Felecia Sechser

Thomas Aquinas explains reason and faith in Chapter VII of Summa Contra Gentiles.  Ha makes numerous connections to primary truths.  He relates the first condition: the ability of the mind to know truth to reason, and he relates the first principle: assume there won't be contradiction, in connection to the Christian Faith.  Thomas uses these two primary truths to prove faith and reason, and to defend them in their own subject area.

                Christian faith exceeds the capacity of human reason.  Thomas states that "those things which are naturally instilled in human reason cannot be opposed to this truth".  Thomas makes a connection to the first condition.  Beliefs that are instilled in humans cannot be contrasting to truth.  What humans believe is naturally must be true, it is impossible to deem it false according to Thomas Aquinas.  "Nor is it lawful to deem false that which is held by faith, since it is so evidently confirmed by God".  Thomas makes two connections; he states that the human mind is unable to think it's false because God established that it was true.  He also states that there can't be any contradiction because states that it's true.

"It is impossible for the aforesaid truth of faith to be contrary to those principles which reason knows naturally".  Aquinas states that impossible for truth to have any contradiction because the principle states that there cannot be any contradiction in order to converse about truth.  Objects and beliefs that are natural cannot have contradiction.  Natural objects are unchangeable as long as it remains natural.  Although some humans think there is confusion in reason, there cannot be any uncertainty in order for humans to discuss primary truths.

Thomas Aquinas connects both reason and faith through the two primary truths.  He states that the divine Wisdom contains these principles, but whatever is contrary to the principles is contrary to divine Wisdom.  "Therefore the divine Wisdom also contains these principles. Consequently whatever is contrary to these principles is contrary to the divine Wisdom; wherefore it cannot be God".   The first principle of non-contradiction states that in order for humans to talk about truth people have understand no truth can be discussed unless there is the understanding of the primary truths.  Thomas Aquinas discusses many relations that corresponds both faith and reason together.  "Therefore God does not instill into man any opinion or belief contrary to natural knowledge".  Aquinas believes that man has no contrasting opinion to natural knowledge, man's mind is pure.  No contrary opinions will disprove that faith and reason cannot be discussed with different ideas. 

Thomas Aquinas created this idea that people that believe in Christian faith believe in divine Wisdom, and divine Wisdom has no contradiction that it has to be true to be discussed with other people.  He also says that Christian faith has no contradiction and must be true because it was created by God is pure and true, so the Christian faith cannot be contrasting.  "Now contrary opinions cannot be in the same subject".   If God had instilled conflicting knowledge in humans, then people's intellect would be obstructed from knowing truth.  "Our intellect is stayed by contrary arguments, so that it cannot advance to the knowledge of truth". 

Aquinas harmonized faith and reason together.  He interrupted that knowledge cannot be contrasting because humans have opinions.  God created us where humans would be able to contradict what he instilled in us from birth.  Aquinas connected that God and the divine Wisdom have no contradiction in arguments because humans must first realize that in order to discuss faith the primary truths must be understood.  Aquinas also believed that reason corresponded with the first principle, and faith corresponded with the first condition.  Aquinas gave reasons that allow for there to not be any contrast in the Christian faith.  He gives two examples, "Hence the apostle said, 'The word is nigh thee even in thy heart and in thy mouth. This is the word of faith which we preach'". Christian faith also has no contradiction and must be true because that is the way that God made humans, and the reason why the knowledge humans have cannot be obstructed in any way. 

                Aquinas gave thoughtful explanation to discussing how Christian faith, divine Wisdom and God must be true and have no contradiction.  Humans cannot have conflicting knowledge otherwise "our intellect would not be able to grow.  Aquinas makes the connection between faith and reason in Chapter VII more evident.

The eighteenth century is referred to as the Enlightenment, or Age of Reason.  The Enlightenment was brought on by intellectuals at the end of seventeenth century who were attempting to bring new ideas about the Scientific Revolution. Also, during the eighteenth century Thomas Jefferson an Enlightenment intellectual wrote the Declaration of Independence. Jefferson being an intellectual used the three basic concepts of Enlightenment - reason, nature, and change and progress - to declare our independence. Jefferson being an Enlightenment thinker argued for reform and change and the Declaration is a document about reform and change. 

