c-existence of god

Question 1

what is the first cause argument

Answer 1

-everything that exists is caused to exist
-the universe exists, so there must have been an eternal uncaused cause
-which is god, therefore god exists

Question 2

2 challenges against the first cause argument

Answer 2

-no evidence that god is the uncaused cause
-religious bias- holy books reveal god created earth

Question 3

who devised the first cause argument

Answer 3

thomas aquinas

Question 4

what is the design argument

Answer 4

god is the designer of the universe

Question 5

who deivsed the design argument

Answer 5

william paley

Question 6

what did the divisor of the design argument reference it to

Answer 6

a pocket watch- just as it has complexity, order and purpose, the universe is the same and must have been designed

Question 7

2 challenges to the design argument

Answer 7

-evolution-natural selection by survival of the fittest- organisms produce more offspring than they can support and those with weaker characteristics die out
-when a species adapts to its environment, those characteristics are passed on due to random DNA mutation

Question 8

what is a philosophical challenge to the design argument

Answer 8

natural suffering (David hume) argued the world is not well designed due to natural disasters and human illnesses

Question 9

one miracle in christianity

Answer 9

jesus resurrected after he died on the cross

Question 10

one miracle in islam

Answer 10

revelation of the qur’an to the prophet muhammad

Question 11

3 weaknesses to the design argument from miracles

Answer 11

belief is based on faith not evidence
science
evil and suffering

Question 12

what is revelation

Answer 12

a realisation/revealing. God revealing himself to humans

Question 13

what is special revelation

Answer 13

god is directly revealing himself to someone

Question 14

what is general relevation

Answer 14

things that anyone can access that could reveal god eg. nature, holy books

Question 15

what are arguments to support bernadette’s vision

Answer 15

-she’s a child so why would she lie about it
-she saw her 18 times
-after facing lots of scrutiny, she didn’t change her claims

Question 16

what are arguments against bernadette’s vision

Answer 16

-could’ve been her imagination
-it was a normal person
-she was the only one who saw her

Question 17

describe general revelation in nature

Answer 17

-experiencing nature has a sense of wonder
-can see a design in the purpose of nature which shows nature as god’s creation
-nature is pretty, which shows god is good

Question 18

describe general revelation in holy books

Answer 18

-bible describes god in many ways
-show was god is like
-shows how god acted in the history of the world to influence it
-shows how god wants humans to live our lives- 10 commandments

Question 19

2 arguments against the first cause argument

Answer 19

-‘Who caused (created) God?- If everything requires a cause surely this has to apply to God as well.
-If some people can believe that God is eternal and requires no cause, then surely you could argue that the universe is eternal, and so doesn’t require God for it to exist.

Question 20

describe christians agree+disagree with the big bang

Answer 20

-The Big Bang shows the world developed over many billions of years rather than the seven days of the creation story in Genesis
-fundamentalists view- Genesis is literally true in every way and the story cannot be questioned, therefore, it does not fit with the Big Bang.
- It could be argued that God started the Big Bang- “Let there be light”.

Question 21

describe muslims agree+disagree with the big bang

Answer 21

Some Muslims say that the Big Bang can be seen as additional evidence of Allah’s creation and can be accepted
-but it does not include reference to a designer and creator, it is at best incomplete - describing only the process that Allah used in creation.