[GCSE] Phil and Eth: Arguments for the Existence of God Flashcards
Based on the specification. (45 cards)
1
Q
Define revelation and give the 2 types.
A
It is God’s unveiling of himself to humanity. Natural revelation is the revealing of God in the nature of the universe (more spiritual) and Special revelation is the revealing of God in holy books.
2
Q
How does Natural Revelation prove God exists?
A
The design argument.
3
Q
How does Special Revelation prove God exists?
A
Proved using the Bible.
- The Bible is inspired by the Holy Spirit, which means it comes from God and reveals God.
- The Church teaches God speaks through the old and new testament, showing his character and commands.
- Also contains God’s laws e.g. 10 commandments, so it has authority by showing Catholics how God wants people to live.
4
Q
What is the significance of Jesus Christ as the culmination of revelation?
A
- All small revelations in the Old Testament are not only summed up in the life of Jesus but made even cleaerer and fuller
- The Catholic Church teaches there can be no further and fuller revelation of God after Jesus, as God’s message to humanity reached its highest point in him
- God’s final truth came in Jesus
- “men should have accesss to the Father through Christ, the Word made flesh” - CCC51
5
Q
What does revelation in Jesus Christ show Catholics about God’s nature?
A
- Their God is Christ-like
SO God is… - One who is love
- One who forgives
- One who meets people where they are
- Jesus on the cross showed and ultimate act of self-giving love and forgiveness for the sins of the world.
6
Q
Quote Hebrews 1:1-4.
Sums up the significance of Jesus Christ as a culmination of revelation.
A
“In these last days he has spoken to us by his Son…The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being”
7
Q
What is a vision?
A
Something seen in a dream, trance or religious ecstasy, which gives a religious message.
8
Q
How do visions prove the existence of God?
A
- Shows God is still at work in the world
- Shows God is love because he is concerned about his world
- Shows God is still communicating revelation to humans
- Shows God can change people’s lives for the good through visions.
9
Q
What is the importance of visions for Catholics?
A
- They show God cares for and can intervene in the world
- They authenticate some aspect of the Christian message
- They prove that Christ, or the Virgin Mary, or the saints have a continuing and active presence in the life of the Church
- They show it’s worthwhile to pray to Christ and the Virgin Mary and to pray through the saints
10
Q
Explain the vision in Genesis 15:1-5.
Or quote it.
A
- Abraham will have a biological son and numerous descendants
“Then the word of the Lord came to him: ‘This man will not be your heir, but a son who is your own flesh and blood will be your heir.’…‘Look up at the sky and count the stars…so shall your offspring be.’”
11
Q
Explain the vision in Matthew 17:1-9.
Or quote it.
A
- The apostles see Moses and Elijah talking to Jesus, a bright cloud covers them and they hear God’s (? they dk) voice telling them Jesus is God’s son, God is very pleased and they must listen to Jesus.
“A voice from the cloud said, ‘This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased. Listen to him!’”
12
Q
Explain the vision Joan of Arc had.
A
- Peasant girl in France who had a vision of Archangel Michael and Saints Margaret and Catherine, who told her to drive the English out of France.
- She inspired French armies with her words and led the French to several victories before being captured by the English, tried as a heretic and burnt in 1431.
- Her trial was later overturned by the Pope. She was beatified and canonised.
13
Q
Why may visions lead to belief in God?
A
- They may know the visionary deeply enough to believe them about the vision, so the vision must only come from God
- Changes to the visionary’s behaviour
- Details of the vision making them think it must come from God
- The vision’s message makes them think it must have come from God
14
Q
Give Atheist/Humanist arguments about visions.
A
- Atheists and Humanists don’t believe in God, so visions musn’t be communicating anything real
- Visions can be explained by scientific enquiry of the visionary
- Visions could be a result of hallucinations (due to mental illness, stress or certain types of meds)
- Visions of certain people (e.g. Mary) align with what Catholics say they look like but not what they would’ve looked like (e.g. white, not brown and dark haired.)
15
Q
Give responses of Catholics to Atheist and Humanist views on visions.
A
- Visionary wasn’t suffering from mental or physical illness at the time of the vision
- Visionary wasn’t on meds or drugs
- Visionary had a good moral nature
- Meaning of vision aggrees with the teaching of the Bible and the Church
- Vision has a positive effect on the visionary and Catholics in general
16
Q
What is a miracle?
A
An event which seems to break a law of science and the only explanation for it seems to be God.
