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Entrance Exam Prep > General Prep > Flashcards

General Prep Flashcards

1
Q

Philosophy of religion is defined as a…

A

critical reflection on religious beliefs

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2
Q

What helps distinguish philosophy of religion from other academic disciplines that study religion?

A

The focus on the truth and reasonableness of religious belief

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3
Q

Rationalists propose that philosophy should restrict itself to …

A

a method of deductive proof

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4
Q

Linguistic philosophers think philosophy should…

A

consist of the analysis of language

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5
Q

Phenomenologists argue that philosophy should…

A

concern itself with the description of “lived” experience

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6
Q

______ claims that faith is the precondition for any correct thinking about religion

A

Fideism. This view implies that one cannot arrive at true religious beliefs as a result of rational reflection

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7
Q

______ holds that genuine knowledge must consist of truths which are known with absolute certainty

A

Foundationalism

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8
Q

______ believe that our critical thinking will be likely to help us toward the truth only if it is completely impartial and unbiased

A

Neutralists

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9
Q

Rather than laying a foundation for knowledge, Descartes’s universal doubt seems a sure road to…

A

unrestricted skepticism

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10
Q

How can reason and commitment be combined?

A

Reason can be seen as a willingness to test one’s commitments.

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11
Q

The attempt to determine the truth of theism without assuming the standpoint of a particular religion is called…

A

Natural theology. The natural theologian attempts to see what can be known about God independently of any special religious authority

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12
Q

____ is a term used by logicians in evaluating the formal structure of an argument.

A

Validity. An argument is valid whenever the conclusion must be true if the premises are true

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13
Q

An argument is ____ if it is valid and all the premises of the argument are true.

A

Sound. If an argument is sound, then its conclusion is true

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14
Q

What are ontological arguments?

A

They attempt to show that the very concept or idea of God implies his reality: that is, that one’s being able to clearly conceive of God somehow implies that God actually exists.

The mere idea of God implies his existence.

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15
Q

To Anselm, God is…

A

the greatest possible being, “a being than which none greater can be conceived.”

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16
Q

What is the teleological argument?

A

begins from the fact that the natural world appears to exhibit purposive order or design, and infers that its cause must therefore be an intelligent Designer.

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17
Q

The typical elements in religious experience are three:

A

(1) a sense of UNION WITH the divine
(2) a sense of DEPENDANCE ON the divine
(3) a sense of SEPARATENESS FROM the divine

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18
Q

Pantheistic and monistic mystical experiences emphasize…

A

a sense of union with the divine

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19
Q

What is the “Representational model” of experience?

A

We never have a direct encounter or awareness of the external world. Rather, our experience is limited to our own private sensations and images. The subjective image then serves as a representation of the actual thing in the physical world.
Shorter:
We only experience the external world through our own senses. Our senses create images in our mind, which are our only representation of the real world.

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20
Q

What is the model of direct realism?

A

In cases of genuine perceptual experience, a person is directly aware of what she sees or hears. If Jim experiences X, then X must exist

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21
Q

What is a veridical experience?

A

An experience in which the object is being truly perceived.

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22
Q

What is the principle of credulity?

A

If your senses tell you something is true, it probably is, unless you have a good reason to think they’re wrong.

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23
Q

Within the Christian tradition three major views of revelation have emerged:

A

(1) The traditional view
(2) The liberal view
(3) The non propositional view

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24
Q

What is the traditional view of revelation?

A

the Bible is the authoritative revelation of God to humanity

25
Q

What is the traditional view of revelation often called?

A

The propositional view because of its emphasis on the Bible as a source of propositional truths

26
Q

What is the liberal view of revelation?

A

Influenced by the Enlightenment and high criticism. Although the Bible may be an especially valuable resource, it is a fully human book, not one with divine authority. We must critically reflect on the Scriptures in the light of reason and experience

27
Q

What is the nonpropositional view of revelation?

A

Kind of compromise between the traditional view and the liberal view. Emphasizes that God is a personal being and that divine revelation is thus the revealing of a person. God does not reveal propositions for our assent; he reveals himself. Holds that God’s acted in history, but the Bible is fallible.

28
Q

In his famous essay “Of Miracles.” Hume defines a miracle as a…

A

“transgression of a law of nature by a particular volition of the Deity, or by the interposition of some invisible agent.”

29
Q

Hume says the probability of a miracle is…

A

Incredibly low. The probability of an event is determined by the frequency with which it has been observed to occur. A miracle, as an exception to the laws of nature, must then be the least likely event possible.

30
Q

How might Hume’s argument against miracles be criticized?

A

(1) He doesn’t consider firsthand accounts of miracles.
(2) He doesn’t consider the kinds of physical effects or traces a miracle might leave (such as a healed withered leg).

31
Q

Regarding miracles in the modern age, Bultmann said…

A

“It is impossible to use electric light and the wireless and to avail ourselves of modern medical and surgical discoveries, and at the same time to believe in the New Testament world of spirits and miracles.”

32
Q

Methodological naturalism is….

A

an explanation qualifies as “scientific” only if it restricts itself to the natural world.

33
Q

What is the logical form of the problem of evil?

A

The occurrence of evil and the existence of God are logically incompatible: it is a contradiction to claim both that a perfectly good, all-knowing, all-powerful being exists and that evil exists

34
Q

What is the evidential form of the problem of evil?

