PART ONE: HOW RLS 126 IS DIFFERENT FROM SUNDAY SCHOOL

(1) Explain three differences between RLS 126 and religion courses offered in Christian venues. a. RLS deals with a multitude of different religions whereas Christian venues tend to only teach one b. RLS is more specialized since the professors teaching the course often have another profession which helps to add different angles and insights into the world of religious beliefs c. RLS is regulated by the government to only inform and to only persuade students with information that is not purely religious (2) Did you read the paragraph on this page entitled "Very Important," as well as the one called "Equally Important"? Did you comply with what is said there? Did you read the information the "Study Rules" page contains? If not, do so now (Link: "Study Rules"). a. Yes (3) Explain two different objectives of religion courses offered in Christian venues. Further, identify the objective which can be pursued in RLS 126 only in a limited way, and what it is limited to. a. In Christian venues, the informing and the convincing objective are present which means that not only are the students taught the religious information, they are pressured to believe it. b. The convincing objective is limited in RLS since directly using religious information is prohibited, therefore, professors are directed to only use nonreligious information as a means of convincing students towards any particular realization (4) Explain the difference between "purely religious views" and "views which are not purely religious." Use examples to illustrate your explanation. a. Purely religious views are ones that are taken straight from a direct religious source, devoid of any non-religious teachings. An example being that Jesus is the son of God. b. Views that are not purely religious are unique simply because they share common elements with both religious views, and natural views. An example of one of these views is Stealing is bad. The concept of theft is outlined in the bible as a sin, but it is also illegal in our day-to-day lives, meaning that this view is not one that is only religious. (5) State the name of the document which serves as the fundamental law of the United States, and when it was ratified (= became effective). Further, state what the Bill of Rights is, and when it became effective. Further, state how many amendments to the fundamental law of the United States currently exist. a. The constitution of the united states was ratified in 1788 b. The bill of rights is the first 10 amendments and was ratified in 1791 c. There currently exist 27 amendments to the constitution (6) Explain what your humble instructor has called the "politically correct but factually incorrect" answer to the question, "Where does the prohibition to defend purely religious views in courses offered at places like URI (= public universities) come from?"

a. It comes from the first amendment and the misconception that it defends this concept. Nowhere in the first amendment does it prohibit the teaching of purely religious teachings i. There is no separation talk in the first amendment. The first amendment prohibits congress from passing legislature favoring a particular religion, and it also prohibits interfering with the free exercise of any religion. Politically this amendment serves to prohibit purely religious views in public schools, but factually there is no language that addresses such in the first amendment to the United States Constitution. (7) State (or at least paraphrase) what the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution says about religion. Also, state how the two provisions you are to paraphrase are called individually, and how they are called jointly. Further, state what the word "respecting" means as it is used in the First Amendment, and what an "establishment of religion" is. a. The United States of America may not respect the establishment of a particular religion, nor prevent the free exercise thereof i. Congress may not respect the establishment of religion, nor prevent the free exercise thereof" b. The Establishment clause + The Free Exercise Clause = The Religious clauses c. The word respecting the establishment of a religion means to favor a particular religion. The phrase establishment of religion denotes any particular religion. i. The word respecting means concerning the religion. ii. The phrase establishment of religion denotes any officially recognized religion and the favoritism of said religion (8) Summarize three important but often neglected points concerning the Religion Clauses of the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. a. The first amendment only concerns the law making process of congress b. The first amendment does not concern the executive or judicial branch c. The first amendment only affects the legislative branch (9) Explain what the Fourteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution meant for the Bill of Rights. Further, assuming that the U.S. Supreme Court had not taken upon itself to change the Constitution and the Bill of Rights, how would the situation of religion and government on the state level mirror what the First Amendment prescribes for the federal level? What would that mean for the situation of religion in public schools? (Remember "A logic teacher's dream.") a. The 14th amendment changed many things for the bill of rights, mainly the fact that religious classes may not be taught in public schools. i. The 14th amendment served to bring the bill of rights down to the state level b. If the U.S. Supreme court had not changed the constitution, the government on the state level would exactly mirror what the federal level consists of. Meaning the executive and judicial branch is not concerned with the first amendment, the legislative branch still cannot pass laws respecting the establishment of a religion, yet they can still have religious practices in legislative affairs such as prayers to start sessions.