                Jefferson states in the opening paragraphs of the Declaration that "... it becomes necessary for one People to dissolve the Political Bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the Powers of the Earth, the separate and equal Station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them (Declaration 1)." In the Enlightenment era nature only had a few simple and unchangeable laws. In Great Britain the King had many laws and rules. Jefferson states in the Declaration about how under the King's rules things have become corrupt from humans complex political, social, and religious restrictions. "That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these Ends, it is the Right of the People, to alter or abolish it, and institute a new Government (Declaration 1)." By stating in the Declaration that we should move to the Laws of nature Jefferson is stating that humans should make the move to a more wholesome vitality and freedom.

                Also in the Declaration, Thomas Jefferson states "we hold these Truths to be self-evident, that all Men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness (Declaration 1)." By Truths Jefferson means reason. These truths are achieved experimentally. "All we know and all we can ever know is what we perceive through our senses and interpret with our reason (469)." Jefferson describes these truths as assumptions and that they should be questioned to critical and experimental reasoning.

                The third concept Jefferson describes is change and progress. Change and progress can free individuals and be practiced only when it is dictated by reason and when lined up with nature. "In every stage of these Oppressions we have Petitioned for Redress in the most humble Terms: Our repeated

Petitions have been answered only by repeated Injury. A Prince, whose Character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the Ruler of a free People (Declaration 3)." Jefferson states that the colonies have met Britain's terms but they have seen no progress. "Change and progress work hand in hand as human beings work to perfect themselves and their society (469)." Once there is progress; change will follow. The Declaration of Independence is a document stating the American colonies act toward seeing change. If Britain is not going to provide any change then the colonies want to end their Allegiance with Britain.

                Deism was an Enlightenment religion. It states that "all men naturally possess the ability to know the universe's divinity through reason (Reid 1990)." Thomas Jefferson connected Enlightenment religion with the ideals of American democracy. Jefferson used deism throughout the entire Declaration of Independence. Deism states that all men should know their creator. Deity states that God revealed himself through nature and reason. Deism came between the Renaissance humanism and the pure naturalism. Deism is like the Renaissance humanism because it focuses on the beauties of nature, especially human nature. It is also contrast Renaissance humanism by assigning God to the outer reaches of the universe. "Naturalistic thinkers would a step beyond deism and deny the existence of God altogether (470)." Eventually in 1810 deism lost momentum in its proposal for becoming an accepted religious choice.

                The minds of Enlightenment thinkers generally formed a structure for their more specific ideas on the concepts of reason, nature, and change and progress. Enlightenment thinkers criticize institutions and customs of the pasts through reason and nature. To determine what changes should be made thinkers relied on reason and nature to guide them. The Enlightenment thinkers believed that if individuals made correct changes, their lives would become more informed by reason and compatible with nature. Jefferson stated the same ideals in the Declaration of Independence when he claimed that the colonies wanted to become Free states and break the allegiance with Great Britain. Jefferson believed that humans being were on the verge of Enlightenment. They were making great progress. If the people would just simply open their eyes and become mature, reasoning adults they would lead increasingly, happier, freer, more moral lives. As Jefferson writes it is the Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness.

    I believe the "startling truth" that Angelou is making reference to, is the type of truth that allows people to be able to make mistakes.  She writes in one paragraph, "Who reach out daily for the bomb, the blade, and the dagger" (Angelou).  To me this illustrates someone who has no truth and is taking justice into his own hands to find some sort of truth.  In the next paragraph she writes, "Yet those same hands can touch with such healing, irresistible tenderness" (Angelou).  She makes a connection that someone who is so tormented can also be someone so healing. They can be bad one day and good the next, like there are no good and bad guys. She also talks about the unkindly human nature and the beauty of the earth around us. She uses two paragraphs to describe that the wonders of the world are not the only wonders of the world. "These are not the only wonders of the world" (Angelou). She talks about struggles between the day when we will find peace and the day we accept it. "To the day of peacemaking, when we release our fingers from fists of hostility, and allow the pure air to cool our palms" (Angelou), "When battlefields and coliseum no longer rake our unique and particular sons and daughters" (Angelou).  In those two lines I think is where she really states that when this time comes we will truly find a brave and startling truth. In the last few lines she writes about how "we are the miraculous true wonder of the world", but we will only realize this when we come to know truth.

