knowledge of gods existence Flashcards
faith
voluntary commitment to a belief without the need for complete evidence to support it
natural theology
drawing conclusions about the nature and activity of god by using reason and observing the world
protestantism
for of christianity which rejects authority of catholic church and places greater emphasis on bible and personal faith
revelation
uncovering aka when gods lets himself be known
immediate revelation
someone is given direct knowledge of god
mediate revelation
when someone gains knowledge of god in secondary non direct way
grace of god
gods unconditional and undeserved gifts
wisdom literature
genre of writing from ancient world teaching about wisdom and virtue
example of wisdom literature
proverbs and psalms
natural theology through reasoning about the natural world
gods revelation is present in his creation and the human mind is capable of finding this out
based on reason
natural theology through sensing god
used by those who are sceptical of using reason to gain knowledge
what does aquinas believe about reason
human reason has the ability to figure out lesser things about god but not gods infinite nature
lesser truths about god we can know
gods morality -natural law
gods existence -arguments
gods natural moral law
john paul 11 quote on faith and reason
reason and faith like two wings with human spirit rises to know truth
barths evaluation of aquinas
human to corrupted
cant rely on reason only faith to know god
reccomends revealed theology only
aquinas defense to barth criticism
origional sin didnt destroy good god gave us
ability of perfect rational control that made us sin
image of god
further barth criticism of aquinas
natural theology replace faith
revelation not needed
jesus sent by god
aquinas further defense
says not replacing faith
reason strengthen faith but not replace it
what does natural knowledge rely on
-humans having point of contact between us and god
-using reason to understand it and find ideas of god from it
-process enough to develop deep knowledge of god and relation with him formed
Catholic church and natural theology
-celebrate individual human reason to reflect and recognise gods existence alongside what god might reveal directly to humans
Calvin and sensus divinitas and semen religionis
-protestant- he believes there is a sense within humans gives human knowledge of god
-sensus divinitas- sense of divinity
-seed of religion- inbuilt absolute basics of religious beliefs and humans inclination to pray or engage in religious rituals
CCC quote on natural theology
-desire for god written on human hearts
-all humans made in gods image and have inbuilt capacity and desire to know god
Catholics and innate beauty
-truth, beauty, moral goodness, conscience- all make person ask questions and recognise spiritual soul
-seed of eternity in us origin of god
-conscience and ethics show humans can know and personally know god
calvin and conscience and the world
-calvin saw conscience as important contact point between us and god
-world like a theatre or mirror
-display of divine goodness- Psalm 5
-however fall made epistemistic distance
god can be known through reason alone arguments
-if god created humans then it makes sense he would provide tools for them to know him
-Cicero- universal consent argument- so many people believe in gods of different sorts that must be natural part of humans
-reason required to know god because all claims rely on faith cant be meaningful- cant be proven
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god cannot be known through reason alone arguments
-reason intellect and not all people are academic- not everyone can understand god through reason
-humans cant know god if gods ineffable- beyond human experience
-humans sinful from original sin- cannot know god through reason as tarnished
revealed theology
-god deliberately chosen to give knowledge to people- knowledge that otherwise could not be known
-incarnation and trinity from revealed
protestants and revealed theology
-emphasise need for it- because humans are fallen creatures and needs gods intervention to gain full knowledge of him
catholics and revealed theology
-believe its required because of huge difference between god and humanity
revelation through faith
-faith is to believe something that evidence doesnt support- leap someone makes when cant be seen with senses
-faith required for ineffable things like god
-deepens with church, prayer, study
catholic church and faith revelation
calvin and faith
-being firm and certain knowledge of gods benevolence to us
-both locate true faith in knowledge of jesus
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true faith
-more than knowledge and understanding
-acceptance on emotional level of redemption won by jesus when on earth
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christians and faith
-a gift from god
-enabled by gods grace
-his gift of knowledge of himself through the holy spirit
grace and revelation
-gods action in world defined by grace
-sending jesus to die
-more intimate than reason alone
-holy spirit- gives faith and inspires
-through holy spirit christians fully understand god and his work
calvin on grace and the holy spirit
-till spirit has become our instructor all we know if folly and ignorance
-faith requires grace of holy spirit and knowledge of god does to
catholics on grace and the holy spirit
-grace comes from gods initiative at creation and demands humans free response to know and love god
-grace gift of holy spirit and free and undeserved to his children
faith is good enough reason to believe in god arguments
-engaging with god should be personal and emotional not all academic
-with reason that god ineffable not understood without faith and gods grace
-belief in gods existence relationship personal god and needs more than just theory
faith not good enough reason for belief in gods existence arguments
-atheists dismiss faith as projection of humans wanting more than meets the eye
