Religious and Philosophical Questions

Question 1

Describe the Big Bang

Answer 1

• it was an explosion which created all matter in the universe, space, and time
• it is believed to have occurred 13-15 billion years ago

Question 2

The two evidences for the Big Bang

Answer 2

• if everything is drifting away from everything else, then at some point in the past everything must have been together all in one place.
• we are surrounded by low energy radio waves, so if the universe was indeed much smaller in the past then the low energy radio waves we see now would have been much, much hotter

Question 3

What conclusion can be drawn about the two evidences for the Big Bang?

Answer 3

• in conclusion, the universe must have began in a very hot explosion from a very tiny point.

Question 4

What does the Big Bang Theory mean for atheists?

Answer 4

• that the universe “just happened” and was not the result of the activity of a creator God

Question 5

What could the Big Bang Theory mean for some religious people and why?

Answer 5

• it could mean that God used the Big Bang as a mechanism to create life as in the Bible when God is creating the world he says “let there be light” and some religious people may argue that this light was the Big Bang.

Question 6

Describe the Cosmological Argument

Answer 6

• an argument for the existence of God
• used by St Thomas Aquinas to prove the existence of God through cause and effect

Question 7

List the formal philosophical argument for the Cosmological Argument (there’s 5 premises)

Answer 7

(1) Everything that exists has a cause of its existence.
(2) The universe exists.
Therefore:
(3) The universe has a cause of its existence.
(4) If the universe has a cause of its existence, then that cause is God.
Therefore:
(5) God exists.

Question 8

List at least three strengths of the Cosmological Argument

Answer 8

• the argument starts off by saying that the universe exists and we can observe that this is true
• we can also observe that everything that exists around us has a cause
• it can be argued that only God is powerful enough to create the universe
• the BBT could support this argument because it suggests that the universe had a beginning, if God caused the BB then he is the first cause

Question 9

List at least three weaknesses of the Cosmological Argument

Answer 9

• if everything that exists has a cause and God exists, who caused God? the argument contradicts itself
• the BB was not necessarily caused be God, it may have just been chance
• the argument makes sense to religious believers, but not convincing for agnostic or atheists
• even if we accept that the universe had a cause, how do we know it was God? it could have been aliens.
• even if God did create the universe, how do we know he still exists?

Question 10

Describe the Teleological Argument

Answer 10

• the universe shows too much evidence of design and purpose for it to have been created by chance and not God

Question 11

What is the Goldilocks effect?

Answer 11

• just like how Goldilocks found everything that was just right for her, the universe often also exhibits a universe effect
• eg if the Earth was just a little bit closer to the sun then life might have not been possible on Earth
• the universe is perfectly balanced (just right) for the development of life on Earth

Question 12

List the formal philosophical argument for the Teleological Argument (there are 6 arguments)

Answer 12

(1) a watch displays evidence of design and purpose and therefore has a designer
(2) the universe also shows evidence of design and purpose (eg eye for seeing)
(3) therefore - the universe must have a designer
(4) if the universe has a designer it must be a greater, more powerful designer of the watch
(5) the designer of the universe would have to be so great we would have to call them God
(6) therefore - God exists.

Question 13

Who put forward the most famous version of the Teleological/Design Argument?

Answer 13

• William Paley