The Existence of God: RE Year 10 🌍

Question 1

What is the name of the 1st argument?

Answer 1

The Ontological argument

Question 2

What does the word ‘Ontological’ mean?

Answer 2

By definition Ontological means ‘concerning being’ and this means that it is an argument about our being or existence

Question 3

Who postulated (made) the 1st argument?

Answer 3

Anselm

Question 4

When did Anselm, who created the 1st argument, live?

Answer 4

From 1033 to 1109

Question 5

What was Anselm’s job?

Answer 5

He was a monk later turned Archbishop of Canterbury

Question 6

What was Anselm’s basic theory behind the Ontological argument?

Answer 6

His theory was:

-if we can see levels of good in the world then there must be an
ultimate good
-we can picture an ultimate good thing in our imagination
-when he imagines an ultimate good he thinks of God
-therefore he must exist and so an ultimate good exists and the
ultimate good is God!

Question 7

What do Theists think about the Ontological argument?

Answer 7

• they think there is logic in the theory
• agree that good in our world points to God
• some Christians however don’t like this argument

Question 8

What do Atheists think about the Ontological argument?

Answer 8

• think it’s a weak argument
• just because one thing exists doesn’t mean another does

-eg. a person who goes on holiday to a good island cannot assume
that because they enjoyed a good island there must be a perfect
one in the world

Question 9

What is the name of the 2nd argument?

Answer 9

The Cosmological argument

Question 10

What does the word ‘Cosmological’ mean?

Answer 10

It means ‘the first cause argument!’

Question 11

Who postulated (made) the 2nd argument?

Answer 11

Thomas Aquinas

Question 12

When did Thomas Aquinas (creator of the 2nd argument) live?

Answer 12

From 1225 to 1274

Question 13

What is Thomas Aquinas’s main theory behind the Cosmological argument?

Answer 13

-everything in existence has come about from something
  before it (a cause that produces the effect) 

• argued that the cycle of life couldn’t have started by itself
• there is a first cause that explains everything in our universe

-because this first thing started everything else it must be eternal
and uncaused. That first cause is God

Question 14

What do Theists think about the 2nd argument?

Answer 14

-see it as a credible argument

-makes sense to think that the cycle of life didn’t come out of
nothing

Question 15

What do Atheists think about the 2nd argument?

Answer 15

• don’t see it as a credible argument
• doesn’t explain where God came from

-some would argue that the cycle of life could always have been in
existence as much as a God always being in existence

Question 16

What is the name of the 3rd (and final) argument?

Answer 16

The Teleological argument

Question 17

What does the word ‘Teleological’ mean?

Answer 17

The word Teleological comes from the Greek word ‘telos’ meaning end or goal, but later it came to mean the view that everything has a purpose!

Question 18

DESCRIBE the meaning behind the Teleological argument

Answer 18

Paley’s Teleological argument is a theory that has come from looking at the world in a certain way. In other words it is a theory that maintains our world has been designed

Some people believe the world is too complicated to have started through a random chance, or “Big Bang” and believe that it was created!

Question 19

Who postulated (made) the 3rd argument?

Answer 19

William Paley

Question 20

When did William Paley live?

Answer 20

From 1743 to 1805

Question 21

What is William Paley’s main theory behind the Teleological argument?

Answer 21

1. A watch has certain complex features (it consists of parts,
   each of which has a function, and they work together for a
   specific purpose)
2. Anything which exhibits these features must have been
   designed
3. Therefore the watch has been designed by a designer
4. The universe is like the watch in that it possesses the same
   features, except on a far more wondrous scale
5. Therefore the universe, like the watch, has been designed, except
   by a wondrous universe maker God

Question 22

What do Theists think about the 3rd argument?

Answer 22

-think this line of argument is logical because we have
experience in our world of designers making useful products

-naturally draw the link with the watch and the world with God

Question 23

What do Atheists think about the 3rd argument?

Answer 23

-not convinced by this theory

-some argue that you cannot link things in the world which we
know have designer with other things that are not known

-eg. we have never had direct contact from God to know that there
is a designer behind our world

-therefore we can’t link the watch analogy because we can actually
meet watchmakers