Section 1: Believing in God. Flashcards
a) What does ‘Numinous’ mean?
The feeling of the presence of something greater than you.
a) What is meant by ‘Conversion’?
When your life is changed by giving yourself to God.
c) Explain how a Catholic upbringing lead to a belief on God.
Firstly, their Catholic parents will have told them about God and they will believe their parents.
Secondly, Catholics pray, so they will believe that God exists because their parents would not waste their time praying to nothing.
Thirdly, seeing so many people worshipping God that when they go to Mass will make them believe that God exists.
Finally, they will be taught that God exists when they go to school, and will believe it because their teachers tell them it is true.
c) Explain how a religious experience may lead to a belief in God.
Firstly, a numinous experience may lead to a belief in God. For example if someone see’s a religious Building which is in a beautiful place, they are filled with the awareness that there is something greater than them which they believe is God.
Secondly, conversion is used to describe an experience with God which is so great that people experiencing it want to change their lives or religion and commit themselves to God in a special way Conversion experiences make people believe in God, because they feel that God is calling them to do something for him.
Thirdly, a miracle is an event that breaks a law of science and can only be explained by God. If you experience that seems to break all the laws of science, you will look for an explanation, and if the only explanation you can think of is a miracle, you will start believing in God.
Finally, religious believers think that they can make contact with God through prayer. If the person praying feels that God is listening to the prayer, then they are likely to believe that God exists. Also, an answered prayer will lead to a belief in God.
di) ‘The argument for design proves that God exists’
ii) Why may people disagree with you?
You MUST refer to CATHOLIC CHRISTIANITY in your answer.
di) I agree with this statement, because anything that has been designed needs a designer. It could not have just appeared out of nowhere without a designer to design it. Also, some Catholics believe that the only possible designer of something as wonderful as the universe would be God, as he has the power to do anything.
dii) However, some people may disagree with me, because Science can explain the appearance of design without needing God. For example, the theory of evolution show us that the world and its creatures have been developing over time, due to natural selection and speciation. They may also disagree, because even if the argument worked, it would only prove that the universe had a designer, not that this designer is God.
d) ‘The argument from causation proves that God exists’
ii) Why may people disagree with you?
You MUST refer to CATHOLIC CHRISTIANITY in your answer.
di) I disagree with this statement, because even if their was a first cause, it would not have to be the God of any particular religion. It could have been good, evil, a mixture of good and evil, several God’s etc. In addition, just because everything In the universe needs an explanation does not mean the universe needs an explanation. The universe could just have been there for ever.
dii) However, some may disagree because the argument fits with out common-sense. We cannot believe that something can come from nothing and the argument shows that everything came from God. Furthermore, some Catholics believe that the argument fits with science which tells us that every effect has a cause and so the universe (an effect) must have a cause (God).
