Catholic Studies Test #3

Human Soul Capacities and Faculties

Sensations (including emotions), thoughts, beliefs, desires, acts of will

Faculties:

Sensory- (external) touch, tastes, smell, hearing, sight

(Internal)- the "common sense", imagination, the estimative sense, memory

Emotions, intellect, will, spirit

spirit

the immaterial, rational dimension of the human person that allows for intellect, will, and communion with God, makes human beings capable of knowing truth and loving freely, highest part of the human soul, the source of reason, free choice, and the image of God, center of personhood and moral agency.

free choice

is the power of the will, guided by reason, by which a human being determines himself or herself to act or not to act.

arises from intellect and will, makes humans morally responsible and capable of love and virtue.

virtue

a habit which disposes a human being to choose good or to avoid evil with ease and facility.

faith

the free, personal response by which a human being, moved by God's grace, assents to the truth that God has revealed., both a divine gift and a human act — it originates in grace, but requires the freedom of the will and intellect.

It is not blind belief, but trust grounded in reason, supernatural habit infused by God

salvation

being saved, rescued, or delivered from harm, danger, sin, or destruction

How does St. Thomas Aquinas define faith?

An act of the intellect assenting to divine truth at the command of the will, moved by God's grace.

What are the four parts of Aquinas's definition of faith?

1. Act of the intellect

2. Assent to divine truth

3. Command of the will (free choice)

4. Moved by God's grace

How do free choice and grace work together in faith?

The intellect recognizes divine truth, the will freely assents, and God's grace moves and enables the person.

What is the object of faith?

Divine truth, expressed through Sacred Scripture and sacred doctrine.

Why do articles of faith and creeds matter?

They express truths of faith. We cannot love what we cannot know.

What role does the intellect play in faith?

It helps a person understand divine truth and prepares the person for the act of faith.

What is the danger of overemphasizing free choice?

It makes salvation seem achievable through human effort alone, minimizing God's grace.

What is the danger of overemphasizing grace?

It can make human freedom and personal responsibility seem unnecessary.

How do commandments in Scripture support free choice?

Commands to obey or avoid actions imply that people can choose how to respond.

How do God's initial invitation and a person's response relate?

God's initial invitation is grace, and the person's response involves free choice.

What is sanctification?

The ongoing process of becoming holy through free choices enabled by God's grace.

How does grace relate to justification and sanctification?

Justification occurs through grace. Sanctification involves both grace and human free choice.

What is a holistic Scriptural method for understanding grace?

Interpret Scripture as a coherent whole rather than isolating passages that seem to contradict each other.

How does St. Augustine understand grace and free choice?

God's grace is necessary for salvation and enables people to choose the good, while human freedom still matters.

What is freedom in the classical Christian understanding?

Freedom is enhanced when we align our free will with God's goodness.

What are the two biggest challenges to God's existence discussed in these lessons?

The problem of omniscience and the problem of evil.

What is the problem of omniscience?

If God knows everything, including the future, how can humans have genuine free choice?

What is determinism?

The idea that events and choices are determined in advance rather than freely chosen.

What is the problem with determinism?

If all choices are predetermined, genuine free will and personal responsibility seem impossible.

How does God's existence in the "eternal present" address the problem of omniscience?

God transcends time and sees all times in an eternal present. God's knowledge of our choices does not necessarily cause or determine those choices.

What is the problem of evil?

If God is all-powerful and perfectly good, why does evil and suffering exist?

Why is free choice important to the problem of evil?

Genuine freedom requires the ability to choose evil. Without that possibility, humans would not have genuine free choice.

What is the free choice defense?

Moral evil results from free moral agents misusing their freedom to choose evil.

What is the difference between a defense and a theodicy?

A defense explains why something might be allowed by God; a theodicy explains why God actually does allow it.

What is the Judaeo-Christian view of creation?

God created the universe good; evil is not an original substance created by an evil god.

What is Gnosticism?

A set of ancient religious beliefs emphasizing special spiritual knowledge and often distinguishing a good god from an evil creator god. (2 gods)

How does Gnosticism view matter and the human body?

Matter is viewed as evil because it comes from the evil creator god; salvation involves freeing the soul from the material world.

How does the Judaeo-Christian view contrast with Gnosticism?

Judaeo-Christianity teaches that God created the world good, while Gnosticism often views the material world as the creation of an evil god.

How is the Devil understood in Judaeo-Christian tradition?

The Devil is a rebellious spiritual being associated with evil, not an equal evil god who created the universe.

What is the general Protestant-Catholic difference concerning human nature and free choice?

Both traditions affirm human sinfulness and God's grace, but differ in how they understand the effects of original sin on human freedom and the role of grace in choosing the good.

What are the two parts of the human being?

The body and the soul.

How is the soul related to the intellect, the will, and the image of God?

The intellect and will are faculties of the soul, and human beings reflect the image of God.

What are Aristotle's two definitions of the soul?

The form of a living creature and the animating principle of a living creature.

What is a substance?

An individual entity with fundamental existence that does not depend on another thing.

What is an accident?

A property that exists in or is said of a substance and can change without destroying it.

What is matter?

Potentiality that can be actualized in generating something.

What is form?

The principle that makes a thing the kind of thing it is.

How do matter and form apply to the human person?

The body is the matter, and the soul is the form.

What are conscious states of the soul?

States of awareness, such as sensing, feeling, thinking, and willing.

