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
How is faith strengthened in christianity
Engagement with the life of the church so praying worshiping studying
Where does christianity locate true faith
In knowledge of Jesus and the Holy Spirit as these are revealed by god as a gift, and by Christinas accepting Jesus and the Holy Spirit they can improve their knowledge of god
What does the protestant tradition believe about grace
Humans are fallen so don’t deserve anything without gods grace, gods grace sent Jesus to earth and allows christians to be forgiven, this is revelation and allowed christians to become closer to god by accepting grace
Reasons why god can be known through faith alone
- Engaging with god isnt just academic but a spiritual and emotional task
- A god who is beyond earths understanding can only be understood with faith
Reasons why god can’t be known through faith alone
- Atheists reject faith as a projection of human imagination
- Faith without support of reason can lead t belief in anything
- God allows all humans to be rational but only some to have faith
- Faith needs reason first to build upon
How does Kierkegaard support revealed theology
Abraham rejected the rules of his day and sacrificed his son, this was him placing his faith in god over his reason
How does Augustine support revealed Theology
Original sin prevented people from knowing god as they were corrupt, could only know god through his help
How does Dawkins criticise revealed theology
Faith encourages lazy thinking as people just say there is a gap in human knowledge and that it is mystery with no evidence necessary
How does revealed theology struggle with distinguishing truth claims
People have no way of judging a truth or false belief then people may claim different things about god
How does Fidesim challenge revealed theology
fideism is putting faith prior or ahead of reason, there is no means of testing truth
What did the first Vatican council do with fideism
oulawed it instead preferring a position between revealed and natural theology
Where were Barth and Brunner from and what religion
Both Swiss theologians in the calvinist protestant tradition
Why did Barth reject natural theology
he lived in the Nazi era and saw the horrors of what human reason could achieve
Why did Brunner support natural theology
He was inspired by Aquinas’ thinking and the idea of the use of human reason
What was Barths essay called
Nein
Brunners Argument step by step
- God can be known in the world through points of contact give basic understanding
- This isnt enough as full knowledge requires accepting Jesus and having faith in revelation
three examples of points of contact
- beauty of nature
- conscience
- sensus divinitatis
What is Brunner’s conclusion about natural theology
It exists to give us the ability to begin our knowledge of god but not a full knowledge
What is Brunner’s view on the fall
We are fallen and sinful but we are also still the pinnacle of gods creation so can have a relationship with him, through points of contact and then faith in Jesus
What does Barth say god is
Radically Other
Why does Barth argue it is impossible to understand god
Human nature is completely corrupted by the fall and humans are so different from god in every way it is impossible for humans to understand god
What does Barth propose is the only way to understand god
through what god chooses to reveal to us with his grace
How does Barth argue that human language is limited
Human language can only describe human experiences so can’t be used to apply to god as they do him an injustice
–> Aquinas Analogies
Explain how religion is a human construct
It can’t in itself get to god, it needs gods interaction and revelation to reach god, the bible is only gods word if god allows it to be
Reasons why Barth is more convincing
- Bible is clear that the fall decimated the relationship
- ciceros universal consent argument is wrong because reason is flawed as everyone interprets god differently
- Human nature is flawed so it would be wrong to suggest humans should attempt a relationship with a perfect god
reasons why Brunner is more convincing
- No christians believe natural theology alone is enough
- The fall isnt as significant as Barth suggests, catholicism focuses more on epistemic gap which can be corrected with reason
- Gods nature isnt knowable anyway, this isnt a product of the fall
What is Calvins principle of accommodation
God is beyond our knowledge but he accommodates his infinity to appear in a way humans can understand
What is the Bible story of the unknown god
In Athens Paul encountered the altar of an unknown god and when speaking to the greek philosophers he told them that this god is actually the same as the christian god
How does Calvin use the Unknown God story
Illustrates that sensus divinitinas lead Athenians to worship this god but more work in revelation was needed to find the Christian god
Reasons why natural and revealed knowledge are the same
- You can’t have natural knowledge without revealed knowledge first
- proving god exists is simply recognising a previously revealed truth
- Requires multiple different approaches not just two
Reasons why natural and revealed knowledge aren’t the same
- They operate differently as in order to find god in natural theology one must put aside revealed theology to see the world more objectively
- Nobody becomes a believer through purely natural theology so they act separately
- Natural knowledge must be separate as according to the fall it is impossible
What are the three ways christ life can be understood as revelation
Incarnation - he comes the sole mediator between god and humans
Life and ministry - Jesus revealed a new way of life
Death and resurrection - this was the salvation christ offered by taking on the sins of humanity
What is the liberal bible view
That it isnt authoritative because of the scientific contradictions
what is the fundamental bible view
word of god containing fundamental truths
what is the conservative bible view
written by divinely inspired humans coloured with their own experiences
What did Calvin believe the bible to be required for
To understand gods work on earth as it contains all his work aswell as Jesus’, thus it is the ultimate revelation.
What is the function of the church for Calvin
It is the result of the coming of the mediator so its function is to refer back to Jesus
What is the function of the church for catholics
Helps Christians understand the bible and realise the full revelation of god, allows people to access gods grace with the sacraments which combines natural and revealed theology
What does the Catholic Church view about the bible
It is the breath of the holy spirit with god as the author, but it isnt all catholicism is
Reasons why belief in god is enough to put trust in him
- belief in god requires a leap of faith which requires trust
- Points of contact should lead to faith because a truth about god has been recognised
- Doesn’t matter whether belief is intellectual or not it should always be a commitment
Reasons why belief in god is not enough to put trust in him
- Belief in god needs proper understanding only achieved through understanding of Jesus taught by the church
- Belief in god gained through natural theology alone isnt a personal trusting relationship
- Belief in god doesn’t make christian life easy as their are many challenges in the world that will make a christian doubt whether they can trust god
