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This is the Religion 11 Review Guide for Mr. Rugani’s first test for the third quarter. Please note
that there may be mistakes within this guide. This guide should be an addition to your notes,
readings, etc., not a replacement.
Format

Identifications – 13 Questions – 30 points total

Short Answers – Choose two of three – 30 points total
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Multiple Choice – 10 Questions – 20 points total

Case Study – 20 points total
Key Terms
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Natural Law
o The notion that every person has been granted a basic moral sense that allows him
or her to discern what is right and wrong.
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By using reason alone, a person may often be doing God’s will and not be
aware of this fact.
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These people are often called “anonymous Christians”.
The Catholic Church uses this idea to assure that non-Catholics are not a
threat to the Catholic Church.

Natural/Cardinal and Theological Virtues
o The four Natural/Cardinal Virtues are:
1. Prudence
2. Temperance
3. Fortitude
4. Justice
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They perfect the purely human part of our nature.
o The three main Theological Virtues are:
1. Faith
2. Hope
3. Charity
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They prepare and perfect the divine part of our nature; they prepare us for
eternal life with God.

They perfect, unify, and harmonize the natural virtues.
o Theological and Natural/Cardinal Virtues work in conjunction; both are required
to become virtuous.
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“Anonymous Christian”
o A term created by theologian Karl Rahner.
o Is the term used for people who do not know the Christian God, yet live the
Gospel values as completely as a believer.

Morality
o Actions taken derive primarily out of a deep understanding of identity in
relationships.
o Related to Ethos
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
Ethos- character of oneself
Freedom
o The power rooted in reason and will, to act or not to act, to do this or that, an so to
perform deliberate action on one’s responsibility.

Essentially ties to responsibility.
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Involves a choice of agent action.
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Contained in the rational part of a human being.

Unless a will has eternally and finally bound itself to God, choices made
are possibly choices between good and evil.
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This is where the possibility of sin is created.
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It opens the agent to assessment of praise of blame for actions.
Imago Dei
o The image and likeness of God.
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God is free.
o According to Christians, this is the essence of human freedom: it is the power,
rooted in reason and will, to choose between good and evil.
o According to Christians, no other earthly creature has been given the gift of free
will.
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Sin
o Sin is real and cannot be overlooked.
o Jesus’ message and life as redeemer make little sense unless it is understood that
we are in need of redemption.
o By diagnosing the kinds and degrees of sin, we will be in a much better position
to cure ourselves or let Christ cure us.
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Original Sin
o The doctrine that recognizes the mystery of evil and fundamental separation from
God.
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o A force or drive like gravity within a human being that pulls him toward evil
desires and actions, sometimes against his explicit wishes to do the good.
o Indicated a separation from the Creator.
o The origin of all of our personal sins.
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Personal Sins
o Committed when people fall short of their obligations or fail to fulfill what
genuine love requires.
o The Catechism of the Catholic Church classifies this in the following ways:
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The virtues or goods they oppose
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The commandments they violate
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To whom they concern
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Whether they concern God, neighbor, or oneself
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Whether they are sins in thought, word, deed, or omission
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According to their gravity
Mortal Sin
o The most grave type of sin.
o They put the soul in a condition to be excluded from Christ’s kingdom.
o In order to be considered mortal, it must meet the following three conditions:
1. It must involve a grave matter
2. It must be carried out in full knowledge that the action in question is
seriously disordered
3. It must be carried out with the full consent of the will
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Venial Sin
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o Any sin that has less than the full presence of the three conditions that classify
mortal sin.
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Social Sin
o The repetition of personal sins.
o Evil institutions or practices that become entrenched in a society and whose
influence seems to go beyond that of any group of individuals.
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Conscience
o The internal voice that tells a person which actions are morally right and which
are morally wrong.
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Not to be confused with superego.
o Includes an awareness of principles of right and wrong (synderesis).
o It helps us:
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To urge to move toward the good and the true
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To motivate us to gather the information w need to find the correct
answers to complex moral problems
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To enable us to reach a personal decision that is morally right.
o Character
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Shaped by the images and the heroes one chooses to cultivate.
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Richard Gula comments on this.
Determinism
o The idea that human actions are dictated by and can be predicted by the laws of
nature.
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Human beings are in causal order; are subject to laws of necessary cause
and effect.
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Genetics, socialization, etc.
Behaviorism
o The psychological form of determinism that claims humans are not free, but
conditioned by agents outside themselves to act in the ways they do.
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Superego
o The internal voice within us that originates from the teachings and directives of
the authorities in our lives.

Examples: The laws and directives of our parents, of our society’s laws,
etc.
o The teachings and directives of our superego can give good moral guidance or
bad moral guidance.
o It is not a moral conscience.
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Though both can elicit feelings of guilt and shame, the conscience
conditions eternal relations, and superego conditions temporal, socially
constructed relations.
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Objectivism
o Unalterable moral laws, which exist and apply uniformly, universally, and
absolutely.
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Akin to Kantian ethics.
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Pacifism.
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Must guard against intolerance.
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Subjectivism
o All moral rules and directives must be interpreted according to personal
experience and context.
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Relativism is a subset of subjectivism.
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Those who hold up that moral rules and values are perspective.
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A critique of ethical mythology, not a method in itself.
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Must guard against permissiveness.
Magisterium
o The official teaching authority of the Church.
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Consists of the Pope, bishops, etc.
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Intends to reflect the sensus fidelium, the consensus of the faithful.
Short Answers
1. How does the “parable of the caterpillar” explain how theological virtues can transform
and perfect natural virtues?
I would review what Natural/Cardinal and Theological Virtues are (pages 1-2 in the guide, pages
90-96 in the ICE book). Know that originally, the caterpillars would share their food with other
caterpillars and have the virtue of liberality to prevent any fights. Some had the virtue of
temperance, which allowed them to know how many and which kind of leaves to eat. The
caterpillars that had temperance generally lived longer, healthier lives. These virtues are similar
to natural virtues. When the caterpillars are visited by a butterfly who told them if they lived
their lives a certain way, they too would be able to fly. The caterpillars then listen to the butterfly
and continue to share their food moderately. This resembles theological virtues. (Found on page
91 in ICE book).
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2. Why is the existence of moral atheists not a problem or threat to Catholic Christianity?
Explain how those without faith in revelation can know right from wrong. What is their
destiny?
Refer to pages 1-3 in this guide.
3. What is Karl Rahner’s concrete illusion of Original Sin in our contemporary culture?
How does that lead to a more complete understanding than the Genesis story of Eve, the
serpent, and the apple?
Now, I was absent the day Mr. Rugani went over this in class. But from what I have heard,
Rahner’s illusion of Original Sin is a banana. He says that the banana that one purchases was
grown and picked by poor people, making significantly lower than moral wages. This eventually
leads to social sin, which was not discussed in the Genesis story. Don’t hold your breath with
this answer.
This is the end of the Religion 11 Quarter Three for Mr. Rugani’s test Study Guide. Good Luck!