Short explanation

Question 1

Identify and briefly explain four of the six functions of a worldview, as explained by Hiebert.

Answer 1

1)are a plausibility structure providing answers to ultimate questions
2) give emotional security
3)validate deepest cultural norms
4) integrate culture
5) monitor cultural changes
6)offer psychological reassurance that we are at home in the world

Question 2

Identify and briefly explain three of the evaluative themes/counterthemes from the course slides.

Answer 2

• Emotional Expression v. Emotional Control
• Group-Centered v. Individual Centered
• Hierarchy is Right v. Equality is Right
• Other-World Oriented v. This-World Oriented

Question 3

Give Hiebert’s definition of a worldview.

Answer 3

“The fundamental cognitive, affective, and evaluative presuppositions a group of people make about the nature of things, and which they use to order their lives”

Question 4

Briefly explain what is meant by saying that Christianity is a synthesis of Athens and Jerusalem.

Answer 4

Christianity born of greek philosophical tradition (reason, pure concepts, precise definitions) and jewish tradition (old testament) (faith, obedience, dependance on God, personal being in God) Some ways they fit, some ways they are in contradiction

Question 5

With reference to the book of Genesis, explain the Christian doctrine that pride is sinful.

Answer 5

The Fall of Adam and Eve (Genesis 3): In the narrative of the Garden of Eden, Adam and Eve’s decision to eat from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil is central. The serpent tempts Eve by suggesting that eating the fruit would make them “like God” (Genesis 3:5), indicating a desire for divine knowledge and status. This act of disobedience reflects pride, as they sought to elevate themselves above their created role and challenge God’s authority.

Question 6

Briefly explain why Plato holds that the divine must be unchanging.

Answer 6

Nature of Perfection: For Plato, the divine represents the highest form of reality and goodness. Since change implies imperfection or lack, a perfect being must be unchanging. If the divine were to change, it would either become better (implying it was not perfect before) or worse (implying it could decline), which contradicts the notion of perfection.
something perfect can’t be changed by the outside

Question 7

Identify and briefly explain the main elements of Plotinus’ neo-Platonism.

Answer 7

Plotinus’ neo-Platonism is a philosophical system that builds on Plato’s ideas while introducing new concepts.
-The One: the ultimate source of all reality.This process is not a creation in the traditional sense but a natural unfolding(emanation).
-The Soul: The third principle is the World Soul, which bridges the spiritual and material realms. The Soul is responsible for animating the material world and is involved in the process of creation. Soul has a desire to go back to its source (the one)
-The Intellect (Nous): The Intellect is the second principle in Plotinus’ system, representing the realm of thought and the realm of Forms. It contemplates The One and, in turn, produces the world of Forms, which are the perfect ideals that give structure to the material world.

Question 8

Briefly explain the evolution of Augustine’s conception of God.

Answer 8

-Early Influences: In his youth, Augustine was influenced by Manichaeism, which portrayed God as a dualistic force in conflict with evil. thought God was material
-Platonism: Augustine encountered Neoplatonism, This exposure led him to see God as a transcendent, immutable, and perfect being. (christian view)
-Christian Revelation: After his conversion to Christianity, Augustine integrated biblical teachings with

Question 9

Explain how Augustine uses analogy to illuminate the Christian doctrine of the Trinity.

Answer 9

people are created in the image of god. without that similarity, hard to form any idea of him. we can examine ourselves to get inside about god and reveal parts of his nature. examine our memory, will, understanding(3).
Christian: Lover (father)-Beloved(son)-Love(spirit)

Question 10

Briefly summarize the controversy between Augustine and Pelagius and its significance.

Answer 10

center of the contreversy: original sin. Augustine invents this doctrine. Because of this contamination we can’t do good anymore unless God brings us back. Pelagius says that doctrine is a mistake and that we are born fresh and new: Jesus tells his flock to be perfect, therefore we must be able to be perfect.

Question 11

Briefly explain Augustine’s understanding of the contrast between the City of God and the Earthly City.

Answer 11

• The City of God represents the spiritual realm and the community of believers who are oriented toward God and live according to His will. It is characterized by love, peace, and divine grace.
• The Earthly City represents the secular, human society that is focused on temporal pleasures, power, and material achievements. It is characterized by self-love, pride, and sin.

Question 12

Briefly explain the philosophical problem of future contingents.

Answer 12

we have constraints on our thinking. excluded middle. p or not p. statements about future events neither true or false but according to law of logic must be one or the other. after the fact we will know. Problem; whole history of the universe are populated with a bunch of facts that are either true or false which makes it seem like its all predetermined

Question 13

Briefly explain how Boethius reconciles divine foreknowledge and human free will.

Answer 13

Boethius reconciles divine foreknowledge and human free will by asserting that God’s eternal perspective allows Him to know all actions without determining them, thereby preserving the integrity of human free will and moral responsibility.

Question 14

Briefly explain the doctrine of chance given by Philosophy in Boethius’ Consolation.

