A Picture of ……..?

What do you SEE?

What does the picture make you THINK?

Do you have a QUESTION?

The Cosmological Argument

By the end of the lesson

1.All of you will be able to give a definition for the cosmological argument2.Most of you will be able to explain the argument3.Some of you will be able to evaluate the strengths and weaknesses for the cosmological argument for the existence of God

How could causation lead someone to believe in God?

Key Words:

CauseEffectCausationInfinityAnalogy

Key name:

St Thomas Aquinas

Think About Infinity!

Think about these three examples of infinity. What would it be like if these were true?

You hear a joke and as each second goes by you find it funnier…

The more you eat the more hungry you become…

The longer you run the more energy you have…

Infinity

Something that has no start or finish baffles the human mind. The Moebius strip is a piece of paper folded in such a way that it has no beginning and no end!

1. How does this shape show what infinity means?

2. Create your own way of explaining infinity using images and words

What is Causation?

Causation is the process by which one thing causes another. It is often known as cause and effect.

Christians believe that God is infinite because he exists outside of time and space. Therefore only God could have been the first cause of everything.

Aquinas called this the cosmological argument.

Can creation reveal God?

St Thomas Aquinas (1224–1274) was a theist who said that God does exist and there were proofs for the existence of God. He said:

we can be sure that the universe exists and that nothing could have come into existence by itself

therefore there must be something greater that has brought everything into existence. This is God.

Cosmos means world. The cosmological argument is based on what we can see in the world and universe.

Cause and effect

Snooker ball analogy:

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7GA3ySz4el4• In the same way the snooker balls are reliant on

their first cause – the universe must be reliant on its own first cause

• The first cause must have always existed – because it didn’t need a creator itself

Conclusion:• God is the first cause – and he is begotten/

uncaused

Aquinas said that there must be a first cause that was uncaused which caused everything else to come into existence. This first cause must be God.

God as the first cause…

1. Who is St. Thomas Aquinas?

2. What does Cosmos mean?

3. What is the Cosmological argument?

4. Give an example of cause and effect.

5. Give at least 3 pros and cons of this theory?

Thomas Aquinas uses the universe as a piece of evidence in trying to prove that God exists. Religious people say that there is a power in our universe thathas no beginning and no end. They say that this power is eternal and infinite, and the word they use to describe it is God. So for religious people the question “Who made God?” makes no sense.

Potential Exam Questions:

• A) What is causation?• B) Do you think God is the cause of the

universe? Give two reasons for your point of view

• C) Explain how the argument from causation may lead to belief in God

• D) ‘The argument from causation provides that God exists’i) Do you agree? Give reasons for your opinionii) Give reasons why some people may disagree with you

The Cosmological Argument

By the end of the lesson

1.All of you will be able to give a definition for the cosmological argument2.Most of you will be able to explain the argument3.Some of you will be able to evaluate the strengths and weaknesses for the cosmological argument for the existence of God

“The way the world works shows that there must be a God”

• Agree because… • Disagree because…

Do you agree? Give reasons, showing that you have considered more than one point of view.

Pros and Cons:

Pros:• Saying there was no beginning

is no explanation for the existence of creation which depends on something for its existence

• If everything that is made needs a cause – there must be something that made everything

• Analogies such as the snooker balls

• “Everything happens, has a cause. If we follow everything back to the beginning we come to a first cause that started everything off – this cause was God.”

Cons:• The cause may not be God• If everything needs a creator – then who created God?• Why can’t everything just go back forever?

Pros and ConsMore Challenge!

Pros:• Infinite regression is a void

explanation for the existence of contingent, mutable beings

• If everything finite needs a cause – there must be some infinite first cause

• Analogies such as the snooker balls

• “Everything happens, has a cause. If we follow everything back to the beginning we come to a first cause that started everything off – this cause was God.”

Cons:• The cause may not be God• If everything needs a creator – then who created God?• Why can’t everything just go back forever?

A________ said that there must be a first cause that was ___________ which caused everything else to come into

existence. This first Cause must be __________. The

Cosmological argument is an argument to try and prove the __________ of God.

Argues that there must be a first

cause

God is the first cause

Something can not spring from nothing

World can not be created by chance

Word Bankuncaused, Aquinas, existence, God,

How does this picture explain the Cosmological argument ?

Key Words: Cause and Effect

Cosmological Argument

The Domino picture explains how the cosmological argument because it __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________