Knowledge of Gods existence Flashcards
What is the main question of knowledge of gods existence?
If there is a god how is knowledge about god gained?
How can god be known according to bonaventura? (13th Century Monk)
He used the analogy of the eye to show 3 ways that we can know god
Explain Bonaventura’s ‘eye of flesh’
Knowing God through empirical evidence , through sense and science
Explain Bonaventura’s ‘Eye of reason’
a type of knowing that lets work out mathmatical problems and philsophical truths
Explain Bonaventura’s ‘Eye of contemplation’
Knowing God through faith
John Polkinghorn theory on how god can be known
‘binocular vision’
Explain Polkinghorns’ ‘binocular vision’
- Science is one eye - laws and the physical world
- Spiritual truths are in the other eye - faith and understanding of God
John Polkinghorn said it would be foolish for any person to….
Just look through one eye
Binocular vision
Define Natural Theology
Knowledge about god gained through the power of the human mind
Natural theology is to show that christianity works well with…
Science
What is our innate sense of the divine (Cicero)
(Cicero) Throughout time religion has always existed, we have always been aware of something bigger than ourselves
Define revealed theology
Knowledge of God gained through faith
Describe Aquinas on Knowledge of Gods existence (3 points)
- reason is a gift from god and we have this to be able to gain knowledge of gods existence ( teleological and cosmological)
- Original sin has not completely destroyed our ability to reason
- We have reasojn which makes us different to animals (according to Genesis) and therefore have some moralm responsibility which makes us capable of knowing gods existence
What is Karl Barths Overall Criticism on Natural Theology
It places a Dangerous overreliance on human reason
How does Barth Criticise Aquinas Natural Theology using an example of Nazism
- Original sin altered our reason so it cannot be trusted
- If we make a mistake through this altered reason then we end up worshipping the wrong thingh
- This wrong worshipping is called idolatry
Karl Barth believes we should not rely on reason but solely on…
faith
Using Aquinas to Evaluate Barths criticisms
- Aquinas is sucessful as he does not claim too much abo0ut God based on reason
- Reason may be corrupted but not always, through Gods grace human reason is capable of knowlege of Gods existence
Explain Calvins revealed theology (4 Points)
- Humans are born with an innate sense of Gods existence
- You can sense God through the power of the mind but not through reason! (different to aquinas)
- This innate sense of God is required for everyone, to justify sending people to hell that did not believe
- However, Natural knowledge on it’s own is sufficient and we need to have faith in the Bible to have full knowledge of God
What is an example of Humans being born with an innate sense of Gods existence
Tribes that are remote from any civilisation still have a form of religion
Explain Atheist criticism of Calvin’s revealed theology
with statistic of China
- 90 % of people in Chine are non-religious
- In Calvins time it was dangerous to be an atheist so he may have thought we are born with a natural sense of god because of dominating societal pressure
How does Plantinga Support Calvin?
support - use like a criticism in an extract
He says that some people may sin becsuse they lack this innate sense of God
How is Plantinga’s supporting arguement to Calvin weak?
Evaluation - Crime rates Statistic
Assumes that Atheists Sin more than religious people when northern european countries are very atheist and have very low crime rates
