Journal 4
1.)One paragraph summary of the key idea summarizing the major idea of the section.
The major idea of this section was "Faith." The Reading Book gives the secular defination of faith as an allegiance to duty or a person: loyalty; belief and trust is and loyalty to God; Belief in the traditional doctrines of a religion; or something that is believed, especially with strong conviction. The book gives the theological definition of faith as an intellectual assent to a loving God and His revelation. However, no matter what the definition, faith seems to have to do with a trusting relationship that centers on a belief, whether it be the belief that your son will take the trash out or the belief that God will grant you everlasting salvation. One thing to remember though is that faith is not just some random belief. Faith is made of beliefs that are supported by reason.

2.)List and explain three of the most important ideas you want to remember from this week.
A. Firstly, I want to remember the seven qualities of faith:
---1)Faith is a grace. Faith is a supernatural gift from God.
---2)Faith is a human response. Faith requires free will, or the power to choose between two or more options.
---3)Faith is a risk. Faith requires us to change certain things about our lives and it is a risk to put your faith in God.
---4)Faith is reasonable. God wants us to rely on our brains in order to come to a better understanding of our faith, instead of relying on blind faith, or believing in God with nothing to support your belief.
---5)Faith is certain. One must be certain that he has faith in God in order to establish a mutual loving relationship with God.
---6)Faith seeks understanding. God wants us to continue to explore our faith in order to determine or come closer to determining God's true nature.
---7)Faith is a virtue. There are times when what you want is not something that agrees with the values of Christianity, so to be able to use your faith to overcome those temptations is a virtue.

B.Secondly, I want to remember the idea of Nihilism. Nihilism is defined by the reading book as a viewpoint that traditional values and beliefs are unfounded and that existence is senseless and useless; a doctrine that denies any objective ground of truth, especially moral truth. Nihililsts belief that many things in the universe are unable to be understood by the mind, or unintelligible. They think that the universe is constantly changing and what we believe as true today may not necessarily be true tomorrow. This change is called flux. Nihilists also bellieve that morality as well as truths depend on the culture of the time.

C. Finally, I want to remember Radicalism. As defined by the reading book, radicalism is adamantly believing something is true without any evidence to support that belief, or in spite of strong evidence contrary to that belief. Two related radical groups are the Fundmentalists and the Fanatics. Fundamentalists can be members of any religion. However, all fundamentalists have on thing in common, they all take their holy book or scriture literally. They believe that everything happened and should happen exactly according to what their holy book or scripture says, even when it is contrary to the evidence. Fanaticism is defined by the reading book as believing in something so zealously that one's actions become unreasonable or even hypocritical.


3.)Images that remind me of the main topics of this section:

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4.)One question that I will keep with me to ponder.

I know that I have some sort of Faith in God. How strong is my faith? What am I willing to do for my Faith?

5.)What should I try to do to make myself a better person, a more faithful person, from this study?
I am constantly trying to improve myself, whether it be physically, mentally or spiritually. Coming to understand what faith is and what the challenges to faith are will help me to understand my own faith better. I think that from the study of faith my own faith can grow and become strengthened. I think a big part of my growth in faith is the examen. I think that it serves its purpose especially for me. It helps me to relax and question my faith, in order to improve it.




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