Knowledge of God's Existence Flashcards
(23 cards)
Natural theology
discovering truths about God by using human reason and experience
Why is it important
Most people don’t have direct revelations of God so this allows them to gain knowledge and understanding of God.
St Paul quote
“since the creation of the universe, God’s invisible qualities…have been clearly seen, being understood from what He has made”
Design Qua Regularity
Aquinas teleological argument that things in the universe have regular patterns and order that they could not have given themselves so it had to be made by something out of this world - God. .e.g. seasons, planets
Design Qua Purpose
Paley’s teleological argument that everything in the world has a ‘maker’ and some things are too complex to be made by something already in this world so they must have been made by God .e.g. watch analogy, Fibonacci sequence
Calvin metaphors
The natural world “is a mirror in which we can contemplate God” and “a theatre for the display of the divine attributes”
Calvin’s description of nature
‘point of contact’ between humans and the divine.
Calvin reasoning for why people do not see God in universe
Human mind is clouded by sin and greed that distorts reason and stops us seeing God. This epistemic distance is caused by humans, not God.
Fibonacci Sequence
‘Golden ratio’ that can be seen throughout the universe that has no explanation which reveals the awesome handiwork of God
Sensus Divinitas
Calvin. Divine seed that all humans have as an instinctive awareness of God that allows us to see him.
Universal consent argument
Cicero. Many people from all cultures have all held a belief in God, so this instinct to belief in a higher power must be naturally present in all humans
The Unknown God
St Paul went to Athens where there were statues of many Gods. There was also a statue of an unknown God which Paul believe was evidence that they knew the true God as their souls drew them towards it.
Revealed theology
knowledge about God which has been directly given to humans by God himself
Biblical examples of revealed theology
10 commandments - Exodus
Saul’s vision - Acts
Immediate revelation
When God makes himself directly known to a person
Mediate Revelation
When person with immediate revelation passes this knowledge onto others
Verbally inspired
Bible is literally word-for-word from God
Divinely inspired
Bible may have been inspired by God or faith but written by people at the time.
Calvin described Christ as
“mirror and mediator of the divine”
Final revelation
Marth idea that Jesus is the final revelation because he has revealed everything we need to know about God.
Faith
Is needed to accept that God revealed himself through Jesus
Faith relies on…
Reason, or we could have faith in anything .e.g. unicorns
But we have faith and reason through
God’s Grace
