the existence of god and revelation

Question 1

The Design argument

Answer 1

• Proposed by William Paley, the world is evidence of God’s existence
• Suggests that the world works well i.e designed in a specific way
• The argument follows that if it was designed like this, someone or something must have designed it. That someone must have been God
• Paley compared the design of the world to finding a watch. He argued that if you found a watch you would know that it was human-made, conclude that someone designed it for it to fulfil its purpose of keeping time
• Paley said the world is like a watch, the world is even more obviously designed

Question 2

The First Cause Argument

Answer 2

• Proposed by Thomas Aquinas
• Follows the premises that everything in this world has a cause
• The chain of cause and effect can not go on forever (infinite regress)
• Therefore, there must be a first cause which is uncaused
• This must be God

Question 3

Strengths of the First Cause Argument

Answer 3

• God can be the only thing without a cause
• As far as we know everything has a cause
• Scientific findings, such as the Big Bang theory appear to support this argument

Question 4

Doubts about the design argument

Answer 4

• Complexity does not necessarily mean design
• The theory of evolution, proposed by Charles Darwin, shows a way of understanding how species develop without reference to a designer God
• Does not prove that the creator is infinite, God may have just designed the world, meaning He may no longer exist
• There are many indications of disorder and things that do not work well in the world, for example, the Earth’s crust is made up of plates which do not fit together perfectly, these sometimes push into each other and cause earthquakes and volcanoes

Question 5

Doubts about the first cause argument

Answer 5

• Limited knowledge
• Fallacy of composition, mistake of assuming that something is true of the whole from the fact that it is true of some part of the whole
• Relies on God’s existence to prove God’s existence
• Argument is presented for believers and makes sense to them, but it is not convincing for the atheistic or the agnostic
• Self contradictory, the premise is that everything has a cause; the conclusion is that God is uncaused
• This uncaused thing does not have to be God

Question 6

Swinburne - in agreement with the design argument

Answer 6

Simplicity: Okham’s razor - God is the simplest answer to why we are here. There are the same simple laws applied to the same simple elements in the universe

Regularity: Temporal order (the pervasive nature of regularity in the universe) is incredible - similar things behave in similar ways and this evidenced in history and indicates a designer is probable. The universe is so regularly ordered that there must be a cosmic designer to ensure regularity

Probability: Whilst regularity and simplicity of the universe do not prove anything on their own, Swinburne is adamant that collectively they suggest God’s existence is more likely, Hence the design argument does not prove God’s existence, but makes it more probable

Question 7

Strengths of the design argument

Answer 7

• It explains the fact that there does seem to be design and purpose in the world
• It makes sense to say that God is the great designer because the world is very complex and God is thought to be omnipotent

Question 8

John Stuart Mill

Answer 8

Nature is fundamentally cruel and full of suffering therefore is it really possible to argue that nature is the result of an intelligent designer?

Question 9

David Hume

Answer 9

Notes that in the construction of a ship, many individuals are employed. Hume points out that the same could be said about the universe e.g. many create gods or demons etc. For Hume, the Teleological Argument does not necessarily lead to the classical Christian definition of God

Question 10

Swinburne and witnessing evidence

Answer 10

1. The principle of credulity
   Maintains that it is a principle of rationality that if it seems to a person that X is present, then X is probably present. What one seems to perceive is probably so.
2. The principle of testimony
   Maintains that, it is reasonable to believe that the experiences of others are probably as they report them

Question 11

Hume’s criticisms of the argument from miracles

Answer 11

• According to Hume, no matter how strong the evidence for a specific miracle may be, it will always be more rational to reject the miracle than to believe in it
• Miracles, for Hume, necessarily involve violations of laws of nature, but laws of nature are as well-established as anything could possibly be. Therefore, it will always be more likely that the testimony of a witness to a miracle is false than that it is true
• No evidence is sufficient enough to establish that a miracle occurred

Question 12

Arguments against the existence of God - evil and suffering

Answer 12

• The inconsistent triad is an argument against the concept of an all-powerful and all-loving of whilst suffering persists
• The existence of suffering alongside an omnibenevolent and omnipotent God are argued to be contradictory

Question 13

How do Christians explain the problem of evil?

Answer 13

• Suffering is punishment for wrong-doing
• Suffering is a test of faith which if passed can achieve great reward from God
• Suffering is a needed balance, we cannot appreciate good without being able to recognise evil
• Suffering must be accepted as something that we cannot understand
• Suffering is a form of education for our souls which allows us to grow spiritually
• The Freewill defence

Question 14

Ninian Smart

Answer 14

Agreed that creatures without fear, temptation or envy would be innocent but not morally good. To have moral goodness you must have options to choose between

Question 15

J.L Mackie

Answer 15

There are infinite number of worlds, could have a world where everyone is good. If God could make this world then why didn’t he, God cannot be all-good

Question 16

Richard Swinburne - freewill

Answer 16

If God intervened it would compromise our freewill and limit our development. Used the analogy of God being a good parent allowing a child greater freedom to grow up.

