Knowledge of God Flashcards
Natural Theology
God can be known through reason and observation of the natural world
What does Natural Theology rely on
Finding a point of contact between god and humans and using our reason to find out ideas of god from it
What does the Catholic Church say about natural theology
It celebrates humans intellectual ability to find out about god
What does the catechism of the Catholic Church say about natural theology
Humans are made in the image of god so have an inbuilt capacity and desire to know god
What does Sensus divinitatis and semen religionis mean
sense of divinity and seed of religion
What does the protestant tradition say about natural theology
sensus divinitas and semen religions express that humans have a sense within that gives them knowledge of god and they have innate basics of human religion with a human inclination to pray
Aesthetic argument in natural theology
Humans have an innate appreciation for beauty or sights sounds and tastes, some believe this gives evidence of a god who has appreciation for these things
How does the aesthetic argument work for christians
Humans can recognise beauty goodness and truth and have a conscience, this is all in the humans spiritual soul which has its origin in god so allows humans to know god on a more personal level
What did Calvin view about the conscience
He also saw it as a important point of contact between humans and god that can help understand god
What was Calvins example to describe how the world had elements of god in
A mirror that reflects the values in heaven that god holds: divine goodness, wisdom, justice,power
Why did Calvin believe humans couldn’t always access their innate senses
Because of the fall of man which created an epistemic gap between god and humans
What do catholics believe about the epistemic distance
Not because of the fall but because of the different nature of god and humans, and how much of himself god choose to reveal to humans
Who believed the mind had three different ways of knowing and portrayed this with the analogy of the eye
Bonaventura
What were bonaventuras three eyes
Flesh - Empiricism gaining knowledge about the physical world
Reason - use of logic to figure mathematical and philosophical truths
Contemplation - Use of faith going beyond sense and reason to know god
John Polkingthorne support of natural theology
Had two eyes one for science and the physical world and the other for viewing the world in the context of gods creation and his spiritual truths. Both eyes must work in unison
Who was the Roman philosopher who also supported natural theology
Cicero
Which two design arguments support natural theology
Paley’s watch analogy and Aquinas fifth way
How does Swinburne support natural theology
He recognises that the universe is prone to regularity and order so must infer a designer or god
How does Bible Paul support natural theology
demonstrates use of logic in natural theology when debating with jewish leaders by highlighting similarities between Jesus and the judaic messiah
What are Humes three criticisms of natural theology
- Analogy of the watch is not comparable to the universe, better using an orange but this has no designer
- Epicurean hypothesis infinite universe over infinite time will develop patterns of order
- Fallacy of composition just because some things in the world have a cause doesn’t mean the whole universe has a cause (god)
Reasons why god can be known through reason alone
- If god created humans it would make sense he would provide a way for humans to discover and know him, this is reason.
- Cicero had the universal consent argument that so many people believe in gods that it must be an innate part of humans
- Reason is needed to make faith claims more meaningful as some faith is just human imagination
Reasons why god cannot be known through reason alone
- reason is an intellectual exercise that not all people have so not all can understand god
- God is by definition ineffable so it would be anthropomorphising to try understand or know him
- Humans are sinful and can’t know god due to the fall
Revealed Theology
God chooses parts of his knowledge to give directly to people in scripture
Why do protestants believe revealed theology is needed
because humans are fallen creatures so need his intervention to fully know god
Why do catholics believe revealed theology is needed
Huge difference between god and humanity, god chooses not to reveal all of himself
Revelation
God delibarety showing aspects of himself to the world
Faith
A belief in something that evidence can’t support