Deck 8: Philosophy of Religion

Question 1

Kierkegaard claims that a rational proof of God's existence is impossible because:

A) God would not want such a proof to be possible.
B) God is infinite, and the mind of man is finite.
C) if we could prove God's existence, we would have done so by now.
D) it would remove God's essential mystery.
E) None of the above

Answer 1

B

Question 2

According to Kierkegaard, truth depends on:

A) the relation between a statement and independent objects in the world.
B) whether a statement's contrary entails a contradiction.
C) the relation between a belief and its subject.
D) the preponderance of the evidence being for or against a statement.
E) Both B and C

Answer 2

C

Question 3

Existentialism is the philosophical doctrine according to which our being as subjective individuals is more important than:

A) what we have in common objectively with other human beings.
B) our objective relationship with God.
C) our ability to exercise individual choices.
D) our choice of inner beliefs.
E) None of the above

Answer 3

A

Question 4

For Kierkegaard and his Pietist associates, to believe in God is to:

A) believe He exists.
B) attend the proper rituals and recite the appropriate prayers.
C) expect certain punishment for worldly sin.
D) trust God to provide an eternal life after death.
E) None of the above

Question 5

"Existential dread" is the:

A) fear of dying young.
B) fear of eternal damnation.
C) fear that one's life is meaningless.
D) fear of dying before one's life's work has been completed.
E) None of the above

Question 6

The central emotional experience of Kierkegaard's philosophy and life was:

A) his early physical self-indulgence.
B) the death of his father at an early age.
C) his confrontation with existential dread.
D) his devotion to Hegelian philosophy.
E) his fascination with the philosophy of Plato.

Question 7

In order to be saved, according to Kierkegaard, one's faith must be:

A) free from all doubt, including doubt that one is deserving of eternal life.
B) held throughout an observant life.
C) justified by reason.
D) given only after a long period of questioning one's worthiness.
E) All of the above

Question 8

The price of salvation, according to Kierkegaard's variety of Protestantism, is:

A) the performance of "good works."
B) frequent public attestations of belief in God's existence.
C) unconditioned faith in God's promise of eternal life.
D) Both A and C
E) None of the above

Question 9

The objective truth of a statement depends upon:

A) whether or not it conforms to some independent state of affairs in the world.
B) what the scientific authorities think about it.
C) whether or not the subject passionately believes it.
D) the relation between a belief and the subject of the belief.
E) the relation between the belief and itself.

Question 10

Kierkegaard opposed himself to:

A) the Lutheran Church.
B) Hegelian philosophers.
C) middle-class society.
D) Both A and B
E) All of the above

Question 11

For Kierkegaard, the central religious problem was the:

A) problem of evil.
B) problem of faith.
C) search for a proof of God's existence.
D) problem of determining the nature of the afterlife.
E) None of the above

Question 12

Truth, according to Kierkegaard, is achieved by:

A) using rational means to prove a belief.
B) using empirical methods to verify a belief.
C) showing that the contrary of a belief entails a contradiction.
D) possessing a belief that you hold passionately and without doubt.
E) None of the above

Question 13

Who among the following denies that we can prove that God exists?

A) William Paley
B) Anselm
C) Thomas Aquinas
D)
E) Søren Kierkegaard

Question 14

The first existentialist philosopher is universally considered to have been:

A) Kant.
B) Kierkegaard.
C) Plato.
D) Sartre.
E) Hegel.

Question 15

Marx and Kierkegaard:

A) disagreed concerning the value of Hegelian philosophy.
B) were both concerned with the issue of poverty.
C) both concerned themselves with religious reform.
D) were opposed to the same forces, though they attacked them in very different ways.
E) All of the above

Question 16

The offer of eternal life in exchange for sincere faith caused fear and torment because:

A) each person has committed some sin.
B) different people interpreted it different ways.
C) it is nearly impossible to be sure that one has unconditional faith in God.
D) we are limited by our imperfect understanding of the motives of God.
E) None of the above

Question 17

Which argument does Kierkegaard use for the existence of God?

