Believing In God

Question 0

Atheism

Answer 0

Believing that God does not exist

Question 1

Agnosticism

Answer 1

Not being sure wether God exists or not

Question 2

Conversion

Answer 2

When life is changed by giving yourself to God

Question 3

Free will

Answer 3

The idea that human beings are free to make their own choices

Question 4

Miracle

Answer 4

Something which seems to break a law of science and makes you think only God could have done it

Question 5

Moral evil

Answer 5

Actions done by humans which cause suffering

Question 6

Natural evil

Answer 6

Things which cause suffering but have nothing to do with humans

Question 7

Numinous

Answer 7

The feeling of the presence of something greater than you

Question 8

Omni-benevolent

Answer 8

The belief that God is all loving

Question 9

Omnipotent

Answer 9

The belief that God is all powerful

Question 10

Omniscient

Answer 10

The belief that God knows everything that has happened and is going to happen

Question 11

Prayer

Answer 11

An attempt to contact God, usually through words

Question 12

Religious Upbringing

Answer 12

“Honour your father and your mother” - Exodus
Religious festivals are celebrated, such as welcoming a newborn with a baptism, confirmation etc
Sunday school and being taught in a Christian environment
Makes people feel welcome and like they belong in society
Gives people a sense of purpose when they go to church regularly and pray

Question 13

Miracles

Answer 13

God is omnipotent and omnibenevolent, so he wants the best for his creation.
NT - Jesus and his disciples fed 5 thousand of people with only 5 loaves of bread and 2 fish.
Parting of the sea
Healing the ill

God only helps some people; are they more important?
A miracle helped Jesus escape Egypt, but not the people in the Holocaust
Inconsistent
Coincidental

Question 14

Prayer

Answer 14

A believer will feel closer to God through their attempt to communicate.
“Ask and it will be given to you” - Matthew. This is a broken promise because not everybody gets what they ask for.
People feel betrayed if they pray in faith at times of hardship and nothing happens
Seems like God doesn’t care

God has a plan, not all prayers can be answered for a good reason - Bruce Almighty

Question 15

Design/Teleological Argument

Answer 15

William Paley
The universe appears to have been designed
The world has a lot of order, such as gravity
Beautiful things which do no need to exist do
A being with intelligence must therefore have designed the universe
Only God could design something as complex as the universe
Therefore God exists

The designer may not have been God
Who designed God?

Question 16

Causation/Cosmological Argument

Answer 16

Thomas Aquinas
“In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth” - Genesis
Nothing can come into existence on its own - everything needs a cause
The universe therefore needs a cause
Only God is powerful enough to bring the universe into existence and to keep it going
Therefore God exists

Goes against theory of evolution - Darwinism
Universe is eternal, there is no beginning or end
Who caused God?

Question 17

Meaning of life/Purpose

Answer 17

Sense of reassurance
The good are rewarded, and the evil are punished - heaven and hell
Agape - unconditional love

Question 18

Neitzsche

Answer 18

“How could a God who is so good create a world so imperfect?”

Question 19

Evil and Suffering

Answer 19

God is said to be omni-benevolent, omnipotent and omniscient
Both God and evil cannot exist
Evil and suffering does exist
Therefore God cannot exist
Inconsistent triad

Free will defence -
God has given people free will to do as they wish, therefore God cannot interfere. St Augustine says that evil is the “absence of good”

Preparing believers for heaven - if there were no poor people, then believers could not give to charity.

God works with a final plan in view, which is all good and all loving.

Original sin - Adam and Eve disobeyed the command God gave them, sin and suffering were brought into the world by their freely chosen actions.

Question 21

Media

Answer 21

Teaches people things they did not know about religion
Is accessible worldwide, hard to avoid hearing about it
Hearing a different person’s opinion may help form your own opinion

Question 22

religious upbringing leads to belief

Answer 22

1. importance of family, lots of influence from them : “the family is the community in which, from childhood, one can learn moral values and begin to honour God” - catechism of catholic church
2. introduction to religion from birth : religious festivals celebrated, such as a baptism, confirmation etc
3. influence from community : christian parents take their children to church with people of similar/same beliefs, if everyone around is praying to god then you will believe there is good reason
4. being taught from young age : children who go to sunday school are brought up being influenced and taught about religion from a young age, learning lots about the bible and teachings of jesus, will believe what they’re told

Question 23

religious experiences lead to belief

Answer 23

1. miracles : an act of god, no other explanation for it, defies laws of science e.g. parting of the red sea to allow jews to flee egypt - exodus
2. prayers : one on one contact with god, very personal, if a prayer comes true it must be because god is listening to you eg. praying for an ill person to recover and they do
3. conversion : changes outlook on life and religion, can make people so devoted to religion that they change the way they live their life e.g. st paul was on his way to persecute christians, experience with god made him convert and spread the word of christianity
4. numinous : feeling presence of god, great wonder, something greater than yourself e.g. seeing an amazing landscape

