existance of god

Question 1

God is

Answer 1

omnipotent
omniscient
omnipresent
eternal 
immanent
perfectky good
judge

Question 2

trinity

Answer 2

father - protector and creator - relationship with him like a father and child
son - jesus was god in human form
holy spirit - prescence of God that is with us all the time

Question 3

trinity

Answer 3

father - protector and creator - relationship with him like a father and child
son - jesus was god in human form
holy spirit - prescence of God that is with us all the time

Question 4

holy spirit

Answer 4

comforts and strengthens christians in times of difficulty
intercedes on christians behalf as they pray
convicts of sins and calls them to repent
Guides believers to know god’s will

Question 5

western vs eastern churches

Answer 5

western - belives the spirit comes from the father and the son
‘and from the son’

eastern - holy spirit only comes from father only
‘who proceeds from the father’

Question 6

god’s relationship with the world

Answer 6

world is dependant on the command of god
he causes all things to exist and ensures that everything is provided for the earht
genesis - demonstartes the world is dependant on god for it’s existance
god’s involvement with the world continued after creation
seasons are controlled by god - ‘a season for every activity under the heavens’

Question 7

God’s sustaining work in nature

Answer 7

‘he covers the sky with clouds’ ‘makes grass grow on hills’

Question 8

so…

Answer 8

god brings order to the world
unlike the ‘formless’ emptiness before genesis
he created the world from pre-exisiting matter
most christians believ that god created the world ex nihilio - this shows his eternity

Question 9

natural world is a witness to god’s existance

Answer 9

‘god’s invisible qualities have been clearly seen’

Question 10

the purpose of creation

Answer 10

to sustain animal and human life and is it god’s relationship with us that is so central to chirstianity

Question 11

beauty

Answer 11

beauty of creation is a witness to go being the source of all beauty

Question 12

how does god relate to humanity

Answer 12

‘let us make man in our image, in our likeness’

a role of stewardship - power and responsibility

his provision of land - promised land for canaan for the israelites and the garden of eden for adam and eve.

his provision of laws - the ten commantments help christains live out his will

his privision of a means of salvation - animal sacrifice in the old testament - atonement day and life and death of jesus - to make a reperation between god and mankind

Question 13

sacrfricial nature of god’s relationshoip with humans

Answer 13

as jesus, god lowered himslef to the level of a human to serve his people on earth
god mainatins relationship with christians through the presence of the holy spirit in their lives, which acts to remind them of their faith
and intercedes as they pray to god
through holy spirit, god comforts Christians in times of suffering
personal relationship - allows faith

Question 14

Is God outside time or active in the world

Answer 14

traditionally - timeless
atemporal - he can see and know all things
god is not limited and nor does he changes

‘For i know the plans i have for you’

some christians…
if god were outside time then he would not be able to relate to his creation
in order to answer prayers - he has to respond and change

god is shown to interact with the physical world
flood in exodus

god is seen as active in time and changing in response to his people

chirstians argue that god is everlasting
he is without beggining or end
and with humans each and every moment
personal and engaged with humanity - this is different from atemporal understanding. God has a set plan and he simple allows it to unfold exactly as he knew it would

Question 15

Can humans communicate with god directly ?

Answer 15

catholic church - priests belive they have been called into the ministry by god
when ordained - he is acting in the power of christ, not in his own power

‘it is no longer I who live, but chirst who lives in me’

intimate relationship created through god in the preist
the preist can also act as a link between humans and god
confession
priest has responsibility to work to become more like christ through the intercession of the holy spirit

protestants - not believe in ministers as a mediator between thmesleves and god
people who truly believe in god have a direct relationship with him and his accesible - HEBREWS 7 - THE NEED FOR PREISTS AS MEDIATORS IS NO LONGER REQUIRED

Question 16

Beliefs and views on god as good

Answer 16

god’s goodness is revealed through creation
god’s goodness is reveaked trhough his provision of law
god’s goodness is revealed through judhgement - he is the eptiemy of righteous and so can judge farly

‘he rules the world in righteousness and judges the people with equity’

Question 17

God’s goodness revealed through salvation

Answer 17

be sending his son, god made the ultimate sacrifice for humanity and this reveals his goodness

Question 18

challenges to god’d goodness

Answer 18

old testament - the flood by which only noah’s family survive
god’s request to abraham to sacrifice his son issac, only to replace him with a ram at the last moment

actions of god - anger, jealousy and lack of justice. God enabled his own people to destroy cannites in order to take israel for themsleves

however - in th new testamnet god makes the ultimate sacrifice by sending his son to atone for all sin

Question 19

euthypro dilema

Answer 19

plato’s philosphical problem concerning god’s goodness. ‘Is something morally good because God has commanded it OR does god command it because it is good?’

