Believing In God Flashcards
5 reasons for belief in God
- Religious upbringing
- Religious experience
- Miracles
- Prayer
- Experience of the world
5 reasons for religious upbringing leading to belief in God
- Baptism- welcomed
- Attending church- routine
- Family tradition- respect
- Sunday school- biased
- Celebration of religious festivals
Quotes on religious upbringing
- honour you father and your mother
- the family if the community in which, from childhood, one can lean moral values, begin to honour God and make good use of freedom
Religious experiences (7)
- numinous/transcendent
- miracle
- conversion/regenerative
- charismatic (holy sport descends)
- mystical (experience of divine)
- near death (seeing God)
- prayer (connection)
Miracles leading to belief in God and example
- natural law is broken and so no other cause but God
- God wants the best for thiests
- Morgan lake of Dunkirk
- gives an ideal picture of God
- you are experiencing God
- biblical= Jesus feeding 5000 ppl with 2 fish and 5 bread
5 types of prayer
- Adoration
- Intercession
- Thanksgiving
- Petition
- Penitence/confession
Quotes for unanswered prayer
- Ask and will it be given to you, seek and you will find, knock the door will be open to you- Matthew 7:7.8
- God does listen to all odour prayers but he doesn’t always answer in the way we expect him to
Examples of experiences of the world (4)
- Design
- Causation
- Meaning of life
- Religion+belief
Meaning of life to belief in God
- reason for existence
- beings order and discipline
- brings purpose
- brings ability to make impact
- brings goal- heaven
Meaning of life quote
- do not merely look out for your own personal interest but also for the interest of others- Philippians 2:4
4 reasons for not believing in God
- Problems with miracles
- Unanswered prayer
- Explanation for universe
- Evil and suffering
Problems with miracles
- other explanations for improbable situation
Unanswered prayer to loss of belief
- God doesn’t care enough
- disrespectful when someone has devoted life to religion
- God has clearly been immanent- maybs he doesn’t exist anymore?
Philosophers for no belief in God
- Freud God=wish/dream
- Nietzsche God=superstition
- Feuerbach God= man made
- Science ‘god of the gaps’
4 arguments against evil and suffering
- Free will defence
- Preparing believers for heaven
- God works in mysterious ways
- Original sin
Free will defence
Evil and suffering was caused my God in order to give humans free will and the right/ability to make the right decision
Preparing believes for heaven
Bad happens so good can result and evil and suffering will cease in heaven
God works in mysterious ways
People should trust God’s love and not question in. Jesus had to suffer
Quote for preparation for heaven
He will wipe every tear from their eyes. They will be no more death or mourning it crying or pain
Original sin
Adam and Eve created evil and sin in the garden of Eden
Cosmological argument
- universe is something
- it must come from something
- something cannot come from nowhere hung
- infinite chain of cause and effects isn’t possible
- there must be a first cause
- this is God
Suffering is a punishment for sin
- people must deserve punishment
- evil is deliberate
- why does God make us suffer
Free will
God puts evil in world
He does intervene so we have free will
Natural evil is still a problem
Balance of nature
- world must be balanced
- God lets there be evil
- evil is natural
- people benefit
- why would God want is to suffer though