Assignment
The Church in the Modern World Spring 2017
Terms, Personages, Events:
• Be able to identify or explain the following terms, showing your understanding of their context and significance for the church (a paragraph each).
• The items with an asterisk may be the subject of short answer questions.
*Rerumnovarum and Quadragesimo anno
Totalitarianism
*Nazism
Fascism
Karl Barth
*The Second Vatican Council
The Dogmatic Constitution on the Church in the Modern World
*Declaration on Religious Liberty
Ecumenism
Evangelical Religion in the United States
Prophetic and Liberating Theologies
Dorothy Day
Thomas Merton
Part Two: Essays
You may prepare any two. Write a coherent essay in which you support your ideas. You will not use notes (three to five paragraphs. Have a clear thesis statement and develop it coherently through your paragraphs.
1. Describe the development of the ecumenical movement, and the significance of these efforts today.
2. Identify three principles of Catholic social teaching. Explain their bearing on one of these contemporary issues (immigration, treatment of the vulnerable in society, service to others, care for the earth). Include in your essay your assessment of whether they are exclusively Catholic or shared by other religions.
3. Write a well-reasoned letter to your congressman or a political leader in which you argue for your position on a significant social issue. Draw from religious teachings, reason, and human experience.
4. Discuss a contemporary issue in which you hope to deepen your understanding future. How might you continue this interest or do not have to adhere to agree with church teachings here, but you should show an understanding of how the issue has been taken up by Christ1ans or members of other religions.