3.2A- Knowledge of God's existence

Question 1

what’s the fundamental problem for natural and revealed theology?

Answer 1

that unlike all other forms of knoweldge, the object, God, is uniquely different from any other object (in fact he isn’t even an object)

Question 2

what did St. Bonaventure think?

Answer 2

believed there was 3 ways of seeing things:
-eye of flesh: see the world
-eye of reason: see the soul and what it contains
-eye if contepmtion:might see Godand the things he contains

Question 3

What is a famous Albert Einstein quote relating to this topic?

Answer 3

“Science without religion is lame”

Question 4

Natural theology

Answer 4

-supposes that God is the creator of the universe and humans are conscious elements of that universe, then they have a natural predisposition to know God as their creator
-supported by all branches of the Christiain church

Question 5

Cicero

Answer 5

-thought all humans have a natural instinct to believe in God, and that people learn more about God by using their reason
-If so many people believe in Gid, he simply must exist
-Influential for Aquinas and Augustine

Question 6

Aquinas’ 5 ways for proving the existence of God

Answer 6

Motion
Efficient cause
Possibility and necessity
Gradation
design

Question 7

Aquinas believed that ___ set everything ____ ______

Answer 7

God
into
motion

Question 8

introduction to the Catechism of the Catholic Church and the 4 sections

Answer 8

intended primarily to explain the teachings of the Catholic faith
the 4 sections are:
1. The Creed (what the Church belives)
2. The sacraments (what the Church celebrates)
3. The commandments (what the Church lives)
4. The our Father

Question 9

Why is John Clavin important?

Answer 9

key figure in developing Christian theology, including doctrines of predestination.

Question 10

William Paley

Answer 10

Famous for his watch argument, citing that there must be a grand creator who slotted everything into place, this for Christians, is God.

Question 11

Cardinal Newman

Answer 11

uses their innate sense of morailty, their inner conscience and ‘vice of God’ as evidence that God exists.

Question 12

Ian Barbour

Answer 12

believed God and the world act in tandem and God isn’t indepepndant from the natural processes but works with them to maximise their great potential.

Question 13

Richard Swinburne

Answer 13

argues that our human reaction and powers of observation provides us with solid grounds for supporting the probability that there is a God

Question 14

James Bailey

Answer 14

the ability to recognise God is innate and automatic

Question 15

Revealed theology

Answer 15

-the idea that God has deliberately chosen to given some knowledge to epole- knowledge that otherwise couldn’t have been gained.
-Protestants think we need it because we are fallen creatures
-Catholics think we need it because of differerences between God and humanity
-the difference between revealed and nautral theology began in the Middle Ages
-revleaed theology is specieal becuase available to everyone through faith.
-built on natural theology

Question 16

immediate revelation

Answer 16

-when God makes himself directly known to people
-examples include Adma and Eve
-Everyone who met Jesus has immediate revelation of God which gave the apostles their authority.

Question 17

mediate revelation

Answer 17

-learn about God and gain knowledge less directly
-Examples include Moses and the worlds of the prophets
-people disagree whether the Bible is mediate or immediate revelation

Question 18

Jean Porter: revealed through God’s grace

Answer 18

-In both Roman Catholic and protestant theology, although faith may rely on the assent of the mind and the spirirt God’s grace is required to complete the relationship.
-God’s grace is required to strengthen the faith of humanity through the Holy Spirit.

Question 19

St. Aquinas: revealed through God’s grace

Answer 19

-In Summa Theologica, empirical and logical knowledge is certain because we cane see the evidence.
-Faith however, doesn’t have the firm self
-Argued we cannot have faith and scientific knowledge about the same things, because faith is about things that don’t hsv certainty.
-Preservance of the Holy Spirit is requirec to affirm faith fully.

Question 20

The fall: revealed through God’s faith

Answer 20

-Adam and Eve ate fruit and were banished from the Garden of Eden
-How might this affect human’s relationship with God? It will distance people from God

Question 21

John Calvin: revealed through God’s faith

Answer 21

-If The Fall happened, then everyone would’ve known God directly
-Humans could have a relationship with God based on natural theology

Question 22

St. Interger Steitisset: revealed through God’s faith

Answer 22

-The only true knowledge of God is a salvation

Question 23

Protestant teachings: revealed through God’s faith

Answer 23

-faith is firm and certian knowledge
-Calvin criticises Aquinas because he has not made Christ the direct object of faith.
-Willingness to believe

Question 24

Catholicisism’s view: revealed through God’s faith

Answer 24

-think The Fall did not cut humans off from knowning God, but it did confuse and distract their desires from him.

