Mid-Term Flashcards
Explain this equation: R - F = M
Reason - Faith = Modernism
Explain this equation: F - R = E
Faith - Reason = Existentialism
Explain this equation: -F - R = P
No faith - Reason = Postmodernism
What must philosophy be attached to always?
Sociology
Which is the best description to the Christian approach to life and Scripture?
Premodern consciousness in a Postmodern world
Rationalism focuses on what at the epistemological starting point?
Reason and the mind
Empiricism focuses on what at the epistemological starting point?
Senses
Which best describes postmodernism?
Pessimistic view of meta-narratives
What did German Historical Criticism lead to?
Liberalism
Who claimed in the 400s BC that “relativism is knowledge”?
Stoics
Which two Greek philosophers had the greatest impact on philosophy and theology?
Plato and Aristotle
How did Plotinus “baptize” Plato?
Took the Greek ideas, cleaned them up and put them in Biblical terms
When Plotinus spoke of the “One” how much did he claim we could know?
Not much, he was agnostic when it came to the knowledge about “The one”
What two things made up the “universal” that made sense of all the “particulars” according to Aquinas?
Human reason and faith
What was the new “center” of Enlightenment hope?
Reason
What “universal” did Descartes begin with?
The mind
Without scientific proof as the basis of knowing, what did the Enlightenment say you were left with?
Zero, just our opinions
Who believed there were no “innate principles” or ideas in us at creation?
John Loke
Why is it important to understand what historical liberalism is?
To see why it collapsed into postmodernism
What did modernism lead to?
Postmodernism
Once Descartes proves his own existence, what did he attempt from there to go on to prove?
Prove God philosophically
In the Enlightenment many “christian” thinkers saw revelation as what?
Unnecessary
Contrast the Upper floor and the Lower floor describing
what is in each
Upper; intangible like love. Lower; Physical world
What is a meta-narrative?
Overarching story that explains all the particulars of life
Discuss how the “meta-narrative” engages the Upper and Lower floors.
They are interconnected, to live coherently, what you do in one will effect the other.
How was Aquinas the “open door” to liberalism?
You can think your way there, the mind is not fallen/corrupt
What was the next jump from Aquinas’ notion “we can start with ourselves alone and know God”?
Everything, All
What is the first principle behind studying history for Apostolic’s?
God knows the meaning history better than the historians
Which ancient people united religious awe and worship with moral law and conscience?
Jewish/Hebrew people
What was the end of epicurean thought?
Hedonism, the worship of pleasure
What was the end of stoicism and how was it proven
unlivable from the example of its two founding philosophers?
Fatalism, both committed suicide
What is the biggest contrast in ethics for Hebrew and Greek thought?
Theory, the Hebrews taught this in practice
Scripture contrasts the Greek idea that “our head judges
our heart” by pointing out what instead?
Our heart judges our head
Which was the most dangerous of the three options for
approaching medieval catholic synthesis?
“Supposed” critical synthesis
What has the desire for “academic respectability” done for the Church throughout all history according to John Frame?
Evangelism and the apologetics of the church
Why is “the Enlightenment” an ironic term?
It created the darkest time in history
For the Enlightenment what was the tool that would answer all of life’s questions?
Scientific Method
What “reduction of the heart” did Romanticism reduce humanity to?
Sentiment, more feelings
What did Romanticism lead to (its philosophical child)?
Existentialism
Have you kept up on all your reading of Swanson?
YES
