KNOWLEDGE OF GOD'S EXISTENCE

Question 1

NATURAL THEOLOGY: OVERVIEW

Answer 1

• In Christian theology, one might learn about God by observing the world and by using their own reason
• For most Christians, natural theology has played a large role in forming + supporting belief; looking at the beauty of the world leads many to the conclusion that there must be a creator God

Question 2

NATURAL THEOLOGY: PALEY’S TELEOLOGICAL ARGUMENT

Answer 2

• Analogy of the Watch

Question 3

NATURAL THEOLOGY: THE BIBLE

Answer 3

• PSALMS 8:3-9: When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars which you have set in place… Lord, our Lord how majestic is your name in all the earth!
• ROMANS 1:20: For since the creation of the world , God’s invisible qualities have been clearly seen
• The Bible offers the view that the natural world demonstrates truths about God

Question 4

NATURAL THEOLOGY: THOMAS AQUINAS

Answer 4

• Aquinas argued natural theology was important in demonstrating that Christian belief was reasonable and therefore couldn’t be replaced by common sense thinking
• Reason and observation could be used to support Christian belief

Question 5

NATURAL THEOLOGY: AQUINAS’ COSMOLOGICAL ARGUMENT

Question 6

NATURAL THEOLOGY: RICHARD SWINBURNE

Answer 6

• Argued that human reason and powers of observation provide us solid grounds for supporting the probability that there is a God
• The world shows signs of order, regularity and purpose. Reason, therefore, leads us to conclude that there is probably an intelligent being who is the author of the universe (God)

Question 7

JOHN CALVIN: SENSUS DIVINITAS

Answer 7

• ‘seed of divinity’ = innate sense of God
• “There is within the human mind and indeed by natural instinct, an awareness of divinity”
• This can be supported by pointing out that all cultures and all times in history, people have had a sense that a infinite being controls the universe- perhaps we are all born with a sense of God, a recognititon of this infinite being
• e.g Creation of humanity: God makes people in his own image + breathed life into Adam - spark of divinity in all of us + something in humans designed to seek + respond to God

Question 8

JOHN CALVIN: INNER VOICE

Answer 8

• We have an inner voice of consicience that helps us follow God’s law
• Calvin argued people have no excuse if they fail to worship god + dedicate their life to his service
• By looking at the world, its beauty and order, one should be able to easily understand God’s character and existence
• This also explains why people feel guilty when they do the wrong thing, even if no body sees

Question 9

JOHN CALVIN: MIRROR

Answer 9

• Saw the world as a mirror for God, where his nature and existence are reflected
• For Calvin, epistemic distance (distance in knowlege and understanding) is created by human beings- sin clouds their undeerstanding and unawareness
• Calvin saw the beauty of world as clear evidence of the existence of God- it reflects his nature in its beauty and mercy
• We can learn about God’s care for humanity, his justice and mercy, his eternal power through observing natural world with our sense and contemplating it with reason

Question 10

JOHN CALVIN MIRROR QUOTE

Answer 10

• ‘This skilful ordering of the universe is a sort of mirror in which we can contemplate God who is otherwise invisible’

Question 11

What is it? Who can have this revealed

REVEALED THEOLOGY: OVERVIEW

Answer 11

• The knowledge God has chosen to give to humans about himself
• They aren’t ideas people have worked out themselves, but are shown to people at a time and in a manner chosen by God
• Does not rely on people having particularly strong intellectual abilities, like natural theology does.
• It is available to everyone through faith and not only confirms the findings of natural theology, but also uncovers further truths which are beyond human reason and observation alone.

Question 12

IMMEDIATE REVELATION

Answer 12

• Where God makes himself directly known to people
• E.g Prophets who were given the exact words to speak to their listeners, or Adam and Eve who encountered God directly, or Abraham who was in dialogue with God about the promised land and the sacrifice of his son Isaac, or Moses who was spoken to through the burning bush.
• Everyone who met Jesus also had immediate revelation of God.

Question 13

MEDIATE REVELATION

Answer 13

• When when people learn about God less directly
• Those who listened to Moses, or any of the other prophets, had mediate revelation passed on through Moses.

Question 14

THE BIBLE: MEDIATE OR IMMEDIATE?

Answer 14

• The Bible is considered by some Christians to be mediate revelation of God where the words of those who had immediate revelation are preserved, interpreted, and read by others.
• Other Christians believe it is immediate revelation, where every word comes straight from God dictating to those who wrote it down.

Question 15

REVELAYION THROUGH FAITH AND GOD’S GRACE: THOMAS AQUINAS

Answer 15

• Thomas Aquinas argued that we cannot have faith and scientific knowledge about the same thing.
• Faith is about those things where certainty is not readily available, whereas science is about the things we can test for ourselves.
• Faith is also different to opinion, which, unlike the commitment of faith, is open to change.

Question 16

REVELATION THROUGH FAITH + GOD’S GRACE: CHRISTIANITY

Answer 16

-In Christianity, faith is considered a virtue and does not stand in contradiction to reason. When reason and sense experience have gone as far as they can go, faith steps in to fill in the gaps.

• The Catholic Church teaches that faith and reason should work together as both are gifts from God. It is impossible to have faith without knowledge first, as we need knowledge of something before we can put our faith in it.

Question 17

REVELATION THROUGH FAITH AND GOD’S GRACE: FAITH LINKED TO GOD’S GRACE

Answer 17

• Faith is linked with God’s grace – his unconditional giving to humanity.
• Grace allows people to have faith, which it also sustains and strengthens through the Holy Spirit. People can only have full knowledge of God when God graciously chooses to give it.
• This has been done through guiding the prophets of Old Testament and the writers of the Bible - giving people the faith and wisdom to understand revelation and the confidence to share the Christian faith and live the Christian life - strengthening the church and bringing people to salvation.

Question 18

REVELATION IN THE BIBLE

Answer 18

• The Bible refers to many ways in which people can gain knowledge of God and does not make any distinction between natural and revealed theology

Question 19

REVELATION IN THE BIBLE: HOW?

Answer 19

Mentions God communicating with his people in various ways, including:
* Through the beauty of the world (seeing creativity and wisdom in creation)
* through the events of history (divine punishments like the ten plagues of Egypt)
* through the words of the prophets (Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekial, Daniel)
* through religious experiences (St Paul on road to damascus, visions, dreams, voices)
* through person of Jesus (his words and actions as a fully human and fully divine being)