Theology 270 Reflection Essay

With winter break 2016 winding down, in anticipation of the upcoming spring semester of classes, I found myself compelled to login to my Creighton accounts and explore what the class material that had already been placed onto Blueline. Glancing briefly at the course layout, I was initially shocked by the sheer amount of material that had been posted under my Theology 270 class. Examining the rubric, I can honestly say I was less than excited to discover a total of six papers and two tests would be required to pass the class. It would be a lie to not confess that the thought of attempting to possibly switch classes, or even drop the class entirely certainly crossed my mind during this initial judgment phase. However, now with merely a single

While everyone theoretically participates in his theory of knowing, being exposed to it, at least for me personally, was of the utmost importance in helping develop my moral character. Now aware of the theory, which is so logical, yet often overlooked in today’s society, I find that quite often identify situations in which, I both used to, and if im not careful, still find myself rushing too judge others much too quickly. Prior to exposure to his theory, I would often have not even second guessed these initial rushed judgments, however now I find myself constantly hesitating before assessing others. Instead of simply conforming to the norms, or “common sense” biases I now derive immense pleasure in stepping back from scenarios and approaching them from a differing perspectives, prior to passing judgment. In essence, exposure to Lonergan’s Theory of Cognition has stimulated the development of a level of critical thinking within myself, that prior to Theology 270 I unfortunately lacked. This personal growth in critical thinking ability, has led to me to eliminate many rushed and flawed decisions in my daily life. Instead, now due to my conscious knowledge of Lonergans theory, I find that often I believe I am able to reach a greater degree of knowledge in my daily life, which

Prior to Theology 270, I was quite familiar with John Stuart Mills, Utilitarianism themed Harm Principle, and generally prescribed to it in decision making scenarios. However, exposure to the Virtue ethics model of moral theology has opened my eyes to the large degree of interdependence that is expressed amongst all humans. The idea of “God as the creator” a concept which links all of creation to a common background, has made me realize that while actions may appear superficially to only be self-affecting, in actuality this notion of human independence is a mere figure of the imagination. This revelation has led me to realize while Mills Harm Principle may be a convenient, straight forward method by which to deduce the morality of an action, in actuality a great deal more must go into the determination of moral, justifiable