Knowledge of God’s existence AO1

Question 1

Revealed theology

Answer 1

this is a type of theology that provides arguments for the existence of God based on what has been revealed to us. These revelations primarily come from scripture or religious experience

Question 2

Natural theoloy

Answer 2

this is a type of theology that provides arguments for the existence of God based on reason and ordinary experience of nature

Question 3

imago dei

Answer 3

image of God

Question 4

John Calvin sensus divinitatus

Answer 4

• argues that every person has a natural inbuilt sense of God
• argues nobody on judgement day can say that they were entirely ignorant of the presence of God

“there is no nation so barbarous, no race so brutish as not to be imbued with the conviction that there is a God”

‘semen religionis’- seed of religion planted in us that we know God is the creator and we owe this God worship.

Question 5

Catechism

Answer 5

“desire for God is written in the human heart”

Question 6

Goodness

Answer 6

we have a natural openness to goodness and this shows our inbuilt knowledge of God’s existence

we know there is a moral law to fulfil, must be a lawgiver

‘scintilla conscientiae’ St Jerome

Question 7

Conscience

Answer 7

Joseph Butler believes conscience is our God-given ability to use reason in order to reach a moral decision

“conscience is our natural guide assigned to us by the author of our nature”

Question 8

Beauty

Answer 8

-we are attracted to beauty which Augustine believes is a desire to know God who is beauty himself

Question 9

Reason

Answer 9

Catholic Church believes our reasoning powers are another natural path to knowledge of God

Anselm: “if a person knew nothing about God and his creation of the world, I think he could at least convince himself of most of these things by reason alone, if he is even moderately intelligent

Question 10

Revealed knowledge

Answer 10

The church believe that beside natural knowledge God is also revealed in the Bible alongside tradition

Question 11

Bible

Answer 11

• Seen as revealed word of God, not a natural source of truths, but a supernatural source of truths
• “sacred scripture is the speech of God as it is put down in writing under the breath of the holy spirit”

Question 12

Tradition

Answer 12

-Nicene Creed made in 325 BCE, council of 300 bishops made it, inspired by holy spirit therefore has the same authority as the bible

Question 13

Faith

Answer 13

• Catholic church believe faith and reason are complementary
• we find out God and are attracted to this supreme source of our existence. Anselm thinks of this as a journey which begins with reason and continues to use reason combined with revelation to find further truths
• ‘fides quaerens intellectum’ Faith seeking understanding

Question 14

Jesus Christ

Answer 14

Christians believe God became man in the person of Jesus Christ. Although we have the Bible it is not a person; it is a book

We find what kind of love God has through Jesus

Question 15

St Paul

Answer 15

in Athens found an altar inscribed with ‘to an unknown God’

Question 16

Barth

Answer 16

God is transcendent, if God is utterly different from mankind- we are sinful he is holy- then it is impossible to know God through reason alone

Question 17

Joseph Butler

Answer 17

We already understand God through conscience.

“conscience is our natural guide assigned to us by the author of nature”

Question 18

Schiermacher

Answer 18

Conscience is not God, faulty and imperfect, contradicts God’s perfect nature

logical contradiction in a perfect creation that can go wrong

Question 19

J.L Mackie

Answer 19

impossible to establish concrete reality on the basis if a mere definition or concept

deductive arguments may be logical but they make large claims based on definition rather then evidence

Question 20

Aj Ayer

Answer 20

meaningless if it cant be verified

Question 21

Kierkegaard fideism

Answer 21

most valuable thing in live is passion

thought the Catholic Church’s approach where faith and reason work together gives too much credit to the believer

argues belief and trust in God should be absolute, not related to the strength of your arguments

therefore faith is sufficient and we shouldn’t rely on arguments

Question 22

William Rowe

Answer 22

Highlights the amount of pointless suffering in the world makes it unlikely that there is a God

example of fawn trapped in forest fire

Question 23

Anselm

Answer 23

“if anyone does not know that there is a creator God who is omnipotent and omniscient I think he could at least convince himself of most of these things by reason alone, if he is even moderately intelligent”