Divinity key words

Question 1

Theism

Answer 1

Belief in the existence of a God

Question 2

Atheism

Answer 2

Belief that no god exists

Question 3

Agnosticism

Answer 3

Either a state of uncertainty as to whether God exists or not, or a belief that the existence of God can never be proved or disproved.

Question 4

Design Argument

Answer 4

An attempt to use the beauty and complexity of the world to prove that God exists.

Question 5

The Argument from Fine Tuning

Answer 5

The argument that since there are extremely delicately balanced forces in the universe which are just right to sustain life, there must be an intelligent designer (God).

Question 6

God of the Gaps

Answer 6

A term used in criticism of the attempt to use God as an explanation only when other scientific explanations cannot be found.

Question 7

Sceptism

Answer 7

The habit of doubting the truth or existence of things (from the Greek skeptomai meaning to think about, to search, or to look for).

Question 8

Academic Scepticism

Answer 8

The belief that knowledge of the world gained through the senses was unreliable as it could not be trusted.

Question 9

Pyrrhonian Scepticism

Answer 9

A radical sort of scepticism that doubted whether any claims about the world were possible.

Question 10

Epistemology

Answer 10

That area of philosophy concerned with what can be known, and how we know what we know.

Question 11

Theology

Answer 11

The study of the nature of God; rational inquiry into religious questions.

Question 12

Natural Theology

Answer 12

Language used in order to persuade.

Question 13

Revealed Theology

Answer 13

The idea that God can only be known in so far as He allows Himself to be known through Jesus Christ, and Scripture.

Question 14

Hypothesis

Answer 14

A proposed explanation for an event or phenomenon.

Question 15

Theory

Answer 15

A tested, well-substantiated, unifying explanation. A hypothesis grows into a theory if it has been experimentally tested on a number of occasions and still holds up.

Question 16

Ockham’s razor

Answer 16

In a situation where there is more than one possible explanation for an event or occurrence, the explanation which makes the fewest assumptions should be preferred. Known as lex parsimoniae or ‘the law of briefness’ in Latin.

Question 17

Paradigm shifts

Answer 17

The idea that revolutionary leaps in scientific progress cannot always be explained by the prevailing paradigm (or way of thinking). A new, competing paradigm often comes into being and causes a ‘paradigm shift’.

Question 18

The verification principle

Answer 18

The idea that unless something can be verified then it is meaningless. Often thought to be the way science makes progress (verifying hypotheses).

Question 19

The falsification principle

Answer 19

The idea that the best way to tell if something is scientific or not is to determine whether or not it can be falsified. Statements that claim to be scientific but that cannot be falsified are pseudo-science.

Question 20

Philosophy

Answer 20

From the Greek words philo and sophia meaning ‘love of wisdom’. Philosophy is the study of the nature of reality, knowledge or values based on logical reasoning.

Question 21

Metaphysics

Answer 21

The area of philosophy based on the nature of reality.

Question 22

Ethics

Answer 22

The area of philosophy concerned with what’s right and wrong.

Question 23

Ad hominem

Answer 23

short for argumentum ad hominem from the latin ‘argument to the person’ which refers to criticising the person making the argument rather than the content of the argument itself. Philosophers avoid this.

Question 24

Principle of charity

Answer 24

The attempt to find the strongest version of an argument.

Question 25

Straw man

Answer 25

A simplistic version of the opposing argument used to break it down and make look bad.