Question 24

teleological for belief in god - william paley

Answer 24

1. paley’s watch : analogy shows the need for a designer, intricacy of the inside of a watch which has a maker, so things in universe like snowflakes must have a maker
2. can’t be accident : so many beautiful things that do not need to exist but still do such as the ability to sing, not possible for beautiful things to occur because of coincidence, they must have been designed and put on this universe
3. world has order : things that happen on the world that are perfect for human life, gravity, intelligent and loving being must have created the universe for it to be able to suit life
4. designer must be god : since these 3 things show the need for a designer, the typical omni god christians believe in is the only being that has the power to be able to design all of these things in the universe

Question 25

teleological against belief in god - william paley

Answer 25

1. natural evil : an omnibenevolent god would not design things like volcanoes which cause so much damage to lives 2. big bang : scientific evidence has other reasons to explain how the world was created, god did not design things on earth but big bang caused things to be the way they are 3. random change : dawkins uses genetic mutation to show how there is diversity in nature, complex things can change by chance, doesn't mean god intended them to be like this 4. evolution : darwin argues all living things that have evolved from more primitive forms of life, they were not created by god but processes of natural selection have made the world the way it is today

Question 26

cosmological for belief in god - thomas aquinas

Answer 26

1. chain of events : a cycle of cause and effect, must have been a first uncaused cause cause to begin the cycle, like someone knocking over the first domino to cause the rest to fall 2. gaps of knowledge : not enough scientific evidence to tell us how the universe came into existence, a powerful being is a good suggestion 3. darwinism : charles darwin's theory of evolution could be used to argue against, but it is also logical for people to believe that, although living things have evolved from something, there must have been something that created the first thing we have evolved from. 4. omni-god : logical explanation for the world's existence is that god was the first thing which created everything. omni-god would have the ability to create everything. "in the beginning, god created the heavens and the earth" - genesis

Question 27

cosmological against belief in god - thomas aquinas

Answer 27

1. omni-god : the all loving, powerful and knowing god that christians believe in would not have created such an imperfect world, wouldn't cause volcanic eruptions 2. darwinism : theory of evolution shows god is not needed, natural selection is what leads to living things evolving 3. eternal : the universe is believed to be eternal, if this were true then there would be no beginning or end, therefore no god who caused everything to exist. even if god is believed to also be eternal, wouldn't make sense to say he existed before the universe 4. first cause : it is possible for there to have been a first cause, but not necessarily god. what caused god to exist?

Question 28

science leads to disbelief in god

Answer 28

1. big bang : science shows universe came about because of an explosion of matter and energy 15 billion years ago, nothing to do with god 2. darwinism : theory of evolution shows god is not needed, natural selection is what leads to living things evolving 3. evidence : science is able to prove ideas about the existence of the universe, shows reliability and knowledge, there is no concrete proof that god exists 4. fuerbach : believes that god is "made up" by mankind to explain things such as the creation of the world, with science there is no need to believe in a superior being such as god

Question 29

christian response to science

Answer 29

1. lack of proof : not all scientific theories have been completely proved, there is still some lack of evidence to show they are true. the bible is a better source of truth than science 2. doesn't disprove: although science can be used to show how certain things in the world occur, it does not actually disprove the existence of god e.g. god created the scientific laws such as gravity 3. bible : both science and religion can be used to explain the creation of the world, genesis - "let there be light" can refer to the big bang occurring 4. gods plan : rcc believes evolution should not be used to disprove since the existence of god, since it is god that makes us evolve as part of his creative plan

Question 30

unanswered prayer leads to disbelief

Answer 30

1. broken promise : christians would not want to believe that god would lie to them, so if there is evidence in the bible that god can answer prayers but won't answer some in modern life, they will lose trust, "ask and you shall receive" - matthew 2. betrayal : people who pray at times of hardship and nothing happens may feel like they have wasted all their time believing and devoting themselves to god if he is unable to help when they need it, they will feel betrayed, eventually conclude he doesn't exist 3. god used to act very physically, such as answering prayers and healing the sick in the old testament, maybe he used to exist but doesn't any more since so many cries for help go unanswered e.g. praying for help in natural disasters 4. omni-god : having a prayer unanswered would seem like god doesn't love you or care about you, he doesn't have the power to help you, or doesn't know that you need help, christians would prefer to believe there is no god rather than a god that doesn't care and lacks power.

