Knowledge of God's existence essay Flashcards
God can be know through reason alone? (argument for natural theology) AO1
- God would want his creation to discover and get to know him
- reason is required to know God because all claims that rely on faith cannot be proven and could rather be projections of human imagination
- Relies on having an innate sense of divine us noticing a point of contact between God + humans
- natural law, catholic tradition that an understanding of the universal laws is seen to be an indication of human innate knowledge of God as it relies on all humans having an innate sense of goodness and justice (can be seen in young children)
- protestant tradition of conscience holding significance in our knowledge of God and moral goodness, Calvin argued it is a god-given ability unique to humans as the only creatures created in the image of God
scholars supporting natural theology?
- Calvin, believes in Sensus Divinitatis and semen Religionis ( a seed is only a good seed if)
- Cicero created the ‘universal consent argument’ which argues that so many people believe in the gods or god that God must exist, it at least proves its reasonable to believe (eg of tribes separated from society who still have a belief in God even though they have no over influence)
- Aquinas’ five ways directly reflects on the nature of causes and their effects in the material world, concluding that the material world could not have come into, or maintained existence without an uncaused causer who created and sustained it
- ‘blessed are those who have not seen and yet believed’ John 20;29
AO2 on natural theology?
✅
- More rational than relying on faith as reason can be proven whilst faith could just be projection of imagination
- Its likely a creator would want its creation to be able to form a relation with them
❌
- Not everyone has the adequate reasoning abilities for example people with special needs, a benevolent God would not exclude them from knowing him
god cannot be known through reason alone? (argument against natural theology)
- reason is an intellectual exercise that not everyone has, it is arrogant to presume that reason can be used correctly by everyone to understand God
- it doesn’t make sense to say that humans can find God entirely on their own as God is ineffable, beyond our human experience so it is arrogant to suggest that we can know God ourselves
scholars against natural theology?
- Augustine believes human nature has been tarnished by the fall and therefore we don’t have the reasoning ability to know God
- Kierkegaard thought approach like the catholic church’s gave too much credit to the believer, worrying that God’s grace is no longer seen as sufficient, we should need to work to know God
- Luther fought against human reason in general so far as it was not supported and inspired by the word of God
what does Calvin think about faith?
Calvin said ‘till the spirit has become our instructor, all that we know is folly and ignorance’ thus for Calvin, faith requires the grace of the Holy Spirit and so knowledge of God does too, we cannot achieve true faith on our own
scholars supporting revealed theology?
- faith and reason are like two wings on which the human spirit rises to the contemplation of truth Pope John Paul II
- Kierkegaard believes that God’s self-revelation must be embraces in a leap of faith by the finite human mind
- faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see Hebrews 11:1
- Jesus said ‘I am the truth, the way and the life: no one comes to the farther but through me’
why do we need revealed theology?
because of the corruption of humanity due to the fall, if Adam had remained upright then everyone would have known god and achieved a state of perfect happiness
➡️ we need a two-fold knowledge of God as a creator (natural) and redeemer (revealed) known as Duplex Cognito Domini
- without Gods revelation we would not have the disticvely christian knowledge of God the redeemer and reconciler as mediated by christ
Jesus AO1?
- For many christians Jesus is the ultimate revelation of God to the world through whom we gain the best knowledge of God and ourselves
- Catholics believe christ is the ultimate and final revelation thus making it the believers duty to understand the significance of this revelation in light of their own culture or society
Jesus AO2?
✅
- people believe in different ways, some intellectual some not, surely this doesn’t matter to God who made humans to worship him
- Jesus said ‘i am the truth, the way, and the life: no one comes to the father but through me’
- Calvin describes Jesus as the mediator, through him we gain the best understanding of God and the world so we should view the world from after Christs redemption
- Calvin explains the idea of a double grace, in christ the believer is justified, they are reconciled to God through christ’s death
❌
- needs proper context and understanding, through an understanding of Jesus as mediator as taught by the church
Bible and church AO1 + AO2?
- Catholic church sees God as the author of the bible and the contents being written by the breath of the Holy Spirit - but as religion is a living entity and not a book it cannot say all there is to know
- the church can help the believer to access God’s grace through its minister (eg sacraments)
- Calvin sees the bible as a preparation for christ OT and the out workings of Christs’ incarnation NT, through scripture we can understand all other points of contact and it has ultimate authority
Faith AO1?
- belief in something that evidence does not necessarily support
- For catholics faith is free submission and obedience to that which had been heard
- For protestants faith is God’s action in the world
- Unformed faith is the person may find intellectual reasons why without ‘believing’ in it
- Formed faith takes time and effort to accept what is good and perfect
- christians believe the Holy Spirit inspires and guides people, gives them faith and strengthens them to live good christian lives
faith AO2?
- faith and reason are like two wings on which the human spirit rises to the contemplation of truth Pope John Paul II
- Kierkegaard believes that God’s self-revelation must be embraces in a leap of faith by the finite human mind
- Catholic catechism, Grace is the gift of the spirit and is ‘free and undeserved help’ that God gives us to respond to his call to become children of God
- faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see Hebrews 11:1
- Calvin said ‘till the spirit has become our instructor, all that we know is folly and ignorance’ thus for Calvin, faith requires the grace of the Holy Spirit and so knowledge of God does too, we cannot achieve true faith on our own
✅ - belief in God requires a leap of faith, if one is prepared to make that leap then one must first put trust in God (so they have knowledge of god)
❌ - belief in God solely through revealed theology is no the same as a personal relationship with God
- belief in God does not make living a christian life easy, there are many challenges from evil, science or society to make someone doubt whether they should trust fully in God
