God and religion

Question 1

The problem of evil

Answer 1

If God exists, why is there so much evil and suffering in the world (murder, war, disease)
The three attributes of God, omniscience, omnipotence, and omnibenevolence, are logically incompatible with the existence of evil.

Question 2

Free will defense

Answer 2

Because God created humans with free will (the ability to make our own choices and judgments), some humans will use this free will to make evil choices. God can not be expected to create beings with free will that would never choose evil.

Question 3

Pascal’s Wager

Answer 3

P1. If God exists and you are a believer then you have everything to gain and nothing to lose.
P2. If God doesn’t exists and you believe then you haven’t lost anything.
P3. If you don’t believe in God and he does exist. You stand to lose everything.
Conclusion: It makes sense to believe in God because whether or not he exists you lose nothing.

Question 4

Ontological argument

Answer 4

he suggests that if the greatest possible being exists in the mind, it must also exist in reality, because if it existed only in the mind, then an even greater being must be possible—one who exists both in mind and in reality. Therefore, this greatest possible being must exist in reality.

Question 5

Teleological argument

Answer 5

Arguments that claim that everything is designed to fulfil some function or purpose. These arguments claim that something causes things to have a purpose and that something is God.

Question 6

Cosmological argument

Answer 6

A cosmological argument is an argument that:
P1. the universe exists
P2. It couldn’t have caused itself
∴ There must be something that caused the universe.
The cosmological argument is most commonly attributed to the medieval philosopher St. Thomas Aquinas.