The Beginning of Philosophy Study Guide Pt. 2

Like our Part 1 Study Guide, we will follow the Grammar, Logic, and Rhetoric stages to structure this study guide. This gives just a small sample for how we use books in classical Christian education at each stage of education. Because we are cultivating souls, we want to nurture them. And souls are nurtured on ideas, specifically the Good, True, and Beautiful. Because we are created in the image of God (Genesis 1:26-27), we have rational capacities. The formation of the soul requires using those faculties to strive after the Good, True, and Beautiful.

Conveniently, Dr. Anderson commends the very approach I started with in our last study guide. Speaking of the Beatitudes, Dr. Anderson notes “In the catechism, we have questions on the commandments, on the Lord’s prayer, and we should think about the Beatitudes that way as well” (pg. 24). In keeping with that spirit, let’s start!

Grammar Stage

Q. What is the blessed life?
A. The right orientation of heart and mind toward God, and the acts that flows from that.
Q. In what does being poor in spirit consist?
A. In acknowledging our constant and continual dependence on God for all things.
Q. What belongs to the poor in spirit?
A. The Kingdom of Heaven.
Q. In what does mourning consist?
A. In seeing and confessing our sinful state before God.
Q. What belongs to those who mourn?
A. Comfort from God Himself through the forgiveness of our sins.
Q. In what does meekness consist?
A. Humility that makes us teachable, learning what we ought to know from God’s revelation in nature and Scripture.
Q. What belongs to the meek?
A. The inheritance of the earth.
Q. In what does hungering and thirsting for righteousness consist?
A. Loving God and keeping His commandments, seeking to know Him in all by which He makes Himself known.
Q. What belongs to those who hunger and thirst for righteousness?
A. They will be filled with the righteousness of Christ through the Holy Spirit.
Q. In what does being merciful consist?
A. In forgiving that which is rightly condemnable, just as God has forgiven us.
Q. What belongs to the merciful?
A. Forgiveness from God, Who has every right to condemn and punish our sin.
Q. In what does purity of heart consist?
A. In being undivided in loving God with the totality of our being.
Q. What belongs to the pure of heart?
A. The highest good, seeing God.
Q. In what does peacemaking consist?
A. Having been reconciled to God we serve as Christ’s ambassadors, beseeching men to be reconciled to God through Christ.
Q. What belongs to the peacemakers?
A. Adoption into God’s family.* [*Note - Look carefully at the previous question/answer; we are not suggesting any form of works righteousness. We are peacemakers because we ourselves have been reconciled to God, having been so reconciled it is a blessing to carry the good news to the world].
Q. In what does being persecuted for righteousness’ sake consist?
A. To be hated, despised, and mistreated because of our commitment to living according to the truth about God.
Q. What belongs to those who are persecuted for the sake of righteousness?
A. The Kingdom of Heaven, and great reward in it.
Q. What have the Beatitudes taught us?
A. The character and outcome of the Christian life.

Logic Stage

1. Why can the truths in the Beatitudes be known from general revelation?

2. Why is it useful to study the hypocrite? Develop an argument for how the fool is a literary foil of the wise in Scripture.

3. Why is inconsistency spiritually dangerous?

4. How can the study of logic help form a habit of mind that gravitates against inconsistency?

Rhetoric Stage

• “The Beatitudes are the way of wisdom on the path to the good” (pg. 68). Drawing on sources from diverse disciplines, write an essay analyzing this assertion.

• Synthesize Dr. Anderson’s assessment of philosophers as often pursuing intellectual fads with the idea that we must “plunder the Egyptians” regarding the development of important ideas/concepts.

• How can one consistently live a life that seeks to know God by all the ways in which He makes Himself known?

Conclusion

Thanks for following along with this first installment of my book club! I hope you’ve found this enriching. In November and December we will be reading The Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum. Please note that while I’ve done my best to produce a useful study guide for The Beginning of Philosophy any shortcomings are strictly mine. This caveat is especially important, as I cannot help but feel overwhelmingly inadequate in trying to develop a catechism for the Beatitudes.