Catholic Studies Quiz #9

The “central Christian belief” is that the death of Jesus Christ puts us right with God. How does Jesus’ death do that?

A good many theories have been held as to how Jesus’ death puts us right with God. What all Christians are agreed on is that it does work.

What is the point of Lewis’ analogy of a man eating dinner?

We can accept that Christ’s death puts us right without fully understanding the complex theology behind it, like how a person can eat dinner and gain nourishment without knowing the specific scientific details of nutrition.

What is the point of Lewis’ analogy of a physicist explaining the atom?

We can accept that Christ’s death puts us right without fully understanding the complex theology behind it, like how we can accept the truth and benefit from complex realities of an atom without fully understanding the underlying mechanisms or being able to “picture” them.

“Now what was the sort of ‘hole’ man had got himself into?” And what is the only way out?

Man tried to set up on his own and behave as if he belonged to himself. Fallen man is not simply an imperfect creature who needs improvement: he is a rebel. The only way out is by laying down his arms, surrendering, saying he is sorry, realizing that he has been on the wrong track, and getting ready to start life over again from the ground floor.

If someone were to ask, “Why couldn’t God just forgive human beings, rather than insist that they undergo repentance and ‘death to sin’?”, what would Lewis say?

Human beings must undergo repentance and “death to sin” because without it, we cannot truly go back to God. We must kill a part of ourselves when we repent in order to rid ourselves of sin. If you ask God to take you back without undergoing repentance, you are going back without truly going back.

What is the point of Lewis’ analogy of a child learning how to write?

His point is to illustrate that humans reason and love because God guides and lends his own powers. Just like a teacher guides a child’s hand to form letters, we can only think and love because God lends us his reasoning and love.

What are the six dimensions of grace presented in this week’s handout?

1. Grace is God’s loving attitude towards humanity

2. Grace is incarnational

3. Grace is unmerited salvation in Christ

4. Grace is power

5. Grace is the start of eternal life

6. Grace makes us like God

What three arguments does St. Thomas present against the necessity of the sacraments for salvation?

1. The use of sacraments involves bodily activity, which is “of little profit” according to 1 Timothy 4:8

2. God declares in 2 Corinthians 12:9 that his grace is sufficient for salvation

3. According to Romans 5:10, Christ’s suffering is the sufficient cause of our salvation

What three reasons does Aquinas give for the necessity of the sacraments for salvation?

1. Humans have to be led by bodily and perceptible things to spiritual and intellectual things.

2. In sinning, humans subjected themselves by their desires to bodily things, so the spiritual remedy needs to be provided by means of certain bodily signs.

3. Humans have a general inclination toward bodily things. Bodily activity was offered to them in the sacraments so it is not too hard for them to be drawn to spiritual things.

How does Aquinas respond to each of the objections he presents (#8)?

1. Bodily activity is not very profitable, but sacraments are not only bodily but also spiritual

2. God’s grace is a sufficient cause of human salvation, but sacraments are necessary for human beings to obtain grace

3. Christ’s passion is a sufficient cause of human salvation, but sacraments obtain their effect through the power of Christ’s suffering and Christ’s passion is applied to human beings through the sacraments.