Theme C Knowledge Flashcards
Theist
A person who believes in the existence of God or gods
Atheist
A person who does not believe in the existence of God or gods
Agnostic
A person who believes that there is not enough evidence either way to decide whether God does or doesn’t exist
Teleological argument
The world is very complex, orderly and awe inspiring so it’s unlikely this happened by chance or accident and there must be an all powerful and intelligent designer which must be God
Qua regularity
- Thomas Aquinas
- the way that everything around us works in regular patterns must have an intelligent being behind it that keeps it all moving in place
Qua purpose
- William paley
- complex things don’t appear by chance, they have to be designed
- the world is a very complex thing
- the world can’t have happened by chance
- the world must have been designed by an intelligent being
- this is proof there is a God
- uses the human eye as comparison
Analogy of the watch
- William paley
- if you came across a watch, and you’d never seen one before, you would immediately assume that someone had created it and the things couldn’t have come about naturally
- so the watchmaker = universe-maker
Cosmos
The universe
Cosmology
The study of the universe
Cosmological argument
- everything that exists must have a cause
- the universe exists so it must have a cause
- whatever is the cause of the universe must be something outside of the universe something eternal + powerful
- this eternal and powerful first cause must be God
- therefore God must exist
Who wrote cosmological argument
Thomas Aquinas
Other name for cosmological argument
- first case argument
- first cause of our chain of events
Miracle
A seemingly impossible event, that breaks the normal laws of nature and cannot be explained, and so people believe the event comes from God
Lourdes
A small town in France where Catholics believe many miracles have taken place
Who came up with the principles of testimony and credulity
Richard Swinburne
The principle of testimony
Unless we have a specific reason not to believe someone we should believe the things people tell us because people do normally tell the truth
The principle of credulity
We don’t usually imagine things that aren’t happening, so if something happens to me which seems unbelievable, I should believe my senses unless I know of a reason why i might be wrong
Natural evil
Evil and suffering that is not directly caused by humans
Moral evil
Evil and suffering which is directly caused by human actions
Augustines theodicy
- suffering is human’s fault
- caused by the original sin of Adam and Eve when they disobeyed God
- humanity deserves the suffering it’s experiencing
Iranaeus theodicy
- God purposefully created suffering so that we can grow and develop as humans beings
- ‘soul-making’
- suffering is good for us, teaches us empathy, compassion etc
Argument from science
There is no need to believe in God any longer as science can explain the universe
Special revelation
God revealing himself directly to a person in a specific event eg. A vision
General revelation
God revealing himself to people indirectly through ordinary everyday experiences
Revelation through nature
Some Christians believe that they can feel or see god in the natural world around them - they feel that God reveals himself to them when the look closely at the natural world
Revelation through conscience
Some Christians believe that the can feel or hear God through their conscience - the little voice inside them telling them about right and wrong. They believe God is revel in himself to them in this way
Revelation through bible
Some Christian’s feel that they ‘experience God’ through words of the bible - reading the bible might make them feel that God is reveals himself to the through the stories and messages
Enlightenment
To be awakened. A term used to describe a person who has come to understand truths about god
Personal nature of God
The idea that God is a individual or person with whom people are able to have a relationship or feel close
Imminent
The idea that God is present in and involved with life on earth and in the universe
Transcendent
The de that God is beyond and outside life on earth and the universe
