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