17
Q
What is the nature and importance of miracles of Catholics?
A
Miracles show that God…
- Is active in the world he has made (shown in feeding of 5000 and stilling of the storm, both by Jesus)
- Cares for the people in his world and uses miracles to strengthen people’s faith (father of epileptic boy asked Jesus to strengthen his faith, Jesus healed son in return)
- ‘s nature is love, so sends miracles out of love, as Jesus did in the raising of Lazarus
18
Q
Explain the miracle(s) that made Lourdes a miraculous place.
A
- Bernadette saw 18 apparitions of the Virgin Mary
- In one of the apparitions, the girl led Bernadette to a grotto where a miraculous spring appeared
ALSO…
- Danila Castelli was receiving repeated treatment and surgery for spontaneously high blood pressure and removal of tumours
- She entered baths in Lourdes which are fed by the spring water, and came out completely cured.
- Although reviewed 5 times, the medical board certified the cure.
19
Q
Explain the miracle within John 4:43-54.
Or quote it.
A
- Jesus healed a royal official’s son at a distance
“His servants met him with the news that his boy was living. When he enquired as to the time when his son got better, they said to him, ‘Yesterday, at one in the afternoon, the fever left him.’ Then the father realised that this was the exact time at which Jesus had said to him, ‘Your son will live.’”.
20
Q
Why can miracles lead to a belief in God?
A
- If the miracle is real, God has acted on the earth and the people witnessing it have had direct contact with God, so he must exist
- If the miracle is real, God must have performed it, so he must exist
- If an atheist or agnostic witnesses a miracle, their first reaction will be to look for a natural explanation; if none is found, they will be led to believe in God
21
Q
Give some atheist and humanist attitudes to miracles.
A
- Miracles are supposed to break laws of nature, laws of nature are based on our whole experience of life, evidence of the miracle must be stronger than our whole experience of life and never is
- Evidence for miracles is always based on evidence of witnesses, but witnesses can make mistakes or lie
- Any past miracles may have been claimed to be so because they didn’t have enough scientific information to explain it otherwise
- Many past-miracles can be explained now e.g. the red sea due to tectonic activity
- If God truly performed miracles, why won’t he focus on bigger issues?
- All religions claim miracles, so miracles don’t prove a specific religion right
22
Q
Give some Catholic responses to Athetist and Humanist views on miracles.
A
- We can rely on truth in biblical miracles as the Bible is authenticated by God
- Miracles authenticated by the Church can be believed as they have been examined scientifically and proved to be true
- If God used miracles to aim at bigger problems, life would change drastically. Miracles are signs of his presence and tools to strengthen faith.
23
Q
What is a religious experience?
A
An event that people feel gives them direct contact with God.
24
Q
Give the types of religious experiences.
A
- Visions
- Miracles
- Conversion
- Numinous experience
- Prayer
25
Explain why some religious experiences are diregarded by the Church.
Experiences can only be regarded as genuine as long as they don't contradict the beliefs of the Church. Religious experiences strengthen people's faith and prove God's existence. If used to make other claims about the faith, they must be confirmed as genuine by the Church.
26
Give the SOWA relating to disregarding certain religious experiences.
"They ['private revelations'] do not belong, however, to the deposit of faith. It is not their [religious experiences'] role to improve or complete Christ's definitive Revelation."
27
State some Athetist and Humanist attitudes to religious experience.
- As and Hs don't believe in God so don't believe religious experiences become from God.
- Religious experiences are just experiences being interpreted as religious.
- Religious experiences have no existence except within the mind; apart from miracles
- All miracles can be explained
- A conversion experience is only in a person's head
- There are more unanswered prayers than answered ones
- Followers of all religions claim religious experiences, so can't prove truth of any one religion
28
Give some Catholic responses to Atheist and Humanist arguments.
- The CC teaches, when non-believers seek peace, justice and meaning, they are seeking God without realising it
- Due to such a view, everyone has had a religious experience, just interpreted differently
- Many religious experiences don't prove the truth of their religion, but do prove the existence of God.
29
What is the classic form of the design argument?
- If you were walking in an uninhabitated place and came across a watch, it isn't by chance
- The complexity of the watch's mechanism would make you say it must have a designer
- The universe is far more complex than a watch
- If a watch needs a designer, the universe must have a designer. The designer must be God
30
Give modern evidence of the design argument.
