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Religious Studies A Level > Creation > Flashcards

Creation Flashcards

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1
Q

Scientists no longer had to refer to God in order to explain all their theories. What implications did this have for religious belief?

A

The Christian faith no longer had control over all branches of knowledge.

Religion was reduced to become the explanation for things still not understood by science – God of the Gaps theology.

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1
Q

George Gamow calculated that if the galaxies were moving apart you could assume that there was once a time when they were closer together – how long ago did he estimate that all matter was compressed into an infinitely small volume?

A

10-15 million years

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1
Q

Scientists are unable to account for the extreme conditions that existed at the moment of the Big Bang – how would a theist answer this question?

A

They may argue that it was God who started the Big Bang

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2
Q

Religious thought is usually based on what?

A

Revelation (often through scripture), reflection and abstract ideas, and is concerned with values and belief rather than just facts.

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2
Q

What is Survival of the Fittest?

A

The idea that all offspring are not all identical: variations exist within them. Some offspring will survive and some will not. Those that have specific variations to suit the environment will survive and pass their advantages onto their own offspring.

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3
Q

According to Laplace, what is scientific determinism?

A

The principle that all information and events embody natural laws – Every event in the universe is controlled by these natural laws.

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4
Q

What do scientists do when their theories are seen to be weak or are proved false?

A

New theories may replace older ones if there is a greater weight of evidence in their favour.

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4
Q

What is Natural selection?

A

The belief that certain beneficial characteristics that help a species survive are passed on to new generations until all members of the species have inherited it.

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5
Q

Scientific findings in the 16th century and beyond were to have significant consequences for religious belief – what were these?

A

Some believers were able to accept the ‘new philosophy’ without losing their faith whilst others abandoned their religious belief altogether.

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6
Q

Scientists no longer regarded God as immanent and as the controller of everything – the world and the universe ran like clockwork. What implications does this have for religious belief?

A

This led to the development of Deism – the belief that God started the creation process off and then stood back and does not intervene.

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7
Q

One issue that may cast doubt on evolution is the fact that it seems to have taken place too quickly – human being s should not be here yet. How has science reacted to this?

A

They have developed a theory that the process was not gradual but may have happened in ‘leaps’ or ‘jumps’ which result in sudden changes taking place at certain times.
Scientists have no explanation at this time to say why or how these fast changes happen.

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8
Q

Who published a book called ‘Dialogue concerning the two chief world systems’ in which he set out to show that the language of the universe is mathematics?

A

Galileo Galilei

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9
Q

What do some scientists believe provided the necessary materials for life to develop on our planet?

A

The death of the earliest stars.

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10
Q

Why was there no concept of natural law in the Middle Ages?

A

Because everything was explained by God’s actions

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10
Q

Who dismissed Napoleon’s comments about a lack of reference to God in his work by saying ‘I have no need for that hypothesis’?

A

Pierre Laplace – a French mathematician and astronomer who believed the idea of a God was irrelevant in a modern scientific world.

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11
Q

Why did Stephen Hawking say that Laplace was wrong not to include God in the explanation of the universe?

A

He said that Laplace had failed to address who put the laws in place in the initial configuration of the universe – Hawking said this was left to God.

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11
Q

How did Darwin’s theory of evolution of animals undermine Christian teaching?

A
  1. He showed how living things developed in small ‘chance’ steps and were not in their final form at the time of creation – no need for a designer or creator.
  2. He showed that living things adapted to suit their environment rather than the environment being created to suit living things.
  3. He showed that nature was ‘Red in Tooth and Claw’ (violent) and this did not match the idea of a gentle loving creator God.
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13
Q

What contributions did Galileo Galilei bring to the table?

A

He showed that…

  • the universe was a vast immeasurable space
  • the universe was not unchanging but actively varying
  • the movement of planets was a ‘natural’ thing and not the result of God’s constant actions
  • the universe was heliocentric
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13
Q

How does Deism affect religious belief?

A

It means religion can speak of ‘beginnings’ and ‘endings’ but can have no significance of events in between.

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14
Q

When would religion reject a scientific claim?