Question 20

evil as a result of human sin

Answer 20

the fall
original sin whihc is inherited
perfect world and perfect relationship disfigured
human beings responsible
why did god choose to create adam and eve if he knew they were going to disobey him

Question 21

evil as a lesson

Answer 21

Irenaeus
- suggests man was created immature, needs to gorw and develop to perfection
evil is necessary to understand goodness
to know goodness we must know suffering

however what about the sufffering that cannot be learned from - like the suffering of a baby
sometimes suffering, does not hep us develop god like qualities and grow in good nature. why is it so necessary ? for example when a person is diagnosed with a terminal illness - they do not deserve that illness but they have acted good towards god so why has he bestowed it upon them

Question 22

evil as a test

Answer 22

a test of faith for beleievrs
and a punishment for the wicket
book of job

Question 23

the design argument - teleological

Answer 23

the observation of the natural world reveal and order and complexity that could only have been achieved by an intelligent designer
instead of coming into an existance through a chain of natural events, the world is a result of an intelligent being - god
purpose - wordl was desgined with a purpose

experiances of awe and wonder
- a revelation recogionsing the intricacy of the natural world

Question 24

William paley

Answer 24

uses the example of a watch
the way in which all the parts work together to meet a specific purpose suggest that the watch must have a designer. this is the same and the world - there is a purpose - god designed the purpose

Question 25

John stuart Mill

Answer 25

DISAGREED WITH PALEY
Mill pointed to the cruelty of natures operation - for example some animals being effiecient killer s or the food chain
or nature having faults like earthquakes or volcanic erruption which are the result of faults in the earth’s structure which lead us to believ that if there is a designer then, that designer is cruel because his design brigns about suffering.

Question 26

the anthropic principle

Answer 26

F.r. Tennant
perfectly structured to ensure life would develop
evolution was further evidence for existence of a designer
th process of evilution - has a purpos, which is develop increasingly complex life forms to become more INTELLIGENT and for humans more MORALLLY AWARE

Question 27

John polkinghorne

Answer 27

believes that god created the universe in this way to ensure human existence
god creates an environment that is sustainable for human habitation
whether taken literally or metaphorically
it is clear the writer is demonstrating the way ensures survival

Question 28

first cause cosmological

Answer 28

the universe must have a first cause
something must have triggered the process that started the development of the universe - god is the prime mover
Thomas aquinas developed this argument

Question 29

conscience and moral consequence

Answer 29

moral argument
links our sense with guilt when we do something wrong with the voice of god through our conscience
god has enabled each person to know right from wrong
NEWMAN - gods voice within us reminds us that we are responsible to him
if there was no god - no inner sense of write or wrong

Question 30

soul making + judgement JOHN HICK

Answer 30

through moral decisions a persons soul can develop and become more god like
suffering and evil are opportunities

however, christians reject this idea because it does not fit with the idea that god judges people after death - does not include whether a person will be sent to heaven or hell

Question 31

parable of the sheep and the goats

Answer 31

for judges people based on those who have abided in his love and those who have gone astray

Question 32

quote for role of human conscience

Answer 32

the goal of this command, which comes from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith

Question 33

ethical living

Answer 33

as stewards - choose to buy sustainable products
consider how the products have been made - have they used fair trade
renewable sources of energy - solar power - methodist church promotes use of solar panels on its church buidings

TREES FOR LIfe - increase reforestation- worked in mexico reforesting plants and different types of tress

Question 34

ethical living

Answer 34

solar panels - methodist churches
trees for life - increase reforestation in mexico
fair traid

Question 35

ethical living