A) The Argument from Design
B) The Argument from First Cause
C) The Ontological Argument
D) A version of the Cosmological Argument
E) Kierkegaard gives no argument for the existence of God.

Question 18

When Kierkegaard said we must make a "leap of faith," he meant we:

A) should believe in God because the evidence supports our doing so.
B) should believe in God specifically because the evidence suggests we should not.
C) cannot construct a decisive argument for or against a belief in God, so we must believe in God without any appeal to reason whatsoever.
D) cannot construct a decisive argument for or against a belief in God, so we must suspend our judgment.
E) None of the above

Question 19

The essential features) of Kierkegaard's philosophy, according to the author, is:

A) his opposition to the religious views of the burghers.
B) the "leap of faith."
C) the subjectivity of truth.
D) Both B and C
E) Both A and B

Question 20

Kierkegaard says it is a mistake to ask about another person's mind, because I risk the possibility of:

A) violating the other person's solitude.
B) being deceived.
C) entanglement.
D) sin.
E) All of the above

Question 21

One important flaw in the Argument from Design is:

A) philosophers hold all arguments from analogy to be invalid.
B) it requires a "leap of faith."
C) even if its reasoning were correct, it wouldn't prove the existence of an omnipotent God.
D) many parts of the universe show no sign of purposive organization.
E) Both A and D

Question 22

The claim that everything that moves must have been started in motion by some other thing is part of:

A) the Ontological Argument.
B) the Cosmological Argument.
C) the Argument from Design.
D) Anselm's most famous argument.
E) the Argument from Analogy.

Question 23

The object of faith, according to Kierkegaard, is the:

A) doctrine of Christianity.
B) self.
C) unity of Jesus and God.
D) reality of the teacher.
E) subjectivity of truth.

Question 24

One version of the Cosmological Argument attempts to derive God's existence from the fact that

A) the world is a well-organized place.
B) God can only be known subjectively.
C) an infinite idea must have an infinite source.
D) objects sometimes move.
E) None of the above

Question 25

Christianity, according to Kierkegaard, is:

A) the fact that God has existed.
B) the doctrine of the unity of the divine and the human.
C) the claim that subject and object are, in fact, identical.
D) a collection of rituals and observances.
E) None of the above

Question 26

Sometimes, striking a random series of keys on a piano will produce a pleasant tune, even though no one composed it. This sort of example could be used to challenge the:

A) Ontological Argument.
B) Cosmological Argument.
C) Argument from Design.
D) Argument from First Cause.
E) None of the above

Question 27

Aquinas claims that no thing can be the cause of its own existence because:

A) only God can bring things into existence.
B) nothing can be simultaneously potential and actual.
C) it couldn't cause itself to exist if it didn't already exist.
D) there has to be a first cause.
E) None of the above

Question 28

Kierkegaard tells us that the only ethical interest is interest:

A) in the well-being of those less fortunate.
B) in the sincerity of others.
C) on one's own subjective reality.
D) in objective reality.
E) in one's relation to one's community.

Question 29

A necessary object, in Aquinas' sense, is an object that:
C) exists.
D) can't fail to exist.
E) None of the above
F) creates other things.
G) is needed to start a chain of causes and effects.

Question 30

The soundness of Paley's Argument from Design relies upon:

A) the existence of a blind watchmaker.
B) an argument from analogy.
C) mathematical ratios.
D) a leap of faith.
E) an ethical principle.

Question 31

St. Thomas thought that the best way to gain knowledge of God was:

A) by the use of reason.
B) by a "leap of faith."
C) by revelation.
D) through the study of Scripture.
E) St. Thomas thought we were incapable of gaining knowledge of God.

Question 32

"To exist in actuality is greater than merely to be possible," is a premise of:

A) the Ontological Argument.
B) the Cosmological Argument.
C) the Argument from Design.
D) St. Thomas's best-known argument.
E) the Argument from Analogy.

Question 33

"We know, by the evidence of our senses, that in the world some things are moved," is a premise of:

A) the Ontological Argument.
B) the Cosmological Argument.
C) the Argument from Design.
D) an argument offered by St. Anselm.
E) the Argument from Analogy.

