Good Old Days
What did John Locke mean by saying that Religion is an "issue of maximal concernment?"
That Religion is something you can't not think about to live a satisfying life.
How does Schleiermacher define religion? How does his definition support tolerance?
In terms of intuition and feeling the Infinite.
No one can regulate the intuitions of others.
In MacLeish's J.B., what was Sarah's fear over the Thanksgiving Day table scene?
That if they weren't grateful enough, they could lose everything.
(I'll also accept luck running out).
For Aquinas, in what sense can we speak about God? (clue: not literal).
Analogical: Through analogies.
What historical event caused Enlightenment philosophers to seek a new foundation for Religion that was not Tradition or Scripture?
The 30 years war (1618-1648) In Europe (which killed millions of people over religious divisions).
What is Moral Therapeutic Deism? What are some of its beliefs about God?
A live spirituality that that believes God exists but is uninvolved in the day-to-day of our lives, that God can help whenever we need help, that God created the universe and stands back, that religion is about making people feel good.
How did Otto define mysticism? (His view of it)
"Eloquence with mystery"
What did Wiman say that a dying person desperately needs in their last moments?
At least one truth to hold onto.
What is C.S. Lewis's argument from desire?
"If I find in myself a desire that no object in this world can satisfy, maybe I was made for another world."
What is Scientism, as we discussed with Freud?
The philosophy that only science can lead us to real truth and knowledge.
What is Dawkin's, Hitchen's, and Baldwin's moral critique of Religion?
That Religion makes it harder for us to be good people, that it promotes oppression and violence.
Where/how do religious ideas originate, according to Freud? Where do they come from?
Are deepest, oldest desires (for security and Fatherly protection and love). They are wish-fulfillments.
For Cone, why did the Cross and the Lynching Tree need each other? What is the Cross without the Lynching Tree or the Tree without the Cross?
They interpret and balance each other out.
Cross without the Lynching Tree is sentimental pietism.
Lynching Tree without Cross is irredeemable tragedy.
What is Anselm's Ontological Argument?
God is the greatest conceivable Being.
Existence is better than non-existence.
God must exist (of God wouldn't be the greatest conceivable being).
What is the secularization thesis?
That the more we progress with our science and reason, the less religious society will become.
Describe the W.K. Clifford vs. William James debate. What did each side argue for? What were there theses?
Clifford: “It is wrong always, everywhere, and for anyone, to believe anything upon insufficient evidence.”
James: When a question is forced and momentous and alive, we not only can but *must* make a passional decision between hypothesis.
Why does Civilization/Culture make individuals unhappy, for Freud?
Because it requires the sacrifice and renunciation of our desires.
For Wiman, why do the concepts and doctrines of God not matter that much?
Because it's not about truth but meaning. You can believe something is true and still fail to understand the meaning it has for your life.
What is Aquinas's argument from continency/necessity/motion?
That things in motion/existence depend on previous causes.
The cause-effect chain cannot go back to infinity.
Therefore, we need a First Cause/First Mover (GOD).
Fill in the blank for Aquinas:
"Grace _____ Nature."
Graces *Perfects* Nature.
According to William James, what is the fundamental (passional/volitional) decision that human beings must sometimes make when faced with a dilemma of knowledge?
What is Freud's argument against mysticism?
An experience that is limited to a few people cannot be binding for all people.
Who wins the debate at the end of JB? Nickles or Zuss?
Technically, Zuss but really Nickles because the "victory" is that JB simply blindly accepted God's power.
Does Pseudo-Dionysus adopt a cataphatic or apophatic approach to God? What's the difference between both approaches?
Cataphatic: Positive affirmations about God ("God is good").
Apophatic: Negations about God ("God is not good in our ordinary sense"). [Pseudo-Dionysus].
What's the difference between Revealed Religion and Natural Religion, for Hume? What sources do each rely on?
Revealed religion derives from Scripture and Tradition.
Natural Religion derives from Reason and Experience.