Long questions midterm Flashcards
Identify and briefly explain four of the six functions of a worldview, as explained by Hiebert.
1) WV’s are a plausibility structure providing answers to ultimate questions
- Where are we, who are we, what’s wrong, what is the remedy
2) WV’s give emotional security
- Rituals/events = used to recognize and renew order in life and nature
3) WV’s validate deepest cultural norms
- Guides behavior, shapes sense of what is and should be
4) WV’s integrate culture
- Sense of living in one unifed world (not chaos)
5) WV’s monitor cultural changes
- Selecting novel elements that fit, rejecting the others
6) WV’s offer psychological reassurance that we are at home in the world
Identify and briefly explain three of the evaluative themes/counterthemes from the course slides.
Evaluative themes :
- Emotional Expression v. Emotional Control
This theme contrasts cultures or individuals that value open and visible expression of emotions (emotional expression) with those that emphasize the suppression or management of emotions in public (emotional control). Some societies view emotional expressiveness as a sign of authenticity, while others may see emotional restraint as a sign of maturity or self-discipline. - Group-Centered v. Individual Centered
This theme explores the tension between collectivism and individualism. Group-centered cultures prioritize the needs, goals, and well-being of the group (such as family, community, or organization) over the individual. In contrast, individual-centered cultures emphasize personal autonomy, individual rights, and self-fulfillment. - Other-World Oriented v. This-World Oriented
This theme contrasts the focus on spiritual or metaphysical concerns with a focus on material or earthly matters. Cultures or individuals who are other-world oriented prioritize spiritual goals, religious beliefs, or preparation for an afterlife. In contrast, those who are this-world oriented focus on practical, everyday concerns such as career success, material wealth, and personal enjoyment in the present life. - Emphasize Ascription v. Emphasize Achievement
- Focus on Whole Picture v. Look at Specific Details
- Universalist v. Particularist
- Hierarchy is Right v. Equality is Right
Counterthemes :
- Time as linear, progressive vs. time as circular
Linear : events happen in a clear order, progress is possible, there is an end and future
Circular : no end no beginning, eternity, events reoccur - Pendular time, critical event time, dream time (Hiebert 51)
Pendular : time swings back and forth between two points, may show extremes
Critical : marked by significant pivotal events rather than uniform,
Dream : timeless, past present future coexist, fluid existence
Give Hiebert’s definition of a worldview.
The fundamental cognitive (is), affective (feel), and evaluative (should be) presuppositions a group of people make about the nature of things, and which they use to order their lives” (Hiebert 15).
- Explains our place in the world
- Organizes elements of human knowledge and experience
- With experience = beliefs, values, feelings = decisions + behavior
Briefly explain what is meant by saying that Christianity is a synthesis of Athens and Jerusalem.
Athens : Greek philosophy and reason, rational enquiry, pursuit of knowledge through human reason, logos, try to understand the nature of reality, ultimate causes behind the universe,
Jerusalem : biblical revelation and faith, divine revelation, morality rooted in the will of God, 10 commandments,
Mix of both : brings tensions, shapes the western history
With reference to the book of Genesis, explain the Christian doctrine that pride is sinful.
“The Fall”
- Adam’s sin is inherited by all of humanity
- Pride, becoming god-like
- Sacrifice of Jesus on the cross redeems all of humanity
The serpent tempts Adam and Eve to eat the apple, in order to be “like God” (pride). Eve and Adam eat the apple, act out of pride, which results in their expulsion of the garden and consequences. Rebellion against God, selfishness, act as their own will, forsake God for his own desires = sinful.
Briefly explain why Plato holds that the divine must be unchanging.
He says that anything that is well made, and in the best form, is least liable to suffer change.
Influenced by outside entities (would imply he is not perfect), would not change (because if he would change to the worst since he is already perfect). And so, since he would not want to change for the worse (and since he is perfect so he wouldn’t change for the better), he remains absolutely and forever in his own form.
Allegory of the cave: the sun represents the divine unchanging (eternal foundation, truth, true knowledge). If wouldn’t be unchanging, wouldn’t know the truth.
Identify and briefly explain the main elements of Plotinus’ neo-Platonism
He and other Neo-Platonists (e.g. Proclus) remained pagans during the rise of Christianity, but some of their central ideas converge with Christian thought.
Three levels of existence
1. The One (the Good) (God, supreme perfection, unchanging)
2. Intellect (us, realm of forms, all intelligible realities)
3. Soul (creates and governs the physical world, gap between intelligible and material world)
From top to bottom, from bottom to top (reconnect with their source)
Briefly explain the evolution of Augustine’s conception of God.