                I agree that the points she raises in her poem will lead to a startling truth when and only when we come to it.  I believe this is true because it relates back to the four types of truths.  It relates back to two kinds of truth subjective and relative.  It relates to subjective truth by opinion, what is true for one person may not be true for the other, and it relates to relative because it implies truth in comparison to another person.  One person may argue that a person who reaches out for a bomb, a blade, and a dagger daily does have truth but there idea of truth is different. They believe that truth comes from justice.  Truth is subjective to the person's beliefs.  In the paragraph where she talks about the wonders of the world she is suggesting correspondence, she is making a connection with reality. She says that he seven wonders of the world are not the only wonders.  In her poem Angelou makes many connections to types and theories of truth.  She uses subjective and relative truths, along with correspondence.  Maya Angelou's A Brace and Startling Truth allows truth to take on many different meanings.  I believe her poem serves as a startling truth.

Postmodernism seems to mean everything, anything, and nothing.  Postmodernism is whatever the reader wants it to be. "The postmodern author tends to blur genres, stealing from all over," writes David Lehman in his essay "The Questions of Postmodernism". It is personal conception and explanation that relies on opinions rather than facts, and rejects the scientific method and truth. They believe that facts are too limiting to establish anything.  They believe there is no absolute truth, but rather that truth is an illusion. That truth is distorted by people and groups to gain power over others.  The phrase "this sentence serves no logical purpose" illustrates postmodernism in three very unique ways.

                The first way is through the marginalized.  To be marginalized is to be denied a degree of power, whether it be individually, communally, and global.  Many paths of postmodernism are directed by the need to do justice to those who have been banned politically, economically, and rhetorically from the dominant culture.  The marginalized have directed the attention of postmodernists towards a doubt about knowledge, truth, and reason.  Modernity tries to argue that truth is valid, but they have discovered that behind every claim is a story.  A story the benefits specific groups and refuses others. The marginalized opened up doors that brought on skepticism of truth that made postmodernists believe that there was no logical purpose to it.

                Skepticism of truth is the next way that illustrates postmodernism.  As stated previously postmodernists believe there is no absolute truth.  They believe that people and groups misuse truth to gain control over others in society. They also believe that truth and error are the same. Postmodernists say that fact is too restrictive. What is fact today could be false tomorrow, so they rely heavily on opinion. They reject conventional logic, objectivity, and the scientific method.  To postmodernists, humans should create their own truths.  People should recognize that their views come from influences and what they have perceived and heard.  Sense and reasoning alone do not give humans a solid basis for declaring that something is true.   

                The final way postmodernism is illustrated is through consumer capitalism.  This gives consumers a number of options and choices.  The commonness of choice has delivered everything.  Everything is level in this situation.  Postmodernism has brought new ideas of consumption.  A postmodern comic showed two men looking at a simple hat through a window and the price was $25,000 and one man said "the price must be in the creativity".  Postmodernism takes things that are so simple and turns them into something so big.  In this new era the concept of small is non-existent.  Where is the truth in this new era? Everything is open to the consumer in this new era.  Marginalization and consumer consumption have nothing to do with each other, other than the skepticism of truth.

                Each of these characteristics illustrates postmodernism in their own way. Marginalization lead to skepticism of truth, which postmodernists believe has no logical purpose.  Skepticism of truth says that facts are limiting and that the people create their own truth.  They rely heavily on opinion which is what each person's definition of truth is, opinion.  Consumer capitalism creates this new era that nothing needs to make sense, it is what it is. "This sentence serves no logical purpose" illustrates postmodernism through these three ways, skepticism, marginalization, and consumer capitalization.

