UNIT 1 PR Revision - The Existence of God

UNIT 1 PR Revision - The Existence of God

AO1 - Assessment of knowledge and understanding of topics and key concepts

AO2 - Assessment of evaluation and expressing opinion

1.6 Main reasons people choose to believe in God

• They have had a religious upbringing; faith
• Religious experience; miracles and visions
• The world is too amazing for chance; design argument 
• God offers hope and comfort
• God provides an answer to things we cannot explain

Main reasons people choose not to believe in God

• Too much suffering and evil in the world for a benevolent God
• Seeing is believing; no experience or revelation
• No actual scientific proof; empirical evidence

1.1 First Cause Argument

Saint Thomas Aquinas was a monk who spoke of the First Cause Argument. He said that everything must have been caused by something else; like dominoes, something must have pushed them to fall. Therefore the universe must have a beginning, an Uncaused Cause. Aquinas said that this Uncaused Cause had to be God, and that everyone believed it.

Good

• The Big Bang could have been caused by God
• The Uncaused Cause must defy laws of nature
• The Uncaused Cause must have existed before the start of the world

Bad

• He was a monk so he would say that the Uncaused Cause was God; atheists wouldn't
• There is no scientific proof for the Uncaused Cause actually existing or being God
• There is no scientific proof for that everything is caused by something else
• The causes would surely go on forever and have no cause; infinite causes?
• The Big Bang theory is credible with empirical evidence
• What happened to this God; did he die afterwards or has no power now?

1.2 Design/Teleological Argument

William Paley philosophised the design argument. He started by saying that if you saw a stone, you would think nothing but if you found a complicated watch, you would know that it had been designed. He said that the world was so intricately made that it must have been even more designed, too amazing for chance. This designer had to be God.

Good

• Lots of things like eyes are perfectly adapted for their job
• Lots of things are unique like thumbprints (Issac Newton)
• Designer must have existed before time

Bad

• Lots of things have adapted due to evolution
• Lots of things were discovered by accident; penicillin; evidence is ambiguous
• Too many flaws in the world for there to be a benevolent God
• A stone is part of the world too!
• What happened to this God; did he die afterwards etc.?

Extra

• Teleological means to do with the design or purpose of the world

Morality Argument
Immanuel Kant spoke of the Morality Argument. He said that everyone had the same inner morality, knowing what is good and bad. Also, he spoke of the categorical imperative, a sense that tells you what you should and shouldn't do. He said that it had a source and that it had to be God.

Good

• The source must have existed before humans and must keep on existing
• It must be very good and intelligent to know what to do in different situations

Bad

• Not everyone has the same sense of right and wrong
• People learn from their mistakes to understand morality
• Your environment can affect your morality
• No actual proof; could be a gene/substance instead

Extra

• Moral acts are good or 'right' acts. Immoral acts are bad or 'wrong' acts. Amoral acts are acts when the causer doesn't know whether if it's moral (babies, mental illnesses). Non-moral acts are acts with no morality - animals plants and inanimate objects.

Miracles Argument

Many people believe in God because of miracles, events that are against the laws of nature. They say that God is reaching into our world to help us and to reveal himself. See UNIT 5 for more details. See UNIT 5 for more details.

Good

• Thousands of people have experienced them, from all different cultures
• They are against the laws of nature

Bad

• Science may have not advanced to explain them yet; there is no proof; saying God is the easy way out
• People interpret differently for the same event; witnesses could be biased
• It could be a coincidence
• Why does God perform miracles for some people and not everyone; undeserved miracles?

Religious Experience Argument

A religious experience is when someone feels God's presence personally, a experience of God or the divine. They can be so moving that people can experience conversions and even risk their lives for their new faith. See UNIT 2 for more details.

Good

• Thousands of people have experienced them
• Total change in people's lives
• Miracles go against laws of nature; it must be God
• Healing miracles have been proved

Bad

• No actual proof; how do we know that God is the source?
• Could be made up because of an illusion, mistaken, lying, unreliable, wishful thinking?
• People interpret differently for the same event; witnesses could be biased