Theology Assignment
Chapter One to Chapter 5 Summaries , Chapter Questions Answered
Essay Questions:
1. Why have all known human cultures developed
... [Show More] religious beliefs?
2. What does the word “transcendent” mean and how is it related to religious beliefs?
3. What does it mean to ask whether human life or the universe as a whole has a transcendent meaning?
4. What are some reasons for thinking that a transcendent realm exists?
5. What is the root meaning of the word “theology?” How does academic discipline of religious studies differ from theology?
Chapter 2
1. What are some of the common
2. In what ways is a strictly rationalist view actually unreasonable?
3. What are some non-scientific ways by which one can gain knowledge?
4. In the Catholic worldview, why does faith involve not only faith in God, but also faith in the creeds of the Church?
5. In what way can an “intellectual conversion” be a step toward faith?
Chapter 3
1. Which of Aquinas’s “five ways” of proving God’s existence is the most convincing? Explain your choice.
2. Summarize the First cause argument. Why must the First Cause be a transcendent one?
3. Name the two ways in which Balthasar’s approach to theology is holistic.
4. Summarize Balthasar’s approach to the Christian tradition
5. Define these terms from Balthasar’s theology:
6. Explain how an “aesthetic approach” differs from a rationalist approach in perceiving
7. Balthasar thinks that an aesthetic perspective to reality is a good preparation for faith in God?
Chapter 4
1. Why does Whitehead believe that modern science could only have developed among people who believed in the Judeo-Christian God?
2. What factors led to the conflict between the Church and Galileo? What lessons did John Paul II draw from this conflict?
3. What are some similarities between the Big Bang theory and the Christian doctrine of creation?
4. Discuss arguments for and against the cosmic argument for design. Consider especially twentieth century discoveries of order at the molecular level.
5. What is the biological argument from design? How is the Neo-Darwinist theory of evolution a challenge to this argument? [Show Less]