Rory Faust

11/11/05

1.) One paragraph summary of the key idea summarizing the major idea of the section.

    This past week in theology class, we have been studying Faith. Faith can be defined in secular as well as in a theological terms. The Catholic definition of Faith is "an intellectual assent to a loving God and His revelation." (Readings Book p.92) This is what our lives as Christians is based on. Do we have Faith in God? What do we really believe in? Questions and decisions of Faith are the most important things we go thorugh. We have also studied Nihilism which is the denial of truth altogether. In a sense, Faith is the opposite of Nihilism. Radicalism is another form of philosophy that involves the belief in something without evidence or even if contradicting evidence is presented. Saint Ignatius was another part of this lesson. Ignatius was born in 1491 in Spain and grew up to become a soldier. While recovering from his shattered leg at the Loyola Castle in Pamplona, St. Ignatius came across the books Life of Christ and Lives of the Saints. After reading some of these books, Ignatius underwent a metanoia and wanted to be a more holy man. Eventually Ignatius became a priest and celebrated his first Mass in 1588. St. Ignatius has given us many theological ideas such as the spiritual exercises, the Examen of Consciousness, and the First Principal and Foundation.

2.) List and explain three of the most important ideas you want to remember from this week.

1. First of all, I want to remember the differences between Faith and faith. Lowercase "f" faith is the belief or trust in someone or something while uppercase "F" Faith is the total belief in God. While a small difference, it is a key difference that we need to remember when discovering our own personal faiths.

2. Secondly, I want to remember that Faith in God is not always easy. When we put Faith in God, we don't just walk an easy path to God. And God does not want it to be this way. To grow in our Faith, we must work through our struggles and try to make them ways in which we can respond positively and grow in our Faith. Faith is truly a struggle sometimes, especially in hard times.

3. Lastly, I want to remember that Faith is the Golden Way. It is the perfect and healthy balance of the ideas of Nihilism and Radicalism. Nihilism has reason, but no beliefs and Radicalism has beliefs, but no reason. Both are incorrect views that can be deceiving but can't be true because of their lack of beliefs or reason. Faith sits comfortably in between these ideas and Faith is based on beliefs that are backed up by reason.
   

   3.) Images that remind you of key ideas.

   
   This photograph is the movie cover for The Mission(1986) where Jesuit priests show remarkable faith as well as Faith when challenged by the nearby slavery country Portugal.
   Image from "Amazon.Com"

   4.) One good question you should keep with you to ponder.

   What do I have faith in? Do I need to question my faith more? What state of Faith am I in with God?

   5.) What should you try to do to make you a better person, a more faithful person, from this study?

        In order to be a more faithful person, I will try to remember that Faith in God truly is a risk. There are hard times that will come about because of my Faith. I must not let that discourage me. Faith is a struggle for me now and I must use this struggle to help my Faith develop.
   
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