A

When it conflicts with the basic beliefs of that faith.

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14
Q

Who believed that because man was made in the image of God he had a perception on God’s creation? - man could discover what God had done.

A

Isaac Newton

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14
Q

blank card - question coming soon

A
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16
Q

Scientists began to see the universe as a machine with all moving parts working together. What implications did this have for religious belief?

A
  • It was no longer necessary to believe God caused the movements in the universe
  • Man was no longer at the centre of God’s creation but inhabited a tiny planet that circled the sun.
  • Human life was no longer regarded as unique as now there was the possibility that life may exist on other planets.
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16
Q

According to many theists, how long did God take to make the earth and all that is upon it?

A

6 Days

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17
Q

What is the common name given to the idea that all matter in the universe was created from a gigantic explosion?

A

The Big Bang Theory

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19
Q

Isaac Newton showed that science was not just restricted to observation along but other principles could be applied. What are these principles which govern modern science?

A

Modern science seeks to back up observations with evidence, data and accepted natural laws

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20
Q

What are the names of those who first proposed the theory of evolution?

A

Jean-Baptiste Lamarck and Charles Darwin

22
Q

Who first sought to explain the cosmos in the form of natural laws which could be applied universally to the whole of creation?

A

Isaac Newton

25
Q

What is ‘God of the Gaps’?

A

The theory that God is the answer to questions and problems that science is otherwise unable to resolve.

27
Q

Up until what century did religion and science almost always agree?

A

The 16th century

28
Q

What was the accepted belief about the earth in the middle ages?

A
  • That God had created the earth at the centre of the universe
  • God controlled everything in the world and it was motionless (everything else moved around it)
  • God controlled the universe through His representative on earth – the pope
29
Q

Who first coined the phrase ‘Big Bang’

A

British astrophysicist Sir Fred Hoyle – he was trying to make the theory look foolish but the name stuck

31
Q

What did the work of mathematicians and scientists Nicolas Copernicus and Tycho Brahe suggest?

A

That the universe was heliocentric.

That only the moon revolved around the earth

32
Q

How did Darwin’s book ‘The Decent of Man’ attack Christian belief?

A

He claimed that human beings had descended from apes and were not a unique creation in God’s image.

He implied that because we had descended from apes we could not have been given a soul by God – humans are soulless beings just like animals.

33
Q

Modern scientific thought is based on what?

A

Observation and experiment to test out theories and to reach a conclusion as to what is the literal truth.

34
Q

What is George Gamow famous for?

A

He was the first to suggest the Theory of the Big Bang (although he did not call it that)

35
Q

What is a geocentric universe?

A

A universe where the earth is at the centre and everything (all the other planets, the sun and stars) travel around it.

37
Q

Who said the earth was created by God but was corruptible and changing as a result of man’s sin?

A

Thomas Aquinas

38
Q

Some scientist belief that the ‘residue’ from the Big Bang can still be seem where?

A

In the static on blank TV screens

39
Q

Who claimed that above the earth was the incorruptible heavenly realm of God in which everything moved in perfect circles?

A

Thomas Aquinas

40
Q

Who first discovered in 1929 that galaxies are continually moving apart very fast?

A

Edwin Hubble

42
Q

Give two reasons why science and religion agreed with each other up until the 16th century?

A
  1. The scientific and religious ‘world view’ agreed because a scientific explanation always included reference to God.
  2. The scientific and religious ‘world view’ agreed because the philosophers and theologians were the only scientists.
43
Q

What impact did science have when it proved many aspects of the Christian medieval worldview to be untrue?

A

People took a far more sceptical view of scripture and the Christian church became fallible – many scientists dismissed religion altogether.

44
Q

What is a heliocentric universe?

A

A model of the universe where the sun is at the centre and all the planets travel around it.

45
Q

What are the five main features of evolution?

A
  1. Life has evolved by natural processes
  2. The first life form arose from inanimate matter
  3. All life forms originated from the first simple organism
  4. There was a gradual development of more complex life forms
  5. Evolution is continuing and there are unlimited variations in nature
46
Q

Judaism and Christianity accept that God is the creator of everything. What do they base this on?

