Doctrine of God

Question 1

polytheism

Answer 1

there are various Gods

Question 2

pantheism

Answer 2

God is in and through the universe

Question 3

deism

Answer 3

God caused creation and does nothing else

Question 4

materialism

Answer 4

only physical matter exists

Question 5

univocal prediction

Answer 5

one concept applies to God and other things

Question 6

analogical prediction

Answer 6

two concepts apply to God and other things

Question 7

fideism

Answer 7

proofs are inappropriate due to the fallenness of the human mind and the nature of faith

Question 8

Anselm’s version of the ontological argument

Answer 8

A being which is perfect must exist in reality as well as in the mind

if it did not, we could not conceive of a more perfect being which exists in both the mind and reality

only a being which exists in both the mind and reality can be the most perfect conceivable thing

Question 9

Criticism of Anselm’s ontological argument

Answer 9

basically criticized the logic

you can conceive an island more perfect than any other known island

such an island must exist since if it did not, it would be less perfect than any known island which is a contradiction

Question 10

Decartes’ version of the ontological argument

Answer 10

existence is an attribute of God

just as we cannot think of a triangle without sides, we cannot think of God who does not exist

Question 11

criticism of descartes’ ontological argument

Answer 11

all it proves is that if there is an infinitely prefect being , He exists

existence does not add to the concept of a thing, it does not add anything new

Question 12

cosmological argument from necessity

Answer 12

everything that exists did not exist at some point and thus were caused to exist

there cannot be an infinite number of causes to bring something into existence

there must be an uncaused cause for everything

Question 13

kalam cosmological argument

Answer 13

everything that has a beginning needs a cause

the universe began

there cannot be an infinite number of caused causes

there must be a cause for all else that does not needs a cause itself

Question 14

teleological argument

Answer 14

Human artifacts are products of intelligent design

the universe resembles human artifacts

therefore the universe is a product of intelligent design

the universe is complex and gigantic in comparison to human artifacts

therefore there was an intelligent designer

Question 15

Darwin’s affect on the teleological argument

Answer 15

darwin’s theory of evolution explained how things got so complex which is one of the main points

Question 16

anthropic argument

Answer 16

the universe exhibits elements of design specifically for the purpose of containing intelligent beings

Question 17

Pascal’s wager arguement

Answer 17

if the Christian turns out to be right he gains a good life and heaven

if he is wrong, he stills gains a good life, thus losing nothing

Question 18

the thomistic view of divine action

Answer 18

essentially there is a difference between primary and secondary causes

the primary cause may be one thing but the secondary cause which is an instrument that the primary cause uses

Question 19

the problem of contingency

Answer 19

in the Newtonian world, things were thought to happen according to natural laws without variation

after quantum mechanics, we discovered that we cannot predict the speed and location of a sub-atomic particle

the future is not determined by natural laws

Question 20

difference between God’s permissive and preceptive will

Answer 20

preceptive will- What God desires His creatures to do

permissive will- God permits things to happen that are not apart of His perfect will

Question 21

Bible passages that help with the contingency issue

Answer 21

1 Samuel 22:11-12

Question 22

God is timeless

Answer 22

God has the same relationship to time as he does space

time is created

fits with the theory of relativity

Question 23

God is eternal

Answer 23

God exists in time and it passes for him

He is aware of the sequence of time and exists in the presence

yet is perfectly aware of the past and the future

Question 24

external passibility

Answer 24

the capacity to be acted upon from without

Question 25

internal passibility

Answer 25

the capacity for changing the emotions from within

Question 26

sensational passibility

Answer 26

the liability to feelings of pleasure and pain caused by the action of another being

Question 27

nominalism vs realism

Answer 27

nominalism- attributes are merely names that humans use but have no referent in God

Question 28

absolute vs relative

Answer 28

divide God’s attributes into those which relate to God in Himself, apart from creation (absolutes) and attributes that have to do with God’s relation to creation (relative)

Question 29

communicable vs incommunicable

Answer 29

attributes that are not shared with creatures and attributes that are shared with creatures

Question 30

openness of God view

Answer 30

for a human being to have free will, God cannot know what that person will choose

Question 31

problems with the openness view

Answer 31

to know is not to predetermine

assumes an incompatiblist view of Human Will

Question 32

the general presence of God

Answer 32

God is present everywhere and to everyone

Question 33

the special presence of GOd

Answer 33

God is also present in a special way

Question 34

the unique presence of Christ

Answer 34

Christ represents a special and full presence of God