FINAL EXAMINATION

PHILOSOPHY OF RELIGION
October 2016

NAME: ______________________________________ Score: ____________

TEST 1: MULTIPLE CHOICE.

Directions: Encircle the letter of your answer. Strictly no erasures, please. Each item is worth 2 points.

1. When we examine carefully the nature of the God that the rational proofs affirm, we discover that He is
somewhat different from the God of faith. Which among the following statements does not describe the
God of the rational proofs?

A. God is not a personal God.

B. God is not caught up in personal relationship with the human race.
C. God is not historical.
D. God is not the One who is ultimately responsible for the world.

2. Which among the following statements does not describe God as the God of Fate?

A. God is changeable.
B. God is rather impersonal. He is a deaf God who will not listen.
C. God determines what happens in human history.
D. God brings death, disaster, and pain to people.

3. Which among the following statements best describes God as the Absolute Thou?

A. God is the God of righteousness.

B. God as a Judge.
C. God is a surprising God.
D. God is a God of magic.

4. Which among the following choices best explains the deist position?

A. That God did not create the world.

B. That God breaks the functioning of the world with surprises and miracles.
C. Both A and B.
D. None of the above.

5. One of the positions in answering the question Does God intervene in the world? is spiritual interventions.
Which of the following choices explain its position?

A. Gods intervention is found only in the spiritual realm.

B. God speaks to the heart of each individual human being.
C. God regularly comes into the world of mans spirit.
D. All of the above.
E. None of the above.

6. This atheism affirms that there is no need of religion to explain the world.

A. Moralistic Atheism
B. Rationalist Atheism
C. Marxist Atheism
D. Humanistic Atheism

7. This philosopher believed that the greatness of human existence lies in human freedom, the absolute power
that people have to determine by themselves the direction of their lives. Who is he?

A. Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche

B. Frederick Wilhern Nietzsche
C. Jean-Paul Sartre
D. Jean-Patrick Sartre
8. This particular atheism heavily focuses on the presence of evil in the world. What is it?

A. Humanistic Atheism
B. Rationalist Atheism
C. Moralistic Atheism
D. Marxist Atheism

9. Why do people experience a sense of risk when confronted by a possible dedication?

A. Because in all true dedication, there is a dimension of self-forgetfullness.

B. Because in all true dedication, there is no more freedom.
C. Because true dedication does not involve sacrifice.
D. Because true dedication is merely satisfying the practical demands of life.

10. A person who views history as undetermined or has an attitude of contingency would definitely not say this
particular statement:

A. The present moment is a situation where I am free to make crucial decisions.

B. I had to be born and this birth had to occur in the particular place and at the particular time that
it did.
C. My life could have been different.
D. When I look at my future, I likewise see no determined paths.

11. This philosopher wanted a way of life that exalted human existence and emphasizing aggressiveness.

A. Nietzsche
B. Sartre
C. Marx
D. Feuerbach

12. This atheism highly promotes the idea that people must become independent and that they must learn to
stand on their own two feet.

A. Humanistic Atheism
B. Rationalist Atheism
C. Moralistic Atheism
D. Marxist Atheism

13. This understanding of evil affirms that evil does not exist objectively. Which position is it?

A. Evil is a disorder.
B. Evil consists of lack of completeness.
C. Evil is any imperfection in nature.
D. Evil is an illusion.

14. It is that evil that originates independently of human actions. What is it?

A. Moral Evil
B. Physical Evil
C. Virtual Evil
D. Involuntary Evil

15. He affirmed that human nature has been thoroughly depraved by the sin of Adam. Who is he?

A. Nietzsche
B. Sartre
C. John Calvin
D. Manichaeus

16. For him, human nature is basically good and all of human natural tendencies are good. Evil only arises when
the individual comes into contact with society in some form. Who is he?

A. Manichaeus
B. Calvin
C. Feuerbach
D. Rousseau
17. This is a way of thinking about God that begins from our experience of the natural world but from our
experience of the world of human selfhood. What is it?

