Possible Development in Christian Thought Exam Questions Flashcards
Bonhoeffer:
Evaluate Bonhoeffers views on Christian duty to the state
1: duty to oppose evil and injustice
halt the wheel of the state
silence in the face of evil is itself evil
2; acting justly out of faith not always right
costly grace
jesus sacrifice
3: role of church to act as conscience of the state
where state resists we fight against
4: clear duty to the state in Jesus and St Paul NT
political obedience
5: not role of the church to be involved in secular matters
6: Not everything that happens in society is morally good so it’s important to speak out…
Harvey Weinstein case
‘speak up for people who cannot speak for themselves’
7: Responsibility to ensure state acts in accordance with God’s will
If state making reasonable people face unreasonable situations then christians have duty to disobey it
helping greater good
can never represent gods will
BUT
8: Not up to us to decide how things work, God will decide what will happen; god’s plan
“responsibility to the state”
jesus was only the son of god
Mark 6:47-52 and John 9:1-41
1: “walking on the lake” “terrified” “hearts were hardened”
- miracles
2: heals the blind man
“i was blind but now i see”
“you have seen him now”
- blind metaphor for lacking faith in god
- jesus saves him
- jesus knows god
abba or dad
not equal
yet sometimes refers to self as god
christology from above
karl rahner - consciousness of god
gerald o collins
consciousness and knowledge is different - miracle worker
hume
cannot trust accounts
no modern day examples - resurrection
Jesus only teacher of moral wisdom
Matthew 5:17-48 and Luke 15:11-32
1: parable of the lost son
“he was lost and is found”
- father is god who forgives
2: fulfilment of thr law
murder
adultery
divorce
oaths
eye for an eye
love for enemies
- jesus was a great moral teacher
richard dawkins - message of jesus
- taught, helped outcasts
- rabbi
educated teacher
preaching in synagogues - taught inner purity
Liberator
Mark 5:24-34 and Luke 10:25-37
1: mark
“ faith has healed you”
2: luke
good samaritan
love your neighbour
- free people from social convention
- in conflict with authorities
- military messiah
brandon
politically driving activist
freedom fighter
bonhoeffer places too much emphasis on suffering
1: acknowledges many other aspects of discipleship
2: willing to suffer is true discipleship
Hick: helps us grow spiritually, into likeness of god
BUT
3: influenced by historical context
not relevant in modern secular society
4: neglects other christian teachings like love, agape, forgiveness
5: jesus the exception because he was divine
is it possible to always know gods will
1: yes, costly grace
standing up to society
innate morals from god
2: jesus is model of gods will
jesus disciples
acts of obedience
But
3: god superior we can never know him
wont always know right from wrong
cheap grace
corrupted our readon
knowing “in the moment of action” may be conscience
Evaluate Augustines view on grace and summum bonum
1: Augustine presents that our free will is naturally limited as people are tainted by concupiscence and therefore cannot choose the right action every time.
SO
Gods grace is freely given to everyone, even undeserving humans. This can be seen through the sacrifice made by Jesus on the cross.
2: Augustine believes in the aspect of God electing some people to go to heaven, a sign of God’s benevolence. This underlines the belief that humans do not deserve grace, but grace is the only thing that can save people from hell.
3: Inspired by Plato. Augustine speaks about the goodness of God as being the absolute greatest good (summum bonum) that is only available for some. It is a part of God’s nature. This can only be achieved by attaining God’s grace, this is eternal happiness in heaven.
only reach summum bonum by being restored through grace of god (sola fides)
augustine is too pessimistic
1: original sin
the fall
humanity innately sinful
BUT
2: locke tabula rosa
blank slate
inconceivable unjust god
dawkins
contrary to evolutionary biology
irrational and immoral
3: believes we are corrupted by the fall driven by cupiditas
Following the fall the balance within individuals is no longer maintained and human nature is self seeing and sinful
will divided - akrasia
BUT
4: hobbes agrees
born solitary poor nasty british
yet
Rousseau
state of nature
noble savage
Real LotF
harmony
5: augustine’s view that sex is sinful and only for procreation is pessimistic and doesnt fit into new society thinking
SO
6: freud better
doesnt deny centrality of libido
cure isn’t gods grace but psychoanalysis
innate sense of god
1: innate
calvin and catechism
sensus divintatis
semen religionis
imprinted in human consciousness
desire for god is written in the human heart
awareness of divinity
epistemic distance
circero - always infinite being
2: know him through revealed theology
divine revelation
through faith and grace
lets himself be known through prophets scripture prayer
aquinas
need commandments and his revelation to know him because of the fall
christ a “mirror” or the divine
bible a witness to gods active and specific action
bart
only god choose to reveal himself
3: natural theology
human sense of divine in creation
psalm 8 and romans 8
order of creation - nature reflects gods aspects
the world shows purpose so must have design
brunner
general revelation in nature is point of contact
swinburne
order purpose design concludes tbat god exists
heaven and hell
1: heaven
place of eternal rest
perfection of whole of creation
bernard williams
it would get boring
2: hell
eternal punishment
nt - physical place
ot - concept of sheol
tillich - psychological separation
hume
do human beings justly deserve eternal punishment
hick
loving god wouldnt allow
3: purgatory
not explicit in bible
pope gregory - cleanse soul
rahner
metaphor for souls greater awareness of sin and god
election
1: limited
matthew 22:14
many are invited but few are chosen
augustine
god chooses some to save through his grace
2: unlimited
barth
salvation for all
so christians saved
hick
universalism
necessarily saved
barth and hick
necessary we go to heaven
3: predestination
god chooses eternal destiny
omniscient and omnipotent
double - choose some for heaven
and some for punishment
calvin - predetermined but dont know what we get so still have to act well
“Does God’s judgement take place immediately after death or at the end of time?”
1: IMMEDIATELY AFTER DEATH
REWARD/ PUNISHMENT FOR MORAL BEHAVIOUR, PRE-DESTINATION
suggests judgement is immediate and based on actions on earth - the bad will receive their “just deserts”; Lazarus found himself in heaven with the righteous, and the rich man in Hades
2: END OF TIME
· St Paul says that the resurrection was the first sign that the fallen world will be restored/ perfection of the human God relationship, and humans will be able to see and know God more clearly than they do now through this “dark glass”,
parousia - second coming of christ at end of time
“The hour is coming when all who are in their graves will hear his voice and will come out” (John 5)
gender and society
Mary Daly was a radical post-Christian feminist theologian
· Argued that men seek to oppress women, religion = tool of this oppression
· Stems from the ‘unholy trinity’ inspired by Nietzsche
· Therefore, for Daly, Christianity is essentially sexist / beyond saving
1: If God is male than man is God
è God as the most powerful being as a male figure
è Projects the oppression of femininity
è Suppresses ‘hag’ ness / proper spirituality of women
è Stems its way from God into the religion
Ephesians 5:22-33 - ‘wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife even as Christ is the head of the Church’
BUT
2: Ignorance to feminine qualities of God
kindness of God’; saw potential for language to be ‘desexualised’ as there are female characteristics in the Holy Spirit. Replace ‘Father/Son/Holy Spirit’ with ‘Creator/Redeemer/Sustainer’
