Unit 4: Quotes and teachings

Question 1

Quote that supports Cosmological argument (existence of God)

Answer 1

“Whatever is in motion must be put in motion by another … this cannot go on to infinity, because then there would be no first mover.”

(St. Thomas Aquinas, 1225-1274, who argued that in order to eliminate the infinite chain of motions, there must be a first mover (cause) and source of all motion, God).

Question 2

Quote that supports the Design argument (existence of God)

Answer 2

“In the absence of any other proof, the thumb alone would convince me of God’s existence.” (Isaac Newton)

Question 3

Quote that supports the Moral argument (existence of God)

Answer 3

“If we feel responsibility, are ashamed, are frightened, at transgressing the voice of conscience, this implies there is One to whom we are responsible.”

(Cardinal John Newman, (1801-90), argued that our guilty conscience is God’s voice inside our head. This could be called the ‘Guilty Conscience’ argument.)

Question 4

Explain the teaching of Moses and the Burning Bush (revelation)

Answer 4

Now Moses was tending the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, and he led the flock to the far side of the wilderness and came to Horeb, the mountain of God.
There the angel of the LORD appeared to him in flames of fire from within a bush. Moses saw that though the bush was on fire …. God called to him from within the bush, “Moses! Moses!” And Moses said, “Here I am.”
“Do not come any closer,” God said. “Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground.” Then he said, “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob.” At this, Moses hid his face, because he was afraid to look at God. (Exodus 3)

Question 5

Explain the teaching of St Paul (revelation)

Answer 5

As he [St Paul] neared Damascus on his journey, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him. He fell to the ground and heard a voice say to him, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?” “Who are you, Lord?” Saul asked. “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting,” he replied. “Now get up and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do.” (Acts 9)

Question 6

Quote that explains general revelation from God

Answer 6

“The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they reveal knowledge. They have no speech, they use no words; no sound is heard from them. Yet their voice goes out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world.”

(Psalm 19:1-4 – can be seen as an example of general revelation: the world bears the marks of intelligent design and purpose)

Question 7

Explain the teaching of Muhammad’s revelation on The Night of Power

Answer 7

At the beginning of the month of Ramadan, on the Night of Power (Laylat-ul-Qadr), Muhammad went up to Mount Hira to pray when he heard a voice calling him.
The Angel Jibril (Gabriel) appeared holding a roll of silk that had writing on it in fiery letters. Jibril told Muhammad to ‘recite’ or ‘read’.
Muhummad was terrified and protested that he could not read. Then he opened his mouth and recited words that seemed written on his heart. Jibril told him that he was to be Allah’s messenger.
Muhammed continued to receive revelations from Jibril, Allah’s messenger, and the exact words were written down by Muhammad’s friends in the Qur’an.

Question 8

Explain the revelation of Buddha’s enlightenment

Answer 8

Siddharta Gotama had spent months fasting without finding answers to his questions about life. As he sat and meditated under a Bodhi tree, many sexual temptations and frightening images of angry beasts sent by Mara (a ‘devil’ figure) went through his mind.
He struggled all night with these disturbing thoughts. However, when morning came, Mara was defeated and Siddharta reached his goal of enlightenment. Siddharta became known as the Buddha, ‘the enlightened one’.

Question 9

What does The Fall (Genesis 3) teach us about suffering?

Answer 9

Humans have free will and are not programmed or controlled by God. Adam & Eve used their free will and ate from the tree of knowledge – as a consequence they (and us) have knowledge of good and evil/suffering.

Question 10

Christian quote about how suffering has a purpose - reveals God to us, moral reasoning

Answer 10

“God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks to us in our conscience, but shouts in our pains: It is His megaphone to rouse a deaf world”

(C. S. Lewis, 1898 –1963, theologian)

Question 11

Explain the story of Job?

What does the story of Job teach Christians about suffering?

Answer 11

In the story of Job, Satan is allowed to test Job, believing that once his life is ruined Job will curse God.
Job’s suffering includes the loss of his children, servants, wealth and personal health, but he never curses God.
Job’s friends represent the traditional view of suffering and insist that Job must be being punished by God for some sin or wrongdoing he has committed.
Job rejects this view and instead asks God to explain why these things are happening to him.
God does reply to Job, but only with a series of questions which make Job realise that God’s knowledge and wisdom are far greater than his own, and that in the end he should put his trust in God.

Question 12

What does the Passion teach Christians about suffering?

Answer 12

The fact that Jesus suffered for humans by dying on the cross is a very significant issue for Christians. This is called The Passion. This broke the power of evil and suffering over humans, and meant that Jesus had taken on the punishment for our sins so that we could be forgiven. God felt Jesus’ suffering (which was innocent) and he feels the suffering of all humans.

Question 13

Quote from Quran demonstrating that suffering is something to be endured - a test

Answer 13

“O you who believe! seek assistance through patience and prayer; surely Allah is with the patient”

(Qur’an, Surah 2 – could be used to demonstrate that suffering is something to be endured (put up with) as a test from Allah)

Question 14

Buddhist quote about how suffering and happiness comes from human thought and action

Answer 14

“All that we are is the result of what we have thought. If a man speaks or acts with an evil thought, pain follows him. If a man speaks or acts with a pure thought, happiness follows him, like a shadow that never leaves him.”

(Buddha)

Question 15

Einstein quote about science and religion

Answer 15

“Science without religion is lame, religion without science is blind.”

(Albert Einstein)

Question 16

Darwin quote expressing his rejection of God

Answer 16

“Although I did not think much about the existence of a personal God until a considerably later period of my life, I will here give the vague conclusions to which I have been driven. The old argument from design in Nature, as given by Paley, which formerly seemed to me so conclusive, fails, now that the law of natural selection has been discovered.”

(Charles Darwin)

Question 17

Pope John Paul II quote about science and religion in the modern world

Answer 17

“Science can purify religion from error and superstition; religion can purify science from idolatry and false absolutes. Each can draw the other into a wider world, a world in which both can flourish…We need each other to be what we must be, what we are called to be.”

(Pope John Paul II)

Question 18

Dawkins quote about the lack of reason and evidence in religion

Answer 18

“Faith is the great cop-out, the great excuse to evade the need to think and evaluate evidence. Faith is belief in spite of, even perhaps because of, the lack of evidence.”

(Richard Dawkins)

Question 19

Dawkins quote - difference between scientific truth and religious truth

Answer 19

“There may be fairies at the bottom of the garden. There is no evidence for it, but you can’t prove that there aren’t any, so shouldn’t we be agnostic with respect to fairies?”

(Richard Dawkins)

Question 20

Dawkins quote - science is more important than religion

Answer 20

“Science offers us an explanation of how complexity (the difficult) arose out of simplicity (the easy). The hypothesis of God offers no worthwhile explanation for anything, for it simply postulates [states] what we are trying to explain. It postulates the difficult to explain and leaves it at that.”

(Richard Dawkins)