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Review Question Set 1
1. What are the two senses of "faith" we discussed on the first day of class? Why are both important for theology? (To make that second questions more explicit, let me ask it this way: Why is it important to remember, on the one hand, that having "faith" in the second sense (faith as an act of the will) is very important to a full and authentic "understanding of the faith"? Why, in other words, can "theology" never just be about reading more books, learning more "propositions", and memorizing more "doctrines"? And why, on the other hand, is it essential – especially in a society such as ours – to study and gain a sufficient "understanding of one's faith" (faith as involving a certain intellectual content) even if one has a deep and profound faith in the second sense?) 2. What, according to philosophers such as Plato, Aristotle, and Thomas Aquinas, is the ultimate goal for which we do whatever we do? Explain. 3. What is necessary, according to Victor Frankl, for staying alive in conditions as harsh as those of a concentration camp? 4. What are the first two habits of highly successful people, according to Steven Covey? 5. What does it mean to be "pro-active" in the sense discussed by Steven Covey? To what does he compare it? 6. According to Victor Frankl, are men free even in conditions such as those of a concentration camp? If so, how? 7. According to Victor Frankl: "if there is a meaning in life at all, then there must be a meaning in suffering." Why? Explain. 8. According to Victor Frankl, what is the sort of freedom, which cannot be taken away and which makes life meaningful and purposeful? 9. So, we've come full circle: We have to have a goal, a purpose for life to be meaningful, and we need to choose it freely. But what sort of goal or purpose must it be if we are to remain always free? 10. What is the human ability that humans have, according to Steven Covey, that separate them from other animals? Explain. 11. How does this ability relate to the first of the two habits of highly successful people? 12. Humanity is on a journey, says the Pope, which is really a journey of what? 13. What determines the fundamental direction human beings give to their lives, according to the Pope? 14. What sorts of questions are the "fundamental questions" people in all cultures need to ask themselves? 15. Here is another "Fundamental Question": Are the decisions you are making, making you happy? Are the decisions you are making, making you into the person you want to become? With your decisions, are you making yourself the person you want to be? In a certain way, you "produce" your choices, and in another sense, your choices "produce" you. What person are you making? Do you know who you are making? Do you know the person you are becoming? (Not the person you wish you were becoming; but the person you actually are becoming?) 16. What does author Walker Percy teach us about our self-awareness – about our self-knowledge? 17. What sort of problems might this lack of self-knowledge pose for us? 18. According to James Twitchell, how do many people in American society give themselves a sense of meaning and identity? 19. Are there costs associated with this system? 20. What does any of this have to do with "theology"? |