Section 1

Question 1

Creation

Answer 1

• Evolution in nature does not conflict with the notion of creation - Pope Francis
• Genesis is not there to give short, technical answers, but to give the big answer that things exist because willed it. One can perfectly believe in the big bang and equally believe it as the will of god. - John Polkinghorne
• 1 day and night, light
• 2 the heaven
• 3 “let the earth out vegetation” land and plants
• 4 The sun, stars and the moon
• 5 The birds and the fish of the sea
• 6 “let man be created in our likeness” “man will dominion over the fish of the sea and the
• “Respect for life extends to the rest of creation”
• “More than ever, individually and collectively, humans are responsible for the future of this planet

Question 2

Stewardship and dominion

Answer 2

• “The dominion granted to man by the Creator is not an absolute power, nor can one speak of a freedom to ‘use and misuse’, or to dispose of things as one pleases.
• “Respect for life extends to the rest of creation”
• “Every living thing that moveth shall be meat for you”
• “Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the sky and every living thing that moves on the ground.”
• We do not have dominion “The world is the lord’s, and everything in it”
• “Live in harmony with one another, do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly”

Question 3

Animal treatment

Answer 3

• Commonality of all living things
• “Man does not have any advantage over the beasts”
• “Respect for life extends to the rest of creation”
• Animal welfare
• Sanctity of life life is intrinsically valuable
• Free will was given to us so that we can be moral human beings
• Thalidomide - sleeping pill testing on animals and worked fine but caused 1000s of babies to be born with deformities 1950s

Question 4

Human beings and conditions

Answer 4

• “Whatever a man desires, he desires it under the aspect of good”
• Thomas Aquinas - “humans are inherently good”
• “Breathed into his nostrils the breath of life and man became a living soul” our life is sacred as it is god given
• “What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul”
• “Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion”
• “No ghost in the machine” - physicalism, Dawkins
• “Man received salvation from atonement”

Question 5

Selfishness, greed, ignorance and sin

Answer 5

• takes the wounded man and takes him on his donkey to an inn, pays for the inn. God teaches kindness against selfishness. “Go and do likewise” Good Samaritan
• Thomas Hobbes (social contract) “The most basic law of nature is to try to ensure our own survival and we are entitled to use others to achieve that means”
• “The love of money is the root of all kinds of evil”
• “You cannot serve god and money”
• “Love thy neighbour as thyself” -> selfishness is wrong
• Apartheid is an example of those who are not directly inconvenienced turn a blind eye to those unaffected. -> shows “using others to achieve that means” is an inhumane line of reasoning
• “It is easier for a camel to enter the eye of a needle than it is for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven”
• Human beings are “rational” - Thomas Aquinas
• “Forgive them father, for they know not what they do”
• “If anyone does not know, then he will not be known”
• Ignorance is a sin
• “Be perfect as your heavenly father is perfect”

Question 6

belief, uncertainty and unbelief

Answer 6

• Numinous events, armstrong landing on moon
• Conversions due to miracles, out of body experiences -
• Personal experience with god
• Cosmological, Teleological,
• BBT, Evolution, Problem of evil

Question 7

free will/determinism

Answer 7

• Sartre “Man is condemned to be free, because once thrown into the world, he is responsible for everything he does”
• “So if the son sets you free, you will be free indeed”
  If we don’t have free will, we cannot make moral actions
• Elect and Reprobate -> this concept argues that some people are destined to be evil, and some are destined to be good
  – Makes judgement day pointless
  – Make moral choice pointless
  – Shows that free will is an illusion

Question 8

ultimate reality

Answer 8

• “We believe in one god, the father almighty, we believe in one lord Jesus Christ the only son of god, we believe in the holy spirit and the giver of life” - Nicene creed, recited at every holy communion

Question 9

Evil and suffering

Answer 9

• “suffering is required for character building” - William rowe, Fawn analogy: a fawn running through a burning forest, dies slowly and painfully = the quantity and quality of evil is extreme and it is POINTLESS EVIL ! NO CHARACTER BUILDING, JUST CRUELTY
• Inconsistent triad - J.c Mackie
• Christians -> the original sin caused our suffering, it is our own free will, not god
• Soul making theodicy
• God’s plan, we cannot understand his omnipotence
• Book of job, he suffered as it was a test of faith
• “Glory in our sufferings produces perseverance, character and hope” (Romans 5:5)
• “A God that punishes or rewards on the basis of God’s own eternal decisions is unfair and immoral”