3.1 Flashcards
Choose one programme about religion and show how it may affect belief in God.
SONGS OF PRAISE
- Broadcasts a whole Sunday mass from various churches in the UK to millions of viewers
- millions of viewers who listen every Sunday who are then hearing the WORD OF GOD which could result in more followers
- emphasises IMPORTANCE of God in our lives and reminds people of their spiritual lives
- filmed in beautiful churches around the UK leading someone to have a NUMINOUS experience
How a Catholic upbringing may lead to a belief in God
- Catholic SCHOOL reinforces their belief in God as it teaches them about their faith
- taking them to church and them experiencing MASS allows them to understand more about their God and feel the importance of the church community
- BAPTISM of a child welcomes them into the church; parents promise to teach their child about God
- AUTHORITY FIGURES encourage things like PRAYER which strengthens their belief in God as they will naturally grow up to think similarly to the people around them
Explain how religious experience could lead to belief in God
MIRACLE-event which breaks the laws of science and if someone witnesses this then they may believe in God
PRAYER-an attempt to contact God usually through words if prayer is answered someone may be convinced God is listening
NUMINOUS-feeling or presence of something greater than you that leads you to believe in God
CONVERSION-when your life is changed by giving yourself to God St. Paul had a conversion leading him to change his life and believe in God
Explain how the argument from design can lead to belief in God
(William Paley watch)
- anything DESIGNED needs a designer
- EVIDENCE of design in the world e.g. Human body
- if the world has been designed it must have a intelligent DESIGNER
- the only possible designer of something as COMPLEX and beautiful as the world must be GOD
Explain how the Argument from causation may lead to belief in God
(Aquinas cause and effect)
- aquinas said that there must be a first cause that was UN-CAUSED which then caused the everything to come into existence
- the FIRST CAUSE must be God as he is omnipotent
- religious people say that there is a power in our universe that has NO BEGINNING or no END
- they say God is ETERNAL and INFINITE and the word used to describe it is God
Why the appearance of design may not lead to belief in God
- also evidence of lack of design
- everything can be explained by science
- argument proves that the universe has a designer, not necessarily God
- argument doesn’t explain the existence of God
Explain how scientific explanations of the world can lead to atheism
- BIG BANG CONTRADICTS the biblical account of the creation
- some people believe that the Big Bang and evolution occurred as an ACCIDENT without God
- some believe EVOLUTION contradicts the biblical account of creation
- some people believe science can explain why we got here without any need for GOD
Explain how catholics respond to scientific explanations of the world
- BIG BANG was caused by God and was used to being about the creation of the world
- EVOLUTION was created by God to bring about the creation of people
- creation account in GENESIS follows the same order as that described by scientists in evolution
- some Christians believe SCIENCE IS WRONG and the bible should be taken literally
“Science proves that God did not create the universe”
Agree/disagree
Disagree
- BIBLE account of creation is a not literal and is more metaphorical
- BIG BANG idea was first conceived by a Catholic priest
- EVOLUTION may have been gods way of creating humans
Explain how evil and suffering can lead to atheism
OMNIPOTENT-power to create the world without evil or to get rid of the evil
OMNI-BENEVOLENT-all loving so he would want to spare us from pain and suffering
OMNISCIENT-all knowing so he would know what pain and suffering would happen
NATURAL EVIL-deny gods existence as God could have designed the world perfectly (like himself)
Explain how unanswered prayers lead to atheism
- if someone prays for GOOD INTENTIONS and their prayer isn’t ANSWERED
- Jesus described God as our FATHER, so he should answer our prayers
- supposed to be BENEVOLENT if he is real then he wouldn’t ignore us
- someone may not experience any kind of NUMINOUS experience when praying and so not believe
Catholic response to unanswered prayers
- if what you pray for is SELFISH then God will not answer your prayer
- sometimes our prayers will not fit in with gods PLAN
- when we ask our PARENTS for something they do not always give it to us, because it is not what is best for us
- CATECHISM States ‘don’t be troubles if you don’t not IMMEDIATELY receive from God what you ask for he desires to do something greater for you
Catholic response to evils and suffering
- evil and suffering are not gods fault but caused by humans misusing freewil
- evil and suffering should be fought against and God wants to help us in this fight
- pain and suffering is part of life that helps us to appreciate good and achieve salvation
- no point worrying about evil and suffering we can’t fully understand gods plan but we should trust him
