The Existence Of God

Question 1

Who proposed the Cosmological Argument?

Answer 1

Thomas Aquinas

Aquinas was a significant figure in Philosophy and Theology.

Question 2

What is another name for the Cosmological Argument?

Answer 2

The First Cause Argument

Question 3

What was Aquinas’s aim in proposing the Cosmological Argument?

Answer 3

To use reason or logic to persuade people that God existed.

Question 4

Which philosopher strongly influenced Thomas Aquinas?

Answer 4

Aristotle

Question 5

Name two of Aquinas’s best-known writings.

Answer 5

• Summa Contra Gentiles
• Summa Theologica

Question 6

What does Aquinas believe about the study of nature?

Answer 6

The study of nature is to study God.

Question 7

What does the Cosmological Argument claim about the universe?

Answer 7

Because the universe exists, someone or something must have ‘caused’ it to exist.

Question 8

What is the term Aquinas uses for the first cause?

Answer 8

Uncaused Cause

Question 9

According to Aquinas, can there be an infinitely long chain of cause and effect?

Answer 9

No, there must be a first cause.

Question 10

What analogy does Aquinas use to explain the chain of cause and effect?

Answer 10

Like dominos, where something must push the first domino.

Question 11

What must the first cause be, according to Aquinas?

Answer 11

Eternal (has no beginning)

Question 12

What do Theists argue regarding the Cosmological Argument?

Answer 12

It is a credible argument.

Question 13

What do Atheists argue against the Cosmological Argument?

Answer 13

It does not explain where God came from.

Question 14

Fill in the blank: The Cosmological Argument states that something cannot come from _______.

Answer 14

nothing

Question 15

What does Genesis 1:1-2 state that relates to the Cosmological Argument?

Answer 15

‘In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.’

Question 16

How is the Cosmological Argument often viewed in relation to the Big Bang theory?

Answer 16

Some see it as incompatible with the existence of a creator.

Question 17

What is the logical principle that Aquinas’s argument relies on?

Answer 17

Everything in existence has a cause.

Question 18

True or False: The Cosmological Argument claims the universe came from nothing.

Answer 18

False

Question 19

ARGUMENT 2: THE ARGUMENT FROM DESIGN

Question 20

(also known as the TELEOLOGICAL ARGUMENT)

Question 21

This argument comes from the idea that the world is so complicated and intricate

Question 22

that it must have had a designer. It could not have come around by chance or

Question 23

solely as the result of a ‘cosmic bang’. One philosopher who proposed the

Question 24

Argument from Design was Rev. William Paley (1743 - 1805). His work was one

Question 25

of the most influential philosophical texts during The Enlightenment Period (17th

Question 26

and 18th Century: the move towards rational thought and scientific reason).

Question 27

The world 'teleological' comes from the Greek word telos

Question 28

which means end or goal

Answer 28

this later came to mean the view

Question 29

that everything has a purpose. Therefore

Answer 29

the Teleological

Question 30

Theory is one that comes from looking at the world in a

Question 31

certain way. It is a theory that maintains our world has

Question 32

been designed. William Paley believed that his Teleological

Question 33

Argument from design proved that there was a God. Paley

Question 34

used the example of the workings of a traditional wind-up

Question 35

watch to present his argument for the existence of God.

Question 36

In crossing a heath

Answer 36

suppose I pitched my foot against a stone

Question 37

stone came to be there; I might possibly answer ... it had lain there forever. But suppose

Question 38

I had found a watch upon the ground

Answer 38

and it should be inquired how the watch

Question 39

happened to be in that place; I should hardly think of the answer I had before given

Question 40

that for anything I knew

Answer 40

the watch might have always been there ... There must have

Question 41

existed

Answer 41

at some time

Question 42

the watch] for the purpose which we find it actually to answer; who comprehended its

Question 43

construction and designed its use.

Question 44

Paley's argument demonstrates how someone

Question 45

would be impressed with the complexity of a

Question 46

traditional mechanical wind-up watch and that

Question 47

person would notice the technology that

Question 48

enables the watch to work. Each part of the

Question 49

watch must work perfectly in order for it to be

Question 50

able to tell the time. He said that the natural

Question 51

conclusion to studying the watch is that it must have been made by a watchmaker and that no-one

Question 52

would conclude that it came about through random chance. Using the illustration of the watch

Question 53

Paley notes that the world also is too intricate and complicated to believe that it came about

Question 54

through random chance. Therefore

Answer 54

the universe must also have a designer who is God.

Question 55

The flow chart below demonstrates Paley's Teleological Argument..

Question 56

A watch has certain complex teatures (it consists of parts

Answer 56

each with their own function and

Question 57

they work together for a specific purpose).

Question 58

Anything which exhibits these features must have been designed.

Question 59

Therefore

Answer 59

the watch has been designed by a designer (watchmaker).

Question 60

The universe is like the watch as it possesses similar features on a larger scale.

Question 61

Therefore

Answer 61

the universe

Question 62

Theist argues that the only logical conclusion for the designer

Answer 62

is God.

Question 63

ARGUMENTS FOR AND AGAINST PALEY'S TELEOLOGICAL ARGUMENT

Question 64

This argument is consistent with the teaching found in the book of Genesis

Answer 64

that God

Question 65

designed and created the intricate components of the earth:

Question 66

Then God said

Answer 66

"Let the land produce vegetation: seed-bearing plants and trees on the

Question 67

land that bear fruit with seed in it

Answer 67

according to their various kinds." And it was so ... And God

Question 68

saw that it was good. Genesis 1:11-12

Question 69

It is also consistent with the message from Genesis 1:27 that God designed and created humans

Question 70

"in his own image'.