Philosophy 41

Question 0

What is the “religious backlash” referred to?

Answer 0

The reaction of Orthodox Christianity to the Renaissance’s pagan Hellenism, naturalism, and secularism

Question 1

What is the “paradox of the Reformation” mentioned here?

Answer 1

It’s essentially ambiguous character, for it was at once a conservative religious reaction and a radically libertarian revolution

Question 2

How is the Reformation defined? What is its “declaration?”

Answer 2

Reformation was a new and decisive assertion of rebellious individualism. Its declaration of personal autonomy was an intrinsic element of the overall Renaissance phenomenon

Question 3

What is the “first premise” of Luther’s reform?

Answer 3

The priesthood of all believers and the authority of the individual conscience in the interpretation of Scripture

Question 4

What was the consequence of “restoring a predominantly biblical theology?”

Answer 4

It helped to purge the modern mind of Hellenic notions in which nature was permeated with divine rationality and final causes

Question 5

What was held to be true “in Catholic view?”

Answer 5

The deepest truths were first divinely revealed as recorded in the Bible, and these then became the basis for a continuing growth of truth through Church tradition

Question 6

What was held to be true in the “Protestant perspective?”

Answer 6

The truth lay finally and objectively in the revealed Word of God, and fidelity to that unalterable truth alone could render theological certainty

Question 7

What was Luther’s “appeal” and what did it lead to?

Answer 7

To the primacy of the individual’s religious response would lead to the modern mind’s sense of the inferiority of religious reality