Knowledge of God's existance

Question 1

Who argues that we have an innate sense of God

Answer 1

Calvin

Question 2

What is the sensus divinitatis

Answer 2

seed of religion, an innate sence of God and natural human incliantion to carry out religious practises `

Question 3

What does calvin state about desire for God

Answer 3

“God is written in the Human Heart”

Question 4

How can the claim that knowledge of God is natural

Answer 4

• The unknown God, Pual convinces the Greeks that they are worshipping the true God altar of unknown God
• Universal consent arguement - Cicero beleives that if man people believe, then it must exist (FLAWED ARGUEMENT)
• Humans are religious beings

Question 5

How does Natural law link to knowledge of God

Answer 5

Natural law rests of supposition that all humans have an innate sense of goodness, fairness and justice however ill formed those views might be. Small children, for example, quickly develop a strong sense of fairness and justice

Question 6

How does conscience law link to Knowledge of God

Answer 6

Conscience is joint knowledge between ourselves and Argued that conscience is our God given faculty as creatures made in the image of God. As such our moral choice making responds to Gods will.

Question 7

What is Paley’s design argument (PURPOSE)

Answer 7

Analogy with the watch, watch is purposeful and functional, cogs etc. We know this watch has been created by a watch maker. Similar to how world is intrinsically designed there must be a God.

Question 8

What are objections to the design argument

Answer 8

Nature is more brutal than beautiful
Means God is also cruel, goes aginast God of faith and qualities
Darwin’s notion of evolution by natural evolution by natural selection, no longer widly accepted that the world is purposeful, nature has no final cause but just wants to survive
Natrue without purpsoe makes God redundant

Question 9

What are the suggested scholarly views of this topic

Answer 9

• Romans 1:18–21
  The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of people, who suppress the truth by their wickedness,

Question 10

How is God revealed through Faith

Answer 10

Through
Aquinas unformed faith: faith which may find intellectual reasons why, a person may find afterlife is possible but cannot accept it is true. Devils believed in God but did not trust to save them
Formed Faith: Faith which wills to accept what it can believe through. E.g faith is willing to believe that the evidence of those who witnessed Jesus resurrection

Question 11

What is Calvin’s Protestant teaching about faith?

Answer 11

Firm and certain knowledge: only revealed by Christ

Willingness to believe: Faith is given to anyone who is willing to accept it

Question 12

How can Jesus reveal God

Answer 12

• Christ is the image or likeness of the invisible God
• God became a human being because he accommodates himself to our actual physical and mental condition
• Calvin describes Christ as the mirror and mediator of the divine

Question 13

What was the Barth Brunner debate

Answer 13

a debate focused on Calvin by Brunner and Barth

Question 14

What did Brunner argue

Answer 14

that Calvin’s notion that God’s general revelation in nature as a point of contact is insufficient to achieve redemption which is revealed through Christ.

Question 15

What were Brunners views

Answer 15

• Imago Dei, the image of God in humans after fall had been destroyed
• General revelation, God communicates through nature which reflects his nature, but as humans are blinded they do not receive this as grace just as a sign

Question 16

What was Barths reply to Brunner

Answer 16

Human nature is completely corrupted by the fall and that there are no points of contact in nature of any kind which would allow humans to know.

Question 17

What were Barths views (3)

Answer 17

Formal self cannot inform the material self of God’s existence. Barth different from animals but fall has blocked out ability to know God

No points of contact. Nature conscience and guilt do not provide anything with God

Order of creation. Barth argues that although we are able to perceive order in nature it is not the basis for morality or salvation.

Question 18

What does Alvin Plantinga believe

Answer 18

Begins with notion that God can be held along with other basic beliefs.

Weaker sensus divinitatis where there is general sense to make reasonable basic religious claims

Rejects natural theology

Question 19

What is natural theology

Answer 19

theology that provides arguments for the existence of God based on reason and ordinary experience of nature

Question 20

Criticsm of Plantinga

Answer 20

• Knowledge of God is not basic, millions of people have had sense of God chance they could have just
  not interpreitated fully
• Plantinga assuemes that Christian beleifs such as holy spirit is true, no reason to expalin why bible is not enough

Question 21

Brunner on natural world

Answer 21

Natural world provides general knowledge of God but not sufficeint for salvation

Question 22

How does the bible support Calvin’s view

Answer 22

Bible: supports idea that people are born with a sense for God e.g. Genesis God breathes into Adam with his own breath. We are made in the image of God and so can appreciate beauty and goodness in the world which are manifestations of God’s goodness and creativity.

Question 23

Dawkins on faith

Answer 23

Dawkins: faith encourages people to be lazy in their thinking. Where there is a gap in human knowledge it is described as a mystery and that evidence is not necessary.