Catholic Apologetics
Unit Two: The Search for God
Directions: Respond the following questions as you read through the assignment. Write your responses
in complete sentences using dark blue or black ink. Please record the question on one line, and the
response on the following lines. In most instances the response will be more than a single sentence.
Don’t forget to write the complete heading (full name, row number, date, period, description) in the top, right corner.
Remember to use blue or black ink and that neatness counts!
Catholicism & Reason, Hayes, Hayes, Drummey
Review Questions for chapter 2 The Search for God
Focus: God has written his name in the design of the universe.
1. What does the animosity of an atheist toward religion and God reveal? Explain.
2. What is the evidence for God from history?
3. How is this evidence for God supported by human reason?
4. What can we observe in the world about causes? What examples do the authors provide?
5. Logically, could there ever have been a moment at which nothing existed? Relate this to God’s existence?
6. What is an Uncaused Cause? Explain.
7. Explain his third proof for the existence of God from intelligent design. What examples does he give?
8. What is the meaning of the quote from G.K. Chesterton?
9. What absurd (illogical) statement can be argued about the bat, the spider, and the planetarium?
10. Summarize the observation by astronaut Gordon Cooper regarding belief in the existence of God.
11. What gaps in the theory of evolution are noted here?
12. Explain where God might fit into the evolutionary process? Why won’t the ultimate answer pose a conflict
between science and religion?
13. In what universal “language” has God written his name in universe?
Review Questions for chapter 3 The Place of Religion in Our Lives
Focus: Religion is the logical response to God.
1. How do the authors define religion? What are the three elements of religion?
2. What does the story about the old fishermen illustrate about religion?
3. What does the example of paying taxes illustrate about the reality of religion?
4. Explain the relation of these four concepts in relation to God: dominion, subjection, adoration, and petition.
5. Explain Plutarch’s observation about religion.
6. Explain why divine revelation is probable if God exists. Why is attention to revelation important?
7. What is illogical about the thinking that one religion is as good as another?
8. What is indifferentism? What are examples of the weaknesses of this opinion?
9. How does indifferentism apply to a comparison of various Christian religions? Give examples.
10. What does the Church caution about our attitude towards those who we believe to be in objective error about
religious matters?
11. Logically, does religious indifference apply to things other than religion? Explain why or why not with examples.
12. What is the danger of indifferentism?
13. Describe the three possible positions of someone who espouses religious indifferentism.
Review Questions for chapter 14 The Church and Ecumenism
Focus: Ecumenism is the act of fostering unity among Christians through dialogue based on truth, honesty, and
love.
1. According to Pope John XXIII, why is unity so desirable?
2. What are the various aspects of what ecumenism is not?
3. What is true ecumenism? How is it accomplished?
4. What are the conditions for “fruitful dialogue” between denominations?
(over)
5. Explain what the Dogmatic Constitution on the Church (from Vatican II) means when it says that the Church is
necessary for salvation. How does this relate to baptism?
6. Can only Catholics be saved? Explain.
7. What examples of truth found in other Christian religions are listed in the Decree on Ecumenism?
8. What did the Second Vatican Council say about the attitude of the Church towards non-Christian religions?
9. What is the soul of the ecumenical movement?
10. According to John Paul’s encyclical Ut Unum Sint (That All May Be One), why should we be hopeful about the
success of the ecumenical movement?
Review Questions for chapter 15 Getting to Know God
Focus: God is a mystery, beyond our comprehension, but…
1. What’s the meaning of the inscription from the Harvard Club?
2. What’s the meaning of the message from the prominent psychiatrist?
3. What is the formula for happiness? Why is the first step so important to the other steps?
4. What are the primary ways we know about God?
5. What is the quote from Saint Augustine? Relate this insight to the fable of the Brahmans in India and the analogy of
touring St. Patrick’s Cathedral.
6. Explain each of the first three qualities of God. [Please note as (a), (b), and (c).]
7. Explain each of the next three qualities of God. [Please note as (d), (e), and (f).]
8. Explain each of the next two qualities of God. [Please note as (g) and (h).]
9. What happens when we put all the qualities of God together?
10. What are two things we need to keep in mind when asking why God has “mysteries’, such as the Blessed Trinity,
in his religion?
11. What is a mystery? What is a supernatural mystery?
12. What is the difference between a nature and a person?
13. What are two scriptural revelations of the Blessed Trinity?
14. What is the “work” of the Spirit? What does the Spirit do in the Church, according to Vatican II?
15. Can we ever hope to fully know the Blessed Trinity? Explain.