TH151 – FINAL EXAMINATION

REVIEW QUESTIONS

Part 1: THESIS (Explain each thesis in not more than 10 sentences): 15 points each

1. Thesis 2​: Religion is basically the experience of reality as grace for men & women,
arising from its “read-bind-choose” nature.
● “Religious” = means a quality by which (wo)man experiences reality in a very special
way: not superficially, and not merely as a matter of fact, but deeply, and as a call to
personal commitment.
● Comes from the word, “Religio” which has to do with the “sense” of the world and of
history, of man and things we are connected with, so that we can come to meaningful
realization of these bonds
● Religion, in the perspective of Christian faith, aims at the development of the human
person and only when religion helps to build up man’s cosmic and social relationships
can it be considered a valuable way to realize his relationship to the deepest ground of
all being
● Every experience of reality can be called ‘religious’ if in it the triple sense of
○ DEPTH - it searches the “qualitatively” other side of the empirical world;
○ FUTURE - man interprets his cosmic and social relationships in their future
possibilities, and comes to real commitment
○ TOTALITY - the experience of reality called ‘religious’ only when the object
is interpreted in the context to which the subject belongs.
● Reality appears as grace – and if man, even when he does not know the name of God,
interprets and confirms his connection with this reality as personal fulfilment.
2. Thesis 3a​: Human freedom can refer to the capacity for self-determination, the
context, the choice itself, or (fundamentally) the self formed by the three. To become free is
the calling of every (wo-)man, pursued amidst both the misuse of freedom known classically
as original sin, and the healing, liberating grace of Christ.

P. 29-30
1. Human freedom can be first understood as the capacity for self-determination which
is the capacity to create something final, irrevocable, and eternal.
2. It is not the capacity for indefinite revision for always doing something different.
3. Once we exercise our capacity for self-determination, the object we have chosen will
in turn, determine us.
4. This capacity has a social history because we have inherited the misuse of freedom
known classically as original sin.
5. Original sin limits our capacity for self-determination and hence, our perceptions of
what is good is blurred and our desire to choose the good is weakened.
 6. Human freedom is also understood as context because no one’s freedom exists apart
from it.
7. It can also be the choice or the act that one undertakes we are assured of our freedom
only when we exercise it.
8. Despite the reality of original sin, we are still called to exercise our freedom because
living in a state of indetermination is the surest way of becoming unfree.
9. These three things, the capacity for self-determination, the context, and choice, all
fundamentally form the self and describes human freedom.

3. Thesis 3b: ​Conscience is our ultimate and subjective norm of moral behavior which
includes both subjective dimension, sincerity, and an objective dimensions, correctness.
● Conscience is the subjective norm of moral behaviour because you learn conscience
from the community such as family, friends, religion politics, etc. and they teach
values that we initially use for discerning what is wrong and right. It has been
observed that conscience is developed in discernible stages, marking three
fundamental levels of moral conduct (instinctive, moral and religious);
○ instinctive level - Focuses on the command, escaping punishment,accepted by
the authority figure
○ ethical level-now from awareness of the inner good or evil of an act
○ Christian-religious level, in which my Christian faith both illumines and
enlightens me about what is truly worthy of being a person
● Includes:
○ Subjective dimension - it’s ours; we are the subjects who decide; we are
ultimately responsible; we can’t lay the blame on others; It regards morals =
moral right or wrong, good or evil
○ Sincerity - recognize with sincerity and honesty what for now is the most
generous response which can be given to God
○ Objective dimension - Conscience is more than we ourselves and calls us out
of ourselves, before others, before God
○ Correctness - Conscience is not automatic, answer service, built-in, it is slowly
formed through the years, growing and deepening just like we do as persons
4. Thesis 4:​ The mystery of one’s primordial commitment (intentionality) develops
through shifting horizons, involving break-thru (conversions) into deeper horizontal and
vertical freedom, empowered by the indwelling Spirit of love (communion)
Pp. 45-53

