Th 151 Thesis Statements

Edilberto C. Jimenez
2014-2015

1. Vocation is Gods call towards authentic self-realization in union with Godself in ones
particular state of life and work by way of the common good. Jesuit education forms and
helps its students discern their vocations through cura personalis, total holistic formation,
developing them to be persons for others, dialogue between faith and reason, and magis.
2. Jesus Christ is the full Truth (Jn 1:14-16), the goal of our desire to know. It is through
dialogue between faith and reason that enables humanity to reach the fullness of truth.
Divorced from faith, reason falters and becomes enmeshed in errors such as reductionisms
and self-deception.
3. Freedom is primarily the human persons capacity to achieve his final, irrevocable and
eternal self, and secondarily the choices one makes which can affirm or undo ones
primordial commitment. Authentic freedom directs ones primordial commitment towards
indwelling.
4. Conscience is the secret core and sanctuary of the human person, where he is alone with
God, whose voice echoes in his depths. A correct conscience must be obeyed above all else
under God in order for the human person to realize ones authentic self through concrete
actions that conform to the objective divine moral order.
5. Jesus becomes the ultimate source and norm of Christian moral life by way of discipleship,
i.e., to be with Christ and be like Christ, to be caught up in Gods love, enabling oneself to
renounce self-made securities that create dominating and excluding power and replace it
with self-giving love that creates hospitable inclusion.
6. The Sermon on the Mount is an invitation to indwell with God through Christ. The Sermon
reorients and empowers the believer through the power of Gods Spirit towards unlimited
concern for the good of the other even at the expense of ones own rights.
7. Sin is the ungrateful missing the mark of the human persons goal that is God, the source of
personal worth, social solidarity and mutual entrustment. Sin in turn results in disordered
relations to others. Only Gods reconciling and forgiving love can overcome sin.
8. Only in the unconditional promise of loving forever the personal Other, an act of
indwelling through total self-donation, can a human person put down and deepen the roots
of ones selfhood, and thus can realize oneself and bear fruit through fidelity.
9. The entire personhood of the Father, the Son and the Spirit of the Triune God is constituted
by the complete self-donation to one another towards indwelling (perichoresis). The Triune
God is the final ground and archetype of human fidelity and commitment.

10. The Gospel of John is an invitation to believe, i.e., to be open to the truth that is the glory of
God revealed through Christ, which leads the believer to commit ones entire self to lifegiving abiding union with Jesus, the Son who abides with the Father and with all humanity
through the Spirit.

Guidelines for the Final Oral Examination

a. You are only allowed to bring a Bible to the oral exam venue. Use markers to easily access
key passages associated with some of the thesis statements. You do not have to use the
Bible for all the thesis statementsonly some thesis statements directly refer to Scripture
as source.
b. State what the thesis statement as a whole is about. Then describe the role of each sentence
relative to the thesis statement. Define key words. Cite the thesis statements sources.
c. For your preparation, use the syllabus, then the articles and your classnotes.
d. Superior grasp involves using concrete examples, or extra sources that illustrate,
complement and affirm the thesis statement, but not to replace it or cover up ones lack of
knowledge of it. Also, be able to relate the thesis statement to one or two thesis statements
in the course. Magis: personal appropriation or rejection of the claims of the thesis
statement.
e. Time per student: 9 minutes (1 minute for entrance/exit). It is recommended that you allot
yourself 5-6 minutes for exposition and the remainder for discussion between you and the
teacher.
f.

Theses 8-10 will have 200 % chance of being selected compared to the other theses.