knowledge of god's existence (3) Flashcards
natural theology
humans can know God through rational methods- reason and observation. some suggest this is not personal knowledge
‘point of contact’
natural theologians are reliant on this. we have to recognise it and use of reason to understand it. natural theologians say this is enough
cathecism
“the desire for God is written in tthe human heart”
“seed of eternity we bear within ourselves”
sensus/semen divinitus
spoken by calvin. sensus means a ‘sense of the divine’ and semen means ‘seed of religion’. we have an inbuilt capacity to know God.
aesthetics
humans have an innate knowledge of these. some link this to God, as when we use our reason we can know God.
calvin
spoke of the world as a theatre for the display of divine goodness. but calvin thought the Fall made humans unable to access this innate sense.
God can be known through reason alone
- If God made humans then it makes sense that he would provide ways of humans to access him
- Cicero spoke of the ‘universal consent argument’, people always beleive in God so must be genetics
- reason is required to know God because all claims about faith cant ben meaningful
God can NOT be known through reason alone
- reason is an intellectual exercise and not everyone knows, unfair
- doesnt seem logical for people to find God alone, he is ineffable
- humans are sinful and cant know perfection
revealed knowledge
God deliberately chose to give some knowledge to people which would’nt have been gained. teachings like the trinity are God’s example of this.
faith
a belief in something that evidence does not support, it is a requirement for ineffable things. Christians believe the Holy Spirit inspires and guides people
denominations and faith
catholics say its a free submission and obedience
calvin said it was firm knowledge of God’ s love. true faith is more, it is acceptance on an emotional leve; of Jesus’ redemption
grace
God’s action is defined by his Grace, protestants believe we deserve nothing without grace. understading grace is accepting God’s revelation and more intimate.
calvin and the holy spirit
“til the spirit has become our instructor”
Faith is sufficient reason to believe in God’s existence
- engaging with God should not be seen as purely academic but spiritual
- a God who is beyond this earth will not be able to understand faith
- belief in God’s existence is a relationship with a personal God
Faith is NOT sufficient reason to believe in God’s existence
- atheist thinkers dismiss faith as a projection of human desire
- faith without reason would lead to outlandish things
- why would God create humans with the ability be rational and then only offer some the gift
Barth
barth rejected natural theology (lived during Nazis). he thought humans were corrupt and there is no way of knowing without God. he felt Fall had completely corrupted people and they must start with God’s grace.
Brunner
proceeded Barth. points of contact give basic understanding of God. If someone wants full knowledge they have to accept faith in JC. said NT exists to begin the conversation.
Brunner and the fall
accepted it, but less than Barth. He said that due to the Fall these points of contact are only glimpses. we can only know God through Jesus.
The Fall has completely removed all natural knowledge of God
- The effects of the fall decimated relations with God and we must labour alone.
- Ciceros argument can be rejected because the fact that interpretations are so different is because bad reasoning
- human nature is clearly flawed so cant have a relationship
The Fall has NOT completely removed all natural knowledge of God
- no christian denomination beleives natural theology on its own is sufficent, there are different ways
- too much emphasis placed on the fall. Catholics downplay this and focus on epistemic distance
- God’s nature may never be knowable
calvin and nature
when we are in nature, we see a point of contact. he uses the ‘principle of acommodation’- idea that God despite being ineffable communicates with people
design arguments
Calvin agrees with paley, there is skilful ordering which proves God. Thinkers use natural theology to infer God’s existence.
unknown God
Acts 17:16- an altar to an ‘unknown God’ which Paul discovered. Paul said this God they had been worshipping was christian and they needed to reason to understand.
Natural theology is the same as revealed theology
- 2 sides of the same coin, you cannot have natural without revealed
- proving God exists is just recognising a truth
- all complex questions are reliant on multiple lessons at once
Natural theology is NOT the same as revealed theology
- the two operate in different spheres: in order to do natural you must put revealed aside
- natural gives a different sort of knowledge to revelation
- natural knowledge must be different because it is impossible due to fall as contact has been lost
Jesus Christ
the ultimate revelation of God to the world. Calvin sees JC as a mediator who is the way to know God.
catholic church and revelation
teaches that it was gradual over tiem of Old Testament and was completed by Christ. It is the believers duty to understand the significance of this.
The Bible
some reject it based on contradictions and advancements. Most believe in contain the fundamental truths of religion.
Calvin and Bible
sees the OT as preperation for christ and NT his incarnation. didnt believe in importance of church in the same way, its job is to draw back to the mediator.
Catholics and the Bible
scripture is important but the church is how the scripture is understood. the church helps believer access God’s grace through ministry.
Belief in God is sufficient to put one’s trust in him
- belief in God requires a leap of faith
- if point of contact is correct then recognsing these points should lead to faith
- all people beleiev in different ways, some intellectual and some not.
Belief in God is NOT sufficient to put one’s trust in him
- belief in God needs proper context and understanding
- belief gained solely through natural theology is not the same as personal relationship
- belief in God doesnt make life easy, there are still many challenges
