Theology Final Study Guide

What are the four ways we see the human yearning for God?

1. An unquenchable thirst for joy and happiness. 2. An experience of beauty and truth 3. A sense of personal conscience, moral goodness, and justice. 4. Love

What three insights can we gain from asking the question: "How did we humans get here?"

1. Scientists have yet to explain how life could have evolved from matter. 2. Statisticians say it is virtually impossible for intelligent, human life to appear by mere chance. 3. When we look at the course of human development, we can detect a hidden but powerfully present Intelligence that is leading and guiding us.

What are three ways the reward is manifested for those who believe in the one, true God?

1. We come to knowledge of God's greatness and his love for us. 2. Our life has meaning. 3. God will always care for us.

Christ commissioned the ______________ to interpret authentically God's _________. This teaching _________________ extended to the Pope and ______________ in communion with him and is known as the ___________________.

Apostles, Word, authority, the bishops, Magisterium

Nothing cannot create something

Everything Comes from Something

Nothing causes itself.

First Cause

The word "revelation" means "______________." It is God's _________________ of self-communication by which he makes known the mystery of his ___________________.

unveiling, free gift, divine plan

What is the difference between a monotheistic religion and a polytheistic religion?

Monotheistic religions believe that there is only one God while polytheistic religions believe that there are many.

The symmetry, beauty and power in the world

Grand Designer

If a name expresses a person's inner identity, how should we understand the name of "Yahweh?"

I am he who is, I am who I am, I am who am

Recite the Apostle's Creed

I believe in God, the Father almighty, Creator of heaven and earth, and in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord, who was conceived, by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died and was buried; he descended into hell; on the third day he rose again from the dead; he ascended into heaven, and is seated at the right hand of God the

God reveals himself through a single "_________" of faith, found in both the Sacred _____________ and in the Sacred ______________ of the Church.

deposit, Scripture, Tradition

God never abandoned his __________ creatures. He created the ________________ and was passionately faithful to them. The high point of Salvation __________ was his promise to send a __________.

sinful, Chosen People, History, Messiah

_____________________ is the living transmission of the Church's ______________, found in the Church's ____________, life and worship. The ____________ were the first to receive the gift of ________ and they in turn entrusted it to their successors.

Sacred Tradition, Gospel message, teaching, Apostles, faith

We can only speak of degrees of goodness, truth, and beauty by comparing them to a reference point

Supreme Model

What are the most important covenants recorded in the Bible?

The Covenant with Noah, The Covenant with Abraham, The Sinai Covenant, and Jesus Christ, the New Covenant

The great variety of ____________ point out that the human ______________ can discover a Supreme Being, but that God's complete _______________ remains a mystery, only to be discovered with God's direct help or _______________.

beliefs, intellect, identity, revelation

Salvation history begins with the ____________ of the first humans and the __________________ we live in. But __________________ disobeyed God and committed the ___________________, falling out of friendship with God. But God does not abandon his creatures, rather, he established a series of ___________ with humankind.

creation, beautiful world, Adam and Eve, Original Sin, covenant

According to the CCC, the ___________ for God is written in the human __________, because man is created by God and for _______. We can observe this deep ____________ for God in many ways.

desire, heart, God, yearning

What was the story at the beginning of "Our Catholic Faith"?

The Soviet soldiers came into a house full of worshippers and told them that anyone who wasn't Catholic could leave, but those who called themselves Christians would stay. Many fled and only a few stayed. The soldiers then sat down and explained that they only wanted to pray with true believers.

List, and briefly describe, the nine attributes of God explained by St. Thomas Aquinas.