1. Primordial commitment refers to the way one chooses to face reality to pursue the
fullness one sees oneself capable of.
2. It is a mystery because it is challenging to fully grasp and there is always something
more to discover about it.
3. Primordial commitment is associated with the psychological notion of intentionality
which refers to the tendency of a person’s life rather than an explicit volition.
 4. Primordial commitment is developed through horizon shifts or the transcending of a
previous perspective that results to the creation of new commitments and discards or
causes strain on former commitments.
5. It involves breakthroughs or conversions into deeper horizontal freedom that
concentrates on objects which present themselves in a specifiable context.
6. It also involves vertical freedom or the acceptance of a new horizon if one chooses to
yield to unexpected parameters, often resulting to changes in commitment.
7. Breakthroughs to new horizons can occur in three different ways: in the area of
meaning where future judgments are made according to different principles than
before, in value or when values previously ignored are given more attention, and
through a religious experience or conversion where one moves from belief to a new
degree of awareness of God.
8. Horizon shifts are empowered by the indwelling of the Spirit of love or communion
where the entire reality of a person moves from being to being-in-love.
9. We have to consider the quality of the communion one had with others before the
horizon shift and the communion that one is entering to.
10. Ideally, interpersonal commitments should take place within the reality of indwelling
because one’s experience of being-in-love should not be disruptive of one’s prior
commitments, but instead give them new life.

5. Thesis 5: ​Growth into success (happiness) in life depends on the quality of our
commitments by revealing the Pachal nature of all true love;
● Depends on intention of the planter, plus ground one’s falls. Intention is the person
who makes them while ground is the context which has received them. A permanent
commitment is justified only if the object of one’s commitment is consonant with
fulfilling the transcendent end each person is capable of attaining. The only way a
person fulfills himself is by transcending oneself. Love is the only justification for the
permanent disposition for the permanent disposition of one’s life. Permanent
commitment moves beyond contract, once the loving remains then the commitment is
assured. The pachl nature of love involves, dying which means a vigilance to revert
back to the kind of thinking of oneself and solitary acting and planning that
characterized one’s life before the commitment or the claim one yield to another over
oneself with regard to one’s future and rising. Once one’s life has taken a definitive
direction, one is more capable of growth. People will know where you stand and can
begin to relate more deeply to you and ambiguity is ceased. One comes from
somewhere s the growth for them on the strengths already accumulated

PART II: Essay (Answer in not more than 5 sentences). 10 point each

1. Is it enough to say “I am doing good because I want to please God?”

 ● -No, because this statement is coming from a person with a moralistic approach,
which means that he has not matured yet and he’s still influenced by an external
authority. One sign of maturity in faith is the recognition that Christian faith goes
beyond the rules and laws and it is really about the relationship that one has with
God. Thus, the better approach to this would come from a “faith approach” wherein
the goodness of the person is not dependent on his own efforts but rather it’s God who
transforms him and makes him pleasing to Him. Also, the person tries to be good not
because he wants to please God but because God has been good to him and he’s
loved into goodness.
2. Why is commitment ‘elusive’?
Commitment is elusive because generally, keeping one’s commitment is considered
honorable than break them. However, there are also instances when people who break
commitments are highly praised or admired in society and are often regarded as heroes. This
questions the objectivity or subjectivity of commitment. (p.1)
Commitment is also elusive because the less one thinks about his/her commitment,
the more likely one is content with it. (p. 2) Commitment is also both universal in the sense
that everyone has a commitment, and unique in the sense that we all fulfill our commitments
differently. (p.3)

3. In what sense can we say that ‘religion is an experience of reality?’

1. Every experience of reality can be called ‘religious’ if in it the triple sense of
depth - it searches the “qualitatively” other side of the empirical world; future
man interprets his cosmic and social relationships in their future possibilities,
and comes to real commitment, totality - the experience of reality called
‘religious’ only when the object is interpreted in the context to which the
subject belongs.
2. Comes from the word, “Religio” which has to do with the “sense” of the
world and of history, of man and things we are connected with, so that we can
come to meaningful realization of these bonds
3. Religion, in the perspective of Christian faith, aims at the development of the
human person and only when religion helps to build up man’s cosmic and
social relationships can it be considered a valuable way to realize his
relationship to the deepest ground of all being
4. Why do we need to approach commitment as a ​contemplative ​rather than as a
spectator?​
Commitment is at the core of our mystery as persons which can only be contemplated
but not penetrated because there is always something new to discover about ourselves
and others. (p. 3-4) Hence, we do not approach the subject of commitment as totally
objective or as a passive spectator where it is separate from us. Instead we approach
commitment as something that will help us better understand the mystery of our
personhood. Commitment is a subject that we are fully immersed and directly affects,
whether in a positive or negative manner. (p. 3) We are all either beneficiaries or victims
 of a whole web of commitments that have been honored and broken not just by others,
but also ourselves. (p. 3)

