Knowledge of God's existence Flashcards
Faith
voluntary commitment to a belief without the need for complete evidence to support it
Empiricism
a way of knowing that depends on senses
Natural theology
drawing conclusions about the nature and activity of God by using reason and observing the world
Protestantism
a from of Christianity which reject the authority of catholic church and places greater emphasis on the Bible and personal faith.
Immediate revelation
where someone is given direct knowledge of God e.g Abraham has immediate revelation of God when he was told to sacrifice his son.
Mediate revelation
where someone gains knowledge of God in a secondary non-direct way e.g the israelites who listened to Moses and The Bible
Grace of God
God’s unconditional and undeserved gifts
Wisdom literature
a genre of writing from the ancient world teaching about virtues and wisdom.. in the Bible books like Proverbs and Job are classified as wisdom literature
Bonaventura
a Franciscan monk , book - The minds road to God . The human mind has at least 3 ways of knowing thus using analogy of an eye to represent the 3 different ways of seeing
Eye of the flesh
the way of of knowing which includes sense perception : empircism , through this eye we gain knowledge about the physical world
Eye of reason
the way of knowing that enables us to work out mathematical and philosphical truths using logic
Eye of contemplation
the way of knowing which allows us to come to a knowledge of God by going beyond the scope of both sense experience and reason and gaining knowledge of God through faith
John Polkinghorne
Cambridge physicist and ordained Anglican priest , binocular vision : knowledge of God and the physical world can be gained simultaneously through different eyes ; one eye reveals the law and processes of the natural world whilst the other reveals God’s purposefulness and the world in context of the creation of God . we need both eyes
Revealed theology
God chooses to reveal himself to humans directly e.g religious experience or scripture
Robert Boyle
known for his metaphor God’s 2 books “ two great books “ the natural world and the Bible were both created by the same author , they are complementary and help people to develop and deepen their understanding of God
design argument and cosmological argument
the natural world presents clear evidence of God .
Psalm 8: 3-4
” When I consider your heavens,
the work of your fingers,
the moon and the stars,
which you have set in place,
what is mankind that you are mindful of them,
human beings that you care for them? “
Romans 1: 18-20
human experience and reason can easily lead to knowledge of God .. its obvious
” The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of people, who suppress the truth by their wickedness,since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them.For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse.”
Richard swinburne
supporter of natural theology being used to uncover truths about God - our human reason provides us with solid grounds for supporting the probability there is a God
Cicero
in all cultures , all times in history , people have had a sense that there is an infinite being who is in control of the universe .. a sense of the divine is an intristic part of human nature .
we are born with a sense of God , Imago Dei Bible support
Genesis 1:27 So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them
Genesis 2 :7 Then the LORD God formed a man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being.
Human beings were created in the image and likeness of God as a result we have a inbuilt desire to know God
Sensus divinitas , Calvin
C16 protestant theologian
we have an innate sense of God “ there is within the human mind , and indeed by natural instinct , an awareness of divinity “ it is not restricted to christianns .. it is universal to all humans we can all reflect on the natural world , its beauty and order and understand God exists.
Calvin mirror anaology
calvin believed the world is a mirror for God
“The skillful ordering of the universe is for us a sort of mirror in which we can contemplate God, who is otherwise invisible”
Epistemic distance is human imposed - calvin
God has made it impossible to ignore him and his will unless they deliberately
