McGrath Ch 9 - The Doctrine of God

Question 1

What kinds of ‘female imagery’ has been used in the Scriptures about God?

Answer 1

• God as ‘giving birth’ to Israel
• as a midwife who helps with the birthing process
• Caring for Israel as a mother

Question 2

Which church father rejected the idea that God was male?

Answer 2

Gregory of Nazianzus

Question 3

According to the Catechism of the Catholic church, what does calling God ‘Father’ indicate?

Answer 3

• God is the first origin of everything
• God is transcendent authority
• God is good and has loving care for his children

Question 4

According to the Catechism of the Catholic church, what does God’s ‘motherhood’ express?

Answer 4

• parental tenderness
• Emphasizes God’s immanence
• Intimacy between the creator and creature

Question 5

What are some potential problems with the idea of a ‘personal’ God?

Answer 5

• Might be taken to imply that God is a human being

- Because the Trinity speaks of God as three persons, to speak of God as a ‘person’ may be a denial of the Trinity.

Question 6

Why does Spinoza believe that love cannot be reciprocated by God?

Answer 6

• Any passion on the part of God involves a change in his being
• God cannot move to a greater perfection or to a lesser.
• The perfection of God would be compromised

Question 7

What is the 20th century philosophical movement that attempts to help clarify what it means to speak of God as a person? Who is the leading representative?

Answer 7

“Dialogical personalism”. Martin Buber

Question 8

What is the difference between the ‘I-It’ and ‘I-You’ categories?

Answer 8

‘I-It’

• relationship between subject and object
• knowledge is indirect, mediated through an object
• an active subject pursuing a passive object

‘I-You’

• relationship between two active subjects. Mutual and reciprocal
• Knowledge is direct, immediate, lacks specific content

Question 9

What are the beliefs of the ‘history of dogma’ movement?

Answer 9

• Belief that classical Greek ideas had inappropriately found their way into Christian theology

Question 10

What created a climate in which it was apologetically necessary to speak of a suffering God?

Answer 10

Protest Atheism

Question 11

Who argued that a God that cannot suffer is a deficient, not a perfect God

Answer 11

Jurgen Moltmann

Question 12

How does Moltmann argue that both the Father and the Son suffer but in different ways?

Answer 12

• the Son suffers the pain and death of the cross

- the Father gives up the son and suffers his loss

Question 13

Who believed that human civilization had reached a stage at which it may dispense with the notion of God?

Answer 13

Friedrich Nietzche

Question 14

What is closely linked to the rise of the movement known as Deism?

Answer 14

The Newtonian emphasis upon the mechanical regularity of the universe

Question 15

Who conceived of divine action in terms of primary and secondary causes?

Answer 15

Thomas Aquinas

Question 16

Which councils explicitly taught that God created a good creation out of nothing?

Answer 16

• The Fourth Lateran Council

- The Council of Florence

Question 17

What were the statements by Augustine of Hippo that rejected dualism?

Answer 17

• Everything that exists owes that existence to God
• Everything that exists was created good by a good God
• Evil that exists in this world does not possess its own substance. Rather it is a ‘lack of goodness’
• Evil does not derive its origin from God, but from humanity’s use of its God-given freedom

Question 18

Which thinkers believed that the world was created out of pre-existing material?

Answer 18

• Plato
• Gnostic writers
• Clement of Alexandria
• Justin Martyr

Question 19

What are 3 different models of God as creator?

Answer 19

1. Emanation
2. Construction
3. Artistic expression

Question 20

What is Irenaeus’ approach to theodicy?

Answer 20

An encounter with evil is seen as a necessary prerequisite for spiritual growth and development

Question 21

What is Augustine’s approach to theodicy?

Answer 21

Evil is a direct consequence of the misuse of human freedom. God created humanity with the freedom to choose good or evil. Sadly, humanity chose evil; as a result, the world is contaminated by evil.

Evil had to be an option within the world if it were to be accessible to human choice

Question 22

Which theology sees suffering as participation in the struggle of God against suffering in the world?

Answer 22

liberation theology

Question 23

Who is the origins of “process thought” generally associated to?

Answer 23

Alfred North Whitehead

Question 24

What is the concept of “process theology”?

Answer 24

God acts through persuasion/influence

Question 25

Who argued that an exploitative attitude to nature is a direct result of the Christian doctrine of creation?

Answer 25

Lynn White Jr.

Question 26

Which philosopher addresses the existence of evil using “free-will defense”?

Answer 26

Alvin Plantinga

Question 27

What is the idea of “free-will defense”?

Answer 27

1. Free will is morally important
2. If humans were forced to do nothing but good, that would represent a denial of human free will
3. God must bring into being the best possible world with free will
4. Therefore God must create a world with free will
5. God is not responsible if humans choose to do evil, since God is operating under self-imposed constraints - God will not compel human beings to do good.