Question 34

Paley argues that a watch is to a watchmaker as:

A) a hydraulic machine is to God.
B) the world is to God.
C) the eye is to an intelligent creator.
D) a museum is to a curator.
E) None of the above

Question 35

Hume's discussion of the Argument from Design employs the example of the house and the architect to show:

A) that Paley had the right approach, but should have used a house as his
Example instead of an eye.
B) that God is not related to the universe the same way that a house is relatedto an architect.
C) that the universe doesn't really seem to display a purposive order.
D) Both A and B
E) None of the above

Question 36

The fact that the world seems to have a purposive order serves as a premise in the:

A) Ontological Argument.
B) Cosmological Argument.
C) Argument from Design.
D) Argument from First Cause.
E) Argument from Analogy.

Question 37

Which of the following is an example of an infinite regress?

A) If I start with a chocolate bar, and give away half of my chocolate each day, I'll never run out of chocolate.
B) If I start a ball rolling, and no outside force acts on it, it will continue rolling forever.
C) There is no greatest prime number.
D) If my cat had to have other cats as parents, and they in turn had to have cats as their parents, and so on, there could be no first cat in the chain.
E) All of the above

Question 38

"Hence, that, than which nothing greater can be conceived, exists, and it is this that we call God," is the conclusion of:

A) the Ontological Argument.
B) the Cosmological Argument.
C) the Argument from Design.
D) an argument given by William Paley.
E) an argument offered by Kierkegaard.

Question 39

If all the premises of the Argument from Design were true, it would demonstrate that

A) an omnipotent, benevolent, omniscient creature exists.
B) the God of the Bible exists.
C) a long-lived, wise, powerful organizer of the universe exists.
D) God exists, but lacks some of His traditional attributes.
E) None of the above

Question 40

Aquinas' Cosmological Argument assumes that:

A) there must be an infinite regress of causes.
B) an infinite regress is impossible.
C) nothing can be actually hot and potentially cold.
D) Both B and C
E) None of the above

Question 41

Forty-four percent of Americans are confident that Jesus will return to Earth sometime in the next 50 years. According to Sam Harris, this is a problem because it leaves them with:

A) no incentive to build a sustainable civilization.
B) no hope for the future
C) a great fear of science and new technology
D) motive to disrespect other religions
E) too little time to lead a fulfilling life on earth

Question 42

Sam Harris defines faith as:

A) the ultimate solution to all the world's problems.
B) the license to keep believing when reasons fail.
C) a supernatural kind of knowledge that is more certain than reason.
D) the right and privilege of any free-thinking individual.
E) the handmaiden of reason, without which reason would be sterile.

Question 43

According to Leibniz's "Best of All Possible Worlds" response to the problem of evil:

A) God is not benevolent.
B) there is no evil in the world.
C) God permits some human suffering in the world, although it's the least amount logically possible.
D) God is not omniscient.
E) None of the above

Question 44

The dramatic turning point of Kierkegaard's private life was the breaking of his engagement to Regine Olson.

Question 45

Most people are not subject to existential dread.

Question 46

Kierkegaard and other Pietists believed that part of the price of salvation was "good works."

Question 47

Hume sees no difficulty in the possibility of "an eternal succession of objects," without beginning or end. This is meant to be an objection to:

A) the Argument from Design.
B) the Cosmological Argument.
C) the Ontological Argument.
D) Kierkegaard's "leap of faith."
E) Both B and C

Question 48

The key to Kant's criticism of the Ontological Argument is:

A) Anselm should have gathered empirical evidence to support his claim.
B) the claim that "God exists" is synthetic, not analytic.
C) it assumes an infinite regress of causes.
D) there's no difference between existence in the understanding and existence in reality.
E) there can't be an uncaused First Cause.

Question 49

Which of the following statements is analytic?

A) There is evil in the world.
B) The Confederacy lost the Civil War.
C) A round room has no corners.
D) Old men go bald.
E) None of the above

Question 50

According to Kant, any proposition that asserts the existence of something must be:

A) unprovable.
B) a tautology.
C) analytic.
D) synthetic
E) self-contradictory.