i. If the U.S. Supreme court had not changed the constitution, the government on the state level would exactly mirror what the federal level consists of. Meaning that state legislature would be neutral in regards of passing legislature concerning religion. The largest change would be that the executive and judicial branches would have the same discretion towards religion that the legislative entails. c. Purely religious teachings in class would be banned due to the Establishment clause, however, prohibiting the free exercise of such religion would violate the Free Exercise Clause (10) Identify the U.S. government body which does have the final authority with regard to determining the meaning of the U.S. Constitution when there is disagreement about its meaning. Further, name two decisions this body has handed down with respect to the teaching of religion in public schools, and state the years in which they were handed down. (Your answer must refer to the decisions that were discussed in class.) a. The United States Supreme Court has the final authority in all manners regarding the constitution b. McCollum v. Board of Education in ___ c. School District of Abington Township v. Schempp in ___ (11) State when McCollum v. Board of Education was handed down, and explain what the decision declared to be unconstitutional. a. This decision was handed down in ___ and it deemed that all religious teachings would be prohibited in public schools (12) State when School District of Abington Township v. Schempp was handed down, what activities it declared to be unconstitutional, and explain what it said about the teaching of religion at public U.S. schools. a. This decision was handed down in ___ and it deemed that religious teachings could be taught in public schools, under a strict guideline. It also stated that bible readings and the lords prayer in public schools is deemed unconstitutional (13) Explain what is meant by the quip, "This course must be taught according to the 'Fox Principle'." Further, explain what teachings that principle applies to, and which ones fall outside of it. a. The foxs principle outlines how all religion courses should be taught in public schools. It basically guides professors to outline all arguments by a sect of religion, yet take no stance as to whether or not these arguments are correct. It also enforces that professors are to outline all aspects and beliefs of a religion, yet make no reinforcements as to whether or not these beliefs are accurate. b. The foxs principle does well to guide a class by enforcing teachings that are not purely religious as a means of not corrupting the opinions of the students. Therefore principles that serve to directly use religious information as a means of convincing are not allowed by the Fox Principle whereas principles that are not purely religious fall directly in-line with the teachings the Fox Principle demonstrates. (14) When a person whose "day job" is teaching philosophy becomes involved in the teaching of religion, this is likely to have two results for the manner in which the course will be conducted. State and briefly explain what they are.

a. The class will focus on matters of the mind rather than the heart and body. This means that by having a philosophy teacher background, the class will be focused along the lines of understanding the minds reasoning, ability, decision process, and willingness to accept a religion as truth. i. Focus on matters of the mind rather than of the will and the heart. Meaning the class will focus on the belief systems of various Christian groups. b. A secondary result will also be the inclination to analyze the concepts and teachings behind a particular religion as a means of understanding the human association with said religion. Since the concept behind philosophy focuses on the greater picture, by having a philosophic background the professor will be better able to incline students to make their own decisions regarding a particular religion as a whole instead of making decisions purely based on the religious teachings of the selected religion. i. On what basis is one supposed to accept what a religion teaches? I feel this means a greater interest in understanding the more difficult questions revolving around religion. Such questions involving how people can believe claims made by religion using a combination of reason and faith, how faith incorporates its self into religion, and the essence of faith itself. (15) Explain what it means to accept a statement on the basis of reason, and what it means to accept a statement on the basis of faith. Be sure to use examples to illustrate your answer. a. The act of accepting a statement on the basis of reasoning means that one is using but not limited his/her own cognitive ability to analyze a statement using the preexistent knowledge you possess. It is important to note that by accepting a statement based on reason, you are also incorporating elements of faith in your decision. Humanity could not have progressed nearly as much as we have if we as a race were unable to accept and utilize knowledge from our predecessors. Whenever we learn anything in class, we take it to be true since it is written in our textbook or another source. We ourselves have not tested/confirmed the information to be true, however, we accept that it is true by using a combination of our cognitive ability to determine its validity and our faith based ability to accept new knowledge and teachings without directly testing validity. b. Accepting a statement on the basis of faith is unique since reasoning is generally devoid from these statements. If one chooses to accept the statement Moses parted the red sea one is forced to accept this statement based on faith since there is no direct way to prove that he accomplished this. We can say this statement is based primarily on faith since there lacks any scientific theories or physical evidence to support such a claim. The faith based answer to this statement simply points to the bible as a source of validity, whereas the reason based answer would focus upon more concrete examples of validity. Since the faith based answer uses the bible as a source of direct evidence, we can conclude that this statement is one based on faith in the bibles teachings.