A

The occurrence of evil, though it does not prove that God does not exist, renders his existence unlikely or improbable

35
Q

What is a theodicy?

A

Attempts to explain why God actually allows evil. Tries to show that God is justified in allowing evil; it lays out the reasons why God allows evil and tries to show that those reasons are good ones

36
Q

What is a “defense” in the problem of evil?

A

An attempt to show that there is no logical incompatibility between the existence of evil and the existence of God. They take a defensive posture and attempt to deflect the charge of inconsistency or incoherence of the claims that both God and evil exist.

37
Q

What are two ways to resolve the problem of evil?

A

(1) See evil as an illusion, it doesn’t exist;
(2) Regard God as limited in either power or knowledge or goodness or all three

38
Q

What is the “greater-good” principle in modern theodicies?

A

The evil that God permits is justified because allowing that evil makes possible the achievement of a greater good or the prevention of a worse evil.

39
Q

What is the “soul-making” theodicy?

A

the world has been designed by God to be an environment that enables and facilitates each individual’s moral and spiritual development

40
Q

What are those who promote the evidentialist argument for evil saying?

A

The evil that we find renders it unlikely that God exists, and thus it provides us with good reason for not believing in God

41
Q

What are two alternative doctrines of hell?

A

(1) Annihilationism - God in his mercy simply annihilates those who make a final decision to reject him.
(2) Mild hell - The greater good that is served by hell is the preservation of human freedom: God respects each individual’s choice to finally reject him, if the individual so chooses. Hell is locked from the inside.

42
Q

In the line of Sam Harris, what is the pragmatic objection to religious belief?

A

Religious belief is fundamentally immoral and thus should be rejected

43
Q

What is reformed epistemology?

A

Belief in God can be rationally justified apart from any arguments or evidence because it is (or can be) properly basic

44
Q

What does it mean for a belief to be (1) basic and (2) properly basic?

A

A belief is basic for a person if he does not hold it on the basis of other beliefs that he holds; it is properly basic if it is also rationally justified for him, despite this lack of support from other beliefs

45
Q

What does Calvin mean by “sensus divinitatis”?

A

sense of the divine: an innate tendency or disposition to form an immediate (noninferential) belief in God

46
Q

What are the “noetic effects of sin”?

A

the corrupting effects of sin on the mind

47
Q

What is the hermeneutical circle?

A

One’s reading of the individual parts of a text, for example, is strongly influenced by one’s overall view of the text’s main thrust. Yet how does one acquire an understanding of that whole apart from an understanding of the parts?

48
Q

What are the factors to consider when evaluating an interpretative judgment?

A

(1) Logical consistency: Does the system of beliefs avoid contradictions?
(2) Coherence: Do the beliefs fit together well and form a unified whole?
(3) Factual adequacy: Does the belief system account for the facts of reality?
(4) Intellectual fertility: Does the belief system lead to new discoveries and insights?

49
Q

What is the proportionality principle?

A

The firmness of belief ought always to be proportionate to the quality of the evidence for the belief

Belief should be proportional to evidence.

50
Q

What is logical doubt?

A

A willingness to imaginatively consider the possibility that one’s own convictions are mistaken by honestly considering the new evidence and comparing one’s case with other possible cumulative cases

Willingness to imaginatively consider the possibility of being wrong.

51
Q

What is existential doubt?

A

A genuine worry that one’s own position is seriously flawed or that it’s quite possibly wrong

52
Q

What are the two approaches of religious pluralism?

A

(1) Stop thinking about religious truth in propositional terms and recognize that, religiously speaking, it’s personal lives that are true or false.
(2) John Hick, Any perceived differences are surface level, blind men and the elephant.

53
Q

What is apophatic theology?

A

Negative theology, speaks of God in terms of what he isn’t rather than describing what he is.

54
Q

What are the 2 types of religious experiences, according to William James?

A
  1. Healthy-minded experiences: characterized by a sense of joy, peace, and well-being.
  2. Sick-soul experiences: characterized by a sense of despair, guilt, and alienation.
55
Q

What are the 4 standards of epistemic justification for religious experiences for William Alston?

A
  1. Sensitivity: Must be in tune with the object of the experience.
  2. Objectivity: Must be real, not just a product of the person’s imagination.
  3. Intelligibility: Must be understandable.
  4. Widespreadness: Must be common and experienced by many others.
56
Q

What does Kierkegaard mean by “truth is subjectivity”?

A

Truth isn’t something that’s simply found or discovered, but rather something that’s created or appropriated by the person.
Truth isn’t something that’s simply given to us, but something that we must actively participate in. It’s something that we must choose and embrace.

Truth is created, not found.

57
Q

Why is God’s existence impossible, according to J. N. Findlay?

A
  1. Concept of God is incoherent; omnipotence and omnibenevolence are contradictory.
  2. Existence of God isn’t logically necessary: it isn’t impossible that he doesn’t exist.
  3. Not empirically verifiable.
  4. Not religiously necessary. People can live meaningful lives without God.
58
Q

A _________ is offered as a solution to the evidential problem of evil.

A

Theodicy

59
Q

A _________ is offered as a solution to the logical problem of evil.

A

Defense

Entrance Exam Prep (7 decks)

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