PHI-215 - 4
In response to the crisis of Darwin's Theory of Evolution, theists asked:
"Is it possible to accept the theory of evolution and yet believe in God?"
God (definition)
"that which nothing else can be greater"
Evil is irrational
(Albert Camus) Evil lacks objective reality. It is simply a combination of differences of opinion and poor choices
Evil is an act of free will
(Alvin Plantinga) If humans are capable of doing what is right, they must also be capable of doing what is wrong. Thus, free will is a logically necessary limitation of God's power if moral creatures are to exist.
Evil is the privation of goodness
(Augustine) Evil is the absence of being & goodness, and therefore, not attributed to God
Evil is therapy
(Irenaes & John Hick) Evil is an instrument by which God has determined to grab the attention of humanity in order to bring spiritual health & maturity. Thus, it is a necessary part of the soul-making activity of God
"If everything has a cause, then what caused God?" - Why is this the wrong question to ask?
- Causality presumes something acting into to bring an event or something into being. - Since by definition, God is neither an event or something that comes into being and can be experienced by the senses, the concept of causality cannot legitimately be applied to God.
Mysticism is characterized by being:
- Transcendent (outside of space & time) - Ineffable (not expressible in language) - Noetic (conveying illumination, truth) - Ecstatic (filling the soul with bliss, peace) - Unitive (uniting the soul with reality)
Many people argue that experience is _____________________. Such people take a ____________________ to knowing God. Knowledge of God that is other than rational yet is not ______________.
- more significant than reason in knowing God - non-rational approach - irrational
The teleological argument proposed that...
... God is responsible for the design of the world and everything in it
Theists are those who believe that...
... God/higher power/ultimate reality exists and they believe they know who this entity is with some certainty
Agnostics are those who believe that...
... God/higher power/ultimate reality exists but they do not presume that they can know who this entity is or that such an entity actually exists
The cosmological argument holds that the world...
... requires an Entity beyond itself to exist and that that Entity must be transcendent and independent of any other force for its own existence
The cosmological argument is known as...
... the "5 Ways" or proofs of God's existence
The two most popular natural theological arguments for the existence of God are:
1. Cosmological argument 2. Teleological argument
Four other views of evil:
1. Evil is the privation of goodness 2. Evil is therapy 3. Evil is irrational 4. Evil is an act of free will
4 characteristics of God
1. Omnipotent 2. Omniscient 3. Omni-present 4. Omni-benevolent
The Premises of the Teleological Argument (Argument from Design) are:
1. The cosmos has order, unity, harmony & beauty (design) 2. Design is the product of the activity of an intelligent being 3. Therefore, the cosmos was designed by an intelligent being 4. The only being capable of designing the cosmos is the one we conceive of as God 5. Hence, God exists
The "5 Ways" of the cosmological argument are:
1. The world exists 2. It could not be the cause of itself (otherwise, it would have to exist before it exists) 3. It could not come from nothing (ex nihilo, nihil fit) 4. It could not be an effect in an infinite series of causes & effects (it is not accidental/inconsequential) 5. Therefore, it must be caused by Something outside of space & time, Something uncaused & ultimate
The cosmological argument was argued by _________.
Aquinas
Famous mystics:
Buddha, Abraham, Jesus, Muhammad
"God does not play dice with the universe!"
Einstein
"Is God willing to prevent evil, but not able? Then is God impotent? Is God able, but not willing? Then is God malevolent? Is God both willing and able? Whence then is evil?"
Epicurus
Darwin's Theory of Evolution raised questions about ________ & ________ ________ and caused a crisis of faith that challenged the need for an existence of God
Evolution & Intelligent Design
____________ said, "Yes!" and he called his argument, __________ _________.
F.R. Tennant - Intelligent Design
Some solutions to the problem of evil (5):
God is not omnipotent after all ( Mill) God's plan for the world is mysterious, and therefore, incapable of being analyzed (Job) All thing, including evil, actually contribute to the goodness of the whole (General Concensus) A perfect world is a logical impossibility (Leibniz) Evil is a necessary by-product of nature (Tennant)
Atheists are those who believe that...
God/higher power/ultimate reality doesn't exist
The existence of evil is problematic for arguments for the existence of God because:
How can evil exist, if God is omnipotent, omniscient, omni-present and omni-benevolent?
"How can God be justified or vindicated in the face of evil in the world, especially if God is omnipotent and omni-benevolent?"
John Stuart Mill
"a sense or awareness of Something; an encounter that defies talking about...a felling of the numinous!"
Rudolf Otto
Aquinas's most famous work that argued the cosmological argument was called _________ _________.
Summa Theologiae
Mysticism (definition):
The most dramatic & fascinating non-rational way of knowing God
The teleological argument was argued by ________ ________.
William Paley
Omniscient (definition)
all-knowing
Omni-benevolent (definition)
all-loving, all-good
Omni-present (definition)
all-places, eternal, transcendent and immanent
Omnipotent (definition)
all-powerful
F.R. Tennant asserts that faith and science are not _________ ________ but can be reconciled.
mutually exclusive
Moral evil (definition):
suffering that occurs as a result of human decisions
Natural evil (definition):
suffering that occurs as a result of natural causes
Theodicy (definition):
the attempt to justify the existence of God in the midst of evil
Theology (definition)
the formal study of the knowledge of God
Natural theology (definition)
the knowledge of God acquired through our natural faculties of reason/experience
Intelligent design (definition):
the notion that if the Big Bang occurred, then is it not possible that God created the matter and lit the match that got everything started
It is the pursuit of a transcendent:
unitive experience with Ultimate Reality in order to escape as much as possible the limitations of this world
William Paley's teleological argument was illustrated in his famous analogy of the ______.
watch - "The world is to God as a watch is to a watch-maker."
