Theme C

Question 1

Teleological argument

Answer 1

1. The world is very complex, orderly, awe-inspiring
2. It’s unlikely this happened by chance or accident
3. There must be an all-powerful and intelligent designer
4. God must be real

Question 2

William paley’s qua purpose argument

Answer 2

• complex things do not appear by chance, they have to be designed
• the world is a very complex thing
• the world cannot have happened by chance or
• the world must have been designed by an intelligent being
• this is proof there is a God

Question 3

The human eye being evidence of God as qua purpose

Answer 3

• human eye is incredibly complex
• paley saw this as proof that humanity had been designed by God - he believed that such a complex organ couldn’t havre happened by chance or accident

Question 4

Paley’s analogy of a watch

Answer 4

• if you were walking along and came across a watch on the floor and you had never seen one before and you didn’t know what it was, you would look at all its intricate parts working together to form a particular purpose, you would assume it has a creator, just as the universe has a creator

Question 5

Aquinas’s qua regularity argument

Answer 5

• natural objects cannot be ordering themselves in these patterns
• there must be a supernatural being creating this order: God

Question 6

Strengths of teleological argument

Answer 6

• coherent with bible: supported by genesis story
• big bang was so unlikely to have happened exactly the any it did and this shows that it is much more likely that was an intelligence behind it: God
• science still doesn’t understand the recurring mathematical patterns that are seen in nature: shows that there must be an intelligent creator, not just chance behind the universe

Question 7

Weakness of teleological argument

Answer 7

• theory of evolution shows us how things in nature become complex over time: shows that there is a natural explanation not just God
• complex machinery is usually built/designed by more tan one person, therefore William paley’s argument would therefore suggest that there is more than one God
• nature actually doesn’t appear very well designed at all as there are lots of natural disasters: all evidence that the world wasn’t designed by a loving God

Question 8

Cosmological argument

Answer 8

1. Everything that exists must have a cause
2. The universe exists so it must have a cause
3. Whatever is the cause of the universe must be something outside of the universe, something eternal + powerful
4. This eternal and powerful first cause must be God
5. Therefore God must exist

Question 9

How would Christians use the existence of the universe as evidence for the existence of God

Answer 9

• God was the start of he chain of events which led to the present
• if the universe didn’t have a beginning, there would be no adequate explanation for its existence

Question 10

Lourdes

Answer 10

• 1858, young girl called Bernadette lived there
• she had many visions from Mary and one of them told her where to dig in the ground. She found running water
• after this, people who drank or bathed in the water claimed to be miraculously cured and the Catholic Church has officially recognised 69 miracles

Question 11

Example of miracle at Lourdes

Answer 11

• jean-Pierre: paralysed soldier from ww2
• 1967 travelled to Lourdes, he prayed to God to heal him
• her started to be able to walk again, bullets were gone from his spine
• jean believed God had cured him

Question 12

What did Richard Swinburne believe in

Answer 12

Principles of testimony and credulity

Question 13

Principle of testimony

Answer 13

• unless we have specific reason not to believe someone (eg. I know they are a habitual liar) then we should believe he things people tell us because people do normally tell the truth

Question 14

Strengths of principle of testimony

Answer 14

• humans are quite good at detecting liars so the principle is easy to apply

Question 15

Weakness of principle of testimony

Answer 15

• human nature is prone to exaggeration
• lying is more common than Swinburne recognises
• the principle only works if you’re hearing the miracle account first hand

Question 16

The principle of credulity

Answer 16

• we don’t usually imagine things that aren’t happening, so if something happens to me which seems unbelievable, I should believe my senses unless i know of a reason why I might be wrong

Question 17

Strengths of principle of credulity

Answer 17

• a theist would agree that when extraordinary things happen, there is an ex platoon and God is as likely an explanation as anything

Question 18

Weakness of principle of credulity

Answer 18

• the human mind s complex and we don’t fully understand it, so some of our experiences ma be wrong
• science tells us that the ,ind will sometimes generate ideas or visions to comfort itself

Question 19

Objections to the argument of miracles

Answer 19

• miracles are no more than lucky coincidences
• they may have scientific explanations not yet discovered
• some miracles are fakes, made up by people who want fame or money

