Knowledge of God's existence NF Flashcards
Define ‘faith’
Voluntary commitment to a belief without the need for complete evidence to support it
Define ‘empiricism’
A way of knowing through the five senses
Define ‘natural theology’
Drawing conclusions about the nature and activity of God by using reason and observing the world
Define ‘Protestantism’
A form of Christianity which rejects the authority of the Catholic Church and places greater emphasis on the Bible and personal faith
Define ‘revelation’
Uncovering in theological terms when God chooses for himself to be known
Define ‘immediate revelation’
Where someone is given direct knowledge of God
Define ‘mediate revelation’
Where someone gains knowledge of God in a secondary and non-direct way
Define ‘Grace of God’
God’s unconditional and undeserved gifts
Define ‘wisdom literature’
A genre of writing from the ancient world teaching about wisdom and virtue e.g. Proverbs in the Bible
Why, in many world religions (inc. Christianity), is God understood to be unavailable empirically?
God is non-physical and so people who believe they can reveal him empirically are wrong and may even disprove God’s existence altogether and so this would make him meaningless
Why can logical knowledge of God also be faulted?
God can also not be known because he is beyond the capabilities of all understanding and reason of the human mind
Who was Bonaventura and what was his book?
A Franciscan monk from the 13th century
The Mind’s Road to God
What did Bonaventura believe about the human mind?
The mind has at least three different ways of knowing, he used the analogy of an eye to represent the mind’s ways of ‘seeing’
What was Bonaventura’s analogy of the eyes?
Eye of the flesh: sense perception to gain knowledge about the physical world
Eye of reason: mathematical and philosophical truths through logic
Eye of contemplation: knowledge of God through faith beyond sense and reason
Who was John Polkinghorne?
Cambridge physicist and Anglican priest
What was Polkinghorne’s theory?
Binocular vision (developed from Bonaventura) science through one eye and spiritual truths of God through the other. Both eyes need to work together to give all dimensions, it is foolish to reject one eye to pursue the other
What is the difference between natural and revealed theology?
N.T. = knowledge of God through reason and observation R.T = God revealing himself e.g. religious experience
Describe Robert Boyle’s two books theory
Natural world and the Bible were both created by the same author, the words of the Bible and discoveries of science were complimentary enhancing each other
In which theology did William Paley support?
Design argument of the watch on the heath supports natural theology as the world presented clear evidence of God
Give an example of natural theology in the Bible
Psalms 8:3-9 “you have set in place… you made them a little lower than the angels”
Why is Psalms 8:3-9 an example of Natural theology?
The wonders of the world are presented as evidence so God’s existence is proven empirically by nature
Give an example of Paul in his letter to the Romans in support of natural theology
Experience and knowledge can easily lead to knowledge of God he argues people have made God angry because they have led Godless lives
Give a quote from Paul’s letter to the Romans
“What may be known about God is plain to them because God has made it plain to them… clearly seen… their foolish heart darkened”
What was Aquinas’ aim in natural theology?
To show that Christianity was not in opposition to reasonable common sense but reason and observation could work together in support of Christian belief