-faith without support of reason could leave to beliefs in anything
-why would god create rational beings and gift some not all humans gift of faith
brunners development of calvin
-starting points of contact, beauty, nature
-points give basic understanding of god and nature of humanity,
-if person wants full knowledge and relation they have to accept jesus and redemption revelation
-natural theology start
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brunner and the fall
-one one level we are still fallen on spiritual level
-we still remain pinnacle of gods creation and able to have relation with him
-fall not completely flawed us
-points of contact only glimpses cause of fall
-for complete knowledge one has true faith in jesus
barth and the fall
-human nature completely destroyed
-no source of knowledge except gods revelation
-all natural theology rejected
-not possible for humans to have relation- all knowledge comes from gods grace
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the fall has completely removed all natural knowledge of god arguments
-effects of fall ruined human god relation- bible clear humans must labour alone unless god chooses otherwise
-Cicero- universal consent argument- different int. of gods so doesnt show human reason as good
-if human nature flawed then cant attempt relation with perfect god- not deserving
fall has not completely removed all natural knowledge of god
-no christian denomination believe natural theology sufficient on its own- other ways of knowledge of god
-catholics downplay focus on fall and say because of difference in natures possible to know of god through reason
-perhaps gods nature never known, not a result of fall but god
natural knowledge is the same as revealed knowledge
-two different sides of same coin- cannot have natural without revealed
-proving god exists recognising already revealed truth
natural knowledge not same as revealed knowledge
-in order to do natural theology, you cannot fairly prove god exists using logic if you already believe he exists
-natural knowledge gives different sort of knowledge to revelation, nobody becomes believer from natural alone
-natural knowledge must be different because it is impossible due to fall as points of contact between god and man lost
catholic church and jesus revelation
-revelation gradual from OT
-completed by christ
-believers duty to understand significance of revelation of christ, reinterpret for own culture or society
revelation through Jesus life
-incarnation - god meditator so he is human
-life and ministry- jesus teachings of new way of life
-salvation- taking on humanities sins and overcoming death in resurrection
calvin and the bible as revelation
-scripture required to understand gods work on earth as it is core record of his work
-through scripture we can fully understand other points of contact
-church the body of christ so church result of coming of meditator
catholics and scripture revelation
-life of church helps christians understand bible and jesus
-church helps believer access gods grace through its ministry- 7 sacrements-signs of heavenly grace and teaching ministry of church leaders
-scripture as breath of holy spirit
-through church scripture is known
belief in god is sufficient to put ones trust in him arguments
-belief in god requires leap in faith, if one prepared for leap then one must put trust in god
-if points of contact correct, then points of contact should lead to faith because something true about god has been recognised
-all people believe in different ways, some intellectual and some not, does not matter to god, belief in whatever form should lead to commitment
belief in god is not sufficient to put ones trust in him
-belief in god needs proper context and understanding jesus as meditator as by the church
-belief in god gained solely through natural theology not same as personal relation
-belief in god doesnt make christian life easy, challenges from evil, science which causes doubt in believer
aquinas defense of natural theology from OS barth
-OS destroyed origninal justice but rationality and inclination towards good not gone
-only post lapsarian human sinners
-we must be rational and reason inclines us to synderesis
-concupiscence sometimes bad influence on everyone
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barth defense of OS and natural theology
-OS has corrupted our reasoning about god and morality
-bad in our nature means we cant rely on good
-arrogance of NL evidence humans cant humbly rely solely on faith
anthropological and atheism weakness of sensus divinitas
-anthropological study- religion of tribal people remote from civilisation believe in magical spirits
-atheism- sense doesnt exist, modern times, good defense of atheism like Hume
st pauls romans 1:20
since creation of world gods invisible qualities, external power and divine nature, have been seen, so people are without excuse
-gods qualities seen from what he made
arguments against romans 1:20
-word understood- doesnt imply reasoning rather than merely sensing
-verse seems to suggest understanding gained from creation itself
-reasoned inference from natural world rather than sense of god which isnt from what has been made creation
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barths response against romans 1:20
-romans 1:25- exchanged truth about god for lie and commited idoltary
-humans to sinful to manage knowledge of god
-natural theology leeds to idolatry
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pelagius arguing for NT against OS
-dont have literal view of OS
-augustine defended on his views on human nature derived from evidence of his observations of himself and society
-pelagius denies OS
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barth criticism of brunner
since brunner admits every aspect of humans corrupted
-it cannot produce knowledge of god
-just because reason not totally gone, it being corrupted means cannot be relied on to gain knowledge of god
