The Existence Of God

Question 1

Define ‘Theist’

Answer 1

Someone who believes in a God or many Gods.

Question 2

Define ‘Monotheism’

Answer 2

Belief in one God.

Question 3

Define ‘Polytheism’

Answer 3

Belief in many Gods.

Question 4

Define ‘Atheist’

Answer 4

Someone who believes there is no God.

Question 5

Define ‘Agnostic’

Answer 5

Someone who believes it is impossible to know if God exists.

Question 6

Define ‘Design Argument’

Answer 6

The belief that the world is so perfect it must have had a designer.

Question 7

Define ‘First Cause Argument’

Answer 7

The belief that there is a first cause that started everything off, this is God, the uncaused causer.

Question 8

Define ‘Moral Argument’

Answer 8

The belief that everyone has certain rules inside of them , given to them by a universal law giver - God.

Question 9

Define ‘Infinite Regression’

Answer 9

The belief that time has no beginning or end.

Question 10

Define ‘Incompetent Design’

Answer 10

If the world did have a designer it is not a very good one as the world is so badly designed.

Question 11

Explain William Paley’s views about the design argument.

Answer 11

Paley compared the universe to a watch, a watch is so intricate that it must have had a designer. The universe is also very intricate and complicated and so must have had a designer also - God.

Question 12

State some problems arguing against the design argument.

Answer 12

• A loving designer would not have designed a world where people could get hurt. If there is a designer surely it is a bad one:
  
  • The designer is cruel.
  • The designer is incompetent.
  • There is no designer.
• This points to Darwin’s idea of natural evolution, where there is no God.

Question 13

Explain Thomas Aquinas’ views about the first cause argument.

Answer 13

• Everything that exists must have a cause (causation).
• The universe must therefore have a cause, something that caused everything but was not caused itself.
• God is the cause of the universe.
• Scientists believe in the Big Bang Theory, this must have had an original cause.

Question 14

State some problems arguing against the first cause argument.

Answer 14

• Many believe in the idea of infinite regression, everything goes back forever.
• If God cannot be caused, why must the universe have a cause. God is then unnecessary.

Question 15

Explain Immanuel Kant’s views about the moral argument.

Answer 15

• Kant thought that everyone in the entire universe has a sense of morality, right and wrong.
• He believed that this moral sense was given to us before we were born by God.
• Therefore because we all know what is right and wrong, God must exist.

Question 16

State some problems arguing against the moral argument.

Answer 16

-Social conditioning is the idea that morality is learnt from parents, teachers etc. not given to us by God.

Question 17

Explain Richard Dawkins’ views about the God of the gaps argument.

Answer 17

• Dawkins believes that everything has a scientific explanation.
• Where there are gaps in our scientific knowledge, we claim it to be God.

Question 18

State some problems arguing against the God of the gaps argument.

Answer 18

• Individual people have claimed to have encountered God through revelations; God is not just a fictional idea for them but very real.
• Einstein believed that religion and science answer different questions, how and why. “Religion without science is blind and science without religion is lame.”