Postmodernism means everything, nothing, and anything. The term "postmodern" means different genres, eras, and ideas and blending them together to create something that has never been done before.  The three characteristics define postmodernism. People today are living in a new era. Through architecture and art, although it may not have some sort of symbolic meaning or logical reason to exist.  Architecture claiming to be postmodern normally seems to come from a rather ungrateful response to the overly proper and tasteless modernist movement, being that it is much more elaborate, expressive and often times serves no "logical" purpose.  "This sentence serves no logical purpose", it has no logical reason to exist. It defies the reader's expectations. It is also ironic because it illustrates postmodernism.  Postmodernism in every sense serves no "logical" purpose. Postmodernism is whatever the reader wants it to be.

This reader thinks postmodernism brings new ideas to the table. This reader doesn't consider herself postmodern at least not yet.  Traditional values are still instilled in this reader.  One day postmodernism will be the "way of life". People will believe in new era religion, that truth is opinion, and that nothing, everything, and anything serves no logical purpose.

A young princess is looking out her window feeling sad and lonely. She sees a young man waiting on a horse by the castle doors. She loves this man dearly but knows that her families are not of the same class, so they can never be together. The young princess is heartbroken as she knows she can never be with him. She wants to touch his face once more. She runs down from her room to the castle doors and the man is waiting for her, and she hugs him one more time. The man convinces the princess to come with him. So the princess jumps on the horse and they run ride off into the distance. He takes her to his cottage on the other side of the mountains. She is delighted to be the man but knows that something does not feel right. She has disobeyed her father, the king, and is not comfortable with the fact. The young man talks her into staying and says she won't regret it. The young princess still feels remorseful for leaving without her father's permission.  Back at the castle her father is wondering where his daughter is, when one of the maids says she saw her leave on horseback with the young man who lives on the other side of the mountain. The father is outraged and decides to go after her. The king rings the bell calling all the men in the town to meet at the castle. The men head off in a group to the other side of the mountain. Back at the young man's cottage the princess is happy with her decision and decides to go for a walk around the mountain. As she is walking she hears voices of men in woods. She becomes nervous and runs back to man's cottage, but it is too late the men already have reached the cottage.  The father knocks on the man's door and the he opens up and the father becomes irate. The two men fight over who is better for the princess to be with. They become angry with each other and weapons have been brought out. The young man is quicker than the king and kills him before he can retaliate. The other men take the young men back to the princess's castle, where he will be put on trial in front of all the townspeople. As he is walking up to the arena people are yelling and throwing things at the man. They sentence him to death and the young princess cries out "NO"! But it is too late they put the rope around his neck and the princess can only close her eyes as the love of her lays there to die. She becomes furious and burns down the town.