Early, wrong (Manichaeism)
* Never thought of God ‘under the figure of a human body’ (p. 1)
* Believed God was ‘incorruptible, and uninjurable, and unchangeable’Compare to Plato, Republic II
* Thought of God as ‘being in space, whether infused into the world, or diffused infinitely without it’
EVIL = OPPOSING FORCE
GOD WAS NOT OMNIPOTENT
New (conv. To Christianity, Neo-Platonism)
- In summary, Augustine’s conception of God evolved from an early engagement with dualism and materialism to a deep Christian understanding of God as eternal, immutable, personal, the source of all good, and the ultimate authority in both justice and mercy. His mature view of God emphasized God’s transcendence, yet also His intimate involvement in human history and the soul’s journey toward salvation
Explain how Augustine uses analogy to illuminate the Christian doctrine of the Trinity.
- The Christian doctrine of the Trinity: Trinity of God the Father, Son, and Spirit who share the same divine nature which is God.
- Augustine uses the analogy of human will (ability to choose), understanding (ability to know), and memory (ability to recall)
- The idea that we exist comes from the Father, which refers to God as the creator and sustainer of life.
- The idea that we know we exist comes from the Son and implies knowledge. The Son is seen as God helping humanity understand divine truth and existence.
- The idea that we are glad of our existence and knowledge comes from the Spirit, which signifies joy and affirmation
- Lover (father) beloved (s) love (spirit)
Briefly summarize the controversy between Augustine and Pelagius and its significance.
- Disagreement about human nature and the theme of human improvement and perfectibility.
- Pelagius denies the original sin and claims that humans can choose between right and wrong without the help of God. They would then be able to aim at unlimited perfection.
- Augustine claims that because of the original sin, humans are more inclined to sin and therefore need the help of God to lead them on the right path.
- Humans are not able to attain perfection on their own but need the help of God to do so.
- It is significant since it tackles key elements of Christian doctrine such as salvation, grace, sin, and human’s place in society.
Briefly explain Augustine’s understanding of the contrast between the City of God and the Earthly City.
- Sees both cities as two distinct communities, not defined by a location but by the object of their love.
- Earthly city as the love of self, even to the contempt of God, and the Heavenly city as the love of God even to the contempt of self.
- The Earthly city relies more on values such as wealth, power, and pleasure whereas the Heavenly city values more their relationship with God and the divine world.
- The two cities are mixed in our world until de last judgment creates their separation where the Heavenly city lives in accordance with the love of God and the Earthly city faces judgment for its sins
Briefly explain the philosophical problem of future contingents.
- Future contingents are when some claims seem neither true or false (paradox). If this were to be true, the future will show it to us. If it turns out to have been true, then the claim just has been true yesterday as well. However, yesterday we couldn’t tell with certainty that it was true because of our epistemic limitations.
- It raises issues on determinism and free will because since the future event has the possibility of being either true or false, then the future events are not entirely determined by past events which goes against determinism and free will
- Law of excluded middle (either true or it’s denial is true)
Briefly explain the doctrine of chance given by Philosophy in Boethius’Consolation.
- Chance as the product of different causes each with its own purpose.
- Chance is an unexpected outcome resulting from numerous factors that act along divine providence.
- It is not seen as “random” but rather as coming from an ordered universe of providence.
- For many, thinking that events that occur are not random but a result of the divine gives them comfort as they feel more secure in the world we live in
Briefly explain how Boethius reconciles divine foreknowledge and human free will
- God’s omnicience does not invalidate humans free choice.
- God is an omniscient being that already knows what the future holds. From His point of view, the event is seen as fixed and unchanging, which implies that the event is necessary and will without a doubt take place.
- From the human perspective, we see time as being linear and the events as contingent where we freely choose if the event will happen or not.
- Law of identity : everything is what it is (god’s foreknowledge for us shows that he is eternal)
- Law of noncontradiction : Two mutually contradictory propositions cannot both be true, they exist in two different respects
- Law of excluded middle : For every proposition, either it is true or its negation is true, For any human action, the choice is either freely made or determined; however, in Boethius’ framework, future free actions are “known” by God but not determined, maintaining the truth of both free will and divine foreknowledge.
Identify and briefly explain Eriugena’s fourfold division of nature.
The first one is nature that creates and is uncreated where God is at the origin.
- Second, there is nature that creates and is created which includes primordial causes such as forms and archetypes.
- Third, there is nature that does not create and is created which include all elements on the material world and the world of experience.
- Finally, there is the nature that does not create and is uncreated which is God but at rest, while he isn’t creating.