Answer 14

world governed by divine providence. helps boethius explain his bad luck. luck is a magical factor that helps one explain why he has one but chance is just the unexpected result of a concurrence of causes we are unaware of. rational reasons

Question 15

Identify and briefly explain Eriugena’s fourfold division of nature.

Answer 15

Nature encompasses everything.
-Nature that is creative and uncreated (God).
-creative and created (primordial forms (essence of triangularity built into reality)
-uncreative and created (you and me, objects everything material in this world)
-uncreative and uncreated (god in his capacity at rest (7th day) ) when things are done they go back to the source, back to god

Question 16

Briefly explain what Eriugena means by calling God a ‘seer’ and a ‘runner.

Answer 16

seer: everything that exists is within gods knowledge and understanding
runner: god is the thing that moves everything and makes everything happen
greek word ethimoloy of god comes from verb see and run ( moving things )

Question 17

Briefly explain the sense in which God may be said to be ‘nothing’ in Eriugena’s philosophy.

Answer 17

god is not a thing because he does not have determinate characteristics like a thing. god is simple, eternal and infinite so he does not have internal differences so he is no thing, its an infinite activity creation

Question 18

Briefly explain Eriugena’s views on the naming or description of God.

Answer 18

Many concepts come with their contraries, one comes out of the other. emergence of one thing out of the other. Can’t be applied to God. Can’t think god has any internal differences. None of the things we would apply to distinguish god can be applied. So we have to say he is super good rather than good so there can be no internal or external contrasts.

Question 19

Briefly summarize Anselm’s argument for God’s existence in Chapter 2 of the Proslogion.

Answer 19

Ontological argument: That than which nothing greater can be thought. the mere idea of god implies that he must be a real thing and not just an idea. better to exist in reality than just in the understanding. its not true that it exists only in my understanding, therefore it exists.

Question 20

Briefly summarize Gaunilo’s reply to Anselm’s argument for God’s existence from Ch. 2 of the Proslogion.

Answer 20

difference between having a merely thought I your mind and understanding it so the second premise of Anselm is wrong
idea of the perfect island

Question 21

Briefly summarize Anselm’s theory of truth.

Answer 21

consistent with the Christian view , god is truth is the fundamental idea and other things can be true if they are correctly organized to conform with god

Question 22

Briefly summarize why Anselm holds that not even God can take away rectitude of will.

Answer 22

rectitude of will = justice A just will is a will that does what God will is to do and god wills you to keep your rectitude and your justice and he can’t take it away because god would then contradict himself

Question 23

Briefly explain why Anselm holds that the ‘ability to sin’ is not part of the definition of freedom of choice.

Answer 23

Blasphemy to say God could sin. You are more free if you’re able to hold onto to your rectitude. ability to sin decreases our rectitude.

Question 24

Briefly explain how Anselm justifies the damnation of infants who die unbaptized.

Answer 24

Because of Adam and Eve, we are born with sin. must be saved by God, not by us individually. Baptism is a way to be forgiven and for the sin to be wiped away. So babies that don’t get baptised are going to hell.

Question 25

With reference to the slogan fides quarens intellectum, explain Anselm’s view on the authority of reason.

Answer 25

The way reason and faith are connected. Faith seeking understanding. Anslem is in the middle of faith and reason and thinks we should combine both. but faith comes first. If the two conflict, go with faith. Rational project within the frame of christianity

Question 26

1) Briefly summarize Anselm’s argument against Roscelin’s view of the Trinity

Answer 26

Anselm refuted Roscelin’s view by emphasizing the unity and indivisibility of the Trinity. He argued that while the Trinity consists of three distinct persons, they are not separate substances but share a single, unified divine essence. Anselm maintained that understanding the Trinity requires acknowledging the mystery of this unity without dividing the essence of God into three separate gods, which would contradict the core monotheistic principle of Christianity.So if you say the first thing, christian view, but the second you're not christian

Question 27

11) Briefly explain Aquinas’ view on the sorrow of the demons.

Answer 27

they do and don't don't: they don't have bodies so don't have sensation and feeling do: they feel it as their will is frustrated. they want things to be different than they are

Question 28

20)Briefly explain why, according to Dante, humans need the guidance of both secular and Church authority.

Answer 28

we are Bodie and souls. we have a divided nature. we have a natural end on earth and spiritual. secular authority guiding our bodies, and church guiding our souls.

Question 29

15. Briefly explain the difference between strong and weak theories of existence.

Answer 29

weak (no hypothesis hypothesis): things are just there. what is means to exist is just to fit a particular description strong (keep asking question): further explanation of existence that can be questioned, rather than simply accepted without thought.

Question 30

2. Briefly explain Anselm’s Christology.

Answer 30

christ has two natures: fully human and fully divine.