Question 51

Which of the following is an a priori proposition?

A) The Norman Conquest occurred in 1066.
B) Too much salt can raise your blood pressure.
C) Most mammals have four legs.
D) All the angles in a square are 90 degrees.
E) None of the above

Question 52

According to Hume, no claim can be proven to be true unless:

A) the denial of the claim entails a contradiction.
B) we can conceive it clearly in our minds.
C) it's a clear and distinct proposition.
D) there is evidence eliminating all other possibilities.
E) it appears in Scripture.

Question 53

Existential dread is experienced only by those who fear eternal damnation.

Question 54

Which of the following is NOT one of the commonalities between Buddhism and modern science, according to Tenzin Gyatso, the Dalai Lama?

A) Deep suspicion of any notion of absolutes,
B) Preference for the theory of evolution
C) Empirical methodology
D)Rejection of traditional religious cosmology
E) Respect for and protection of all forms of life

Question 55

Which of the following statements is synthetic?

A) Every triangle has three sides.
B) 6+7=13
C) Every city has a street called "Main."
D) No bachelor is married.
E) None of the above

Question 56

Aquinas argues that, if there weren't at least one necessary object, then:

A) we couldn't gain knowledge of God through reason.
B) there would be an infinite regress of causes.
C) nothing would exist
D) the universe would not display a purposive order.
E) God would not be omnipotent.

Question 57

Hume, in his Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion, gives objections to the:

A) Argument from Design.
B) Cosmological Argument.
C) Ontological Argument.
D) Both A and C
E) All of the above

Question 58

If God is willing to prevent evil, but unable to do so, then he is not:

A) benevolent.
B) omniscient.
C) omnipotent.
D) benevolent or omniscient.
E) benevolent, omniscient, or omnipotent.

Question 59

An interesting property of Anselm's Ontological Argument is that it:

A) shows there can be an infinite regress of causes.
B) makes no mention of God.
C) incorporates the view that truth is subjective.
D) relies upon faith, rather than reason.
E) attempts to derive God's existence from the mere concept of God.

Question 60

When the painter has finished his work, and is admiring it, Anselm would say that the:

A) painting exists in reality.
B) painting exists in the understanding.
C) painting can no longer be conceived.
D) Both A and B
E) Both A and C

Question 61

Kierkegaard held that a true Christian had to be born a Christian.

Question 62

"Evangelist" comes from a term meaning "path to life."

Question 63

The object of faith, according to Kierkegaard, is the reality of the teacher.

Question 64

The unification of faith and reason is a cornerstone of Kierkegaard's thought.

Question 65

Kierkegaard holds that it's wrong to treat the promise of salvation as "objective."

Question 66

According to Kierkegaard, truth is objectivity.

Question 67

Kierkegaard urged the Christian burghers of Copenhagen to pay as much attention to eternal life as they did to daily profit.

Question 68

Kierkegaard and St. Thomas would agree that faith must be supported by reason.

Question 69

The Ontological Argument shows the claim that God exists is subjectively true.

Question 70

For Kierkegaard, the central religious problem was to discover how we can come to know God through reason.

Question 71

The word "gospel" is a term with the literal meaning "good news."

Question 72

The Hegelians and Kierkegaard both claimed their doctrines were rational and objective.

Question 73

Kierkegaard uses arguments to prove that arguments can't be used in matters of faith.

Question 74

The purpose of the Ontological Argument is to convert agnostics into believers.

Question 75

Kierkegaard incorporated many elements of Hegelian philosophy into his own views.

Question 76

Scientists would now agree that truth is subjective.

Question 77

Kierkegaard holds that truth is particular, rather than universal.

Question 78

Before committing oneself to a leap of faith, Kierkegaard claims it helps to begin with a little bit of faith.

Question 79

No amount of evidence could establish the existence of God, according to Kierkegaard.

Question 80

Christianity is not a doctrine at all, according to Kierkegaard.