(16)

I have distinguished two different types of faith. State what they are. a. Faith based on credibility considerations and Blind Faith (17) Briefly explain the Mr. Prendergast story and explain what type of faith it is to illustrate. a. It is an example of faith based on credibility considerations. A man is walking near Mr. Prendergasts house whom has a son in Iraq that he has not heard from in over a year. Mr. Prendergast comes up and says that he shouldnt know this, but that his friend called him and said that someone from the pentagon was going to call and they had found his son. After that he picked up the phone only to hear confirmation to his suspicions. (18) Briefly explain the Mr. Smith story and explain what type of faith it is to illustrate. a. It is an example of blind faith. After passing Mr. Pentergasts house he passes Mr. Smiths house who tells him he is going to be so rich because a man on the phone told him he won the lottery. Mr. Smith gave him his SS, the #s on his credit and debit cards and the name of his bank and his account number to deposit his funds. There is no considerations in support of the credibility of the person who called him. (19) Several semesters ago, a student asked in class (RLS 126), "Is Christianity based on blind faith, or on reasonable faith?" Explain how I had to react to that question, and why. a. Difference between 2 Christian groups, one that has basic distrust in human reason suggest that faith is blind. Other claims that the Christian faith is based on credibility considerations.

PART TWO: A PREVIEW

(20) The statement that the "agreement part" of this course deals with beliefs accepted by "all forms of Christianity" must be "toned down" or "qualified" in two different respects. State what it is to be toned down to, and explain the reasons for each of the two qualifications of the "toned down version." a. The content must be toned down to what most groups belonging to traditional Christianity accept b. Traditional is to exclude religious liberalism as well as newer Christina denominations c. Most is to indicate that even within christen groups considered to be traditional, occasionally exception is taken to an otherwise almost universally accepted belief (21) I have mentioned five items which are excluded from traditional Christianity. One of them is a movement, and four of them are denominations. State what they are. a. Religious liberalism is the movement b. 4 denominations fall outside traditional Christianity because they do not believe the core beliefs traditional Christians hold i. The Church of Christ, Scientists Christian Scientists ii. Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints Mormons iii. Jehovahs Witnesses iv. And the Unitarian Universalists

(22) State the reason for which "yours truly" (that's your instructor) is reluctant to exclude the Seventh-day Adventists from traditional Christianity, and explain two respects in which that denomination differs from traditional Christianity. a. In most teachings and practices, they agree with traditional Christianity b. They observe lords day on Saturday c. They do not believe in an eternal hell

