Belief in God Flashcards
1
Q
what is religious upbringing?-
A
- Babies baptised-promise to bring children up to believe in God
- Teach to pray-direct relationship with God
- Take to worship-worshipping as a community shows other people who believe
- Church school or Sunday school-teaching children in a Christian environment
2
Q
How religious upbringing leads to belief in God
A
- children will believe what parents have told them about God because their parents have authority
- because parents pray children will believe it is not a waste of time and the normal thing to do
- seeing so many people worship in church will make children believe God must exist
- at school or children’s liturgy teachers will tell children God exists and teach them bible stories
3
Q
Religious experience
A
- Numinous feelings-the feeling of the presence of something greater than yourself
- Conversion-when your life is changed by giving yourself to God
- Miracles-something which breaks the laws of science making you think God must have done it
- Prayer-an attempt to contact God, usually through words
4
Q
How religious experiences leads to belief in God
A
- Numinous feeling-if you sense a presence greater than yourself you will believe this is God
- Conversion-sensing that God wants you to change
- Miracles-if there is no scientific explanation the only possible explanation is God so he must exist (evidence of miracles in the bible)
- Prayer-answered prayers will lead to belief in God
5
Q
The design argument
A
- There is lots of evidence of complex things in the world which appear designed e.g the eye
- Anything that has been designed needs a designer
- The only thing powerful enough to design earth is God
- The earth is so beautiful is cannot be an accident, this must be God
- The world is perfect for humans, a loving God must have designed it
6
Q
Criticisms of the design argument
A
- No designer would have created natural evil like volcanos and earthquakes
- Science can explain the appearance of design without needing God through evolution and natural evil
- The argument does not explain how things like dinosaurs could have been part of a design plan for the world
- Even if the argument worked, it would only prove that the world have a designer this may not be God
7
Q
The causation argument
A
- everything in the world needs a cause. anything caused to exist must have something that caused it; nothing can cause itself
- if you keep working backwards you will eventually get to the cause of the universe-the first cause
- the only thing powerful enough to have caused the universe is God
8
Q
Criticisms of the causation argument
A
- if everything needs a cause then who caused God
- if matter is eternal (cannot be created or destroyed) then the progress goes on forever
- even if there was a first cause it would not have to be God
- if you can argue that God does not need a cause, you can also argue that the universe did not need a cause
9
Q
Scientific explanations for the universe
A
- about 15 million years ago the Big Bang happened and formed our solar system
- gases on the earths surface produced primitive life forms. these primitive life forms lead to the evolution of new life forms and about 2.5 million years ago, humans evolved
10
Q
Scientific explanations lead to atheism/agnosticism
A
- science can explain where the world came from without God
- people become agnostic because there is no need for God as an explanation anymore
- atheists believe that science proves God does not exist because if he did there would be no other explanation for the world except God but there is (Big Bang)
- atheists argue that proof of dinosaurs shows God does not exist because why would God create and destroy them
11
Q
How Christians respond to science
A
- the 6 days of creation in the biblical Genesis story of creation can fit with the scientific understanding of evolution because one of Gods ‘days’ could be reference to 6 time periods including million of years of revolution
- creationists believe the earth was created exactly as it says in the bible; they reject evolution as truth
- creationists believe that fossils may have been put in the ground by God or humans to trick people
12
Q
Evil and suffering
A
- Moral evil is evil which is caused by humans misusing free will. An example of moral evil is war, war causes massive suffering and is started by humans
- Natural evil is suffering which humans have not caused. An example is earthquakes
13
Q
How evil and suffering causes people to reject belief in God
A
- If God was omnipotent he would be able to stop all suffering
- If God was omniscient he would know about all suffering
- If God was benevolent he would want to stop suffering
- If God existed evil and suffering wouldn’t but as it does exist, God mustn’t
14
Q
Christian explanations of evil and suffering
A
- Christians believe God wants them to have the opportunity to help those suffering as Jesus taught
- Christians believe suffering is caused by misusing free will and so is a human problem, not Gods
- Christians believe that evil and suffering are a test to prepare us for heaven or hell
- Christians believe that God has a reason for not removing suffering but that we cannot possibly understand it
15
Q
Unanswered prayers lead to atheism/agnosticism
A
When people pray they are attempting to contact God, many people claim to feel God when praying
- other people may say prayers and never feel Gods presence. This makes them think they are doing something wrong or that he does not exist
- if someone prays for something and it doesn’t happen they may feel their prayers are not being answered
- if they do not feel Gods presence when they less they may lead to agnosticism or atheism