Question 31

9. Briefly explain Aquinas’ view on the question whether an angel is in a place.

Answer 31

incorporeal, immaterial, so they can"t occupy place, but sometimes they are in a place to the exercise of their power. not contained IN a place but contain A place. Ex: if acting on me, they are containing me. same way the soul contains a body.

Question 32

8. Briefly explain Aquinas’ view about the relationship between the body and the soul

Answer 32

opposed to plato's view: a soul is a substance, temporarily housed in a body. Aquinas: body is contained in the soul. What makes a body human, is the animation of it by the soul. but the soul is not a human being, it is what unites humanness and the body

Question 33

7. Briefly explain what is meant by talk of Aquinas’ ‘destruction of the world. ’

Answer 33

destruction of our concept of the world. the way that we think of the world. Explaining stuff from our concept of the world. but aquinas says that we are not capturing its essence, where there's a bunch of things emerging. detstroying the world as one big thing.

Question 34

12. Briefly explain Aquinas’ view concerning charitable love toward irrational creatures.

Answer 34

friendship towards creatures? can't be. 1- can only wish good to something capable of free choice 2-they don't have rationality, can't share in our form of life 3-ultimate aim of friendship is eternal, but animals don't go to heaven.

Question 35

16. Briefly explain what is meant by describing humans as a microcosm within the Great Chain of Being.

Answer 35

we all fall on this hierarchal scheme. at the bottom: matter. humans have all the lower level powers, plus rationality. the whole of the universe is visible in human beings in a way.

Question 36

13. Briefly summarize Aquinas’ view on love for one’s enemies.

Answer 36

You're commanded to love. even your enemies. but you don't have to indiviualy go out of your way and love them, but if the opportunity arises, you must love them. It is a sort of test to god, to despite them being your enemy, you still love them for their humanness.

Question 36

4. Briefly explain Duns Scotus’ solution to the problem of individuation.

Answer 36

a problem for scholastic realists. he contrasts with henry's answer: subcategories of species. 2 negations; there are not two divisions of Amelie. Amelie is not the same as maverick. Scotus: individuation is not merely a matter of possessing certain properties or existing in a particular time and space but is instead due to a unique, non-qualitative property he termed haecceity. This haecceity is what makes an individual entity distinctively itself, beyond its shared characteristics with others in its species or category

Question 37

3. Briefly contrast Anselm’s view with the traditional explanation for Christ’s incarnation.

Answer 37

christ comes into existence not from humans, so satan does not rule over him as he does the others. Anselm thinks this is ridiculous. Humans in sinning, must pay to make up for it, but don't have the power to do it. So they need a Godman who is human enough to have the sin but also powerful enough

Question 38

14. Briefly explain why, according to Aquinas, each angel belongs to a species of its own

Answer 38

your matter makes you an individual, but angels don't have any matter. So they need to be their own species to be differentiated from other angels.

Question 39

17. Identify and briefly describe the three characteristic features of mystical experience.

Answer 39

noetic quality (mind). ineffable, unsayable so you can't say what this experience is exactly because it is so unique. paradoxality of the language when they try to explain what happens in these mystical experiences. leads to contradictions.

Question 40

18. With reference to Margery Kempe, distinguish introvertive from extrovertive mystical experience.

Answer 40

Inwardly or outwardly turned experience. extroversive : sense experience introvertive: don't have the sensory, quiet the sensory, they try to go inward to their core to encounter within yourself the unity of the divine

Question 41

10. According to Aquinas, in what sense did the devil desire to be like God?

Answer 41

two different forms of likeness: similarity and wanting to be equal to God. The devil could not have wanted to be equal to God, bc he his too smart for that and would have needed to want the annihilation of himself. so its the other, but that should be okay so what's wrong: the devil wants to do something he can do but violates his nature or he's trying to be happy on his own and notwithstanding God's help

Question 42

5. Briefly explain Duns Scotus’ approach to the question of God’s infinity.

Answer 42

being has two branches: finite and infinite. infinite: 1. potential quantitative infinite , the future + 1. 2. actual quantitative , see it as a whole. 3. active qualitative: see it as a quality. so now we know what it is to think of infinity.

Question 43

6. Briefly explain Duns Scotus’ doctrine of the formal distinction.

Answer 43

conceptual distinction: depends on our language, and on our conception; morning star, evening star that are actually the same thing. two concepts that denote the same thing, but there is actually no distinction. Formal dinctinction: additional distinction that is an in between of real and conceptual distinction. distinguish the things because there are characteristics that distinguish the two, but they are also the same. ex: Amelie and maverick are both humans, but Amelie is an individual

Question 44

19. Briefly explain why, according to Dante, secular powers do not derive their authority from the Church.

Answer 44

church gets its form from christ. christ gives the church its nature. christ says he's not the lord, and that the church does not have any power. the purpose of secular authority is to maintain peace and order in the earthly realm, guiding humanity toward temporal happiness. In contrast, the Church's role is to guide souls toward eternal salvation. Each authority serves its distinct purpose, and mixing these roles would disrupt divine order.