Philosophy Flashcards
Buddhist teachings on suffering
Suffering is a fact of life
Suffering is caused by selfishness, greed, desire and becoming attached to material things (cravings)
Practise generosity to help others from suffering
What is the controversy with God and suffering ?
If God is omnipotent, omniscient, beneficent then why does he allow good people to suffer?
This can cause some people to assume God doesn’t exist
What is natural suffering
Natural occurrences like disease, famine and drought
What is moral suffering
Caused by people’s selfishness behaviour and deliberate intent to harm others or not stopping others suffering
Evil being a personal being
Being like the devil or iblis (opposite of all good God) who tricks people into doing wrong
Evil being an impersonal force
Impersonal force that draws people into doing wrong (like a magnet) that is beyond reason and understanding of humans
Evil comes from psychological phenomenon
Evil is influenced by a persons upbringing or society in general or even a damaged mind
(Family upbringing/media/peer pressure/mental illness)
Purpose of suffering
Pain helps us as a warning Appreciate happiness Makes us stronger Test of faith Punishment for sin
Christian responses to suffering
Trusting God helps them endure personal suffering (God’s will)
Help the needy and sick ‘love your neighbour’
Islam responses to suffering
Show compassion and help those who suffer (e.g. Zakkat)
Buddhism explanation for evil
Evil is caused by people’s selfish desires and cravings
Root of evil comes from three poisons (greed hatred ignorance)
Christian explanation for evil
Evil came into the world after Adam and Eve’s disobedience, when Satan emptied them to eat from forbidden fruit (the original sin)
Evil comes when people rebel God’s laws (free will)
Muslim explanation for evil
Allah created a perfect world with Jinns (who had free will) One Jinn (Iblis) refused to bow down to Allah and now tries to turn people away from Allah On Day of judgment evil-doers will be punished
Buddhists responses against evil
Practise meditation to train the mind away from evil thoughts
‘Hatred is never appeased by hatred; hatred is appeased by love’
Follow Eightfold path
Christian responses against evil
Forgive others who have caused harm to you so that God can forgive them
Muslim responses against evil
Live in submission to Allah’s will and in peace with others
The Qur’an teaches Muslims to stand for justice
Christian’s beliefs on Jesus and suffering
Jesus was the ‘second Adam’ who came to restore people’s broken relationship with God
what is morality
a system of ethics which distinguishes right and wrong
what is transcendence ?
idea that God is beyond and outside life on earth and the universe
what is the story of Job?
Satan is allowed to test Job, believing he will curse God but never does
what is ‘The Passion’
when Jesus suffered for humans by dying on a cross, breaking the power of evil and suffering on humans
christian quote of the devil
‘a demon able to enter into a human body’
Buddhist quote on evil/suffering
‘If a man speaks or acts with an evil thought, pain follows him’
what is a revelation?
a way of God revealing him self to people
what is a general revelation ?
an indirect experience which is available to all people
examples of a general revelation
reading holy scriptures
understanding the beauty and complexity of nature
faith and conscience
worship, prayer or meditation
How is the beauty in nature a revelation
complexity and power of nature and creation of life are thought to be evidence that God is immanent in the world, leading to feelings of awe and wonder
what is a special revelation ?
direct experience which happens to an individual or group
examples of special revelation
hearing God’s call
experiencing dreams / visions
miracles
prayer and worship (Pentecostal speaking in tongues)
how can revelations be life changing
convert someones religion
cause change in dress / behaviour / eat / drink
more frequent worship
help the less-fortunate
withdraw from normal life and become nun / monk
what is the trinity of God?
God the Father (eternal, almighty, creator)
God the Son (Jesus)
God the Holy Spirit (God at work in the world)
Muslim beliefs on God and the Qur’an
Believe that Qur’an is actual words of Allah
Allah is pure spirit and has 99 names (100 is a perfect number in Islam) showing we cannot fully know God
what does immanent mean ?
God is active and involved with the world
what are atheists likely to say about revelations?
revelations are illusions caused by wishful-fulfilment, mental / psychological phenomenon or the result of drink or drugs
theist counter-arguments to atheists about revelation
millions of people have had revelations and have converted faith, why make it up? (‘do not lie’)
what is the impersonal nature of God
idea that God has no ‘human’ characteristics and is unknowable / mysterious
what is the personal nature of God
idea that God is an individual or person with whom people are able to have a relationship or feel close to
what does agnostic mean ?
someone is unsure about the existence of God
what is the cosmological argument ?