A

Genesis Chapters 1 to 3

47
Q

In Genesis, the writer (Moses) does not seem to want to prove that God exists. Rather he does what?

A

He seems to assume that God has always been – even before creation.

48
Q

Some Jews and Christians use the term ‘creatio ex nihilo’ . What does the term ‘creatio ex nihilo’ mean?

A

God created the heavens and the earth out of nothing

49
Q

Some religious believers prefer not to use the term ‘creatio ex nihilo’ but prefer to believe what?

A

God created ‘the heavens and the earth’ out of pre-creation chaos - they beleive there was a gap in time between Genesis 1:1 and Genesis 1:2

50
Q

At the end of the creation story God saw what he had made and it was ‘good’ and then He rested. what does this imply?

A

The creation process is somehow complete or finished.

51
Q

The fact that the universe exists and that there is evidence of design in our world is regarded by theists as proof of what?

A

The existence of God

52
Q

Jews and Christians point to various texts and passages in scripture that highlight God as creator. What passage in Job is often refered to?

A

Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth?
Tell me, if you have understanding.
Who determined its measurements – surely you know!
Or who stretched the line upon it?
On what were its bases sunk?
Or who laid its cornerstone?

Book of Job 38:4-6

53
Q

What is a Fundamentalist Christian?

A

Such Christians would believe that the Bible is true and is the word of God and would take the view that the Bible is literal truth. Therefore, any scientific theory or idea that conflicts with the Biblical account must be wrong!
Fundamentalists would disagree strongly with evolution.

54
Q

Why is it dangerous to hold Fundamentalist Christian views?

A

If nay part of the Bible is ever proved wrong than the whole of their faith may fail.

55
Q

What is scientific creationism?

A

Creationism is opposed not only to evolution, but also to modern scientific explanations for the origins of the universe - they are opposed to the Big Bang theory as well as the theory of evolution.

They seek to find scientific evidence to back up the Biblical account of creation.

56
Q

What is Young Earth Creationism?

A

The belief that the world was created by God about 6-10 thousand years ago - it only appears to be older.

57
Q

What is Old Earth Creationism?

A

Old Earth creationism is typically more compatible with mainstream scientific thought on the issues of physics, chemistry, geology and the age of the Earth - but believes that God directed the processes that brought about the initial creation and the evolutionary changes that have taken place.

58
Q

What is Gap Creationism?

A

Thay say that the six-day creation, as described in the Book of Genesis, involved literal 24-hour days, but that there was a gap of time between two distinct creations in the first and the second verses of Genesis, explaining many scientific observations, including the age of the Earth.

59
Q

What is Progressive Creationism?

A

This is the belief that God created new forms of life gradually over a period of hundreds of millions of years

60
Q

What is Evolutionary Creationism?

A

A belief that God directed the evolutionary process and there is no real conflict with science.

61
Q

What are Conservative Christians?

A

Conservative Christians argue that although scripture was written by humans it was inspired by God, and in some way God spoke through their words. They believe in the inerrancy of the Bible.

These Christians would argue that some biblical content was written at the writer’s time and may be outdated.
In the Bible there are spiritual truths but parts of it may need to reinterpreted in the light of new discoveries such as the Big Bang theory and evolution.

62
Q

What are Liberal Christians?

A

Liberal Christians argue the creation accounts are not literally true but contain religious truths and messages.
They would argue that sometimes the writers of the Bible used myths or stories to convey certain truths or facts about God.

63
Q

In the ‘Phenomenon of Man’ The French Philosopher Pierre Telihard de Chardin claimed what?

A

Evolution is therefore part of God’s plan for the ultimate fate of mankind.
We are constantly becoming more and more intelligent as a species, this is what God intends.

64
Q

Ernest Lucas a former biochemist, speaking about the Bible’s account of creation, says what?

A

It is a form of narrative, but one in which truth is put across in a symbolic way, because it was dealing with the big questions of life – the questions of meaning and purpose. I think these are more powerfully put across in story form.

65
Q
A

Religious Studies A Level (6 decks)

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