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Believing in God
C Wheeler 2009
Key terms
Omnipotent The belief that God is all-powerful.
Omniscient The belief that God is all-knowing.
Omni-Benevolent
The belief that God is all good.
Theist/Theism Belief that God exists
Atheist/Atheism Belief that God does not exist
Agnostic /Agnosticism
Not being sure whether God exists or not
We are going to examine arguments for and against the existence of God
For• Religious upbringing.• Religious Experience.• Argument for Design.• Causation.• Search for meaning and purpose.• Too many followers to all be wrong.
Against• Scientific explanations.• No evidence.• Presence of evil and suffering.
What are the main features of a Christian upbringing?
A Christian upbringing might include…
Being Baptised
Influence of parents
Being taught prayers
Attending ChurchSunday school /faith
school education
Having religious ceremonies
How can a religious upbringing lead to a belief in God?
May seem natural to believe in God if the family does.
As a child, why would you question what adults tell you.
Seeing people in church doing certain things means you would feel that God exists.
Faith schools reinforce the belief in God.
Religious Experience
Key words
Religious Experience
An event where people believe they have had direct contact with God.
Conversion When your life is changed by giving yourself to God.
Miracle
Something which seems to break a law of science and makes you think only God could have done it.
Numinous Feeling of the presence of something greater than you.
Prayer Attempt to contact God usually through words.
Numinous
When in a beautiful place or looking at the stars people might be filled with an awareness of something greater than them. Some feel that this is God.
An Example - Numinous
Father Dubois has had such experiences whilst praying to a statue of Our Lady (Mary)
‘Twice I have experienced the certainty of the presence of the Mother of God, which was an awareness of purity, holiness and love unlike anything I have ever known. Her holiness would have been frightening, but for the strong feeing of love and compassion.’
Conversion
Some have an experience of God and are moved to change their life and commit themselves to God. This process sometimes gives the feeling of being ‘born again’.
The conversion of St PaulPaul’s original name was Saul and he was a Jew. He persecuted Christians because he thought they were betraying Judaism.
He was on the road to Damascus to find and persecute the Christians there.
Whilst travelling he was blinded by a flash of light and heard a voice. Jesus asked him why he was persecuting him.
He was blind until a Christian in Damascus, Ananias, gave him back his sight.
This experience led to Paul changing his religion from Judaism to Christianity.
Miracles
Believers think they are examples of God acting on earth because they can not be explained by science. Those witnessing the miracle have had direct contact with God.
Pregnant woman survives after parachute
fails!
Man stabbed in the head survives!
Jairus’ Daughter
Jairus was a high ranking Jew who’s daughter had died. He had gone to see Jesus. Jesus took Jairus, his wife and the disciples who were with him and went to where the child was.
Jesus took her by the hand and said, ‘Little girl, I say to you, get up.’ Immediately the girl stood up and walked around. (Mark.5:35-42)
Christians believe that miracles happen today…
A woman driving through the desert in Arizona saw a bush with beautiful white flowers on it. She stopped to take a photograph. Her husband could not see the white flowers.
When the photo was printed the flowers could not be seen. They had been replaced by an image of the Virgin Mary.
Prayer
Religious believers think they can contact God through prayer. They can be formal e.g. in church or informal e.g. in private.
If they feel God is listening then some class this as a religious experience. An example of this is an answered prayer.
How do religious experiences lead to a belief in God?
• An atheist seeing a miracle may look for a natural explanation. If they can’t find one they may start to believe in God.
• Through a conversion experience they may feel that God is calling them to do something for him and so believe in him.
• Any religious believer who has a religious experience will use it as evidence to support their belief in God and make it stronger.
• If a prayer is answered whether they are religious or not may lead to them believing in God.
• Through a numinous experience they might feel that God is real.
Arguments that support the existence of God.
The argument
for Design
List the types of things that are designed.
Design in the world
Cars
Planes
Buildings
FurnitureComputers
Clothes
Watches
Des
ign
When things are connected and seem to have a purpose e.g. the eye is designed for seeing.
Evidence of Design in the world
• DNA
• Evolution
• Beauty of nature
DNADNA is the nucleic acid found in all living things. It forms the material used to create life.
It is made of two strands called a double helix.
It replicates itself by copying its own design. It uses itself as a template.
The structure of DNA and its formation of templates seem to indicate a design or blueprint for the structure of living things.
Evolution
Complex life forms, over thousands of years, develop from basic life forms.
Theory by Charles Darwin
Beauty of Nature
Artists see design as appearing in nature. Sunsets and mountains have a beauty that artists would
have to spend a long time trying to recreate.
How does the appearance of design lead to a belief in God?
Paley’s watch argument
Walking through the hills you come across a watch.
You notice how complex it is. It could not have happened by chance/accident.
It must have had a ‘DESIGNER’.
The only thing powerful enough to make the universe is God…SO… God must exist.
The universe is far more complicated than a watch. If a watch has a designer then surely the universe has.
