Thanks to oldmasterpiece.com for this image.
1. One paragraph summary of the key idea summarizing the topic of the section.
This section, we studied the Human Condition The Human Condition is defined as the situation in which every human being finds himself or herself by virtue of being human. As Pascal noted, all men seek happiness, but sometimes this seeking can lead to sin or other bad things. We seek this happiness because, as Buddah said, "all life is suffering," but we as humans want to avoid this suffering, so we seek happiness. The sin referred to earlier can be recurring, because we as humans, knowing that what we are doing is wrong, will sin anyway. This condition is called concupiscence. We keep sinning because the sin feels good at the time but is unfufilling later. Also as humans with the human condition, we have a need to feel a part of a group. Erich Fromm adressed this topic as he stated, " the deepest need of man...is the need to overcome his separateness. Our human condition is the result of the fall of man, as stated by Christians. All of us experience this condition because it is an unavoidable part of life, and we just have to deal with it. Good Luck, everyone.
2. List and explain three of the most important ideas you want to remember from this section.
The Problem of Evil- The problem of evil is that if God is all powerful and all good, how can He let bad things happen? Doesn't He have the power and love to stop the evil in the world?
The mystery of Death- People have wondered for centuries if death is the end of everything or the beginning of eternal life. Those who subscribe to the first theory believe in annihilation, which means that after death, the body and soul are reduced to nothingness. Others, who believe in eternal life, are believers in the theory and possibility of immortality. As subcategories to immortality are disembodied immortality, resurrection, and reincarnation. Disembodied immortality is the belief that only the soul lives on forever while the body disintegrates. Resurrectionists believe that both the bdy and soul live on forever. Reincarnationn is an idea that the soul leaves one person's body after death and enters another. This cycle repeats until nirvana, which is sort of like heaven, is achieved by the soul.
Parousia- Jesus promised to come again at the end of the world. This second coming is referred to as Parousia. At that time, He also said that He would separate the good and bad people from one another. The truth about everyone's life (everyone who ever lived!), will be revealed for all to see. Those who Jesus judged as good will be taken into heaven with him, while those judged as bad will be cast into the eternally-painful fires of hell.
3. One image of that reminds me of the topic.
4. One good question I should keep with me to ponder.
What is my personal Human Condition? Where is the concupiscence in my life?
5. What should I try to do to make me a better person, a more faithful person, from this study.
To make myself a better person, I need to take what M. Scott Peck and Thomas Jefferson have said to heart. M. Scott Peck wrote about maps in our lives. Our personal maps are how we view the world and what is going on around us. They dictate how we see and understand things and events in our lives. We need to constantly update our maps, but sometimes this is made difficult because we transfer our past experiences into our present and become biased as a result. I need to find the areas iin my life where transference exists, and possibly adjust if these views harm my ability to update my maps. As far as what Thomas Jefferson wrote, one main point sticks out to me. Jefferson told his nephew that when you are tempted "to be dishonest or immoral, pretend that the whole world is watching." I can easily see areas in my life where by remembering and doing something as simple as this, I can be a much better person.
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