Section 2.1 Believing in God Flashcards
Explain how a religious upbringing can lead to, or support belief in God (4)
P: Bible stories
E: Children can learn about God and his involvement in history from an early age
E: This means that they learn about God at an impressionable age
P: Going to church
E: Church teaches children more about God whilst being around people with the same faith
E: This gives children a sense of community, and teachings also enforce Christian beliefs
P: Church schooling
E: Going to a religious school means children are taught Christian beliefs and lifestyle. It also encourages worship.
E: Authority figures such as teachers back up what they’ve already been taught about God
P: First Communion
E: Important celebration where children receive the sacrament of bread and wine for the first time
E: Important step in becoming a complete member of the Church
Should parents be allowed to bring up children in a particular religion?
FOR (4)
P: Free will of parents
E: Parents are responsible for their children
E: They should have the freedom to chose how they want to raise their children
P: Christians make an oath at their wedding to raise their children in the religion
E: So they shouldn’t break that promise
P: Religion can help children feel like part of a community
E: At celebrations e.g. Christmas, children can participate in religious events e.g. a Nativity play
E: This can offer them support and get through tough times
P: Gives children an experience of a particular religion
E: By going to Church or praying
E: They can also change their mind when older
Should parents be allowed to bring up children in a particular religion?
AGAINST (4)
P: Children’s free will
E: They should be able to decide what to believe when they are older
P: Raising them in a particular religion is brainwashing them
E: Children are very impressionable
P: Could negatively impact on their future
E: Making children go to Church on Sunday could waste their time instead of doing something productive
P: Enforcing it strictly can lead to resentment on the child’s part
E: If they don’t believe
E: This can lead to tension between the parents and the child
Why might religious experiences lead to belief in God? (4)
P: Miracle
E: Feeding of 5000 in the Bible
E: Direct evidence for God’s existence
P: Conversion
E: Paul on the road to Damascus, when God spoke to him and he converted to being Christian
E:t God has purposely entered their life
P: Near death experience
E: light at the end of the tunnel
E: evidence of life after death
P: Numinous experience, the feeling of something holy/greater
E: Entering a church or looking up at the stars
E: feel God’s existence
Can miracles happen?
FOR (3)
P: God is omnipotent
E: He parted the red sea
E: He can do anything, including miracles
P: Miracles happened in the Bible
E: e.g. resurrection of Jesus, water to wine
E: Since God is eternal, miracles can still happen
P: Miracles still happen today
E: The Toronto Blessing where people were slain in (moved by) the Spirit and laughing and crying uncontrollably
Can miracles happen?
AGAINST (3)
P: Some believe that God doesn’t exist
E: Miracles are defined as breaking the laws of science and makes you think only God could have done it
E: Therefore they think miracles can’t happen
P: They can be explained by science
E: People thought that God created the universe but we now have a plausible theory in the Big Bang
P: The laws of science cannot be broken
E: They apply to everything
E: Laws of science summarise data from countless experiments
How does the design argument lead to belief in God? (4)
P: Paley’s watch analogy, where if you found a watch in a forest you would see how intricate and purposeful it was, and conclude that it must be designed by a designer.
E: The world is even more complex therefore must also require a designer
P: The world is complex
E: e.g. the Golden Ratio is reflected in everything, and the world is able to support and grow through evolution
E: Random things don’t exhibit patterns but designed things do so there must be a designer i.e. God
P: The world is more beautiful than it needs to be
E: We appreciate beautiful things like sunsets, and have things that aren’t essential for human life
E: This must be God’s work
P: The world is perfect for humans
E: If Big Bang was even fractionally more/less violent we wouldn’t exist
E: Probability of the universe being just right very small, so a loving God must have created it
How does the causation argument lead to belief in God? (4)
P: Aquinas argues that since everything has a cause
E: There is an infinite chain of cause and effect which must have started with an uncaused cause
E: God is the uncaused cause because something outside the universe must have brought it to existence. This is the more logical conclusion
P: Leads to the idea of the classical, theistic God
E: Says that God began everything and is omnipotent, omniscient and omnibenevolent
E: Unlike lots of other arguments, it means that God is loving and present
P Evolution allows us to develop w free will
P: Agrees with Genesis
E: ‘In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth’
E:The rest of the Bible is probably true
Why may the problem of evil and suffering lead to people not believing in God? (4)
P: Moral evil exists
E: e.g. murder, terrorism
E: If God is omnibenevolent and omnipotent he would have ability and motive to stop moral evil
P: Natural evil exists
E: e.g. earthquakes and tsunamis
E: If God is omnibenevolent and omnipotent he would have ability and motive to stop natural evil
P: God could be dead
E: God has stopped suffering before, in Exodus he helped Moses free Jewish slaves from the Egyptians
E: According to this, God is able to stop suffering but he doesn’t now so he doesn’t exist
P: God might not be omnipotent and omnibenevolent
E: Evil exists
E: This opposes the classical theistic God so why should we worship him?
