Happiness / Augustine / Aquinas Reading Religion Quiz

What are we made for?

We are made for happiness

What two terms are associated with moral principles?

rules and laws

List the examples given for today's confounding ethical dilemmas.

The examples for confounding ethical dilemmas are abortion, gay marriage, euthanasia, cloning, war, and capital punishment

Is happiness a matter of getting whatever___________?

Is happiness a matter of getting whatever we want when we want it?

What "triumvirate" is happiness often identified with, in today's society?

many identify happiness with wealth, power, and pleasure

According to Christianity, what is the most satisfying life? What is it characterized by?

A life characterized by justice, generosity, faithfulness, truthfulness, courage, and compassion

What writings should Christians turn to in order to learn about happiness?

the scriptures and the lives of saints

What does no one want to be?

unhappy

What propels everything we do?

A hunger for happiness

It explains the __________ we make, the ______________________ we seek

It explains the choices we make, the relationships we seek

What can explain our mistakes and wrong choices?

misunderstanding

What do we never relinquish?

The search for happiness

According to the philosopher Gilson, what is the purpose of Christian morality?

to teach men and women how they must live if the story of their lives was to have a happy ending.

When did Augustine live?

he lived from 354-430 AD.

What are Augustine's writings the cornerstone of?

His writings were the cornerstone of Western Christian theology

What work is Augustine most famous for writing? What is this work and what is it about?

He is most famous for writing The Confessions, a spiritual autobiography that recounts the first 33 years of his life before converting to Christianity.

Where did Augustine seek happiness?

Augustine sought happiness in sexual pleasure, love affairs, fame and reputation as a teacher, the wisdom of philosophy, social status, and consulting astronomers about his horoscope.

What does Augustine say he wants more than anything as a young man?

Love and being loved

Summarize the story of the beggar. What did it teach Augustine about himself? What did it teach Augustine about happiness?

When Augustine was 31, he had reached success as defined by society at the time, yeat he was still unhappy. One day, he came across a beggar who was unsuccessful in every way by society's standard, yet was much happier than Augustine and his friends. This taught Augustine that he was looking for happiness in all the wrong places, and made him realize that happiness is not always defined by society's definition of success.

When did Aquinas live?

1225-1274 AD

What did his peers nickname Thomas Aquinas?

Dumb Ox

What is Aquinas' magnum opus and what does it contain?

The Summa Theologiae, which contained a stunning exploration of virtually every dimension of christian theology, but a work intended for "beginners".

According to Aquinas, we will not be satisfied until we possess what?

until we obtain a happiness that essentially remains and is forever.

What is the common thread in all our actions?

the desire for happiness, but we seek happiness in different places and ways

What candidates for happiness does Aquinas consider? Does he deny their goodness?

Wealth, fame, honor, pleasure, bodily health, and power+ prestige. He does not deny their goodness, but says they do not have the necessary goodness to bring us to our full excellence as human beings.

Why are we still dissatisfied?

We are all dissatisfied because even when we have earthly goods and pleasures in abundance, we "recognize how incomplete they are and how far short of our highest good."