Question 25

Catholicism and Calvin: revealed through God’s faith

Answer 25

-follow on from Calvin
-Although The Fall didn’t seperate God and humanity completley, it did cause an epistemic chasm which may block or obstruct the natural desire for God.

Question 26

Revelation through the Bible: revealed through God’s faith

Answer 26

-through Christian history, God is understood to reveal himself through religious expierences:
-angles transmitting voice of God
-visions
-dreams that proclaim messages
-covnersation and experiences
-Bibilical prophets were speaking the word of the Lord.

Question 27

Barth and Brunner

Answer 27

Barth (1886-1968)
-Reformed minister
-developed neo-orthodoxy
-Church Domatics (1932-1967), was his greatest work

Brunner (1889-1966)
-Reformed minister
-supported neo-orthodoxy
-influenced Aquinas
-Barth disagreed with Brunner’s mention of Aquinas
wrote Nein! or No! in 1938

Both Barth and Brunner essays were published together in 1946.

Question 28

Faith and reason: Faith, Jesus and the Church

Answer 28

In Chirstianity, faith is a virtue
Faith is needed in order to overcome the epsitemic distance, as reasoning only goes so far.

Question 29

Aquinas and faith: Faith, Jesus and the Church

Answer 29

-He distinguished between uniformed and formed faith.
-uniformed faith- people intellectually believe I accept another’s beliefs in God but cannot accept it themselves.
-formed faith- is faith in which a person accepts what they can believe rationally through the intellect, concluding that it’s true.
-For Aquinas, one needs both faith and reason in order to achieve a full knowledge of God.
-John Locke agreed with Aquinas that faith is reason, he believed faith was a form of assent, so reaosn was required to regulate this.

Question 30

Martin Luther and faith: Faith, Jesus and the Church

Answer 30

-He goes one step further and rejects reason altogether. He says that reaosn, common sense and mathmatical proofs are of no value
-Christians have the Bible, that’s all I need
-He argues that if we use our limite human reason to access a divine being, we limit that being’s status. We cannot comprehend God, so we must use the Bible alone.

Question 31

Seren Kierkegard: Atheists and Faith

Answer 31

-states that reason cannot graps the essence of God, it can only undermine faith. God will seem absurd from the position of reason.

Question 32

Richard Dawkins: Atheists and Faith

Answer 32

-Give that ne cannot scientifically test faith, it is impossible to argue against. “Faith is the great cop-out”

Question 33

Jesus Christ: Faith, Jesus and the Church

Answer 33

-For Christians, Jesus is the ultimate revelation (ultimate mediator) of God
-‘Christ is redemption of the world’ is the lens through which humans should see everything
-God knew Jesus was the mediator from the beginning.

Question 34

Jesus and the Catholic Church: Faith, Jesus and the Church

Answer 34

-revelation was gradual
-completed with nothing further until the end of time
-believers duty to understand the significance
-private revelations are pointless towards ultimate revelation

Question 35

Jesus and the Church: Faith, Jesus and the Church

Answer 35

-revelation of Chirst understood by looking at the life of Jesus (such as through events like the incarnation, the life anf ministry of Jesus, and salvation)
-Clearly, the more centrally that Jesus is placed in a Chirstian’s understanding of hw we can know God, the harder it is to accept the salvation of non-Christians

Question 36

The Bible and the Church: Faith, Jesus and the Church

Answer 36

-some Christians reject the authority of the Bible on the basis of contradictions, or the modern advances of science (liberals)
-some believe the Bible to be the word of God (fundamental), whilst some believe it to be written by divinely inspired humans, colouring it with their own experience (conservatives)

Question 37

John Calvin and the Bible: Faith, Jesus and the Church

Answer 37

-believed scriptures to be required to understand’s God work on earth as it is a core record of his work
-It is through scriptures that we can fully understand all the other points of contact that we encounter and it has ultimate authoirty

Question 38

The Catholic Church and the Bible: Faith, Jesus and the Church

Answer 38

-sees God as the authors of the scriptures and the contents of the Bible as being the breath of the Holy Spirit
-life of the Church helps Christians to understand the Bible
-The church helps the believers to access God’s Grace through it’s ministry

Question 39

John Calvin and the Church: Faith, Jesus and the Church

Answer 39

-Not a place of teaching authority in the same way
-Believed the church to be the body of Christ
-The result of the coming of the mediator