Midterm 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
-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
Rationalism focuses on what at the epistemological starting point?
Reason
Empiricism focuses on what at the epistemological starting point?
Senses
Which best describes postmodernism?
Pessimism of metanarratives
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 & Aristotle
How did Plotinus “baptize” Plato?
Immersed Plato’s thought into the theology
When Plato spoke of the “One” how much did he claim we could know?
Not much, mostly agnostic about any positive knowledge about the One
What two things made up the “universal” that made sense of all the “particulars” according to Aquinas?
Human Reason & Faith
What was the new “center” of Enlightenment hope?
Reason
What “universal” did Descartes begin with?
His mind
Without scientific proof as the basis of knowing, what did the Enlightenment say you were left with?
Opinions
Who believed there were no “innate principles” or ideas in us at creation?
John Locke
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?
God
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 Floor: intangible things like love, justice, etc.
Lower Floor: the physical or the material world, the observable
What is a meta-narrative?
A story that explains all the particulars of life
Discuss how the “meta-narrative” engages the Upper and Lower floors.
They are inter-connected, and what you say in one will affect the other.
They have to be inter-connected to live coherently.
How was Aquinas the “open door” to liberalism?
The mind is not fallen
What was the next jump from Aquinas’ notion “we can start with ourselves alone and know God”?
We could start with ourselves and know everything
What is the first principle behind studying history for Apostolics?
God knows the meaning of history better than everyone
Which ancient people united religious awe and worship with moral law and conscience?
The Jewish people
What was the end of epicurean thought?
Hedonism
What was the end of stoicism and how was it proven unlivable from the example of its two founding philosophers?
Fatalism, it is illustrated true by the two founding philosophers because they both committed suicide.
What is the biggest contrast in ethics for Hebrew and Greek thought?
Greeks taught ethics in theory, Hebrews in practice
Scripture contradicts with 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?
It has hurt the evangelism and the apologetics of the church.
Why is “the Enlightenment” an ironic term?
It’s deconstructing Truth, and it led to the creation of the darkest time spiritually in history.
For the Enlightenment what was the tool that would answer all of life’s questions?
The Scientific Method
What “reduction of the heart” did Romanticism reduce humanity to?
Sentiment
What did Romanticism lead to (its philosophical child)?
Existentialism
Have you kept up on all your reading of Swanson?
Yes
