3.1 C Questions

Question 1

Explain how a Catholic upbringing can lead to belief in God

Answer 1

• Parents can teach their children how to pray to God
• Going to Church
• Attending a Catholic school
• Taking the sacraments

Question 2

Explain how religious experience can lead to belief in God

Answer 2

• A numinous experience
• A conversion
• A miracle
• Having a prayer answered

Question 3

Explain how the design argument leads to belief in God

Answer 3

• We can see that everything has a designer
• William Paley argued that complexities of the world show it’s been designed
• The pocket watch analogy
• The world can’t have appeared out of no where

Question 4

Explain how the causation argument may lead to belief in God

Answer 4

• It states that everything has a first cause which has the powers to being a process
• It required something uncaused itself in order to be the first cause of everything - God
• The cause of the universe needs to exist outside of it
• Thomas Aquinas argued about cause and effect

Question 5

Explain why the scientific explanations of the world leads to people being agnostic or atheist

Answer 5

• Evolution explains how humans exist without God
• Humans evolved rather than being directly created
• An omnipotent event isn’t necessarily God
• The Big Bang can explain the existence of the world without God

Question 6

Explain how Catholics respond to scientific explanations of the world

Answer 6

• Explanations are true
• The Big Bang must have been caused by God
• Evolution is part of Gods plan
• The main parts of the Bible story fit with science so both are correct

Question 7

Explain why unanswered prayers may lead to athiesm

Answer 7

• If God loved us he would answer our prayers
• An omniscient God would know we were praying and know how to answer
• An omnipotent God would be powerful enough to answer
• God would want to stop evil and suffering in the world

Question 8

Explain how Catholics respond to unanswered prayers

Answer 8

• God does answer all prayers
• What we pray for may not be in Gods plan
• God wants us to learn something for ourselves
• God answers prayers in other ways

Question 9

Explain how the existence of evil and different can lead to atheism

Answer 9

• If God was omnipotent he would be able to stop evil and suffering
• If God was benevolent he would stop evil and suffering
• If God was omniscient he would know that moral evil was about to happen and stop it
• If God created the world, why did he create natural disasters

Question 10

Explain how Catholics respond to evil and suffering

Answer 10

• There is suffering so that we can help others
• It’s not Gods fault
• Evil and suffering is not a problem
• Evil and suffering isn’t something we should worry about

Question 11

Explain arguments for someone not believing in God

Answer 11

• No physical proof of heaven
• Not satisfied that there is life after death
• May never have had a religious experience
• May never have had an answered prayer