Apologetics Semester 1 Exam

Act of Faith

Act of Faith

more than merely an act of belief; something to die for and something to live every moment

Apologetics

Greek, to give defense of

Aristotelian Logic

a logic of linguistic terms which express mental concepts with represent real essences, or the nature of things

Conservative

refers to something in time and history; not eternal truths, but opinions or ways o the past as against the future

Emotional Faith

feeling assurance or trust or confidence in a person, includes hope and peace

Faith (heart faith)

the absolute center o the soul, does not mean feeling or sentiment or emotion; it is the very self, the I, the subject

Intellectual Faith

the act of the intellect, prompted by the will, by which we believe everything God has revealed on the grounds of the authority of the One who revealed it

Judgement of Credibility

I may and can believe these truths proposed to me for my belief because God has revealed them

Liberal

heretics; those who dissent from essential doctrine and embrace a free way of thinking as opposed to keeping with tradition

Motive of Credibility

1. There is a God who can neither deceive nor be deceived

2. This God has revealed Himself to us in the OT and NT

3. Christ founded a Church which He endowed with infallibility

Object of Faith

all things believed

Objective Reason

NOT influenced by personal feelings or opinions in considering and representing facts

Process of Reasoning

comparing two concepts with a third on the principle that two things which are equal to the same thing are equal to each other

Progressive

opposed to conservative; ways of the future as against the past

Self-Evident Truths

truths that are in themselves so evident as to be clearly understood by all who have the use of reason

Sources of Knowledge

reasons for forming our judgments

Subjective Reason

influenced by personal feelings or opinions in considering and representing facts

Volitional Faith

commitment to obey God’s will, faithfulness, or fidelity; manifests itself in behavior, that is, in good works; it is a love deeper than a feeling

3 manifestations of human reason’s acts of the mind

understanding, judging, reasoning

3 classes of apologetics

Natural, Christian, Catholic

why is it necessary to restore the older, larger notion of reason itself?

seeing reason not as confined to reasoning and calculating but including apprehension, intellectual intuition, ‘seeing,’ insight, contemplations

one value of apologetics

the satisfaction of the intellect of an honest inquirer

in what form do we possess all our knowledge?

judgments

false judgment

not in union with reason

true judgment

in union with reason

certain judgment

no fear of error

uncertain judgment

fear of error

Human Faith

has the possibility of error

Divine Faith

cannot have error

motive of Divine Faith

authority of God

object of Divine Faith

faith

Ad Hominem Argument

uses personal attacks rather than logic

Strawman Argument

attacks a different subject rather than the topic being discussed - often a more extreme version of the counter argument; purpose is to make one’s position look stronger than it actually is

Ad Ignorantiam Argument

argues that a proposition must be true because it has not been proven false or there is no evidence against it

Black and White Fallacy

a false dilemma or false dichotomy presents limited options - typically by focusing on two extremes - when in fact more possibilities exist; “either you love me or you hate me”

Slippery Slope Fallacy

assumes that a certain course of action will necessarily lead to a chain of future events; takes a benign premise or starting point and suggests that it will lead to unlikely or ridiculous outcomes with no supporting evidence

Hasty Generalization

a claim base on a few examples rather than substantial proof; arguments often don’t hold up due to a lack of supporting evidence: the claim might be true in one case, but that doesn’t mean it’s always true

Red Herring Fallacy

an argument that uses confusion or distraction to shift attention away from a topic and toward a false conclusion

Begging the Question

“The accused will be given a fair trial before he is hanged.”

Ad Verecundiam

appeal to authority is the misuse of an authority’s opinion to support an argument; “Because Martin Sheen played the president on television, he’d probably make a great president in real life.”

Ad misericordiam

an appeal to pity relies on provoking your emotions to win an argument rather than actual evidence

Ad populum

the Bandwagon fallacy assumes something is true (or right or good) because others agree with it; in other words, it argues that if everyone thinks a certain way, then you should too

Non sequitar

the “it does not follow” fallacy