Discussion Questions/Make Up Quiz

Instructions: If you missed the quiz last Monday, you may make it up by answering the following questions, posting your answers on your blog, and providing me with a hard copy of your answers. If you are looking for extra credit, you may also want to complete this assignment.

1. What is Wendell Berry’s stated purpose for writing? What, if anything, is he proposing and why?
2. What “catastrophic discrepancies between biblical instruction and. . . allegedly respectable Christian behavior” does Wendell Berry claim to see?”
3. What does Berry think about the usefulness of Christianity for dealing with our environmental crisis?
4. In Berry’s view, is Creation independent of the Creator? Is Berry’s view the prevailing view? Why or why not?
5. Which parts of Creation does Berry consider to be most holy and sacred? Is Berry's view the prevailing Christian view on this issue?
6. According to Berry, what allows Christians to ignore their own biblical instructions and contribute so heavily to the ruin of Creation? Give at least two reasons Berry cites that can explain why, in his opinion, the holiness of life is obscured to modern Christians.
7. How does Berry define a Christian church? Where is such a church to be located and how is it to be built and of what is it to be made?
8. According to Berry, who are the most significant people and what are the most significant religious events in the Bible and where do these events occur? Do you agree with him?
9. What does Berry mean when he says that the misuse of the Bible logically accompanies the abuse of nature?
10. What does Berry mean by the term “duality” and which dualities does he most disdain and why?
11. What does Berry have to say on the subjects of work and workmanship?
12. How does Berry’s reading (or interpretation) of Genesis and and the act of Creation generally compare to the most common reading?