Question 17

What is revelation?

Answer 17

God showing himself to believers

Question 18

What is special revelation?

Answer 18

God making himself known through direct personal experiences or an unusual specific event e.g. visions

Question 19

What is general revelation?

Answer 19

God making himself known through ordinary, common human experiences e.g. nature, scripture

Question 20

What are visions?

Answer 20

Seeing something especially in a dream or trance, they shows something about the nature of God or the afterlife

Question 21

What is enlightenment?

Answer 21

Gaining of true knowledge about God or self, usually through meditation or self discipline

Question 22

The Literalist’s View of the Authority of the Bible

Answer 22

• Many Protestant and Evangelical groups adopt a literal interpretation of the Bible and think that it contains God’s actual words which must not be changed or questioned
• There can be no error, theological, historical, or cultural. The Bible is often called ‘The Word of God’ by people who hold this view

Question 23

The Liberal View of the Authority of the Bible

Answer 23

• The liberal view of the Bible sees it as inspired by God but able to be interpreted for people today
• The text provides insights into God but it needs to be seen in its social context and historical time
• A liberal theologian would feel free to make judgements on the practice and attitudes found in the Bible

Question 24

Karl Barth

Answer 24

• Argued that the only way in which people gain true knowledge of God is through revelation e.g. Church teachings, the Bible and faith
• Rejected the ideas of thinkers like Thomas Aquinas who tried to combine faith with reason, because he thought that their views led away from God and towards human-centred ideas

Question 25

Define reason

Answer 25

The capacity for making sense of things, establishing and verifying facts and applying logic. Reason is sometimes referred to as rationality

Question 26

Define faith

Answer 26

Belief in a religion, based on spiritual conviction rather than proof

Question 27

Propositional faith

Answer 27

Faith is based on evidence and/or argument and may be destroyed if its basis is destroyed

Question 28

Non-propositional faith

Answer 28

Faith is not based on evidence or argument but may be enriched or explored through either

Question 29

Fideism

Answer 29

Faith is independent of reason, perhaps hostile to it and definitely superior to it in providing a complete account of the world

Question 30

What are the two types of miracles?

Answer 30

• Events that break natural laws and cannot be explained by science
• Happy coincidences in which no natural laws are broken but a coincidence occurs at just the right moment

Question 31

What are miracles?

Answer 31

A seemingly impossible event, usually good, that cannot be explained by natal or scientific laws, and is thought to be the action of God

Question 32

Argument from miracles

Answer 32

• Theists argue that if there is no scientific explanation for an event, then it must be supernatural, in other words, caused by something outside nature
• Since God is the only thing outside nature, then it must be the result of God’s intervention in the world
• Therefore God exists

Question 33

Weaknesses of the argument from miracles

Answer 33

• Could just be lucky coincidences
• Scientific explanation may not yet be discovered
• Miracle healings due to mind over matter
• Miracles are fake/made up
• Theists, suggests a partisan God who has favourites. Why does he not intervene in natural disasters? Some argue miracles would remove the need for faith

Question 34

Argument from miracles - Humanism

Answer 34

A humanist would look to a non-supernatural answer for miracles. They can show that events previously classed as miracles are now explainable through medic science, and those calling them miracles had already a religious bias to affect them.

Question 35

Argument from miracles - Buddhism

Answer 35

The Buddha told his followers not to look to some supernatural being for help to answers their path was their own. Hence, miracles should not be credited

Question 36

Argument from miracles - Atheism

Answer 36

An atheist would dispute that God performs miracles as to them God does not exist. They might see them as something which can occur naturally but are not yet understood by medical science

Question 37

Explain two ways in which atheists can use science to deny the existence of God

Answer 37

One way in which atheists can use science to deny the existence of God is the theory of evolution, established by Charles Darwin. The theory of evolution is the idea that all life, plants and animals developed gradually over millions of years from a single cell, conflicting with religious views about the creation of creatures in the world.

Another way in which atheists can use science to deny God’s existence is the Big Bang Theory. The Big Bang Theory states that a super fast inflation of atoms is what created the universe, not God.

Question 38

Limitations of the Big Bang Theory

Answer 38

• There must have been conditions needed to be met, for it to happen
• What caused the inflation?