Origins

Question 1

Who was Charles Darwin?

Answer 1

Travelled on The Beagle to the Galapagos and studied animal variation across the islands. Developed the theory of evolution by natural selection which said that animals adapt to their environment. The best adapted will pass on those adaptations and is summarised by ‘survival of the fittest’.

Question 2

What is a scientific materialist?

Answer 2

Someone who only understands the world in a scientific way and accepts things verified by science.

Question 3

What group of people support evolutionary theory and think God is not needed?

Answer 3

Darwinist.

Question 4

What groups believe in both science and religion?

Answer 4

Christian scientist and liberal Christian.

Question 5

What do liberal Christians believe?

Answer 5

They believe that the Bible is symbolic meaning it has something to teach but it’s not all factually accurate.

Question 6

What is a literally true view of the Bible?

Answer 6

The view that the events in the Bible happened as they are written and no interpretation is needed.

Question 7

On which day did God declare: “Let there be light”?

Answer 7

The first day.

Question 8

What did God create on the second day?

Answer 8

The clouds, sky, water above and below.

Question 9

On what day did God say “Let the land produce vegetation”?

Answer 9

The third day.

Question 10

On what day did God make “two great lights”?

Answer 10

The fourth day.

Question 11

What do we know the “two great lights” as and what are their purpose, according to Genesis 1.

Answer 11

The sun and the moon. To govern the night and day.

Question 12

On the fifth day, God created two types of animal. What were they?

Answer 12

Fish and birds.

Question 13

What does the term revelation mean?

Answer 13

“To lift the veil”- this means that revelation lifts something from over our eyes and allows us to see the truth.
It also means “to discover something that was previously unknown”

Question 14

What is general revelation?

Answer 14

This can be experienced by anyone at any time and doesn’t involve direct contact with God. It is an awareness of God’s existence and some say that our conscience is God’s voice trying to guide us.

Question 15

What is ultimate revelation?

Answer 15

Jesus is considered by Christians to be the ultimate revelation as he was God incarnate, walking on earth, talking to humanity, spreading the message of God.

Question 16

What are examples of special revelation?

Answer 16

Dreams, visions and miracles

Moses and the burning bush

Moses receiving the 10 commandments on mount Sinai

Question 17

What is special revelation?

Answer 17

Rare and special form of revelation which involves direct contact with God and not everyone experiences it as it only happens if God allows it.

Question 18

What are examples of general revelation?

Answer 18

Nature - by looking at God’s creation we can gain an insight into the nature of God.

Bible - reading the Bible tells us how to behave e.g. the 10 commandments.

Gods actions - by reading about how god acts as we can learn how we should act.

Question 19

Who taught that the sun, moon, planets and stars revolved around the earth and what evidence did they use to support it?

Answer 19

Ptolemy. Astronomical observations and maths.

Question 20

What did Nicholas Copernicus teach?

Answer 20

That we orbit the sun and we are not the centre of the universe.

Question 21

Were Nicholas Copernicus’ calculations for each planet’s orbits correct?

Answer 21

Yes, only a little off.

Question 22

How did Galilei Galileo observe Venus and Jupiter?

Answer 22

A telescope.

Question 23

What was Galileo’s book about and why was it put on the index of prohibited books?

Answer 23

Dialogue between Ptolemy and Copernicus and it was seen to challenge the Catholic Church.

Question 24

What were Newton’s three laws of motion?

Answer 24

1st - objects in motion stay in motion and objects at rest stay at rest unless acted upon
2nd - force = mass x acceleration
3rd - for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction.

Question 25

What did Newton’s laws of motion explain?

Answer 25

How gravity caused planets to orbit the Sun.

Question 26

Who came up with the theory of evolution by natural selection?

Answer 26

Charles Darwin

Question 27

What is the literal meaning of Evolution?

Answer 27

Gradual Development

Question 28

How can a living thing survive in a changing environment?

Answer 28

If it fits into the environment by being able to stay alive by getting food and coping with the climate

Question 29

What is “Survival of the fittest”

Answer 29

If the environment changes then only those who adapt to the change will survive, reproduce and pass on their

Question 30

What are the strengths and limitations of NOMA?

Answer 30

Strengths - this allows the two to co-exist and avoids conflict.
Limitations - perhaps the two shouldn’t be independent and there should be some debate, they do overlap in some ways e.g. science suggests the Big Bang, religion would suggest that God caused this Big Bang.

Question 31

Explain NOMA

Answer 31

This provides the view that science and religion have different purposes, each represents different areas of inquiry; fact vs value. Science explains how we exist, and religion explains why we exist. NOMA allows science to deal with facts and evidence while religion offers values and morality. Therefore people can believe in God and take on board the findings of science.

Question 32

What does NOMA stand for?

Answer 32

Non-Overlapping Magisteria - the view put forward by Jay Gould.

Question 33

Explain the Teleological argument.

Answer 33

This is the idea that the complex human body and living things could not possibly have just happened by accident (Big Bang). The human eye, for instance, is far too complex to have simply just ‘happened’.
Instead, there must have been a creator, and the example used to prove this is the fact that watches are always assumed to have a creator, they would not be thought to have just appeared spontaneously, they must have come from somewhere.

Question 34

What does ‘Teleological’ mean?

Answer 34

Goal-oriented/purposeful

Question 35

Explain how Intelligent Design fits with the Teleological Argument.

Answer 35

Intelligent Design ties in with TA as it believes that evolution did occur, however, it must have been guided by God due to the complexity of living things, which further shows the amazing power of God and how his influence reaches across every part of life.