PART THREE: A MESSED-UP HUMANITY? A "NOT PURELY RELIGIOUS" CONSIDERATION OF THE HUMAN CONDITION
(23) Summarize the "car with the malfunctioning transmission" example, and explain the features of the human condition which it is to illustrate. a. You go to a car dealership, want to test a car and the dealer says you can test it on the road on your own. You think him trusting but when putting the gear in reverse it goes forward and when putting the gear in forward it goes in reverse sometimes. When you go back you say I forgot how to drive a non-automatic car and the dealer replies that theres one minor problem, about 50% of the time it switches gears and I am willing to take another 500$ off the original price because of it. b. It demonstrates the relationship between human reason and the human will. It does so by highlighting the incongruences between our human reason and will at different times. Sometimes our will does what our reason tells it to be right, but often our will does the opposite and we often do what we know to be wrong. (24) I have asserted in class (and in the text) that we tend to become immune to the seriousness of the flaws of human nature. Explain the consideration I have used as an antidote. a. Truly rational people would see us as beings with a will who do not follow his/her reason is impossible, but human beings are such existences. We know there is incongruence between our will and reason, yet we seem to be immune to how irrational that concept of thinking is and do not realize it in our day-to-day lives. (25) Read the Study Rules (26) Summarize the Irving story as well as the story about a person's special talent, and explain the point both stories are to make about human reason and the human heart. a. Irving comes home from work and is in a rush to watch the ballgame at home. He leaves later than usual and speeds to get home faster. On the interstate there is a traffic tie-up and 3 ambulances come through traffic and Irving must squeeze left to let them through. He gets angry event though the 3 ambulances indicate serious harm to people a couple hundred yards in front of him. The comparison of missing the ballgame with people being in a serious accident and what is worse is what is highlighted in this story. If his heart was in the right place he would be full of compassion for the people suffering, instead his heart only focuses on his anger for being late for the ballgame. It highlights the disconnect between our will and our reason being a serious flaw in human nature, but one when takes the human heart into consideration things get even worse. (27) Explain the disconnect between human reason and the human will, as well as that between human reason and the human heart as they were outlined in class.

a. The disconnect between human reason and the human will is that the human reason is what informs us about what is right and wrong, yet our will (Our actions) generally do not follow according to these rules. The disconnect between human reason and the human heart is that human reason tells us what is right and wrong, yet our heart generally reflects conflicting ideas such as the example of the ambulance and the ballgame. (28) Explain what the flaws of human reason consist in which I have highlighted in class. a. (29) Explain how a "properly functioning" human being would have to be with regard to his or her reason, will, and heart. a. A properly functioning human being would have no difficulties making his/her will and heart follow his/her reason. The reason would always follow the evidence rather than be determined by wishful thinking

PART FOUR: ORIGINAL SIN--A PURELY RELIGIOUS EXPLANATION OF A NOT PURELY RELIGIOUS FINDING
(30) Explain why original sin is called a "purely religious explanation of a not purely religious finding." a. It uses religious examples to explain something that the human mind can recognize on its own without having to turn to religion. Humans do not need religion to realize the fault in human nature. (31) Explain how humans actually are, and how they are meant to be according to Christianity. Further, state when--if at all--humans ever were as they were meant to be according to Christianity. a. Humanity has a defective nature essentialy but christianity holds that this is neither how humans were intended to be nor how they were created. Humans were according to christianity before adam and eve tainted human nature. (32) State what the feature of human persons is which makes it possible for them to do wrong even in a situation in which doing the right thing is easy. Further, summarize the story illustrating that doing wrong when doing right is easy is worse than doing the same wrong when doing right is hard. (Hint: Remember Trav Tryhard and his colleagues.) a. Since humans are beings with free will aswell as having the ability to make free choices, we can technically make the wrong choice even in a correct situation. b. The story consists of Trav Tryhards oldest daughter havind Downs Syndrome and since his wire needs to take care of his elderly parents, there are many situations where he must come home from work for emergencies. His boss does not realize the gravity of his situation and tells him he will be fired if he does not deliver a package to another building before he leaves for work. He gets a call saying theres an emergency saying he needs to come home and he is struggling to find a way to deliver the package and make it home in time. The story diverges into two situations, one where he gives the package to Weakly and one where he gives it to Firz Fit. In the first situation Weakly goes to the building but the elevator is broken and he has arthritis which would make it paintful to walk up all those stairs. He tries anyway and after a short while he gives up and decides to

