Believing in God

Lets Revise ...

Children will believe that God exists because parents teach them to pray

Going to a Church school

means Christianityseems normal

Going to Church & seeing other peopleworship makes them think God exists.

Being confirmed wouldsupport your belief

as you learn about God

Being baptised parents will

promiseto bring children up

as Christians

Move the boxesto find out how these would lead to believing in God.

What are the main features of a Christian upbringing?

What does this phase have to do with Religious Experience?

NeverCollect

Mouldy

Plums

Yeuch that's mouldy!

NUMINOUS CONVERSION

MIRACLES PRAYER

Sing a long to this! - do miracles still happen?

Bless my soul! A watch in theforest - how did that getthere? It must have a designer. . .therefore theearth must have a designer too!

William Paley

The Design Argument - Explained1. Anything that has been designed needs a designer

2. There is evidence that the world has been designed - e.g. laws of science

3. If the world has been designed it must have a designer

4. The only possible designer must be GOD

5. So Design = God Exists! EASY!

1.Move the box 2. Memorise the 5 steps in 2

minutes3. Cover the box

4. Write everything you can remember on your white board!

Evidence of Design in the World

Well I think thedesign argument is rubbish! What about volcanoes and earthquakes . . . who designed them?!

Science can explain the world.

We don't need God

What about me?! I'm not part of the design plan

Exam Question

Do you think God designed the world? Give 2 reasons for your point of view

b(4 marks)

Don't forget - you need to state an opinion and then give two reasons for your opinion

The Causation Argument

Everything that happens has a cause

What causes the wagons on this train to move?

CAUSE EFFECT What does Olivia learn about cause and effect here?

The only possible cause of the Universe must be God

The Universe must have a first cause too

Every cause must have a first cause

When you look at the world you can see that everything has a cause

Therefore God must exist

Sort these into the proper order!

Everything that has been caused MUST have been caused by something else

So who caused God then? If everything needs a cause then God must need a cause too!

If matter is eternal and nothing can be created or destroyed then causes can go back forever

(I'm an A* pig!)

Anyway even if there was a First Cause it doesn't have to be God

Practice Question

"The argument from causation proves that God exists"

i Do you agree? Give reasons for your opinion (3)ii Give reasons why some people may disagree with you (3)

d

Remember! 3 For

3 Against

Science says the world started like this:

Matter is eternal - it cannot be created or destroyed, only changed

Dark Matter

Big Bang

This formed stars and then the solar system

15 billion years ago this matter exploded

Solar System

Primitive Life forms started to emerge

Primitive Life

2.5 million years ago humans evolved

Early Humans

Explain why the scientific explanation of the world leads some people to become atheists or agnostics (8 marks)

Because Because

Because Because

How would a Christian respond to the scientific argument?

Response OneResponse 2

Response 3

Some Christians would say that science is accurate but it helps prove that God created the universe

BECAUSE

Only God could have made the Big Bang at the right microsecond

Only God could have made laws like gravity

Only God could have made gases form life

Some Christians are creationists and think science is wrong

BECAUSE

The Big Bang and evolution can be explained by: - the effects of Noah's flood

- the Apparent Age theory Miss Martin's favourite song!

Some Christians believe that both science and the Bible are correct BECAUSE

- One of God's days could be millions or billions of years long

Unanswered Prayers

If people feel that God is not listening to them or not answering their prayers they may become agnostic or atheist

We prayed for them to be safe - Why didn't God listen??

What would a Christian say?

God has a different plan for your life

If you pray for selfish things God won't answer

God gives us what we needbut not always what we want

God will answer all prayers but

not always as you want or expect

Do you think prayer is a waste of time?

Give 2 reasons for your point of view.

I agree/disagree that prayer is a waste of time because

(4)

1.

2.

Exam Practice

Underline all the moral evils in green and all the natural evils in red

RAPEMURDER

THEFT

GBH

VANDALISM

EARTHQUAKE

FLOODS

VOLCANOES

CANCER

So what's the problem with evil and suffering?

If God is all good he must want to remove suffering

If God is all knowing he would know that evil & suffering would come into the world and

should have created the world differently.

If God is all powerful he has the power to remove evil and

suffering.

Omniscient ? Omnipotent ?

Omni-benevolent ?

Watch, Read,

Think . . .Do you agree?

BUT . . . there is evil and suffering in the world so either God is not all good and powerful or he does not exist

Do you understand the problem of evil and suffering?

NoYes

Needed From the Thumbs Up Crowd -

A brave volunteer to come up and explainthe problem of evil and suffering in your own words

What would a Christian say?

You should help those suffering through prayer

and service

God has a reason but humans cannot understand it.

Evil and Suffering are part of a test to help people prepare

for heaven.

God gave humans Free Willso evil and suffering are the fault of humans

The Media

Remember for each programme you need to be able to:

1. Outline what happened in the programme

2. Explain how it encouraged some people to believe in God

3. Explain how it encouraged some people to NOT believe in God

4. State whether it affected your beliefs about God

Do you think watching something like this in your homecould make you feel closer to God?

Some people might have their belief in God strengthened by watching Songs of Praise because:They were convinced by the way religious believers talk about experiencing God.Listening and singing along to the hymns and prayers could make people feel closer to God in their homes and more likely to believe in God. The programme made religion look real and interesting and showed how it affected people's daily lives.

Some people might not agree and think that Songs of Praise would not make someone believe in God because:Religious programmes are boring and not enough people watch themIt is just talking about religion and not about God's existence.

Some people might have their belief in God strengthened by watching Miracle of Peckham because:They are convinced that the miracle that happened in the Church could really happen. It makes them more likely to believe in miracles. The character of the vicar shows them how a good Christian would act. The programme made religion look interesting and fun and showed how it can affect people's daily lives.

Some people might not agree and think that The Miracle of Peckham would make someone not believe in God because:The miracle was faked and the programme shows that miracles don't really happen. Delboy and Rodney were not really interested in religion, they just wanted to make money so are not a good example. The programme just encouraged people to not believe in God.

Did it affect your beliefs?

Final Question

C. Choose one programme about religion and explain how it might affect someone's belief about God.

REVISE

REVISE

REVISE If you fail to

prepare, prepare to Fail!

NO FAILING ALLOWED!!!