Question 20

Bible miracles

Answer 20

• Jesus’ resurrection
• Jesus heals the paralysed man
• Moses parts the Red Sea for escaping slaves
• Jesus walks on water
• Jesus feeds 5000 from 3 loaves of bread and fish
• Jesus heals a man with leprosy

Question 21

Weaknesses of cosmological argument

Answer 21

• contradicts itself: everything must have a cause, who caused God ?
• scientists believe big bang was random, not something that was caused
• just because everything we see in the universe has a cause doesn’t mean that the universe has a cause

Question 22

Strengths of problem of evil

Answer 22

• uses clear logical reasoning instead of faith. Faith is subjective and fallible. Eg. In arguments for gods existence, there is often a leap of faith made is conclusion. Whereas logical reasoning doesn’t do this
• based on observable evidence around us - suffering is universal - we all experience it whereas evidence for gods existence such as miracles are not universally observable. Therefore, there is more evidence to support the claim that suffering exists - undeniable

Question 23

Weakness of problem of evil

Answer 23

Augustine + iranaeus

Question 24

Strengths of argument of science

Answer 24

• science is rigorously tested and based on reliable evidence therefore this more likely to be true, whereas arguments for gods existence rely on faith and make a leap of faith to conclude God exists
• the argument shows that belief in God is irrational in todays world because science follows the evidence to a rational conclusion whereas faith has the conclusion first (God exists) and finds evidence for it

Question 25

Weakness of argument of science

Answer 25

- scientific theories may well be proven wrong in the future - there is not always certainty in science so we can’t always use it to reject religious beliefs - there are many things that science can’t answer, whereas religion can. Therefore, religion is a better way of understanding the world, not science - religion provides sufficient reason for the universe, whereas science does not

Question 26

How does special revelation influence or impact the life of recipient? (William James)

Answer 26

1. Change: the person experiences a significant positive change in their life 2. Elation: the person experiences a feeling of positivity and deep inner contentment 3. Purpose: the person feels a new sense of purpose in their life

Question 27

Alternative explanations for special revelations

Answer 27

- hallucinations - lying for publicity - coincidences - body putting mind to ease - mentally unstable - subconscious playing tricks - under influence of drugs or alcohol -sleep deprivation

Question 28

What do Christians learn about God through nature

Answer 28

- omnipotent: creator - omnibenevolent: created for us - omniscient: knew how/what to create - immanence/omnipresent: there within nature

Question 29

What do Christians learn about God through conscience

Answer 29

- omnibenevolent: shows God wants what is right and good - omnipresent: God is intervening in the world - omnipotent: able to be this voice within us - shows that God is good and moral

Question 30

Bible as verbally inspired (general revelation)

Answer 30

- the bible is literally word for word from God - God directly told the bible writers what to write - the bible is therefore inerrant

Question 31

Bible as divinely inspired (general revelation)

Answer 31

- bible writers may have been inspired by God or faith but they wrote the words themselves - bible therefore reflects the attitudes and opinions of the time periods in which it was written - bible is therefore not totally inerrant

Question 32

Strengths of special revelation

Answer 32

- gives definite and precise information about God: from the experience of the burning bush, Moses learnt that God was real and he should follow gods instructions - for the person, it is totally convincing and undeniable proof that God exists

Question 33

Weakness of special revelation

Answer 33

- it is very rare and doesn’t happen to many people therefore its most likely not real or exaggerated - there is no evidence that these experiences are really from God. For example it could be a coincidence that the bush caught fire and people could make up that God spoke to them

Question 34

Strength of general revelation

Answer 34

- it’s a type of revelation that is easily available to everyone for example through nature, conscience or Bible - it might allow you to build a deeper connection with God yourself rather than having to wait for a special revelation

Question 35

Weakness of general revelation

Answer 35

- the ideas and conclusions gained about God are quite vague and open to interpretation for example, the fact that a normal occurrence in nature happens doesn’t mean that this is God revealing himself - it assumes that we can understand God by ourselves. Some Christians would say we can ever understand God by ourselves because he is otherworldly and impossible to fully comprehend