1. The key idea in the section of “Challenges to Faith” is the deeper understanding and reasoning for why we believe in God if we do and the realization of the challenges that come with faith. In this section, there are three main topics covered, and these are The Attack from Atheism, The Challenges of Science, and The Power of Dehumanization. In this section, we are able to read and hopefully understand the ideas of some philosophers and other deep thinkers, while we are made aware of their views of faith. Some of these intelligent men are Friedrich Nietzsche, Thomas Hobbes, and Ignatius Loyola, as well as John Kavanaugh. The beliefs of these men are described in the Readings Book and we are able to grasp the various views on faith. Another key topic in this section is the challenge of science and the impact that science has on faith and God. The Catholic view of Science and Faith states that all methodical research can never be in conflict with the church because the things of science and things of faith derive from the same God. This is a heavily debated topic, as some people call the church closed-minded in their views regarding science. Also briefly discussed in the section of “Challenges to Faith” was the Power of Dehumanization and how we strive to discover our rightful place in society as people of Faith.

2. Two key topics in this section that are worth remembering are the concept of the attack from Atheism, and the power of dehumanization. It is very important to recognize others’ views and beliefs and consider them and confiding by this, the Catholic Church respects and listens to those who’s religious views differ from theirs. Nietzsche was a nihilist and he did not believe reason is capable of discovering truth. He said that belief in God is finally starting to die out. Hobbes was a materialist and believed in nothing beyond physical matter, therefore because God exceeds greatly beyond physical matter, Hobbes did not believe in him. In this section, both men’s arguments as Atheists are explained and the Catholic Church has considered their arguments, but does not believe that they are correct. The Power of Dehumanization is another key concept that is very important. People get so involved in and caught up in the everyday ads, that they think that material objects can bring happiness. They can, but not the eternal happiness that God can bring. Designer jeans are important to us because they are “cool” and they will make us happy, but they only bring brief happiness. But as people of Faith, we are strongly urged to look past all of these false advertisements, saying “We Are All the Things You Are,” and establish ourselves comfortably in society. We are urged to look past the “cool” of society and live good lives without, or limiting these material objects that can only bring brief happiness.

3.

When I think of Challenges of Faith, Mother Teresa comes to mind, as she was recently scrutinized for having struggled with her faith and doubted God. These accusations are absurd, as I think that anyone that wants to even have a chance at believing in God must doubt him or deny him in their struggle to understand him.

4. Any teenager, like Mother Teresa, goes through struggles and challenges to Faith. For a teenager, not being able to hang out on Sunday because they have to go to church might be considered “un-cool” or stupid. With all of the challenges that a teenager faces, for instance sex, drugs, alcohol usage, masturbation, etc, the church is against each of these. With all the peer pressure, a teenager might think the church’s rules are unreasonable as even I, myself have thought. Why would we want to believe in something that would restrict us from having fun on the weekends? Other challenges to Faith might be related to Santa Claus. When we were kids, we openly believed in Santa Claus, as we also did in believing the story of Adam and Eve, etc. Are we really all derived from two people and could a person who walked on this earth have carried out all of the miracles that Jesus supposedly did? Is the Catholic Faith just another Santa Claus, Easter Bunny, Tooth Fairy, character that we will eventually “grow out of” or stop believing in? If there is no God or no Jesus or no Bible then are people wasting their money on the church and going to an unnecessary place every Sunday to talk to themselves and listen to a person dressed in a funny gown? Science points to human life beginning as a result of the Big Bang Theory, so why would we think that God created human life? These are all questions that I think many teenagers ask in their struggle to understand God and I have even asked these. I believe that these questions are all necessary so that we can eliminate them, leading towards a strengthened relationship with God.