deliver it tomorrow even though he knows the consequence. The second situation when Fitz Fit goes there he is presented with the same dilemma but decides not to deliver the package because he just plainly didnt want to walk up all those stairs. Even though he knows Tryhard will be fired, he decides to deliver the package tomorrow. (33) Explain what false pride is (including the tour guide illustration), and indicate what in the Genesis account about Adam and Eve suggests that false pride may have been a motive of their wrongdoing. a. False pride is the tendency humanity has to not acknowledge dependence on others. We want to claim that what we actually receive from someone else is brought about by our own efforts. The tour guid example illustrates a tour guide stepping in for a co-worker and the main tour guide explains in detail everything you have to know. When you give the tour the next day people praise you for knowing so much until one says He would have known as little as you or I had the tour leader not told him everything last night. Which is true, however, your pride might still be hurt. False pride interferes with our willingness to recognize our dependence on others. b. The false pride Genesis indicates is how Adam and Eve wanted to be like god despite there was no way to be free of complete dominance from god.

(34) [The purpose of this question is to make sure that you actually read the source to which there is a link in the text.] The text segment entitled "False Pride" contains a link to Genesis 2.4-3.24. Reading these chapters should make you able to answer the following: When Adam was hiding from God, what was the reason he gave for hiding? What are some of the things God told the serpent? a. He hid from god because eve ate the apple and gave some to him and they realized they were naked and hid. He told god that he was hiding because he heard god in the garden and that he was afraid because he was naked. He told the serpent that he was cursed above all livestock and wild animals and that he must crawl on his belly and eat dust for all the days of his life.
(35) State what the two chief consequences of Adam and Eve's wrongdoing were according to Christianity. a. The two chief consequences were a state of guilt and the corruption of their nature and future generations to come (36) Briefly explain the considerations showing that guilt and feelings of guilt are different from each other. Be sure to use examples illustrating your explanation. a. Guilt is a state in which wrongdoers are regardless of how they may feel about themselves. b. Guilt may exist even though a person who is guilty does not feel guilty, and conversely, that a person may feel guilty without the presence of actual guilt. (37) State the reason why guilt is called "strictly personal," as well as the illustration which I have given in support of the strictly personal nature of this consequence of wrongdoing.

a. The state of guilt attaches only to the person actually doing the wrong and cannot be passed onto someone else who was not involved in the wrongdoing b. It is misguided for all current germans to feel guilty for the evils done in nazi Germany c. It is misguided to consider current americans guilty because of the evils of slavery (38) Briefly explain the example which I have used to illustrate that misusing a device for a purpose for which it is not intended may damage that device, and how I have applied that example to Adam and Eve. a. The car example in which when driving, attempting to stop by putting the gear shift in reverse b. The human will moving else ware implies its being misused contrary to what it was intended for c. The misuse of human freedom inflicted permanent damage on the nature of first humans (39) Explain how individual humans existing today supposedly "wound up" with original sin. Also, give a pity (= very brief and concise) definition of "original sin." a. All humans inherited the damaged nature from Adam and Eve b. Original sin is the damage to human nature that the first humans caused to themselves through their wrongdoings and passed onto their descendants (40) Calling the damage to human nature "original sin" might give rise to the misunderstanding that the expression refers to a wrong one has done. Correct this misunderstanding by stating what original sin is. Also, I have pointed out that in the expression, "original sin" the word "sin" is used in an analogical rather than in a literal sense. Using the "healthy" example, explain what an analogical sense is. Also, explain the reason for which the word "sin" is used in the expression, "original sin." a. The misunderstanding is that we necessarily have not sinned, however, due to the sins of our ancestors were are affected justly. b. The original sin is a state not an act c. Sin indicates that the damage to human nature provides the ground out of which literally sinful acts grow from (41) True, someone doing wrong virtually unavoidably is to be judged less harshly than someone doing wrong although being good would be easy for him or her. Christianity states, however, that we do not get "off the hook" just because original sin makes wrongdoing virtually inevitable for us. Explain the reason supporting this statement, including (but not limited to) the child molester example I have used as an illustration. a. If people are born with an irresistible tendency, given the opportunity how can one expect them to resist the tendency if they are born with it? b. If a man is born with child molestation tendencies and on top of that is a strong urge to sadism, if given the opportunity the man cannot resist the temptation to assault little children