5. What are the three levels of freedom? Explain each.

● These include; Arbitrary choice - choice between items which requires
minimal discernment. (like choosing between different brands) Free will
(liberum arbitrium) - in the choice between something morally right or wrong.
The choice of something morally wrong entails a diminishment of our
freedom, whereas real freedom is the power or capacity to choose the good.
Liberty of Spirit - innermost level of freedom which presupposes a profound
self-awareness of all the pressures, fears, desiires, and areas of unfreedom that
are within us. It is the openness to the truth about ourselves and an acceptance
of all that we are before God
6. What’s the difference between asking for ‘enlightenment’ and ‘proof’?
When we ask for enlightenment, we are asking for a better understanding of
something through the act of asking questions. Our intention is to be critical and make
better sense of something. For example, when we question within our faith, our intention
is to make sense of God’s calling through reason. (p. 16)
However, when we ask for proof, we are asking for concrete evidence of the existence
of something and this emerges from a skeptical or cynical attitude. When related to faith,
it is a doubting of faith more than a sincere attempt for better understanding. (p. 16)

7. What has fundamental option or ‘primordial commitment got to do with ‘questioning

within faith? What’s the opposite of this?
● God summons grips man in the deepest core of his personality, where his fundamental
options give direction to his existence. The Bible calls this the heart of man, where he
says his inmost yes to God. If this yes is to be fully human, it must penetrate every
layer of consciousness, face every area of man’s world, confront all his profane
ambition, strivings, obstacles and dangers. It is similar to questioning faith because it
seeks from God a new understanding and insight. The opposite of doubting of self
which is demanding proofs and assurances before taking the risk of faith

8. What are the 3 constituents of faith? Explain each briefly.

9. Indicate with key terms, and explain each briefly, the two attitudes described by
Monden as “questioning’ and doubting?
● Questioning faith is seeking understanding and insight from God while doubting faith
is demanding proofs and assurances before taking the risk of faith.
○ Questioning
■ Allows god and wisdom to be his norm
■ Asks enlightenment
 ■ Inquires into mystery
■ Seeks insight in order to live the mystery of faith more personally and
more deeply
■ Questions within mystery
■ Questioning with faith is wonderment, willingness to accept the
unexpected in the other
■ Abandons self determination in an individualistic sense
■ Accept ties and givenness of the reality in its fullness
■ Deals with the personal call to surrender and open acceptance
■ Based on modesty, humility
■ My soul magnifies the Lord
○ Doubting faith
■ Wants to regulate god’s gift
■ Asks for proof
■ Puts faith and mystery in questions a problem
■ Seeks insight because he places his own ideas above anyone else
■ Withdraws from mystery in questioning, making god as an object of
calculation
■ Guarded and distrustful
■ Insists on keeping complete and perfect control
■ Questions disintegrates the reality
■ Based on self sufficiency and pride.

10.​ ​What is the problem about finding the “essence of Christianity” according to
Dawson? Explain briefly.
According to Dawson, the problem with finding the “essence of Christianity” is that it
is ambiguous whether it is the totality of Christian belief and practice (The Faith) or
personal subjective faith (My Faith) being referred to. The distinct questions of “What is
the essence of The faith?” and “What is My faith?” are interrelated. My faith is merely
subjective and without direction if not guided by the larger faith handed down from the
New Testament. On the other hand, a faith that is only abstractly defined and not lived
out by the individual is useless. Personal Christian and the totality of Christian belief and
practice should correspond in some way. (pp. 17-18)

11.​ ​Answer these objections/comment on these statements (see pp. 1-23)

a. Faith in God is a mystery – what’s the use of studying it?
b. I’m a catholic/Christian merely because of a socialization process; I’m really
not freely so.
c. All religions are about the same; it depends upon the subjective
dispositions of the individuals.
d. I’m a catholic, but I don’t agree with confession to priests, the church’ stand
on abortion, etc. I just decide for myself.
 e. I prefer charismatic prayer to going to mass –if makes me feel so close
to God;
f.​ ​Theology is too ‘irrelevant’ – we’ve had it all before, and it’s too academic-
never really touches me.