- The universe works according to laws: gravity, electricity, magnetism, motion, bonding, gases etc. (need not name them all, perhaps 2 or 3), all involve complex things working together
- DNA could be another piece of evidence, as its structure is so complex its formation seems to indicate a design or blueprint for the structure of organisms
- Evidence seen in evolution, simple designs evolving into complex ones
- Evidence in the beauty of nature, an artist must'e design it
31
Using modern evidence, give modern evaluations of the design argument.
- Anything designed needs a designer
- If the world has been designed, the world must have a designer
- The only possible designer of something so beautiful and complex as the world must be God
- Therefore design proves that God exists.
32
Why is the design argument important for Catholics about the nature of God?
- God's existence can be demonstrated by looking at his creation **"Ever since the creation of the world his eternal power and devine nature, invisible though they are, have been understood and seen through the things he has made"** (Romans 1:20)
- God wants humans to use their reason to understand the world as well as the revelation he has given to the Church
- The universe works on fixed, logical principles designed by God which have enabled humans to make all the discoveries science has made
- God is the Creator of the universe and keeps it in existence
33
Give Atheist and Humanist rejections of the design argument.
- Argument ignores the evidence of the lack of design in the universe.
- All evidence for design can be explained by science without considering God
- The argument doesn't refer to the existence of dinosaurs, which must be part of design.
- Argument only proves that the universe has a designer, but it isn't necessarily God. It could be many gods, an evil creator or a god who used this universe as a trial.
34
Who authored the cosmological argument?
St Thomas Quinas in Summa Theologica.
35
What are the 3 ways of the cosmological argument?
1. Way of motion: there must be a first mover, moved by no other (God)
2. Way of causation: first cause (God)
3. Way of contingency: must be a non-contingent being (God)
| Contingent is when something can be or not be.
36
Give a few reasons why the cosmological argument is important.
- God is the origin of everything, the unmoved mover
- God is not another thing within the universe, he is within and beyond it
- God is a mystery, humans can only grasp so much about him
*"God is infinitely greater than all his works"*
37
Give some atheistic and humanist arguments against the cosmological argument.
- If everything needs a cause then why doesn't God?
- There is a possibility matter is eternal and wasn't created; therefore there was no first cause
- The universe doesn't necessarily need an explanation
38
Give some catholic responses to atheist and humanist arguments against the cosmological argument.
- To say the Big Bang and universe just happened is more unbelivable than to say it was designed and created by God
- The universe is too vast and complex to be chance; there must be a reason
- Humans are unique with an immortal soul that can't be observed or measured by science. It can only be explained by God.
39
What is moral evil?
Suffering caused by humans.
40
What is natural suffering?
Suffering caused by nature, nothing to do with humans.
41
Why does evil and suffering raise problems for Catholic beliefs about the nature of God?
- God's omnipotence: If all powerful, he can remove evil and suffering
- God's omnibenevolence: If all good, must want to remove evil and suffering
- God's omniscience: All knowing, must know about the evil and suffering
- If:
*"Israel will be saved by the Lord with an everlasting salvation; you will never be put to shame or disgraced"*
Why is everyone put to shame and disgraced like all the time?
42
Why does evil and suffering lead to some Christians to examine or reject their belief in God?
- The existence of evil and suffering challenges beliefs about God which come from the Bible
- Some people can't believe a good God would've designed a world that contained natural evils
- People find it hard to believe in a God who allows humans to cause so much evil and suffering when he could stop it if he wanted to
- Isaiah 45 warns that God has reasons for his actions which humans aren't in a position to challenge, however
| [not done]
43
What are the biblical solutions to the problem of evil and suffering?
- Story of Job: Job's good life was taken from Satan, Job questioned God but when presented with God's greatness; realised humans have no place to question because we can't understand the reason
- Psalms 119: Shows that evil doesn't go without good and vice versa. Suffering can bring believers to a deeper knowledge of God.
*"Before I was afflicted I went astray, but now I obey your word. You are good and what you do is good"*
44
What is the theoretical solution to evil and suffering?
- St Augustine argues that by giving people free will, they can choose to commit evil - hence it's not God's fault.
- St Irenaeus claims evil and suffering can't be removed as it prepares us for heaven and a life of being good, kind and loving.
45
What are the practical responses to evil and suffering?
- Prayer: Intercessory prayers to God get those in need relief. Christians believe the power of prayer is seen in it's results
- Charity: Jesus healed the sick and brought sight to the blind. Following that, Christians become doctors and social workers while also organising food banks and campaigns and running charities like CAFOD
