NOTE: The material on this review sheet may appear in different forms and in different sections of the exam.  

I.  Matching.  Be prepared to identify the meaning or significance of the following terms. 

apostolate of the laity

autonomy

bad conscience

belt of synderesis

physicalism/naturalism

certain conscience

conscience

culpa

decalogue

deep conscience

doubtful conscience

false/erroneous conscience

Glover, Jonathan

good conscience

heteronomy

individualism

individuality

invincible 

malum

positivism

providence

Singer, Peter

subsidiarity

synderesis

teleological

theonomy

true conscience

universally binding

universally valid

vincible

II.  True or False.  The wording of the following may be changed on the exam. 

1.      If one’s reason proposes belief in Christ to be evil, and his will chooses to believe in Christ nonetheless, then his will is evil. 

2.      The will is evil when it is at variance with erring reason. 

3.      The apostolate of the laity refers to lay people serving the Church in visible, paid positions, such as coordinators of religious education.

4.      Deep conscience cannot be erased or mistaken, and is the same in every human being.

5.      The New Law is the grace of the Holy Spirit. 

6.      The goal of law is to make people virtuous. 

7.      One can never be hindered from obeying the negative precepts of the natural law.  

8.      The Church has no temporal mission, yet is concerned with all temporal affairs.

III.  Short Essays.  Be prepared to answer the following questions in one sentence or one paragraph each.  The amount of points each question will be worth on the exam depends upon the amount of information necessary to fully answer that question.

1.     What are the two commandments of love?

2.     Provide the exact definition of conscience (CCC 1778).

3.     Name and describe the three movements in the conscience.

4.     Name three interrelated aspects of a layperson’s vocation.

5.     What is the key to an authentically Christian morality?

6.     What is the relationship of conscience to the moral law? 

7.     Does an erring conscience bind?  Explain your answer. 

8.     Does an erroneous conscience excuse one from culpability?  Explain. 

9.     Describe the differences among moral autonomy, moral heteronomy, and participated theonomy.

10. What are the four key themes of participated theonomy, as articulated by Lowery? 

11. What examples does Rice provide to demonstrate that natural law is not just another Catholic dogma? 

12. Provide the exact wording of St Thomas’ definition of law.

13. Why is Divine Law necessary? 

14. What is the difference between the general principles (first knowledge) and the proper conclusions (second or derived knowledge) of the natural law? 

15. Name several ways in which surface conscience can blur or err. 

16. Explain what the language of the body tells us according to Lowery.

17. Explain the difference between negative precepts and positive precepts. 

18. List the Ten Commandments in their proper order.

19. Explain the division between the two tablets of the Decalogue.

20. In what two important actions does the apostolate of the laity consist?

IV.  Longer Essays.  The following essay questions will be on the exam.  Prepare to answer each in approximately two hand-written pages. 

 1.  Describe the four types of law and their relationships.  

 2.  Name and describe the “four witnesses" discussed by Budziszewski.  What are they, and why does he set them forth at such length? 

in te domine speravi non confundar in aeternum

© 2007 Daniel G. Van Slyke