    N.T Wright's Simply Christian breaks down Christianity into three sections. Each section describes a part of the Christian faith. In the second section Wright addresses theological topics such as God, God's Kingdom, the History of Israel, Jesus, and the Spirit. Wright titles this section "Staring at the Sun" to relate back to the theological topics above.
    Staring at the sun discusses topics that consider God and the Christian faith. Staring at the sun is a metaphor of sight. Staring into the sun too long can damage your eyesight. Theology can do the same; it challenges you to look at your beliefs. Theology can obstruct your idea of the Christian faith. Wright uses the section staring at the sun to do the same; to challenge the readers' beliefs. He talks about where God is. Is God in Heaven? "God is in heaven," says one of the more hard-nosed biblical writers, "and you are upon earth; so let your words be few" (Ecclesiastes 5:2) (Wright 58). "Heaven" has this meaning, not because, in the earliest Christian traditions, it was the final destination of the redeemed, but because the word offers a way of talking about where God always is, so that the promise held out in the phrase "going to heaven" is more or less exactly "going to be with God in the place where he has been all along." Thus "heaven" is not just a future reality, but a present one (Wright 59). Wright goes on to talk about how Heaven is God's dimension and earth is our dimension. Just as heaven can refer to the sky, but very commonly refers to God's dimension of reality as opposed to ours, so the word "earth" can refer to the actual soil beneath our feet, but also regularly refers, as in the earlier quotation from Ecclesiastes, to our space, our dimension of reality, as opposed to God's (Wright 59). Staring at the sun relates to God, Heaven, and earth. When people look at the sky they think of God and Heaven, hence staring at the sun. Wright describes three options of imagining God's space and ours connecting to each other. The third option says that heaven and earth overlap and interlock. This sense of overlap between heaven and earth, and the sense of God thereby being present on earth without having to leave heaven, lies at the heart of Jewish and early Christian theology (Wright 65).
    The metaphor staring at the sun helps describe Christianity by describing when and how heaven and god intersect and overlap. They overlap in three different places. The first place is at Mount Sinai. Abraham keeps meeting God. Jacob sees a ladder between heaven and earth, with angels going to and fro. Moses discovers that he's standing on holy ground - a place, in other words, where (for a moment at least) heaven and earth intersect - as he watches the burning bush (Wright 64).  The second place is at the Temple in Jerusalem. The Temple of Jerusalem was the focus of ancient Israelite belief of the overlap between heaven and earth. But when David made Jerusalem his capital, the civic and political center of the whole nation, he planned a new project, which his son Solomon then constructed: a great temple, the single sanctuary for the whole nation, the place where Israel's God would now make his home forever. From that moment on, the Temple on Mount Zion in Jerusalem was the primary place, according Israelite tradition, where heaven and earth met (Wright 64). The third is through Jesus. When Jesus goes to the cross it exhausts the power of evil and creates a picture of what will happen someday.  When Jesus dies he creates an overlap for the people on earth to communicate with Jesus and God in Heaven. The metaphor helps relate Christian faith to people who do not fully understand all that Christianity covers. The section staring into the sun covers everything that is necessary in understanding the Christian faith.
    Staring into the sun can be confusing because it can mean so many different things. In this section Wright covers so many topics a person who doesn't have a lot of background on Christianity would be completely lost. Also in this section Wright asks a lot of questions but doesn't answer them which can leave the reader confused. So what did Jesus intend by it all? What did he think would happen next? Why did he walk into trouble in this way? And why, after his own violent death, did anyone take him seriously any longer, let alone suppose that he was the living embodiment of the one true God? (Wright 103). Why does Wright ask all these questions but not give us any answer or even some explanation to what will happen.
    N.T. Wright invites this reader to consider Christian theology more deeply. As a person who has attended private schools where Catholic traditions and lessons were taught every day reading text that asks questions that make the reader think have made this reader want to discover new answers about Christian faith. Discovering new traditions and facts about earlier Christian theology would be exciting and fun. It's always been interesting to hear new ideals but never know the meaning behind them.
    Simply Christian asks questions, discusses new ideals, and relates Christianity to metaphors that are easier to comprehend. By having three sections that describe Christian faith in three easy but different ways allowed for this reader to understand the context better. The theological topics he discusses in the book help give a background to early Christian theology and modern theology at the same time. N.T. Wright helped this reader make sense of Christianity.  

Good morning everyone, i'm gonna try and write this before i have to go to work. So here it goes.

Hi again, my name is Felicia Beverly Catherine Sechser, yes i know i'm special i have two middle names. I'm just kidding. I have very wonderful parents their names are Gary and Laura. They are pretty much amazing. I also have an older brother, Brandon he lives in Pine River, MN with my dad and i live in Blaine, MN with my mom. I also have one other very special person in my life and his name is Steven. Steven is my boyfriend of a year and a half and he also will be attending Concordia next fall.

 

Ok, now onto more about me. I graduated from Pequot Lakes High School it's up north some where. I lived with my dad and brother for three years. We thought we were going to sell our house in Blaine but things didn't go through so i moved back home after i graduated from Pequot. During school i was involved in Yearbook where i was the Editor, Newspaper where i was the Junior Editor, Student Council, SADD Treasurer, and dance.  Dance was probably my big thing though. Everybody knew me from dance. Dance is like my air. I have been dancing for 15 years and am a very accomplished dancer. I received the 2008 All Conference Dancer Award, 2008 All-State, a four year letter winner, four year state participant, 2 year state finalist, 2008 and 2007 conference champions; and 2008, 2007, and 2006 section champions. Dance has also taught me leadership skills, communication skills, dedication, determination, and discipline.

 

So i don't know if that's enough info but I love to hangout at the beach, tan, shop, hang out with my friends, and most importantly live life. So always remember to live, laugh, love because it only comes once!

God Bless see you all in the fall!

~Felicia Sechser~