Knowledge of God's existence key words Flashcards
natural theology
attempts to discover truths about the existence and nature of God by using human reason and experience
Psalm 46
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”
teleological argument
use order / complexity / design / beauty to point towards evidence for a creator
Qua regularity argument
Aquinas
order
a being that directs all things
example of arrow and archer
Qua purpose argument
Paley
things within the universe appear to work towards specific purposes
5 evidences of design
example of the watch
nature as a ‘point of contact’
Calvin
conclusions about God’s existence reached through study of natural world
metaphor of ‘mirror’ and ‘theatre’
epistemic distance (Calvin)
believed epistemic distance caused by humans, not God
God’s presence in nature so obvious, failure to recognise due to wilful ignorance
principle of accommodation
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
Fibonacci sequence
precise mathematical formulae evident within nature
some argue evidence for intelligent design
sensus divinitas
Calvin
“divine sense”
“awareness of divinity”
instinctive, within all humans
universal consent argument
Cicero
people from all cultures, time periods, nationalities have believed in God
instinct to believe in higher power universally and naturally present
‘the unknown God’
St Paul
alters to Gods and idols + the unknown God
evidence for an intuitive sense to know the ‘true God’
natural moral law
inbuilt reason within everyone, a gift from God
to distinguish right from wrong, and seek good
conscience
God given ability to distinguish right from wrong
Revealed theology
knowledge of God directly given to humans from God himself
not worked out by human reason
immediate revelation (Bible)
first hand experience where God reveals himself / some knowledge
direct
mediate revelation (Bible)
immediate revelation which is then passed on to others, less direct
eg Moses passing on 10 commandments to others
verbally inspired (Bible)
Bible is the word of God
writers told what to write by God
innerant, infallible cannot be wrong
divinely inspired (Bible
inspired by God
reflects attitudes / opinions of writers
not totally innerant
the incarnation
God in human form of Jesus
the word of God
God’s intentions / message to humanity
Jesus reveals God’s message
“I and the father are one” John
“mirror and mediator”
Calvin
mirror: Jesus reflecting God’s qualities
mediator: Jesus = the link between humanity and God
Jesus as the ‘point of contact’
Barth
point at which God’s world meets our world
“the known plane is intersected by another plane … the world of God”
faith
fait that Jesus is God incarnate is essential
this makes revelation meaningful
(combine with reason)
God’s grace
God’s grace gives us the ability to have faith and the ability to know God
The fall
result in distorted / broken relationship between humanity and God
sinful nature introduced
