Mashup For Last Exam

Question 1

Simple God

Answer 1

Means to be unchangeable and not made up of parts which is referred to in 3 ways:
God is God-cannot be broken down, with no parts
God is Unchanging-as change involves a God not perfect
God is Immaterial-God doesn’t have a body

Question 2

Eternal God

Answer 2

Timeless means out of time forever (Boethius, Aquinas), Everlasting means God will exists in time forever (Swinburne, Wolterstorff)

Question 3

Omnipotence God

Answer 3

Limited Omnipotence- means God is limited to the logically possible as Aquinas says is bound by physical existence
Unlimited Omnipotence- means God can do even the logically impossible as René Descartes argues God can break the laws of physics.

Question 4

Omniscient God

Answer 4

Omniscience refers to God knowing all past, present and future so must be eternal to see all of time
Limited Omniscience is when Gods knowledge is referred to logically possible to know

Question 5

Omnibenevolent God

Answer 5

God is perfect, so cannot do evil and morality comes from God and everyone should strive for it
God desires for perfection, God can do evil so is more praise worthy and morality is sourced outside of God

Question 6

God as a Creator

Answer 6

3 types of creation: Ex Nihilo out of nothing

Ex Deo out of himself and Ex Materia already pre existed

Question 7

Transcendent and Immanent

Answer 7

Transcendent is to exists above and independent from Plato’s philosophy
Immanence of God as he exists within us and within the universe like miracles in the Old Testiment

Question 8

Revealed and Natural Philosophy

Answer 8

Revealed- is based on God directly revealing himself through Holy Books aswell as the super natural
Natural Theology- study through observation which of nature which led deism who only accept Natural Theology

Question 9

Analogy

Answer 9

Used to explain the meaning of something between univocal and equivocal language. Analogy of attribution of the bull with healthy urine. Analogy of proportion refers to as John Hick puts it the faithfulness of a dog/person.

Question 10

Models and Qualifiers

Answer 10

Ian Ramsey suggested words about God are ‘models’ and ‘qualifiers’ are limits to each statement

Question 11

Via Negativa

Answer 11

Is a form of theodicy that explains it is not possible to describe God using positives so must use the negative way so as Gods power is not restricted

Question 12

Symbols

Answer 12

Paul Tillich was a theologian who says symbols point towards what they represent and are powerful unlike signs

Question 13

Metaphor

Answer 13

Gerry Hughes looks at metaphors as an alternative device to talk about God for example “God is my rock”

Question 14

Myths

Answer 14

H J Richards used creation stories as an example as they are easily retellable unlike a philosophical theory

Question 15

William James: 4 fold classification for Religious Experience:

Answer 15

Passive Noetic Transient Ineffable

Question 16

Rudolph Otto

Answer 16

Looks at Two aspects of numinous: overwhelming fear and awe

Love and mercy

Question 17

Caroline Franks Davis has a 6 fold classification for religious experience:

Answer 17

1 interpreted as a religious experience
2 a physical sensation (voice/vision)
3 recipient feeling enlightenment 
4 undergoes a form of transformation 
5 numinous or feeling of something greater
6 ultimate reality of oneness with God

Question 18

Richard Swinburne 5 types of Religious Experience

Answer 18

1 see Gods action in a public scene
2 a breach of natural law
3 a personal experience able to describe
4 an ineffable personal experience 
5 not a specific experience but feeling of presence

Question 19

3 types of Vision

Answer 19

Corporeal Vision where a person sees a figure
Imaginative Vision a representation through the minds eye
Intellectual Vision is a vision of knowledge or understanding of God for revelation

Question 20

Aquinas identified 3 types of miracles:

Answer 20

Things which nature could not do.
Things nature could do.
Things nature could do but without the laws of nature.

Question 21

Dependence of God

Answer 21

Aquinas-initial and continued existence

Question 22

Fallen from God grace

Answer 22

Augustine looked at the original sin and how God gave humans free will to have a relationship with a God known as the ‘soul deciding theodicy’

Question 23

Soul Making

Answer 23

John Hick argued humans develop along a soul making process developed from ideas of Irenaeus as individuals can chose a relationship with God. Like Peter Vardys analogy of King and Peasant girl

Question 24

Predestined by God

Answer 24

John Calvin looks at this as relationship between humans and God as one which will have a relationship with God like a teacher helping those with potential (Doctrine of Divine Election)

Question 25

Logical Positivist/Vienna Circle

Answer 25

We’re a group of scientific philosophers who used scientific reasoning and argued scholars spend lots of time talker of meaningless chatter

Question 26

Strong Verification Principle

Answer 26

Statements about the world are only meaningful if the truth or falsity can be proven, Ayer doesn’t believe arguments for the existence of God as they are not meaningful.

Question 27

Weak Verification Principle

Answer 27

To address problems from the strong version, as it is not always possible to prove this is meaningful and it only needs to be approved in principle by experience or observation

Question 28

Falsification Principle

Answer 28

Inspired by Karl Popper, asserts statements about God are only meaningful if it is possible to see what could make it false like the example “all swans are white but a black swan disproves this”

Question 29

John wisdom

Answer 29

The parable of the Gardner illustrates how Christians are in denial of gods falsity as Flew argues cannot be meaningful as statement cannot be falsified

Question 30

R M Hare

Answer 30

Theory of ‘blicks’ as The parable of a university student is in denial despite being proved that the University dons are not trying to kill but the university student cannot except facts.

Question 31

Basil Mitchell

Answer 31

Disagreed with the theory of blicks and suggested another parable of a resistance fighter who is in helping the enemy but I still believe to be the leader of the resistance

Question 32

Braithwaite

Answer 32

Suggest that religious experience is a moral assertion as it changes behaviour which makes it meaningful.

Question 33

Ludwig Wittenstein

Answer 33

Looks at language games is the meaning of words can only be understood if you are in the same game. He came up with history after watching a football match with the offside rule is only understood by people in the game.

Question 34

Richard Swinburnes principle of credulity and testimony

Answer 34

Credulity-if someone thinks they saw God they probably did

Testimony- priming that the individual is telling the truth

Question 35

V S Ramashandran

Answer 35

Argued figures like Saint Paul suffered from temporal lobe epilepsy after his extensive research showed a link between this and religious experiences

Question 36

Michael Persinger

Answer 36

Is a cognitive neuroscientist who created a machine that could artificially induce a religious experience

Question 37

Basil the Great Advocates

Answer 37

“Our intellect is weak but our tongue is even weaker”

Question 38

Stephen Law

Answer 38

Argued the Evil God challenge of how no one believes in an evil God as there is good in the world so no one should believe of a loving God because there is natural evil in the world