3.1 Believing in God

Question 1

Catholic upbringing- for

Answer 1

• Sacraments- give you religious strength
• Baptism- bringing you into the faith
• Confirmation- allow you to affirm your own faith
• Prayer and Bible- deepen relationship with God
• Church- witnessing others affirming their faith, children’s liturgy educates children of their belief at their level

Question 2

Catholic upbringing- against

Answer 2

• Children have free will to make their own choices
• They may have been taught enough to prove to themselves that God doesn’t exist
• They may not fully understand their faith as they have never had opportunity to question it

Question 3

Religious experiance

Answer 3

• Miracles- no other explanation except God
• Prayer- strengthens relationship with God, prayers can be answered proving God
• Numinous- actually experiencing and feeling His presence
• Conversion- reawakened by an experience

Question 4

Argument from design- story

Answer 4

-William Payley said if you found a watch on the ground, you would assume it had been made by a watchmaker as it is so complex. The same applies for the universe- there must be a universe maker, which could be God

Question 5

Argument from design- for

Answer 5

• Many things on earth are too complex to happen randomly

- There must be a designer, and only God could design something so wonderful

Question 6

Argument from design- against

Answer 6

• Design can be explained by science
• Doesn’t refer to the existence of dinosaurs
• God may not be the designer
• Some things have lack of design like volcanoes and diseases

Question 7

Argument of causation- story

Answer 7

• Everything on the earth has a cause, so anything caused to exist must have been caused to exist by something else
• You have to have a first cause in all causation chains, including the universe
• The only possible first cause for the universe is God

Question 8

Argument of causation- for

Answer 8

• There needs to be a first cause for everything
• The universe had to come from somewhere
• Everything seems to have a cause except the universe
• God is the only logical cause for the universe

Question 9

Argument of causation- against

Answer 9

• There must be a cause for God, so who is God’s cause?
• A better explanation is that the universe is eternal
• The first cause doesn’t necessarily have to be God

Question 10

Scientific explanation- against

Answer 10

• Big bang- 15 billion years ago, matter was so compressed it made a huge explosion, and the matter flew away and joined to form stars and planets
• Evidence includes red-shift
• Natural selection and evolution- on the earth’s surface combinations of gases formed primitive life forms, and mutations changed genes. Those best suited to their environment survived
• Evidence includes fossils

Question 11

Scientific explanation- for

Answer 11

• Bible was written before modern science so can’t contain it
• Genesis creation is a beautiful story not science
• God is responsible for the big bang and evolution
• God is not a material being, so science can’t investigate Him

Question 12

Unanswered prayer- against

Answer 12

• People suffer or see suffering, and pray to God for help
• If God was omnibenevolent, he would answer our prayers
• It appears that God chooses some prayers over others
• If someone doesn’t feel God’s presence when they pray, they may not believe He is there
• Lots of people pray for the same thing but are still ignored

Question 13

Unanswered prayer- for

Answer 13

• An individual request may not fit in with God’s plan
• Prayer may be selfish and not motivated by love
• Prayers may be answered differently to what is expected
• God gives you what you need, not what you want
• People’s prayers may conflict with each other

Question 14

Problem of evil- against

Answer 14

• If God is omniscient he knows what is happening so why doesn’t he stop it?
• If God is omnipotent he is powerful enough to stop evil, so why doesn’t he?
• If God is omnibenevolent he would want to stop us suffering, so why doesn’t he?
• When someone suffers they question God’s Omni-qualities leading to atheism or agnosticism

Question 15

Problem of evil- for

Answer 15

• Without bad, we wouldn’t be able to appreciate the good
• You have to suffer to be worthy of heaven
• Reminds us we still rely on God
• Suffering is part of God’s plan that humans can’t understand
• Moral evil is caused by humans using their free will

Question 16

Media- fair

Answer 16

• Archbishop sympathises saying he can understand why people may question
• A survivor’s faith was stronger as he thought it was a test from God
• Tsunami shows God’s power
• Someone claimed to be able to see angels
• Constant hymns with subtitles and views of churches
• Shows community of believers
• No sceptic views

Question 17

Media- unfair

Answer 17

• Richard Dawkins (famous atheist) asked where God was, because he wasn’t there
• The survivor’s whole family was killed; how could God do this?
• Why would an omniscient God need to test these people?
• Why would he test those who have so little in the first place?
• Presenter is an atheist
• Woman seeing angels seems a bit crazy
• Programme can be very boring
• No actual evidence, just faith testimonies