Belief In God (Paper 1)

Question 1

Give four examples of religious upbringing.

Answer 1

• Baptism (promise to bring up children to believe in God)
• Teach to pray (direct relationship with God)
• Take to worship (community who shows people who believe)

Catholic school (teaching children in a catholic environment)

Question 2

How can a religious upbringing lead to Belief In God?

Answer 2

• Follow in the footsteps of their parents.
• It becomes normal to believe in God.
• You have been taught that that is the correct thing.

Question 3

Name four religious experiences.

Answer 3

• Numinous feeling (presence of something greater than yourself)
• Conversion (life changed by giving to God)
• Miracles (something which breaks the laws of science)
• Prayer (an attempt to contact god)

Question 4

How can religious experiences lead to Belief In God?

Answer 4

Only possible explanation is God.

The presence of somebody much greater such as God.

Question 5

Show using the design argument why God must exist.

Answer 5

• Anything that has been designed needs a designer.
• The only person powerful enough to design the earth is God.
• Things like the eye appeared in the design argument.

Question 6

Criticism of the design argument.

Answer 6

• No designer would have created natural evil.
• Science has proved that it was designed without God.
• Even if the argument that God was the designer how could you prove it is God.

Question 7

Show using the causation argument why God must exist.

Answer 7

• Everything needs a cause as it can happen by itself.
• If you retrace the creation of the universe there must have been a cause.
• The only person powerful enough to creat the universe is God.

Question 8

Criticism of the causation argument.

Answer 8

• If everything needs a cause who caused God?
• if God doesn’t need a cause the universe does not either.
• Even if there was a first cause it may not have been God.

Question 9

Show some scientific explanations for the creation of the universe.

Answer 9

• About 15 million years ago the Big Bang formed our solar system.
• About 2.5 million years ago humans evolved.

Question 10

How can scientific explanations lead to atheism?

Answer 10

• Science can explain where the world came from without God.
• There is explanations and evidence for science but not God.
• Why would God crest dinosaurs to destroy them?

Question 11

Christian responses to science.

Answer 11

• The 6 days of creation in Genesis may be equivalent to millions of years each.
• Creationists believe the creation is exactly as the Bible says.
• Fossils may have been put by humans to trick people.

Question 12

Explain what the two evils are.

Answer 12

Moral evil (caused by humans)

Natural evil (not caused by humans)

Question 13

Why can suffering and evil lead to people not Believing In God?

Answer 13

If God existed then there would be no evil and suffering.

Question 14

What are Christian explanations of evil and suffering?

Answer 14

• Christians wants to give people the opportunity to stop suffering like Jesus taught.
• Caused by misusing free will, which is a human problem.
• Evil is a test to prepare us for heaven or hell.

Question 15

How can an unanswered prayer lead the atheism?

Answer 15

• When people pray they can’t feel the presence of God.

- If someone prays and their prayer has not been answered.

Question 16

What are Christian responses to unanswered prayers?

Answer 16

• If you pray something selfish then your prayer will not be answered.
• God may have a different way of answering your prayer.
• God may answer ‘no’ because he has the better judgement.