A. God as Ground
B. God as Self
C. God as Creator
D. God as Uncaused Cause

18. In this image, God is conceived as being absolutely real, embodying reality in an unlimited way.

A. God as Satisfaction
B. God as Fate
C. God as the Totality
D. God as an Absolute Thou

19. This atheism arises out of the value that our modern mentality places on maturity and responsibility.

A. Humanistic Atheism
B. Rationalist Atheism
C. Moralistic Atheism
D. Marxist Atheism

20. Which among the following statements does not reveal a characteristic of a personal religion?

A. The personal relationship with God makes up the central meaning of my life.
B. The personal relationship with God demands no basic expectation.
C. There is an experience of surpirses, which come into my life when I least expect it.
D. There is an experience of mutuality, of shared existence.

21. True and authentic religion is a religion of true creaturehood. It means that for a religion to be true and
authentic, it must be:

A. In accord with the nature of God.

B. In accord with the nature of creatures.
C. A kind of religion where creatures act in a way that is in keeping with their status as creatures.
D. A kind of religion that attempts to force the divine power to do what the religious person wants.

22 . This understanding of God involves a basic trust in the meaning, value, and possibilities of human life. What
is it?

A. God as Ground
B. God as Self
C. God as Creator
D. God as Uncaused Cause

23. In discussing the reality of evil and the good God, which among the following statements is not a possible
purpose of suffering as discussed by Michael Moga?

A. It leads to redemption.
B. It leads to the development of human character.
C. It leads to mutual service amid suffering.
D. It leads to self-depreciation.

24. Which of the following statements does not conceive deep caring as a religious act?

A. The inspiration that moves a person to become dedicated comes from an inspiration that is
mysterious.
B. The life of a dedicated person is aiming at a value which possesses absolute importance.
C. People who care deeply know that the object of their caring is not truly absolute.
D. People who care deeply have constantly to rely upon a power that is beyond themselves.

25. This atheism promotes a classless society and rejects God and religion. What is it?

A. Humanistic Atheism
B. Rationalist Atheism
C. Moralistic Atheism
D. Marxist Atheism
TEST II: ESSAY
Directions: Write your answers legibly and concisely. You will be graded according to Content (70%), Grammar
(20) and Organization or Flow of thought (10). Questions shall be arranged per degree of difficulty. Each
degree has a corresponding point. Choose only one (1) question for each category. A Bonus Question is also
available for 10 points. Write your answers on the space provided.

EASY (5 pts)

1. Describe the core beliefs of rationalist atheism and provide strong arguments against it.
2. Provide two (2) perspectives that try to explain the statement, Everything is basically evil. One perspective
must be from a religious view and another from a political view. Briefly explain their arguments.
3. How would St. Augustine respond to these questions: Why did the Creator not create everything on the
highest level of perfection? Why did He create inferior beings? Why did He create such things as sharks and
fleas and the AIDS virus?

AVERAGE (10 pts)

1. We have discussed that magical religions basically think that, unless they control God by their magical rituals,
their lives will not be blessed. For this, we argued that magical religions are inauthentic religions.

The question now is: Is the action of a priest blessing a house different from a magical ritual? If you say Yes,
provide some arguments. If you say No, explain why cant it be considered as a form of magical prayers or
incantations.

2. Discuss why infinite hunger in the human heart directs us toward a state of infinite satisfaction in God. Discuss
also some objections to this kind of understanding of human hunger.
HARD (25 pts)

1. The German philosopher Feuerbach attacks religion for the way it brings alienation into human life. He argues
that, in religion, people project into God all the good qualities which are really their own. God is viewed as
perfect, good, powerful, and glorious. Such a projection results in people seeing themselves as just the opposite
of God, as imperfect, evil, weak, and ugly. People are debased by religion.

What would be your counter-argument for Feuerbachs assumptions as a Catholic?

2. St. Irenaeus suggests that this present world, with all of its suffering and evil, is precisely what God wants.
He argues that God has created this world with its good and evil as training ground for character. Expound on
his statements.

BONUS QUESTION (10 pts)

What is your most important realization with regards to our study of Philosophy of Religion? How does that
realization affect your life as a seminarian?

Real love is demanding.

Love demands a personal commitment to the will of God.
- St. JPII

Have a meaningful semestral break!