PART FIVE: HOW DOES GOD RELATE TO US? HOW DO WE RELATE TO GOD? OUR CHIEF TASK DURING THIS LIFE

(42) Explain why analogical knowledge of God is possible according to Christianity, and what analogical knowledge of God is. a. Genesis states that god says he is making man in our image and likeness, though this statement we can infer that there must be some similarities between us and god. b. Analogical knowledge of god is using analogies to better understand our relationship towards god
(43) Summarize the example of the admired person who loves you, and explain the point it is supposed to make. a. The example of the admired person is to elect the relationship between humans and god. God indefinitely loves us and we were built to love god, so when we find out that god loves us back it produces an overwhelming experience (44) Explain the general statement about love that has been presented in class, state which type of human love has been designated as the most intimate one, and explain how it has been characterized. a. Love is caring for another because of their personality rather than considering him/her as a means for furthering ones ends. b. The degree of closeness between lovers differs in various aspects; the most intimate relationship is the love between a man and a woman. This love is characterized by a desire for intimacy permeating every fiber of human existence (45) According to Christianity, the way God relates to humans can best be understood by "rolling" two different human experiences "into one." State and briefly explain what these experiences are. a. The experience of being loved by someone you admire and combining it with the realization that someone is truly in love with you. The realization that the one who you love not only loves you back, but loves you for every fiber of your being. (46) Explain what the two elements are which are supposed to be included in a human's relationship to God according to Christianity, and what the two respects are in which an actual human's relationship to God usually falls short. a. God is often seen more like a demanding boss than an intimate lover/beloved friend b. Their consciousness of god seems to have little practical influence on their lives (47) State and briefly explain how Christianity understands the purpose of our existence, and what our task of a human is during this life. a. The purpose of our existance according to christianity is to love god back. b. Our task is to change so what we correspond more closely to the purpose for which we have been created, meaning we are to transform ourselves into a person loving god in respect to the two elements defined as the admired person and the love of the lover to the beloved. (48) I have referred to two practical "hints" which Christianity considers useful for learning to carry out the task humans do have during this life. State what they are. Further, the first of these hints has been divided into two steps. State what they are. a. The two hints are cultivating a relationship with god and doing gods will b. The two steps is for how one cultivates a relationship with god is trying to awaken gratitude and conditioning ones self so that god is never far from ones mind.

