Theme C - The Existence of God & Revelation Flashcards
What does blik mean?
Pervasive, probably unconscious attitude toward the world - worldview
Give 4 reasons why people believe in God?
- They’ve experienced/witnessed something supernatural e.g. a miracle
- To have comfort
- Answers big questions
- Their upbringing
- They want something e.g. heaven, comfort
- Religious leaders
- Help them lead a good life
- They have been persuaded by philosophical arguments
What does the Cosmological/First Cause Argument state?
The Cosmological/First Cause Argument states that God is:
* The First Cause of the universe
* The Necessary Cause of the universe
Who put forward the Cosmological Argument?
Thomas Aquinas in the 13th century
What is the Cosmological/First Cause Argument?
- Nothing can happen by itself
- Everything that happens must be caused by something else
- The universe could not have ‘happened’ by itself
- A very powerful force must have caused the universe
- This force must be God
- Therefore God exists
What are strengths of the Cosmological/First Cause Argument?
- It is simple and straightforward
- It is logical
- As we agree with the foundations of it, it is persuasive
What are weaknesses of the Cosmological/First Cause Argument?
- It contradicts itself- - by saying God was not caused
- Why couldn’t the force be the Big Bang?
- Maybe there was no beginning (infinite regress of causes - a sequence of reasoning or justification which can never come to an end)
- Is he simply attempting to prove the God of classical theism exists rather than any other powerful force?
What is the Design Argument/Teleological Argument
- A watch is highly complex and works well
- Highly complex things have been designed that way
- Everything designed has a designer
- In the same way, the world and everything in it is highly complex and works well
- Therefore God must be the world’s designer
- So He must exist
The world has a purpose which suggests design
Who created the design argument?
William Paley
What are strengths of the Design Argument?
- Things do seem to be perfectly designed e.g. our distance from the Sun
- We see that there is design in the world, so it makes sense to think there must be a designer
- Things in the world have a purpose and work ‘just right’ (Goldilocks Effect)
- Life is so complex that even if it has come about by natural selection, God must still be behind these changes - Liberal Christian view
- Easy to comprehend - the watch analogy
- Gives an answer to such complexity
What are weaknesses of the Design Argument?
- Natural Selection (Charles Darwin) says things have come about because of random mutations in our genes, which means that those most suited to their environment survive. This means that the world hasn’t been designed
- Things only appear to be designed because that is how we are used to them
- The world is not perfectly designed like a watch - it is growing and changing, more like a vegetable
- The world does not show evidence of design, it goes wrong regularly
- If God designed the world, why did He not design it to be perfect
Define miracle
An event that defies the laws of nature
What is David Hume’s belief about miracles?
Testimonies of miracles are not trustworthy. They are for the most part written by ‘ignorant barbarous people with something to gain’ - Hume is against the belief in miracles. People who document or say they experienced a miracle just had a beneficial miracle
What is R.F Holland’s belief about miracles?
Holland argues that miracles are: ‘a remarkable and beneficial coincidence that is interpreted in a religious fashion.’ - Holland is against miracles, he believes miracles are coincidences that have been turned into something more by religious people
What is Keith Ward’s belief about miracles?
Ward believes God acts only occasionally as he does not want to disrupt the order of creation - Ward is for the belief in miracles, he argues they happen only occasionally as God doesn’t want to disrupt the order of creation
What are arguments in favour of the idea of miracles?
- God’s omnipotence - capability of breaking laws of nature
- Miracles are the foundation of Christianity - Jesus performed miracles (water to wine, feeding the 5,000, stilling the storm, healing the paralysed man)
- There have been many witnesses to miracles - Lourdes (70 confirmed by the Catholic Church)
- Miracles occur across all religions/spirituality
What are arguments against the idea of miracles?
- There are different definitions of miracles
- God shows favouritism and does miracles for some but not for others - rejects his omnibenevolence
- Placebo effect
- No empirical evidence
- Perceiving things as a miracle (Holland) - religious blik
Why do some Christians say that a good God would not perform miracles?
It would show favouritism
What are three ways of interpreting miracles?
Literally, metaphorically and naturally
How do Literal Christians interpret miracles?
They interpret miracles literally
How do Metaphorical Christians interpret miracles?
These Christians believe that miracles are stories with moral messages, they didn’t really happen
What do poeple who interpret miracles naturally believe?
These people, mostly atheists, believe there must be a natural explanation for miracles
What does Telos mean?
Purpose
What is revelation?
When God reveals himself
What are the two types of revelation?
Special revelation and general revelation
Define special revelation?
God reveals himself personally to individuals
Give examples of people in the Bible who experienced special revelation
- Mary
- Jonah
- Moses
- Noah
- Joseph
- Abraham
- David
- Saul
What is enlightenment?
Enlightenment refers to the gaining of true knowledge about the divine through meditation and self-discipline.
Define general revelation
Nature and scripture as a way of understanding the divine.
What is vision?
Seeing something which is not physically real
What is the Inconsistent Triad?
If God is omnibenevolent and omnipotent, then why does evil exist?
- If God is all loving, why doesn’t he stop us from suffering?
- If God is all powerful, can’t he stop suffering?
- Does suffering exist because God doesn’t?
Who created the Inconsistent Triad?
J.L. Mackie