(Thomas Aquinas said) everything that happens has a cause, including the universe, therefore something must have started the universe, which links to God as by definition God has no beginning or end (omnipresent)
(some theists use time as proof that the universe has a first cause)
Counter argument to cosmological
scientific account for the start is the ‘big bang’, however scientists do not understand what caused the ‘big bang’ and what was before
(Atheist scientist) Richard Dawkins argues that just because we do not understand the start of the big bang, we shouldn’t accept religious arguments that themselves have little evidence
what is teleological argument ?
argues that the universe is too ordered and complex to be random chance that there must have been a ‘designer’ (creator) who is God
examples include the human eye, beauty of flowers and Issac Newton said that the thumb itself is enough proof for God’s existance
William Paley’s Design argument
if you found a watch on a desert island, you would come to the conclusion that it must have been designed by an intelligent being
the world and humans are complex things, therefore must have a designer
Darwin’s counter to the watchmaker argument
simple life forms have evolved over hundreds of thousands of years to become complex organisms through evolution
what does the anthropic principle state?
argues God must have planned / designed the universe so that everything was just right for human life to develop
what is a challenge to the design argument ?
the world is not well designed because of the cruel nature of things like disease / natural disasters / suffering caused by evil
theists reply God is beyond human understanding
miracles proving existence of God
as there are no natural explanations for a miracle, it must have been caused by something out of nature, only God is out of nature, so it must have been God’s intervention
moral argument for existence of God
Because most humans are good with a conscience and sense of morality, this must have come from God
Others argue that morals come from how we have evolved to get on together rather than fight
Sigmund Freud says our conscience is formed at a young age, with parents and society telling us what is right and wrong
what is scientific truth ?
truth based off hypothesis being tested and the results being observed, recorded and repeated until there is enough evidence for it to be proven
what is religious truth ?
based on belief and faith, although religious people may use reason to arrive at the truth as well
where do religious truths come from ?
scripture, religious experience or teachings of leaders
what do Buddhists believe on the start of the universe ?
they tend not to take their view as we do not know how or we are here and should not spend time worrying about it
what do Jews and Christians believe started the universe ?
believe in the story of creation in the book of Genesis, stating God created the world out of nothing in 6 days
Describe the creation story
1st day - God creates light
2nd day - God creates sky
3rd day - God separates waters to create dry land / sea / vegetation
4th day - God creates sun, moon and stars
5th day - God creates birds / sea creatures
6th day - God creates land animals / humans
7th day - God rests
what is the cosmological revolution ?
People used to believe that God has placed earth in the centre of the universe. Copernicus and Galileo however stated that the earth rotated around the Sun, which challenged religion and that God had a special relationship with humanity
It also meant religion no longer had control over science
what is the modern scientific understanding of the start of life ?
Big bang happened 13 - 15 billion years ago, matter cooled and formed planets, earth had right conditions and simple life formed and evolved to form complex organisms, and through natural selection, organisms survived
what was Darwin’s book called
On the origin of species
what is an absolute truth ?
An absolute truth is a truth that cannot be changed and is considered to be completely true. This means that there is evidence, facts and proof that means the truths cannot be adapted
what is an evolving truth ?
Evolving truth is a truth that depends on the thoughts of the time. This type of truth is capable of changing depending on the time that believes it.
Can a theist accept both evolution and Genesis?
Yes if they do not take Genesis literally, it is possible that evolution was God’s plan for the development of life
what do Buddhists think of Darwin’s theory ?
It is not a challenge to Buddhism as they do not believe in a God, therefore can accept it
religious reasons to reject Darwin’s theory
Genesis states humans were created in the ‘image of God’ therefore couldn’t have evolved from other species
Humans have a spiritual soul that distinguishes them from animals, therefore couldn’t have evolved
Gaps in fossils
religious reasons for accepting Darwin’s theory
evolution shows God’s power and design for the development of humanity
what is God of the gaps
role of religion is to fill science that can’t be explained
what did Einstein say about science / religion
‘science without religion is lame, religion without science is blind’
