Deck 3: Alternatives Within Christian Ethics

Question 1

Efforts to modernize the Roman Catholic church are often referred to as __________.

A) Vatican II
B) Vatican III
C) Vatican 2.0
D) Vatican 3.0

Answer 1

Vatican II

Question 2

__________ is communicated through human reason, careful observation, and logical thinking.

A) Natural law
B) Christian law
C) Catholic law
D) Liberation theology

Answer 2

Natural law

Question 3

Bernard Haring's work, The Law of Christ, emphasized using __________ to make moral decisions.

A) prayer
B) faith
C) Scripture
D) others

Answer 3

Scripture

Question 4

According to O'Connell, right and wrong are __________ valid truths.

A) unknowable but
B) objectively
C) personal and
D) subjectively

Question 5

The __________ is comprised of bishops, cardinals, and the Pope.

A) church
B) magisterium
C) theological administration
D) papacy

Question 6

Biblical __________ means that the Bible is the final authority on moral issues.

A) centrism
B) truth
C) infallibility
D) accuracy

Question 7

Robertson McQuilkin calls __________ "the essence of God's law."

A) love
B) divine wrath
C) compassion
D) piety

Question 8

__________ Christians believe that the bible is the authoritative guide to God's will.

A) Catholic
B) Protestant
C) Liberal
D) Evangelical

Question 9

The work of Lewis B. Smedes focuses on the importance of __________ and love.

A) justice
B) spirituality
C) truth
D) faith

Question 10

The central affirmation of __________ ethics is that the only ethical absolute is love.

A) virtue
B) evangelical
C) situational
D) liberation

Question 11

For Paul Lehmann, Christian ethics is oriented toward __________ instead of morality.

A) faith
B) altruism
C) being saved
D) revelation

Question 12

What does virtue ethics emphasize about the decision maker?

A) their actions
B) their words
C) their beliefs
D) their character

Question 13

Stanley Hauerwas's famous work on virtue ethics is called __________.

A) The Peaceable Kingdom
B) The Nature and Destiny of Man
C) Above and Below
D) Kingdom Ethics

Question 14

In a Christocentric viewpoint, __________ is the center to analyzing ethical problems.

A) God
B) Jesus
C) the trinity
D) faith

Question 15

Unlike many of his contemporaries, James Gustafson believes that God's concern extends to __________.

A) all humankind
B) all believers
C) all sinners
D) all creation

Question 16

__________ wrote the foundational work for liberation theology.

A) St. Thomas Aquinas
B) Robert McAfee Brown
C) Gustavo Gutierrez
D) James H. Cone

Question 17

Liberation theology has been used by African-Americans to emphasize __________ and freedom from oppression.

A) access to education
B) self-actualization
C) black unity
D) financial security

Question 18

Feminist thinker __________ said that her participation in a community of faith made her more aware of her oppression as a woman.

A) Eleanor Humes Haney
B) Sharon Welch
C) Anne McGrew Bennett
D) Delores S. Williams

Question 19

Womanists reject traditional feminism because they believe it is oriented toward the __________.

A) white and middle class
B) white and upper class
C) male and middle class
D) male and upper class

Question 20

Thinker Katie G. Cannon asserts that black liberation ethics should move toward a vision that includes __________.

A) all people
B) the disabled
C) women
D) the poor

Question 21

Compare feminist and womanist perspectives on Christian ethics. What do they have in common and how are they different?

Question 22

Examine the progression of Catholic moral thought from natural law to Vatican II. Make a visual representation of the most dynamic changes.

Question 23

Evaluate the idea that right and wrong are objectively valid truths. How might that reality impact social institutions such as the criminal justice system?

Question 24

Compare the traditionalist and revisionist approaches to modern Catholic moral thought. Identify the arguments that you find most compelling and explain why.

Question 25

How does the Evangelical approach to Christian ethics vary from the traditional Protestant approach?

Question 26

Liberation theology encourages fighting against oppressive powers. How might critics of liberation theology respond to its message?

Question 27

Consider the idea that, for many Christian ethicists, the primary issue of morality is on the person doing the acting-not on the actions themselves. Do you believe that focus on the actor and not the action is the best way to make ethical assessments? Why or why not?

Question 28

Write an explanation of Joseph Fletcher's four working principles in situational ethics.

Question 29

Discuss the historical realities that brought liberation theology to the African-American community. Why was the message of liberation theology poignant to that community in midcentury America?

Question 30

What are the key themes of liberation theology? How could such themes be applied to day-to-day actions to benefit the poor and oppressed?