Existence of God Flashcards
who is the key scholar for cosmological argument?
Aquinas
Who is the key scholar for the design argument
William Paley
Who is the key scholar for the moral argument?
Kant
Who is the key scholar for Religious Experience?
Richard Swinburne
What examples of design are there?
ducks webbed feet, eye lashes
Goldilocks principle?
Universe has been designed “just right” to sustain life
Thumb Theory
Isaac Newton
We are all unique
Richard Swinburnes’ Principle of Credulity
what I experience in everyday life is true- so why question a religious experience
Richard Swinburnes’ Principle of Testimony
if you believe what your friend says to you, then you should believe them when they say they have experienced God
Examples of religious experience
miracle, conversion, prayer dream, vision
what is religious experience?
something that goes against the laws of nature and cannot be explained by reason or science
criticisms of religious experience
-hallucinations
-overactive imagination
-how do we know it is God
-does god have faviourites (only revealing himself to some people)
-diffiult to prove if it is a personal experience
what is the moral argument?
-we all have a sense of right/wrong
-feeling guilty when we do wrong
-external lawgiver gives us the sense of morality
-God is moral governor
-summon bonum-ultimate happiness (heaven)
criticisms of moral argument
-morality can come from parents/education/culture
-morals are product of evolutionary process (Dawkins)
-Atheists know difference between right/wrong
-why assume that only god can bring about ultimate happiness?
Criticisms of teleological argument
-Nietzsche universe is ‘full of flaws’ earthquakes/volcanoes
-unnecessary suffering
if there is a designer can he be described as good?
-random chance
survival of the fittest
what is Paley’s analogy?
wind up watch
-shows purpose, design, complicated & intricate
What is the other name for the design argument?
teleological argument
what is the other name for the cosmological argument?
first cause argument
What is the cosmological argument?
-everything in universe has been caused by something else.
-somehing cannot come from nothing
-chain of cause and effect
-line of dominoes-something had to start it off
-universe had to have a first cause
-first cause - eternal
something had to cause it to exist-uncaused causer
-uncaused causer is God.
criticisms of first cause Argument
-could also prove God doesnt exist
-universe could be eternal and dosent need a causer
-ambiguous
-scince can explain origin of universe
universe is an unfolding mystery.
theist
someone who believes in God
atheist
someone who doesnt believe in God
agnostic
unsure if God exists.