(49) Explain the role gratitude might have in a Christian's attempt to relate to God in a more appropriate way. a. The role of gratitude is to not only show gratitude for gods intervention and answering of prayers, but for everything god has provided us. Since god is the provider of all we should be more grateful for everything that he has done for us. (50) In class, I have referred to the New Testament story about the ten lepers. State what happened in that story, and explain the shortcoming in human life it is to illustrate. a. In the story 10 lepers asked jesus to have pity on themselves for their illnesses. Jesus told them to present themselves to the priests and show that they were no longer ill and on the way they were actually healed. One of them returned to jesus to thank him when jesus asked why the other 9 had not returned to give thanks back to god. It illustrates that we ask god many things, yet even when they are answered we tend to not give thanks to him for answering our prayers. (51) A Christian is supposed to "condition" him- or herself such that an awareness of God is never far from his or her mind. Explain the two examples which I have used to illustrate what that means a. Since god is supposed to be the person we are in love with, even if we are performing other tasks we should always keep god in our mind. b. The thought of the beloved will be the focus of attention even if other tasks are being performed c. Another is a beautiful piece of music, after hearing it many times there will come a time where it will always be in the background of your consciousness (52) Christianity recommends "doing God's will" as one of two practical hints for learning to requite God's love. In class, "two sides" of doing God's will have been distinguished. State and briefly explain what they are. a. The indicator side and the motivator side b. The indicator side depicts that a person who truly loves god will joyfully do his will and not consider it an annoying task. Someone who exemplifies the indicator side would say that he enjoys doing gods will every day. c. The motivator side depicts that doing gods will is the most efficient means for growing in love with ones god (53) Explain the example of the "task bothersome for a man and the woman whom he loves," and how it has been applied to "doing God's will." a. A task a man would normally hate to do is considered annoying to him, however, if that task was important to the woman whom he loves he would feel no anger in performing that task every day. It relates to doing gods will and the indicator side. (54) "What good must I do to have eternal life?" Summarize the answer Jesus gives to this question, and state what type of laws that answer declares to be binding for Christians. a. The answer Jesus gives is the 10 commandments, which outline what actions are sinful in the eyes of the beholder, (55) "Do not think I have come to abolish the law . . . I have not come to abolish, but to fulfill." State what type of laws Christians apply this saying of Jesus to, and why they do not take it to be an order to continue observing laws of that type. a. Non mortal laws apply to this saying

b. A person is no longer bound by a promise that he/she has fulfilled, so they are no longer bound by the non-mortal laws in the Torah since Jesus has fulfilled them (56) Christians distinguish two types of laws in the Torah. State and explain what they are, which type Christians continue to consider as binding and why, and which type Christians do no longer consider as binding, and why. a. The mortal laws and the non-mortal laws and jews follow the non-mortal laws since the torah depicts them whereas regular Christians do not follow them because jesus has already fulfilled them and sine he his they are no longer bound to that promise (57) "The law is written" in people's "hearts." State what type of laws this saying is applied to by Christians, and what about these laws it is to highlight. a. The mortal laws in Christianity refer to laws that can be found by using ones own reasoning power. These laws are highlighted by the 10 commandments

PART SIX: "GOD IN THE DOCK" (58) Explain the meaning of the word "dock" as it is used in the "God in the dock" title and state the question which expresses the chief charge against the "defendant" (= God) which the course part with this title deals with. a. The word Dock means court and the question expressed is the 2 mistakes god made when creating the universe. The 2 mistakes is creating humans without excluding the possibility of wrongdoing from the design of first humans, and that god failed to protect others from being affected by the damage the first humans caused to their nature. (59) The prosecution's case as presented in Part Six of the course begins with a reminder of the current human situation, the original condition of humans, and what accounted for the change from the original to the current situation. Briefly explain these three items. a. The current human situation is the result of the first humans wrongdoings which resulted in original sin and a flawed nature. b. The original condition of humans were that our will and heart could easily follow our reason c. What accounted for the change from the original to the current situation is when Adam and Eve ate the apple from the tree which caused flaws to our human nature (60) The prosecution's case as presented in Part Six of the course charges the defendant with having made two mistakes. Briefly explain what they are. The prosecution also proposes two different ways in which the second mistake supposedly could have been avoided. State and briefly explain what they are. a. The two mistakes the defendant (God) made was creating humans with the possibility to do wrong, and not protecting future generations from the effects of the first humans.