Arguments for the existence of God…
Causation
Key Words
Causation The idea that everything has been caused (started off) by something else. Only God is powerful enough to have started the universe.
Cause and effect is a basic feature of the world. Everything we do has an effect.
Science shows that any effect has a cause and any cause has an effect.
Sorry Sir, I’ve forgot my
homework.
DETENTION!!!
Think of a line of dominoes. How do you get the last one to move without
touching it?
How does causation in the world lead to a belief in God?
This theory is often called the First Cause Argument.
It was made famous by St Thomas Aqunias.
Things in the world have a cause
Everything that exists relies on something having made it able to exist.
Can’t keep going back forever. Must be a First Cause to start everything off.
Only possible First Cause of the universe is God, so God must exist.
Carriages on a train are pulled along by the one in front. However, the first carriage is pulled by the engine which is not moved by anything else (the unmoved mover). God would be the engine.
Why might some people disagree with this theory?
• Why should the causes stop at God? Surely God needs a cause?
• A better explanation is that the matter of the universe itself is eternal and so the process of causes goes on for ever.
• Even if the First Cause were t exist it would not have to be God, it could be any sort of creator or even the matter of the universe.
Arguments AGAINST God’s existence
1) Scientific explanations of the world, agnosticism and atheism
Science can explain how the world came about…
Matter exists forever, it simply changes shape.
15 billion years ago the matter compressed and exploded (Big Bang)
The matter joins together as stars etc. Solar system formed 5 billion years ago
Life on earth begins simple and changes. 2.5 billion years ago humans evolved
Evidence for the Big Bang
Evidence for Evolution
Main evidence comes from the Red Shift Effect where the red shift in light from other galaxies is evidence that the universe is expanding.
The fossil record shows life developed becoming more complex.
How does this lead to Agnosticism or Atheism?
Science can explain how things came about without referring to God. Puts existence of God in doubt = Agnostic.
Others become Atheist because they are convinced God is not the only explanation for the world. Science for them is proof enough.
How Christians respond to Scientific Explanations of the world
Response 1
Many Christians believe the scientific
explanation proves that God actually exists. E.g.
Big Bang had to happen at exactly the right
microsecond. Too early or late and life would not
have happened.
Response 2 Response 3
Believe both science and religion is correct. Main points of Bible story match the science one. God’s ‘days’ could be millions of years. Plants, birds, animals, humans made in same order.
Science is wrong! Big Bang and evolution can be explained by Noah’s Flood story. Apparent Age Theory – God made the world look much older than it is e.g. planted fossils.
2) Unanswered Prayers
They may understand selfish prayers not being answered e.g. let me win the lottery. However, if God doesn’t answer good prayers e.g. end wars, then they may see this as evidence he doesn’t exist.
If prayers are unanswered they may begin to question a God who answers some prayers and not others.
If people pray and God does not answer them then they might feel frustrated. Or begin to doubt if God exists.
Christian responses to unanswered prayers
Prayers are answered but may appear unanswered however…
• Selfish prayers = God gives opportunity for you to work hard to get what you want
• God knows what is best for people and may not grant certain things.
• Jesus said faith is needed to have prayers needed.
4) EVIL AND SUFFERING
Poverty?
Could you spot any similarities and differences between those images?
Moral evil – actions done by humans which cause suffering.
Natural evil – things which cause suffering but have nothing to do with humans.
Free Will – the idea that human beings are free to make their own choices.
How does the existence of evil lead to people doubting God’s existence?
Why would a good God have designed a world with natural evil?
If he is all-powerful why does God let people suffer?
Why does he help people in the Bible but not our children and relatives?
If God is Omnipotent he can remove evil.
If God is Benevolent he must want to remove evil.
If God exists there should be no evil.
Evil exists so God is either not Omnipotent/Benevolent or he does not
exist
Defending God from the problem
of Evil and Suffering
Response 1 Christians believe God wants us to help those who suffer like Jesus did e.g healing miracles.
Christians respond by praying for those who suffer. This is called intercessionary prayer.
They also help to reduce suffering by being doctors or by founding charities.
Christian Aid was started by Christians to help ease suffering for those in less economically developed countries.
Response 2
Evil and suffering is not God’s fault. God gave humans free will and when they misuse it evil happens.
Response 3
Evil and suffering in this life is part of a plan. Those who suffer will be rewarded in heaven when they die.
This life prepares us for paradise. We can only improve by coming into contact with evil.
Response 4
God has a reason for not using his power to remove evil but humans cant understand it. He is too complicated for us to understand.
Pain is a test of our faith in God.The story of Job in the Old Testament is an example.
His family is killed. He loses all his money and he becomes ill. This happens even though Job is a good man who worships God. He passed God’s test and got everything back.
If we get through pain and misfortune we will be rewarded by God.
2 programmes
• Bruce Almighty• Shindler’s List• Most Hated Family in America• The man Who Sued God• Evan Almighty
