Reasons For/Against God Flashcards
To have an attitude of mental assent to a proposition.
Propositional belief
To have an attitude of trust or allegiance
Personal belief
2 Things about Christian Belief
Both Propositional and personal belief is necessary
There are a range of propositional attitudes
Ranges of propositional attitudes
- Disbelief
- Withholding belief
- Acceptance
- Belief
- Certitude
Types of reasons for/against belief in God.
A. Intellectual reasons
B. Affective Reasons
C. Spiritual Reasons
Intellectual reasons FOR belief in God
- Cosmological: there must first be cause.
- Teleological: There must be a designer
- Ontological: The greatest possible being must exist.
- Moral: There must be a “moral law-giver”
Intellectual reasons AGAINST belief in God
- The Problem of evil
- The hiddenness of God
- Religious Diversity
Affective reasons FOR/AGAINST belief in God
1 FOR: Being part of a loving community
1 AGAINST: Personal experiences of being wronged or wounded
Spiritual reasons FOR/AGAINST belief in God
1 FOR: The choice of commitment
1 AGAINST: The choice of Autonomy
Three good arguments for Gods existence
- Kalam cosmological Argument
- Fine Tuning arguments
- Moral Arguments
Kalam
Why is there something rather than nothing? (2 answers)
- Nothing came first, then something came from nothing
2. Something has always existed
Kalam
What is the nature of that which has always existed?
Something material
Fine Tuning Arguments
- The fitness of the universe for life either involves a series of massively improbable coincidences or is the result of intelligent design.
- Such fine tuning makes theism more likely than naturalism
Moral Arguments
- How does the naturalist explain objective unconditional moral oughts.
- For naturalism morality is based on legislative conventions
- What if the majority legislates murder, genocide?