12.​ ​Does commitment enhance one’s possibilities for growth or inhibit them? (pp.
24-31)
Commitment is supposed to enhance one’s possibilities for growth and not inhibit
them. Someone who refuses to make commitments and only meanders around is also
refusing life. Jesus says that life can only be found when a person is willing to
particularize his choice in life and does not identify with his possessions or what he
hopes to hold on to. Instead, we should identify with who we want to be present to or our
interpersonal relationships. (p. 25)

13.​ ​What three incontrovertible aspects are involved in commitment? (pp. 24-31)
● First is choices which individuate and define us, if we do not choose it leaves the
work of God’s hands unfinished. Through decision, chaos is subdues and shaped into
cosmos
● Promise - it describes something we intend to do in the future and some people don’t
like making promises because it projects the future but it frees us from being wholly
locked into the present
● Freedom - is the capacity of human beings to make and keep promises is also the
surest way they have to free themselves, to determine themselves rather than be
determined

14.​ ​Explain why refusal to choose leaves God’s work of creation unfinished? (pp. 24-31)
Refusal to choose has a moral dimension because it means leaving the work of God’s
creation unfinished. Each person is born with a unique way of manifesting some aspect of the
fullness of God, which remains a mere potency if not exercised. Refusing to choose is going
against God’s purpose of creating him/her. Each individual is expected to choose in order to
fulfill his/her capacity for co-creatorship with God. If a person fails to decide or choose
because one is overwhelmed with the various possibilities, one is preventing a moment to
become a reality. (P. 26)

15.​ ​Why does commitment depend on one’s notion of freedom? (pp. 24-31)
● First, because if your view of freedom is freedom from and not freedom to then
chances are, you tend to not to not commit because you think that commitment
prevents you from doing anything you want. According to Hannah Arendt, making
promises or commitment sis what hold society together, new relationship are formed
because of commitment. The capacity of human beings to make and keep promises is
also the surest way they have to free themselves, to determine themselves rather than
be determined
 16.​ ​Are uncommitted people freer people? Why?

It is false to say that uncommitted people are freer. By making a commitment, a person
shows that he/she is freely choosing his/her freedom to project oneself to a specific
future that is self-determined. Exercising one’s ability to make and keep promises is
making sure that one is determining one’s self instead of being determined.
Uncommitted people are actually less free in the sense that they imprison themselves in
the present or is at the mercy of the moment. They are bystanders to their own existence.

17.​ ​Explain the following terms of the definition of conscience: (pp. 31-37)
a. Subjective norm - its saying that the conscience is ours, that we are the
subject who decides on the choice that we’re going to take and that we are
responsible for the consequences of it, whether they be good or bad.
b. Morals - Conscience regards the morals, what is right or wrong, good or evil.
c. Objective norm (transcendence) - The common interpretation of
conscience is that it binds us to something, that its is not liberating however,
conscience is more than ourselves before others and before God.
d. Dynamic or search process - conscience is not automatic and built in. It is the
central aspect of our personal being which is slowly formed through the years,
growing and deepening just like we do as persons.

18.​ ​Contrast the three levels of moral conduct (instinctive, moral, Christian) in terms of
a.​ ​Doer/agent
b. The law
c.​ ​Moral obligation
(P. 35)
In the instinctive level of moral conduct,
a. the doer/agent is led by an instinctive drive for approval versus punishment,
b. the law is from without includes feelings of obligation with hostile reaction, and
c. the moral obligation involves issues in blind feelings of anxiety, moral transgression
of taboo and is automatic.

In the moral level of moral conduct,

a. The doer/agent is conscious and has a free self-realization of person, and as
spirit-in-the-world with fellowmen,
b. The law is not only from without but based on ​being ​ of man, and
c. The moral obligation from absolute demand of conscience as power of discrimination
and moral guilt is always in free act.

In the Christian level of conduct,

 a. The doer/agent is led by life in Christ, through grace, and call to new human
condition,
b. The law is based on the reality that God is within us which serves as the ultimate
ground of our authentic self, and
c. The moral obligation is founded on new life in Christ and guilt can be traced back to
refusal of God’s love.