How do Christians respond to the problem of evil? (4)
P: God gives people free will
E: People’s choices will be meaningful, not predetermined
E: God can still exist as it should be our responsibility to make choices and accept consequences such as suffering
P: Original Sin
E: Adam and Eve disobeyed God and ate the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil
E: When this happened, evil and suffering were brought to this world, so we must deal with it
P: Balance of nature
E: God created the world but allows it to function independently
E: Adam and Eve upset the balance of nature with original sin
P: Suffering is part of God’s plan
E: Human beings do not know and cannot understand God’s plan
E: God can still exist because God’s plan will be for the overall good of the person, even if suffering is part of it
Why might scientific explanations of the origins of the world lead people to not believe in God? (4)
P: The Big Bang theory
E: Scientist believe that the universe was made by a massive explosion of matter and energy
E: This means that the universe is not God’s creation
P: Evolution theory
E: All the main stages of evolution of the horse have been preserved
E: All living things have descended from common ancestors, and were not created by God
P: Natural selection
E: The weakest of species die out
E: A world created by God would not be so cruel
P: Science provides evidence
E: Radiation from the Big Bang can be detected with telescopes
E: Religion does not offer clear evidence of God’s existence
How do Christians respond to scientific explanations of the origins of the world? (4)
P: God is responsible for the Big Bang
E: Big Bang did happen but God caused it
E: Scientific explanations are still compatible with this
P: Liberal Protestants believe that Bible is not meant to be taken literally
E: Genesis is a myth which tells people about God’s relationship with humans instead of what actually happened
P: Some Christians believe that science cannot explain exactly what happened
E: The Big Bang theory is just a theory
E: God can still exist
P: Fundamentalist reject scientific explanations
E: They believe in creationism and that the Bible is the literal word of God
Explain why unanswered prayers may lead people to not believe in God (4)
P: People pray to ease their suffering
E: Recovering from an illness
E: Makes them question why God won’t answer their prayer, as he would want their suffering to ease
P: Some have their prayers answered but others don’t
E: Some are cured of cancer but others are not
E: Leads people to think that God doesn’t care about them
P: Not feeling God’s presence while praying
E: Prayer is defined as ‘an attempt to contact God, usually through words’
E: If a person doesn’t feel like they are contacting God, they might just give up
P: A loving God would answer prayers
E: God meant to be omnibenevolent
E: If prayers are not answered then maybe God is not omnibenevolent, so why should we worship him?
How do Christians respond to the problem of unanswered prayers? (4)
P: It’s not in God’s plan
E: If your child dies of cancer, it’s because God is waiting for them in heaven
E: Humans do not know and cannot understand God’s plan so they should not question it
P: It might not be for the best
E: Fulfilling some prayers may lead to hurting others
E: God knows best and maybe answering a prayer wouldn’t work out
P: God is answering your prayer in a different way
E: If you were praying to do well in an exam, he gives you the ability to revise rather than an instant A
E: Just because he hasn’t answered your prayer in the way you thought, doesn’t mean he hasn’t answered it
P: Prayers will be answered in the long term
E: In the Bible, Jesus says have faith
E: Christians should listen to the Messiah and continue to have faith that God will answer their prayers
How do TV programmes/films encourage/affect a person’s attitude to belief in God? (2)
P: They can show you another side to religion
E: In ‘Bruce Almighty’, you are shown why prayers may not have been answered
E: This can make you think that God is reasonable and kind, as he doesn’t answer them if they are not good for you
P: Things portrayed on TV could change a person’s attitude
E: The popular ‘Vicar of Dibley’ was about a female priest following changes in the C of E that permitted the ordination of women
E: It provided an alternative view of religion and promoted the acceptance of female priests
