Topic Overview

Question 1

Religious Upbringing

Answer 1

• Christians baptise children at young age
• Usually taught to pray and go to church
• Families around them celebrate religious events (Christmas, Easter).
• Sunday school

Question 2

How does Religious Upbringing lead to belief in God?

Answer 2

• Being born into family surrounded by those who are religious.
• If it has been handed down over generations, it seems natural to believe in god.
• Being educated about god could lead to belief.

Question 3

Religious Experiences

Answer 3

• Numinous Experience - looking at stars can convince that God is behind it all - ‘wow’ factor
• Answered Prayer - can strengthen faith in god
• Miracle - e.g. surviving a plane crash - something that cannot be explained by the laws of science.
• Conversion - Happens after someone decided to commit life to God.

Question 4

Design Argument

Answer 4

William Paley - uses the idea of a complex watch. Something so sophisticated - like the earth - cannot ‘be made by accident’ - only God could design something with this precision.

Question 5

Cause and Effect Argument

Answer 5

Existence of the universe proves God’s existence - if the universe had a beginning, something had to have caused it. There is always a cause behind something - nothing happens out of nowhere.

Question 6

Scientific Explanations

Answer 6

• Big Bang explains how the universe began.

* Evolution shows evidence of how animals and humans developed and where they came from.

Question 7

Unanswered Prayers

Answer 7

• God not answering ‘good’ prayers such as ending of poverty or curing cancer. This shows that he is not deciding to help those in desperate need. Defies the fact that he is portrayed as “all-loving”.

Question 8

Problem of Evil

Answer 8

• Christians believe God is all-powerful, all-loving and all-knowing so evil should not exist. Because evil does exist it leads to a number of possibilities:

1) God is simply not powerful enough to stop evil;
2) God does not know that it is happening;
3) God simply does not love us enough to want to stop the evil.

Christians tell us that he can do all of these things SO God does not exist otherwise he would stop evil!

Question 9

How do Christians Respond to Evil and Suffering?

Answer 9

• God created people with free will and because people are not programmed like computers, they can choose whether to do good or evil. When they choose evil, suffering happens.
• To some Christian’s life is a test. The way people react to suffering and evil determines whether they go to heaven or hell in the afterlife. E.g. Job
• Others say that ‘God works in mysterious ways’ and He has reasons for letting evil and suffering happen, but humans will never be able to understand the mind of God.

Question 10

Media and Belief in God - Case Study

Answer 10

· God exists - Even with God’s powers Bruce messes up e.g. the town riots as everyone wins $17 on the lottery. As such it shows how hard God’s ‘job’ is and says that we can’t all get what we want.
· God does not exist - Shows God in human form. But Christians believe that God is everywhere. This is not possible if God is human.