What is the sensory faculty of the soul?

The capacity to receive information through the senses.

What is the emotional faculty of the soul?

The capacity to experience emotions.

What is the intellective faculty of the soul?

The capacity to understand, think, and reason.

What is the willing faculty of the soul?

The capacity to choose and act.

What is the spiritual faculty of the soul?

The capacity for spiritual awareness and relating to God.

What is the nature of the intellect?

The faculty by which we receive truth.

What are the powers of the intellect?

Abstraction, judgment, and reasoning.

What is the method of the intellect?

Developing abstract concepts that can be used to develop further concepts or pursue immediate or intermediate ends.

What is the end of the intellect?

Coming to know truth, particularly about goods, especially the perfect and absolute Good (God).

What is the manifestation of the intellect?

Self-transcendence, or self-consciousness.

What is the nature of the will?

The faculty by which we desire what is good, especially the perfect and absolute Good (God).

What are the powers of the will?

To desire the good and to delight in the good.

What is the method of the will?

Active: it can move itself to the desired end. Passive: it can be moved by other internal or external impulses.

What is the end of the will?

To be united with the good, especially the perfect and absolute Good (God).

What is the manifestation of the will?

The prompting of human action in ways which accord with judgments of the intellect.

What is the interaction of the intellect and the will?

Every human action entails the operation of both the intellect and the will, and their joint operation is free choice (liberum arbitrium).

What is free choice (liberum arbitrium)?

The joint operation of the intellect and will; the nature of human freedom.

What is the potential for failure of the will in choice?

No good is perfect except God, and each choice is made by a particular person with particular strengths and weaknesses; consequently, failure is always a possibility.

How is the potential for failure in choice corrected?

Through the development of virtue.

What is the "modern" view of freedom?

It substitutes the act of choice itself in place of the perfect and absolute Good (God) as the ultimate human end.

How does the "modern" view of freedom contrast with the view in the notes?

The modern view emphasizes the act of choice itself, while the notes identify the ultimate human end as the perfect and absolute Good (God), with fulfillment found in eternal union with God.

Soul- plants

Characteristics- existence, life

Powers- nutrition, growth, reproduction

Soul- inanimate objects

Characteristics- existence

Power- n/a

Soul- animals

Characteristics- existence, life, sensation, consciousness

Powers- nutrition, growth, reproduction, locomotion, external senses, internal senses, emotions

Soul- human beings

Characteristics- existence, life, sensation, consciousness, intelligence, self- consciousness

Power- nutrition, growth, reproduction, locomotion, external senses, internal senses, emotions, intellect, will

self consciousness

only exist in humans, transparency of consciousness or the mind to itself

consciousness

the soul's self-awareness and capacity for thought, knowledge, and intentional action. subjective inner life, belongs to the intellective powers of the soul, applies to all animals

concupiscible emotions

St. Thomas Aquinas, identifies six concupiscible passions: love, desire, joy (for what is good); and hatred, aversion, sorrow (for what is evil).- arise from sense of appetite not reason.

The emotions or passions that respond to what is perceived as good or evil in an immediate, simple way — that is, what attracts or repels us.

irascible emotions

hope, courage, despair, fear, and anger., The emotions that respond to difficult or challenging goods or evils — things that are not easy to obtain or avoid., meant to help the person overcome obstacles to the good, under the guidance of reason and will.

Concupiscence

An inclination to commit sin that can be found in human desires and appetites as a result of original sin.

habit

a stable quality or disposition of the soul that inclines a person to act in a particular way with ease and readiness., a lasting condition that disposes the soul toward good or evil actions

vice

the opposite of a virtue, ie. a habit which disposes a human being to choose evil or to avoid good with ease and facility.

What is God's grace?

God's free gift that enables human beings to achieve their ultimate end with God.

What was Pelagianism?

A teaching associated with Pelagius that overemphasized human ability and free choice in achieving salvation, minimizing the necessity of grace.

What is justification?

Being made right with God through God's grace.

What is the argument that God's knowledge of the future prevents free choice?

If God already knows what we will do, it may seem that our actions are predetermined and we cannot choose otherwise.

Why does the problem of evil challenge God's existence?

People question why an all-powerful, perfectly good God would allow evil and suffering.

What is evil?

A source of suffering.

What are the two kinds of suffering?

pain and anguish

What is moral evil?

Evil caused by a free moral agent, such as a person choosing to do something wrong.

What is nonmoral evil?

Evil that does not result from the choice of a free moral agent, such as a natural disaster.

What is gratuitous evil?

Evil or suffering that appears to serve no practical purpose or produce a greater good.

What is the character-building defense?

Suffering may help people develop virtues, grow stronger, and become better people.

How do the free choice and character-building defenses work together?

Both of these defenses added together, then maybe there is no such thing as gratuitous evil at all

What are two ideas that unite many forms of Gnosticism?

There are at least two gods, one good and one evil, and the evil god created the material universe.

What is Augustine's view of evil as privation or corruption of good?

Evil is not an independent substance; it is the absence, corruption, or deprivation of a good that should exist.

What is the angelic order?

Non-embodied spiritual creatures with intellect and will, including good angels and fallen angels or demons.

How can suffering be connected to love?

Loving others makes us vulnerable to anguish when they suffer or when we lose them.

What are the five selected faculties of the human soul?

Sensory, emotional, intellective, willing, and spiritual.

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