Ch 3-4

Question 1

Retributive Justice

Answer 1

the type of justice in which good people are rewarded and evil people are punished.

Question 2

Theodicy

Answer 2

the problem of trying to reconcile God’s justice with the fact of unjust evil and suffering in the world.
How could a good God allow bad thing to happen to good people?

Question 3

Explanation of suffering

Answer 3

God’s way of punishing us for our sins and wrongdoings.

Question 4

Pain

Answer 4

Comes from the latin word Poena which at its root means punishment/penalty

Question 5

original sin

Answer 5

tendency to choose evil over good.

Question 6

Problems of why explanations of suffering are wrong

Answer 6

1. God is seen as a judge. 2. This model does not adequately account for the suffering of innocent people.

Question 7

Suffering is a test of faith

Answer 7

God is testing us to find out the quality of our faith.
Inadequate because— implies that God is cruel and sadistic, God is not omniscient, we are pawns between God and satan

Question 8

Omniscient

Answer 8

the ability of God to know everything– the past, the present and future.

Question 9

Suffering as a form of discipline

Answer 9

God sends us suffering to teach us a lesson, to help us grow.
Inadequate–
1. some can be a form of discipline but does not guarantee that we will be better.
2. If it is– being virtuous would mean we should seek out suffering for its own sake.
3. these acts reject God’s gift of health.

Question 10

Masochism

Answer 10

likes pain inflicted on them

Question 11

Sadism

Answer 11

likes inflicting pain on others

Question 12

Suffering and Freedom

Answer 12

Consequence of human sin
Saint Augustine- “evil and suffering are the consequences of human freedom.”
- exists so we can be free and underlines God’s freedom.

Question 13

Capital sins

Answer 13

pride, covetousness, envy, anger, gluttony, lust, and sloth.

Question 14

Response one to death: Death is Final

Answer 14

we are not mortal and need to find purpose and meaning in our everyday lives.

Question 15

Socrates (470-399 BCE)

Answer 15

• approached his death with calm, dignity and courage.
• role model for Ars Moriendi.. art of dying.
• “it is always better to die than to do evil.”

Question 16

immortality

Answer 16

continued existence beyond death

Question 17

Martin Heidegger (1889-1976)

Answer 17

German philosopher
- we all must die our own death, take possession of it, we are responsible for finding meaning and purpose in our lives.
- death gives us a sense of individuality and uniqueness.
- as soon as we are born, we are old enough to die.

Question 18

Jean-Paul Sartre (1905-1980)

Answer 18

French philosopher.
-believed death is absured.
-soul is NOT immortal and there is no being after death.
- can not understand/control death.
- prevents our wholeness and deprives us of our full potential so we need to celebrate every day and find meaning.

Question 19

Karl Jaspers (1883-1969)

Answer 19

German Philosopher.
- fulfillment of human life.
- it is natural and belongs to cycle of nature– no control over death.
- life is a gift, death requires a leap of faith (understanding the nature of the material universe).

Question 20

Response 2: Death as a way out

Answer 20

Death is a way to end their suffering.

Question 21

Suicide

Answer 21

the intentional killing of oneself.
- SOME societies see it as an honorable way to die (Romans, Japanese, Polynesia)

Question 22

Suicide in Old Testament

Answer 22

5th commandment- Thou shalt not kill. - * Saint Thomas Aquinas teaching:
- violates the instinct to love oneself and preserve one’s life.
- offense against society
- crime against God.

Question 23

1st stereotype/fact on suicide

Answer 23

Stereotype: Only the very rich or the very poor commit suicide.
Truth: people of every economic and racial group commit suicide.

Question 24

2nd stereotype/fact on suicide

Answer 24

Stereotype: Suicide tends to run in families. The desire to commit suicide is inherited.
Truth: While there is no known gene for suicide, people who have had a family member commit suicide are more likely to commit suicide themselves. The reasons may include the survivor’s feelings of guilt, similar problems facing members of the same family, and inherited chemical imbalances that lead to depression.

Question 25

3rd stereotype/fact on suicide

Answer 25

Stereotype: People who commit suicide are mentally ill.
Truth: In most cases, a person who commits suicide is not mentally ill but is extremely unhappy due to prolonged depression or emotional upset.

Question 26

4th stereotype/fact on suicide

Answer 26

Stereotype: Most suicides occur around Christmas.
Truth: While most suicides occur in February, there also seems to be a correlation to the person’s birthday. One study has found that half the people who commit suicide do so within ninety days of their last birthday and that nearly eight in ten suicides occur within the first six months after a person’s birthday. Few people kill themselves in the three months before their birthdays.

Question 27

5th stereotype/fact on suicide

Answer 27

Stereotype: Suicidal people want to die and there is little that can be done about it.
Truth: Most people who threaten suicide are undecided about living or dying. They gamble with death in the hope that others will save them.

Question 28

6th stereotype/fact on suicide

Answer 28

Stereotype: People who talk about suicide will not commit them
Truth: eight out of ten people who give definite warnings about killing themselves will do so. Their threats should be taken seriously. In times of severe depression, a person’s outer strengths and inner strenghts are live savers.

Question 29

Response 3: Death as Self-Sacrifice

Answer 29

death is the ultimate expression of love- a way to express belief in a noble cause or ideal, a way of sacrificing oneself for others.
ex.
- Maximillian Kolbe (1894-1941)
- Jean Donovan (1953-1980)
- Oscar Romero (1917-1980)

Question 30

Altruistic death

Answer 30

a form of self-sacrifice in which an individual gives up his or her life for a noble cause, a sense of patriotic duty, or a religious ideal

Question 31

Martyr

Answer 31

Greek word that means “witness”; one who voluntarily dies for their faith or some Christian principle.

Question 32

Response 4: Death as the beginning of new life

Answer 32

death as the beginning of new life marks one of the radical differences between Christianity and traditional Judaism.
- O.T transition to N.T: belief in Messiah to free from sins and the evil of death.