Revision Notes on Section 1.6 - Belief, Uncertainty & Unbelief PDF

Section 1.6 Belief, Uncertainty and Unbelief Objectives: Formulate arguments to support belief in God – the Causation argument and the Design argument Discuss other reasons for believing in God – the search for meaning and purpose, conversion Examine the reasons why...

Section 1.6 Belief, Uncertainty and Unbelief Objectives: Formulate arguments to support belief in God – the Causation argument and the Design argument Discuss other reasons for believing in God – the search for meaning and purpose, conversion Examine the reasons why people do not believe in God such as scientific explanations Analyse and assess these conflicting views Key Vocabulary: Causation – the system of causes and effects within the universe (which suggests a first cause that started the process) First Cause (God as) – (the belief that) as everything has a cause, there must be a first cause of the world and that must be God Only possible explanation (God as) – (the belief that) the existence of the world/universe requires an explanation, and the explanation is that God created it Design (of the world/universe by God) – when things within the universe appear to be connected in a way which suggests purpose and a designer Designer (God as) – (the belief that) God is the designer of the world/universe because it appears to have been designed (Religious) Nurture – being brought up to follow the teachings and practices of a religion (Religious) Conversion – an experience (or experiences) which change a person’s outlook on life (and religious belief) