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
