Knowledge/ Reason
Where does all human knowlege begin ( according to aristotle)
the senses
What are natural faith and supernatural faith?
the assent of the things in the mind unseen
Natural- human level
Supernatural- God (grace)
What is science?
This field studies the physical world through observation and experimentation.
This scientific model describes the universe’s expansion from an early hot, dense state.
What is the Big Bang model?
St. John Paul II compared faith and reason to these, which lift the human spirit toward truth.
What are two wings?
What are the 3 acts of the mind ?
apprehension, judgment, and reasoning?
What is an example of natural faith?
You believe your teacher’s account of a trip to Rome, even though you were not there. This is the type of faith you exercise.
What is scientism?
This belief claims that science is the only way to obtain real knowledge.
Regarding the human body, the Catholic Church permits serious study of this scientific explanation for the development of living things.
What is evolution?
There is no need for the Bible to mention dinosaurs because its purpose is this.
What is to communicate God’s revelation and the truth needed for our salvation, rather than provide a complete scientific history?
How is knowing something through reason different from knowing something through faith?
Reason reaches a conclusion through evidence and thinking; faith accepts a truth based on the testimony of a trustworthy witness.
Two students believe that God exists. One reaches this conclusion through philosophical arguments; the other believes because God has revealed himself. Are both exercising supernatural faith? Explain.
Not necessarily. The first arrives at the conclusion through reason; the second exercises supernatural faith by accepting God’s revelation on God’s authority.
Why cant science disprove God existence
because god is outside this world
non-material
Even if the human body developed through evolution, Catholics must believe this about every spiritual soul
What is that it is immediately created by God, rather than produced by matter or evolution?
This principle explains why a truth genuinely known through reason cannot contradict a truth revealed by God.
What is the unity of truth?
Someone says, “If I cannot personally prove something, I cannot know it.” Explain why this claim is mistaken.
We can also know things through trustworthy testimony. Much of our knowledge of history, distant places, and other people depends on accepting what credible witnesses tell us.
What is an example of God's Revelation?
burning bush- I AM
Jesus- incarnation
trinity
Name two “one-wing” extremes that separate faith and reason.
What are fideism, which dismisses reason, and rationalism, which rejects the need for divine revelation?
Your friend says, “Either God caused the universe or the Big Bang did.” Explain the mistake using primary and secondary causes.
What is that God is the primary cause who gives creation existence, while physical processes described by the Big Bang model can operate as secondary causes?
A friend reads Genesis as a modern science textbook. Name two things the friend should consider to interpret it properly.
What are its literary genre and the human author’s intention and historical context?
A student argues, “Using reason means thinking for yourself, so believing someone else’s testimony is unreasonable.” Explain the flaw in this argument.
Thinking for yourself includes judging whether a witness is trustworthy. Accepting testimony can be reasonable when there are good reasons to trust the witness’s knowledge and honesty. We do not need to personally prove everything we know.
Your friend says, “Trusting a scientist and believing God’s revelation are exactly the same because both involve trusting someone.” Explain what is true and what is mistaken in this statement.
Both involve accepting testimony from a trusted witness. However, natural faith relies on human witnesses who can make mistakes, while supernatural faith relies on God, who cannot deceive or be deceived, and requires God’s grace.
Give two objections to the claim, “Only scientifically testable statements can be true.”
What are: the claim itself cannot be scientifically tested, and we know truths through other means, such as logic and mathematics?
Explain why John Paul II spoke of “theories” of evolution and why Catholics cannot accept every interpretation.
What is that there are different scientific explanations and philosophical interpretations of evolution, and Catholics must reject interpretations that reduce the whole human person, including the spiritual soul, to matter alone?
Christianity unites the Greek understanding of Logos with the God who reveals himself to Israel. Name the mystery in which the eternal Word becomes man, and explain what it shows about faith and reason.
What is the Incarnation? In Jesus, the divine Logos becomes flesh, showing that the God of revelation is also the source of reason and truth.