Existence Of God Flashcards
Aquinas’ 5 ways
Aquinas, believed in the existence of God through his famous Five Ways. These are five philosophical arguments for the existence of God. One of them is the Argument from Motion, which states that everything in motion is moved by something else, and there must be a First Mover, which is God. Aquinas’ arguments aimed to show that God’s existence can be rationally demonstrated.
Who Criticised Aquinas’ belief
One of the main critics of Aquinas’ beliefs was the philosopher David Hume. Hume raised objections to Aquinas’ arguments for the existence of God, particularly questioning the idea of causation and the concept of a First Cause. Hume’s skepticism challenged the rationality of Aquinas’ arguments.
Why did Hume criticise Aquinas ?
Hume criticized Aquinas’ beliefs mainly because he was skeptical about the concept of causation and the idea of a First Cause. Hume questioned the logical reasoning behind Aquinas’ arguments and raised doubts about the existence of God based on empirical evidence and the limitations of human understanding.
What is a quote to support Humes criticism?
“No testimony is sufficient to establish a miracle unless the testimony be of such a kind that its falsehood would be more miraculous than the fact which it endeavors to establish.”
How does it support Humes criticism ?
Hume’s quote highlights his skepticism towards accepting miraculous claims, like those related to the existence of God, without strong and reliable evidence. He suggests that extraordinary events, such as miracles, require equally extraordinary evidence to be considered believable. This skepticism challenges the basis of arguments like Aquinas’ Five Ways, which rely on philosophical reasoning rather than empirical evidence.
Richard Dawkins beliefs about the existence of God
Richard Dawkins, a prominent evolutionary biologist and atheist, is known for his strong stance against the existence of God. He argues that belief in God is not supported by empirical evidence and that scientific explanations are more valid than religious ones. Dawkins is a proponent of atheism and actively promotes a secular worldview.
John Hick
John Hick suggests that without the incarnation Jesus is just another moral teacher amongst many.Christianity wouldn’t be what it is today.
Hick is suggesting that if the resurrectiondid not occur, then Jesus was no more than a teacher of wisdom, because it is the incarnation that showed hisdivinity
Hicks belief about Jesus’ resurrection
Hick argues that we live in a modern world of science andtherefore to believe in supernatural occurrences such as the death and resurrection of an individual is foolish.
In response to theargument that Jesus can be separated from his divinity
CS Lewis argues that this cannot be done, and criticisesthose who believed that it can be. Lewis says that Jesus taught that he was divine; if he taught this at the sametime as his other teachings, one has to accept all of them, you cannot pick and choose. (Accept that he is the son of God)
Jesus’ acknowledgment of being the son of God
Jesus also thoughthimself that he was divine; we can either accept him as he is, therefore accepting his teachings and his identity(which are one in the same, meaning that if he taught that he was divine, he was in fact divine) or reject him asa mad man.
St Paul supports C.S Lewis
Why?
For Paul, if Jesus was not resurrected then all preaching was and is in vain as sins would nothave been cleansed, meaning that everyone would perish in death, not being able to obtain eternal life.Therefore a Christian faith without resurrection is impossible for Paul.
A quote to support this
‘we have testified aboutGod that he raised Christ from the dead. But he did not raise him if in fact the dead are not raised’ (1Corinthians 15:15).
Why does Paul think Christianity could not exist without Jesus’ resurrection?
according to Paul Christianity cannot exist if Jesus was not resurrected, and the Christian faith is basedentirely around the belief that he was, hence Jesus must have a divine aspect to his personality.
Why might St Paul’s argument flawed?
Without the resurrection and divinityof Jesus the possibility of eternal life is made void, however Christianity is not based entirely on the belief ofeternal life, it is based mainly on the teachings of Jesus: forgiveness of sins, loving of thy neighbour and puremotives to name a few.
Criticisms of Jesus being 100% human and 100% God
Divinity is infinite, humanity is finite; something cannot be both infinite and finite. John Hick agrees and illustrates this argument; to say Jesus is God is like saying that a circle is also a square. Hick goes on to conclude that Christ being a mere human solves the paradoxical implications of the trinity.
