Catholic Faith, Reason, and Morality Flashcards

Flashcards covering truth, faith and reason, science, cosmology, God's attributes, morality, and the problem of evil based on the lecture notes.

Truth

That which corresponds to reality; a statement is true when it accurately describes what is real.

Objective Truth

Truth that does not depend on what an individual thinks, feels, or believes; it is true for everyone.

Subjective Truth

A statement about a person's feelings, preferences, or opinions; it can vary from person to person.

Absolute Truth

Truth that is true for everyone, everywhere, regardless of opinions or circumstances.

Relativism

The belief that truth depends on the individual, culture, or perspective rather than being universally true.

Objective Moral Truth

The idea that some actions are objectively good or evil regardless of what a person or culture thinks about them.

Proposing the Truth

Offering or explaining the truth to someone while respecting their freedom to accept or reject it.

Imposing the Truth

Forcing one's beliefs or religion on another person rather than allowing them to freely consider the evidence.

1 Peter 3:15

Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. Do this with gentleness and respect.

Science

The systematic study of the natural world through observation, evidence, experimentation, and reasoning.

Natural Sciences

Fields of science that study the physical/natural world, such as biology, chemistry, and physics.

Faith

Trust or belief based on sufficient reason and evidence; in Catholicism, faith also involves trusting in God's revelation.

Reason

The human ability to think logically, evaluate evidence, and reach conclusions.

Natural Faith

Ordinary trust or belief based on evidence and experience, such as trusting that a person will keep a promise.

Divine Faith

Trust in God and what He has revealed because God is trustworthy and cannot deceive.

Scientism

The belief that science is the only legitimate way to obtain knowledge or truth.

William Whewell

An important figure in the history of science whose changing definition of science contributed to the idea that science should focus on natural explanations rather than supernatural ones.

Sir Peter Medawar

A scientist who emphasized that science has limits and cannot answer every question about reality.

Galileo Galilei

A famous scientist whose conflict with Church authorities involved the interpretation of heliocentrism; his case does not prove that Catholicism is opposed to science.

First Cause Argument

The argument that things which begin to exist require a cause, and the universe cannot ultimately be the cause of its own existence; therefore there must be an ultimate cause.

Creator

The ultimate cause and source of the universe's existence.

Creation ex nihilo

Latin for "creation out of nothing"; God brought the universe into existence without using preexisting material.

Big Bang Theory

The scientific theory describing the universe's early expansion from an extremely hot, dense state.

Georges Lemaître

A Belgian Catholic priest and physicist who proposed the theory that became known as the Big Bang Theory.

Design Argument

The argument that the order, complexity, and precise conditions of the universe point toward an intelligent cause.

Fine-Tuning

The observation that the universe's physical conditions fall within a narrow range that allows complex matter, stars, and life to exist.

St. Thomas Aquinas

A Catholic philosopher and theologian who used reason and philosophy to argue for God's existence and described God as Ipsum Esse, or Being Itself.

Ipsum Esse

Latin for "Being Itself"; Aquinas' description of God as existence itself rather than merely one being among other beings.

Omnipresent

God is present everywhere; nothing in creation is outside His presence.

Omniscient

God knows everything, including all reality.

Omnipotent

God is all-powerful; He can do anything that is logically possible.

Omnibenevolent

God is perfectly good and wills what is good.

Monotheism

The belief that there is only one God.

Creation

Not only God's initial act of bringing things into existence, but the ongoing dependence of creation upon God for existence.

Evil

That which is contrary to or a privation of good; evil is not simply identical with anything that causes suffering.

Moral Evil

Evil resulting from the free choices of human beings, such as murder or intentionally harming another person.

Natural Evil

Suffering or harm resulting from natural processes, such as disease, natural disasters, or physical limitations.

Problem of Evil

The argument that the existence of evil seems difficult to reconcile with a God who is all-powerful and perfectly good.

Natural law

The moral order that can be known through human reason and that points to objective standards of good and evil.

Conscience

The inner judgment through which a person recognizes whether a particular action is morally right or wrong.

Objective Good/Evil

Objective moral standards that do not depend merely on personal preference or opinion.

J. L. Mackie

An atheist philosopher who acknowledged that objective moral values are difficult to explain from an atheistic worldview.

St. Maximilian Kolbe

A Catholic priest imprisoned at Auschwitz who volunteered to die in place of another prisoner, providing an example of self-sacrificial Christian love.

Grace

God's free gift that helps human beings know, choose, and live according to the good and grow in relationship with Him.

"Parasitic" definition of evil

Evil depends upon something good to exist; it corrupts or damages a good rather than existing as an independent thing.

Nick Vujicic

A man born without arms or legs whose life is presented as an example that physical suffering does not make life meaningless and that a person can find purpose and good despite suffering.

Job

An important biblical figure who experienced tremendous suffering; his story teaches that suffering does not necessarily mean God has abandoned a person and that humans do not always understand God's purposes.