b. The two solutions to the inherited flawed nature humans possess is that god could either create a new image of humanity in his eyes, or he could have placed a filter or barrier preventing the damage of the formers nature from being passed onto future generations (61) "God could have prevented the damage to human nature, had he designed the first humans such that wrongdoing would not have been possible for them." Explain Christianity's response to this assertion. Be sure to include reference to an important characteristic of love which has been explained in this context. a. Christianity emphasizes that the purpose humanity is created for is the purpose of loving god. And since love must be given and that Forced Love is meaningless, we can choose not to love. This is because creating a being for the purpose of loving god, but making it so that they are not capable of withholding love is impossible since love must be freely given. (62) State what an oxymoron is and give at least two examples of oxymora ("oxymora" is the plural form of "oxymoron"). Further, state the oxymoron which contains the word "love" and which has been used in the defendant's response to the first mistake charge the prosecution made against him. a. An oxymoron is a statement that does not make logical sense such as a circular square or a jumbo shrimp. The oxymoron which contains the word love involves the fact that humans were created to love god, yet if he created humans without the ability to withhold love, then that love would be meaningless because it would not be love given to god. (63) In the "God in the dock" part, the prosecution suggests two possibilities for keeping us free from the damage which Adam and Eve supposedly inflicted on their nature. One of them has been called the "different first parents proposal." Briefly explain what it is, and how Christianity responds to it. a. The different first parents proposal involves canceling out the creation of Adam and Eve and making new original humans devoid of damaged human nature. Christianity responds that if god created new origins of humanity, all branches of humanity (the current us) would become nonexistent so his love surpassed reason and he allows us to exist, even though we are flawed. The example given is that The only way that god could get to me was to create Adam and Eve even though he saw they would corrupt their nature and pass it to future generations. (64) In the "God in the dock" part, the prosecution suggests two possibilities for keeping us free from the damage which Adam and Eve supposedly inflicted on their nature. One of them has been called the "filter between the first human parents and their descendants" proposal. Briefly explain what it is, and how Christianity responds to it.

a. The filter between the first human parents and their descendants proposal involves god not allowing Adams damaged human nature to pass unto future generations. Christianity responds to this by noting that current humans could only exist with Adams nature which has been severely damaged. They also hold that the damage to human nature affects every aspect of our being and that the only way to prevent the damage to be handed down to future generations would be preventing offspring from being born. (65) "It certainly is not very loving to allow someone with a damaged nature to come into existence." Explain how the defendant replies to this assertion. a. The defendant replies to this assertion by stating that god has loved us individually with a passionate love going beyond any intensity we could imagine. God loves us, the irreplaceable individual who cannot be repeated, for whom there is no substitute. PART SEVEN: "SEE HOW THE CROSS OF THE LORD STANDS REVEALED AS THE TREE OF LIFE" (66) Explain what makes the Christian form of monotheism unique, and what Jesus' role within the Trinity is according to Christianity. Also, state who the Old Testament figure is with whom Christians identify Jesus. a. The Christian form of monotheism is unique because it includes the ideal of the trinity which says god can exist in three persons, the father, the son and the holy spirit. Monotheism depicts a singular god, whereas Christianity denotes that their single god exists in 3 different forms. Jesus is the son in this trinity. Christians consider him a god who exists separately from time and independently prior to his conception as a human. Meaning that essentially, before Jesus took a human form he existed before humanity was created. (67) In Part Seven, the text mentions a solution to the mess-up of the human condition which would be just, but which God did not choose according to Christianity. State what it is, and why it would be just. Further, briefly explain the solution that God actually chose according to Christianity. a. The only solution to this predicament was preventing Adam and Even from having offspring or to not make Adam and Even in the first place b. It would be just because since humans have a nature broken by original sin, if left alone we would only pursue our personal goals by harming others and ourselves in the process. c. The solution god chose was that since god loves us individually and immensely, he would create Jesus who would become one of us humans

and assume a true human nature which includes a physically body which genetically came from Adam (68) According to Christianity, Humans derived at least two benefits from Jesus' entering their community. State and briefly explain what they are. (Be sure to include the "organism--cells" analogy in your explanation of one of these benefits.) a. Counteracting the damage inflicted on human nature by Adam and Eve i. Consider humanity an entire organism inflicted with a disease, Introducing Jesus who is devoid of this disease is like a powerful antidote whose purpose is to counteract the poison b. Jesus could act as a representative and pay the price for any wrongdoings that have ever been committed by anyone