19.​ ​Explain how conscience is both ‘autonomous’ and ‘social’

● Conscience is both autonomous and influenced by others.
○ Autonomous because we have freedom and responsibility for our own moral
behaviour. According to Gaudium et Spes it is also social because Christians
are joined with the rest of men in the search for truth, and solution to problems
which arise in thee life of individuals and from social relations. These are two
of the three factors that must be included in the process of deciding.
20.​ ​What is the ​twofold​ sign of a mature Christian conscience?
The two-fold sign of a major growth in forming one’s Christian conscience to be
mature is that it is both outgoing and deepening in interiorization. A mature Christian
conscience is outgoing when it is gradually deepening in awareness of what we mean​ to
others and​ for​ others, and what effect our decision will have on them. When our Christian
conscience is deepening in interiorization, we gradually recognize that each of us reaches out
to find our own self-identity in self-giving love, and in this interpersonal exchange. Growth in
our conscience means a deeper awareness of the law of our own personal being, fulfilled in
love of God and neighbor.

21.​ ​Comment on the following:

a.​ ​No one has the right to judge my actions to be good or bad.
● Conscience always works with a given law, it does not create its own.
Obeying laws is not equal to instinctive conscience. Your actions can be
judged as good or bad if it either follow or disobeys the body of Christian
moral teaching, values and attitudes. Another one is the 10 commandments.
They are moral imperative that can be used to judge and action as something
that has disrespected or respects the moral right of another person
b. It all depends on your point of view: e.g. some think premarital sex is wrong;
others say its according to their conscience.
● It is not according to any point of view. This statement ignores the universality
of the basic natural law, in the Christianity is the 10 commandments which are
moral imperatives based on fundamental rights. It is an excuse for taking any
personal responsibility on their actions. Difference in point of view (or the
uniqueness of it to each person) is equivalent to an opinion. Values and
principles refer to the human person as such, no to the private individual
separated from the community.
 22.​ ​What is the meaning of ​conversion?​ What are the types of conversion?
Conversion is a religious conversion that results from a horizon shift or a transcending
of a previous perspective. New horizons create new commitments and frequently strains
or cause former commitments to be discarded. Conversion could be a passage from
nonbelief to belief, or often from belief to a new awareness of God, or a new
understanding of His love. Conversion can also be in the form of a new vision of the
implications of the religion one has previously embraced. (p. 48-49)

23.​ ​Describe the primordial level of commitment. How is it related to our deliberate
choices? How is it related to our fundamental option?

● Primordial commitment is the thrust one gives one's being, the way one chooses to
face reality to pursue the fullness one sees oneself capable of. It is related to our
choices because like choices, our primordial commitment in something that we
commit not to something nor is it to oneself, but of oneself on the direction in which
one perceives a transcendent good.
● Fundamental option is the basic orientation of one's moral life at the beginning. It is
like primordial commitment because they are both are predetermined but it is you
who has to build slowly over a course of a person’s life. It differs because, primordial
commitment gives direction to more than a person’s moral activity.

24.​ ​Explain the four elements involved in the meaning of ‘forever’.

When talking about what ‘forever’ means, the first element is having found what or
whom we wish to be in union with time without end. The second element is the
disposition that one makes of one’s future, at least insofar as one’s intention can
determine it. The third element is an apt of expression of the quality love. The fourth
element is an expression of the aspiration for permanence. In defining ‘forever’, or a
permanent commitment, we associate it with fixity or when one becomes and yet does
not change in intention to become together or to share one’s becoming with the other.
(pp. 70-71)

25.​ ​Incompatibility is often given as the reason for a divorce. Give a critique in terms of
the paschal nature of married love. What is the difference between incompatibility and
the pain of growth?
● Incompatibility is described as inability of two people to live together harmoniously.
An individual who refuses to accept the paschal nature of love (i.. Dying and rising)
frequently conjures up in his imagination prospective relationships and situations in
which only one half of the reality of love and commitment is operating (i.e. the
enthusiastic, exhilarating side), this means that human relationships require
acceptance of darkness with light
● Critique: Once you get past the romantic phase, you might be surprised of the faults of
another person and end up feeling disillusioned.What may look and feel like
incompatibility between persons or between a person and a state of life is often simple
resistance to pain that growth requires. You have to work together with them to make
it past the disillusionment to the true love stage.