Question 31

christian response to unanswered prayer

Answer 31

1. overall good : a faithful and obedient christian will have trust in god, and though their prayers may not be answered when they want, in the long term god will provide good for each individual 2. appreciation : if christians prayed and always got what they want, they would never know suffering and never truly appreciate when good things happen to them, just as parents do not always give their children everything they ask for 3. gods plan : if a christian prays for someone they love to get better but they do not, it could be because god has different plans and wants this person to be in heaven 4. omni-god : when prayers go unanswered, christians would believe that there is good reason for this and since god is omnipotent and omnibenevolent, he will only do what is in the best interest of people, and will not answer selfish prayers

Question 32

evil and suffering leads to disbelief

Answer 32

1. inconsistent triad : if god was omnibenevolent and omnipotent like christians believe he is, he would stop all suffering in the world, but people still suffer so either god isn't a superior or being or he doesn't exist 2. prevention : if god really was omniscient, he would know when evil was going to occur and would do something to prevent it from happening, wether it be natural or moral evil, but evil exists so god does not 3. good/bad : christians believe that god punishes bad people and rewards the good, but if innocent people who are strong believers still suffer, god must not exist 4. creation : if god was what christians believed him to be, not only would he be able to stop suffering, but he would not have even invented it in the first place, if god created the universe, why would he create things which make people suffer such as volcanoes "how could a god who is so good create a world who is so imperfect?"

Question 33

christian response to evil and suffering

Answer 33

1. free will : if god has given all human beings to the free will to do as the wish, he cannot interfere and we cannot be puppets of god, evil and suffering are caused by humans, evil is an "absence of good" in people - st augustine 2. good/bad : some people believe christians are judged on how they respond to evil and suffering, natural evil allows believers to do good things and be more like jesus e.g. donate to charity, those who do good will past the test and go to heaven 3. gods plan : we cannot understand god's reasons for suffering, but he works with a final plan in view and humans must simple accept this and follow this example, "there will be no more death or mourning or crying" - revelation 4. original sin : god originally intended the world to be free of evil, but adam and eve used heir free will to disobey the command god gave them in the garden of eden, so humans are being punished for their first sin

Question 34

media can affect beliefs in god

Answer 34

1. inform : statistics with proof could lead you to believe or not believe in something, e.g. 80,000 people go to be healed every year in Lourdes but only 66 miracles have occurred 2. bias : richard dawkins strongly disbelieves in religion and uses emotive language such as "deluded", after watching his documentary people could be influenced by his thoughts and agree 3. accessibility : everyone is affected by it, seeing what is happening all the time, difficult to avoid these and not have an opinion 4. logical : some pieces of media provide convincing evidence that make sense to everyone wether they originally believe or do not believe in god, e.g. songs of praise reports stories of conversions

Question 35

media cannot affect beliefs in god

Answer 35

1. balance : media shows both the good and bad things about religion, e.g. a hurricane occurred but a lot of good people provided aid, not biased enough to make someone believe in one thing over the other without other sources of information 2. education : gives us perspective, people aren't going to change opinions and go against what they've been taught because of something they saw or heard on the media 3. personal : people tend to have religious opinions based on personal experiences, such as how they were brought up, not something that happened to a person they have never met 4. science : there is other reasoning that is more persuasive than television programmes or movies, knowledge from more intelligent people rather than inaccurate movie portrayals

Question 36

media leads to belief in god

Answer 36

1. explanations : some media can provide explanations for problems with believing in god, some people may lose faith because god has not answered their prayer, media such as bruce almighty suggests what might happen if all prayers were answered, simple reasoning that is understandable to everyone 2. influence : by hearing opinions of other people who believe in god, it is possible for people to be convinced by their arguments and believe what they are saying makes sense, thus believe in god 3. accessibility : everyone is affected by it, seeing what is happening all the time, difficult to avoid these and not have an opinion, seeing people do good could make you believe 4. miracles : media can present events which cannot be explained other than by saying it happened because of god, people would fail to see any other reason and then believe god must exist

Question 37

media leads to disbelief in god

Answer 37

1. extremist : media shows biased and extremist views on religion, such as dawkins saying religion leads to terrorism, some people may actually end up believing this 2. inform : statistics with proof could lead you to not believe in something, e.g. 80,000 people go to be healed every year in Lourdes but only 66 miracles have occurred 3. evil : the news shows moral and natural evil happening worldwide, when people see the huge scale of suffering that takes place, they will not believe that god exists since he is not preventing this and guiding people to do the right thing 4. authority : if a reliable source of information says that god does not exist, such as university professors or discovery science channel, people would trust them and be influenced by what they say