1) How is faith exhibited in the lives of those recounted in this chapter (Heb. 11)? What image does Paul invoke in Heb. 12:1-2?

    F. From the Epistle of James ~

   James 1-2: What does James say about the rich and poor, about hypocrisy, and about the tongue? (James 1)  What is James' point about demons? (James 2:19)  What does he say about "faith alone" (v. 24)

    G. From the Epistle of 1 John ~

   1 John 1-2: Why is John writing this letter? (1 Jn. 1:2, 2:1 & 12)  Why does he say of those who declare that they have not sinned? (1 Jn. 1:10)  Who are the "antichrists" John describes? (1 Jn. 2:18-28)

    H. From the book of Revelation ~

   Revelation 1: What is the "revelation"?  Who is it from and to whom is it sent, and who conveys it? (Rev. 1:1-4) To whom does John address the book? (Rev. 1:4)  What vision does John describe, and where was he? (Rev. 1:9-20) 

   Revelation 4-5: What does John see in his vision? (Rev. 4)  Who is worthy to open the scroll? (Rev. 5:2-14)

   Revelation 12: Who is the woman clothed with the sun? (Rev. 12:1-2)  What is the dragon? (v. 3; see Genesis 3:1)  Who is the child? (v. 2, v. 4) Who are the opposing sides in the war in heaven, and what happens? (v. 7-12)  Who are the rest of the woman's offspring? (v. 17)

   Revelation 22: Describe the symbolism of the river, the Lamb, the tree of life, light, and the Bride.

 III. Elwell and Yarbrough, Encountering the New Testament

   Part 2: Encountering Acts and the Earliest Church ~

Ch. 13. What geographical areas were covered by the Roman Empire? What was remarkable about Tiberius, Nero, and Domitian?  Define Stoicism, Cynicism, and Skepticism.

Ch. 14 [Acts 1-7]: When was Acts written?  Who was its author, and what was his purpose? Why is the Muratorian Canon significant? What was Pentecost?

Ch. 15 [Acts 8-12]: Identify Philip, the Ethiopian Eunuch, Simon the Tanner, and Cornelius, Barnabas, James, Simon the Sorcerer, and Harod Agrippa

Ch. 16 [Acts 13-28]: Describe Paul's three missionary journeys, where he went, and what happened.  What happened at the Council of Jerusalem? Describe Paul's arrest and imprisonment, his voyage to Rome and ministry in Rome before his execution.

    Part 3: Encountering Paul and His Epistles ~

Ch. 17: Summarize Paul's life?  Who was Saul?  Where is Tarsus, and why was it important?  Which NT epistles did Paul write? What do the authors say about the relationship between Jesus and Paul? (see p. 259 & 263)  What was Paul's stance toward the "Law," and how do Protestants differ from Catholics in their interpretation of this? Define: "soteriological," "substitutionary atonement," and "eschatology."

Ch. 18 [Romans]: What were Augustine's and Luther's views of Romas? What does Romans say about homosexuality, according to the authors? What is the basic theme of Romans?

Ch. 19 [Corinthians and Galatians]: What is the relation between Paul's 1st and 2nd letters to the Corinthians? Describe Corinth's location and culture?  Identify: "bema," "Erastus inscription," "Judaizers," and "antinomian." What are the chief themes of 1 Corinthians? What are the two theories about Galatia?

Ch. 22 [Hebrews and James]: What is the purpose of Hebrews, and to whom is it addressed? What are its basic themes? Why did Luther call James an "epistle of straw"?  Who was the author of James, and what are the themes of his epistle? What is the position of James in the debate about faith and works?

Ch. 24 [Revelation]: Summarize the date and authorship of Revelation.  What are the theories about the "antichrist" and about the end of the world--"premillenialism," "postmillenialism," and "amillenialism," "rapture," "pre-tribulation," "mid-tribulation," and "post-tribulation"? What is "univeralism" (see the yellow box on p. 382)?

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