Knowledge of God's existence key words

Question 1

natural theology

Answer 1

attempts to discover truths about the existence and nature of God by using human reason and experience

Question 2

Psalm 46

Answer 2

knowledge of God gained through observation of natural world
greatness evident all around
“I speak to you through the grass of the meadows and the mountains”

Question 3

teleological argument

Answer 3

use order / complexity / design / beauty to point towards evidence for a creator

Question 4

Qua regularity argument

Answer 4

Aquinas
order
a being that directs all things
example of arrow and archer

Question 5

Qua purpose argument

Answer 5

Paley
things within the universe appear to work towards specific purposes
5 evidences of design
example of the watch

Question 6

nature as a ‘point of contact’

Answer 6

Calvin
conclusions about God’s existence reached through study of natural world
metaphor of ‘mirror’ and ‘theatre’

Question 7

epistemic distance (Calvin)

Answer 7

believed epistemic distance caused by humans, not God

God’s presence in nature so obvious, failure to recognise due to wilful ignorance

Question 8

principle of accommodation

Answer 8

God wants humans to know him
human mind too limited to comprehend God
nature = obvious but not overwhelming, God revealed in a way we are able to conceptualise

Question 9

Fibonacci sequence

Answer 9

precise mathematical formulae evident within nature

some argue evidence for intelligent design

Question 10

sensus divinitas

Answer 10

Calvin
“divine sense”
“awareness of divinity”
instinctive, within all humans

Question 11

universal consent argument

Answer 11

Cicero
people from all cultures, time periods, nationalities have believed in God
instinct to believe in higher power universally and naturally present

Question 12

‘the unknown God’

Answer 12

St Paul
alters to Gods and idols + the unknown God
evidence for an intuitive sense to know the ‘true God’

Question 13

natural moral law

Answer 13

inbuilt reason within everyone, a gift from God

to distinguish right from wrong, and seek good

Question 14

conscience

Answer 14

God given ability to distinguish right from wrong

Question 15

Revealed theology

Answer 15

knowledge of God directly given to humans from God himself

not worked out by human reason

Question 16

immediate revelation (Bible)

Answer 16

first hand experience where God reveals himself / some knowledge
direct

Question 17

mediate revelation (Bible)

Answer 17

immediate revelation which is then passed on to others, less direct
eg Moses passing on 10 commandments to others

Question 18

verbally inspired (Bible)

Answer 18

Bible is the word of God
writers told what to write by God
innerant, infallible cannot be wrong

Question 19

divinely inspired (Bible

Answer 19

inspired by God
reflects attitudes / opinions of writers
not totally innerant

Question 20

the incarnation

Answer 20

God in human form of Jesus

Question 21

the word of God

Answer 21

God’s intentions / message to humanity
Jesus reveals God’s message
“I and the father are one” John

Question 22

“mirror and mediator”

Answer 22

Calvin

mirror: Jesus reflecting God’s qualities
mediator: Jesus = the link between humanity and God

Question 23

Jesus as the ‘point of contact’

Answer 23

Barth
point at which God’s world meets our world
“the known plane is intersected by another plane … the world of God”

Question 24

faith

Answer 24

fait that Jesus is God incarnate is essential
this makes revelation meaningful
(combine with reason)

Question 25

God’s grace

Answer 25

God’s grace gives us the ability to have faith and the ability to know God

Question 26

The fall

Answer 26

result in distorted / broken relationship between humanity and God
sinful nature introduced