Study Questions for First Test

    The exam will consist of two parts.  Part One will contain either question 1 or question 2 below--and you will have to answer it.  Part Two will contain four of questions 3-8 below, and you will have to answer three of them.  All questions will be worth 25 points.

  • 1. Explain St. Thomas's distinction between the preambles of the faith and the mysteries of the faith.  Then (a) explain what it is to have faith (as opposed to knowledge or evident cognition) with respect to God's existence, nature, and action and (b) in your own words explain why St. Thomas thinks that it is good for us to have to accept the mysteries on faith alone and without evident cognition.  (Hint:  See chapter 5 of Summa Contra Gentiles I.)

  • 2. In Chapter 2 of Fides et Ratio Pope John Paul II points out that Sacred Scripture identifies wisdom with the love-filled knowledge of God, while the classical philosophers identify wisdom with a rigorous and systematic knowledge of the first principles of being and of the good for human beings. Discuss the tensions that this difference raises for Christians in their attempt to determine what posture they should take toward non-Christian philosophy.  (You might use the historical summary of Chapter 4 of Fides et Ratio (##36-43) as a basis for your answer.)
  • 3. In Chapter 2 of Orthodoxy ("The Maniac") Chesterston spends a good deal of time reflecting on the nature of insanity and mental illness. Lay out the main points of Chesterton's analysis of insanity and explain what role the discussion of insanity plays in his overall argument in favor of Christianity.
  • 4. Explain Chesterton's contention, in Chapter 3 of Orthodoxy ("The Suicide of Thought"), that reason itself is a matter of faith, and show how he supports this contention by his analysis of the way in which the perceived failure of Enlightenment Rationalism (or 'Freethinking') has led to various forms of skepticism.
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  • 5. At the beginning of this course we briefly discussed St. Thomas's claim that there can be no ultimate conflict between faith and reason and that reason can be used to bring nonbelievers toward the Christian faith. Show how in Orthodoxy Chesterton attempts to bring his readers toward Christianity by appealing to things that he believed before he became a Christian. Your answer should center around Chapter 4 ("The Ethics of Elfland"), Chapter 5 ("The Flag of the World"), and Chapter 7 ("The Eternal Revolution").
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  • 6. One of Chesterton's most characteristic contentions is that (i) Christianity is an expansive or liberating worldview that, unlike the "maniacal" worldviews discussed in Chapters 2 and 3 of Orthodoxy, holds that the true ideal for both individual and social human flourishing consists in a delicate balance of seeming opposites rather than an exclusion of one opposite in favor of the other, and that (ii) Christianity's way of balancing the opposites is different from and superior to the sort of equilibrium of opposites recommended by Stoicism. Explain the two parts of this contention, focussing especially on Chapter 6 ("The Paradoxes of Christianity").
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  • 7. In Chapter 8 of Orthodoxy ("The Romance of Orthodoxy") Chesterton defends the claim that various orthodox Christian doctrines, unlike the substitutes for them proposed by so-called liberal theology, have a "moral core" that is conducive to genuine social progress and to freedom from oppression. Show how three of the following doctrines, but not their denials, are supposed to be conducive to genuine progress or freedom from oppression: Original Sin; Miracles; Divine Transcendence; Trinity; Hell; Divinity of Christ.
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  • 8. In Chapter 9 of Orthodoxy ("Authority and the Adventurer") Chesterton tells why he accepts the doctrines themselves as well as the "moral core" discussed in Chapter 8 ("The Romance of Orthodoxy")--rather than accepting the moral core and junking the doctrines. Explain his reasons.