Theology Quiz: Proofs Flashcards
What does the question “Why?” answer?
- the reasons for something
- the purpose of something
- the meaning of something
What is the most important question we can ask?
“Why?”
What is theology?
Theology is the study of God, the divine, and of religion.
What is faith?
Faith is trust or confidence in something.. Necessary for religion, since a lot of religion requires us to have faith in something/someone we have never seen.
What is belief?
A belief is a choice where despite lack of evidence, you still trust that something is true.
How do we learn/know things?
Through the processes of empiricism and rationalism.
What is empiricism?
The process of using our five senses to learn or gain knowledge on something.
What is Rationalism?
When we use our mind to learn or gain knowledge on something. Examples: Math, Love, and Words. These things were created by us and cannot truthfully be proven to exist, yet we use our mind to figure them and their truth out.
Who is St. Thomas Aquinas?
St. Thomas Aquinas believed that theology is “faith seeking understanding”. He created the “Five Proofs” to explain God’s existence.
What are the Five Proofs?
- Unmoved Mover
- The First Cause
- Everything Comes from Something
- Supreme Model
- Grand Designer
Explain the proof “The Unmoved Moved”.
- There is motion in the universe
- An object at rest is put into motion when acted upon by an outside force.
- This chain of movement cannot go on forever and must be caused by an “un-moved mover” …God
Explain the proof “The First Cause”
- There is a chain of causes and effects in the universe
- This chain cannot go on forever, just like the “Un-Moved Mover” proof
- There must be an “Un-Caused Cause” that brought everything into being
Explain the proof “Everything Comes from Something”
- Nothing cannot create something
- Something must bring something else I to existence, aka these things are necessary for these other things to existence.
- Ex) A Family Tree
- Chain of creating and existing can’t go on forever
- There must be an “Ultimate Necessary Being”
Explain the proof “Supreme Model”
- We measure how perfect something is I’m degrees
- “This is better (more perfect) than that”
- We must have a reference point for these qualities like “good”, “perfect”, and “beautiful”
- This perfect model is God
Explain the proof “The Grand Designer”
- There is beauty and immense symmetry in the world
- Our whole universe has rules, laws, and patterns to make the world work right
- Everything follows these rules so something outside the system of rules must have created the rules …God
What are the 4 heartfelt proofs for God’s existence?
- An Unquenchable Thirst for Joy and Happiness
- An Experience of Beauty and Truth
- A Sense of Personal Conscience, Moral Good, and Justice
- Love
Explain “The Unquenchable Thirst for Joy and Happiness”
- Humans are naturally drawn towards happiness, and they are constantly searching for it
- Whenever we do something to make us happy, the happiness fades, and we search for something else to make us happy
- Homing device that makes us restless until we find God
- Only God can make us truly happy
Explain “An Experience of Beauty and Truth”
- Beauty and truth of Heaven is found on Earth
- Things full of beauty or truth are a taste or Heaven given to us by God
Explain “A Sense of Personal Conscience, Moral Good, and Justice”
- In the depths of our souls we sense God urging us to do good and avoid evil
- We sense the absolute moral authority of God
- We imagine of God of justice that will reverse things in the future, liars, killers, and cheaters prospering at the moment
Explain “Love”
- Love is a spiritual reality with origins that the material universe cannot explain
- Love comes from love itself; God
- Same goes for intelligence