God is unique, God is eternal, God is immense, God contains all things, God is immutable, God is utterly simple-a pure Spirit, God is personal, God is holy, God is infinite and omnipotent

Few questions are more important than the question of God's _____________. Through history, the vast majority of people have _____________ some kind of deity. Today over _____ percent of people around the ___________ believe in some type of God.

existence, worship, 90, world

What are the theological virtues?

faith, hope, charity

God is our loving ____________ who is in charge, directing us to our ________________. We need to have __________ and enjoy the life journey by recalling God's ______________ and ________________ and by helping others on our journey together.

father, destination, faith, presence, guidance

The number of people who belong to the world's _____________________ attests to this belief. Christianity, Judaism, and Islam together claim more than _____ percent of the world's population.

great religions, 50

Concupiscence, the _____________ to sin, is a consequence of the fallen human nature we have ______________. Due to Original Sin we are born into a ____________ where we are inclined to surrender to the powers of ________ in the world.

inclination, weakened, condition, evil

Sacred Scripture is like a _____________ of divinely inspired ___________. God used human __________ to put into writing what he wanted written, and ____________ more.

library, writings, authors, nothing

The name Yahweh acknowledges God's ________. His _____________ and eternal nature is beyond human ___________. He reveals himself to be the ____________ in our midst whose only motive for revealing himself is his totally free gift of _______.

mystery, omnipotent, understanding, Holy One, love

The Blessed Trinity is the central ___________ of faith. This mystery reveals that Jesus is the __________ image of God the Father and that the Holy Spirit is ________________________ in the name of the Son.

mystery, visible, sent by the Father

What are four common elements typically found in religion?

prayer, ritual, sacrifice, an ethical code

True or False? The Sinai covenant involved circumcision for Jewish males as a way to set apart the people God would form from Abraham's descendants.

False

True or False? Although human reason cannot discover that God exists, left to itself it can get a true picture of who God really is—a mystery.

False

True or False? Only we have the power to free ourselves from sin.

False

List eight truths taught by divine revelation.

God freely created an orderly and good world out of nothing, God is totally beyond us. At the same time, God is present to us, upholding and sustaining creation, God guides creation through divine providence, God created humans in his image and likeness, God created us male and female out of love and for love, God is the creator of all that is seen and unseen, Though essentially good because God made us, humans are tainted with sin, Through Jesus Christ and by the power of the Holy Spirit, God invites us into a personal relationship with him.

What is a dogma?

A central truth of Revelation that Catholics are obliged to believe.

What is an atheist?

A person who denies the existence of God.

God has revealed himself as a ___________ of Persons. God the __________ is the first person of the Blessed Trinity. The Father named _________ as his Son and God the Son revealed that the father would send the _________________ in his name.

Trinity, Father, Jesus, Holy Spirit

True or False? It is right and proper to call God "Father," but it is also proper to use images of motherhood to emphasize God's closeness to us.

True

True or False? The Bible is inerrant—It contains no errors.

True

True or False? To say that God is omnipotent means that he is almighty, his power is unlimited.

True

True or False? A covenant is an open-ended contract of love in which God commits himself totally to human beings.

True

True or False? Baptism erases Original Sin and restores our relationship with God.

True

True or False? Deism is the belief that God created the universe but that he takes no further interest in it.

True

True or False? Jesus Christ was the climax of Salvation History because he is the fullness of God's Revelation.

True

Jesus taught us pray to ________, our Father, an Aramaic word of _______________ and love. By this, Jesus showed us that God is a __________ Father whose children should approach him with love and ________________.

Abba, endearment, loving, confidence

How are Abraham and Mary models of faith?

Abraham obeyed God by leaving his homeland and to become a pilgrim to the Promised Land. Mary approached her entire life as a resounding yes to God's word.

Genesis tells how ________________ rejected God's love, resulting in humankind's loss of his _____________. Their Original Sin was their ____________ of their God-given freedom and their _________________ in not relying on his goodness.

Adam and Eve, friendship, misuse, disobedience

A recent study found that just _____ percent of Americans claim to be ______________, while _____ percent describe themselves as _____________, someone who claims that God's existence cannot be _____________.

1.6, atheists, 2.4, agnostics, known

Whatever is in motion had to be moved by something else

The Unmoved Mover

What is Salvation History?

The account of God's saving activity for humankind.

What was the consequence of Original Sin?

The immediate loss of the grace of Original Holiness and Justice received from God. Resulted in a disunity between God and all their descendants, caused disharmony between nature and humans, and alienated people from each other.

If there is no ironclad way to prove God's existence, how can human beings know God? Explain.

There are signs all around us that point to God.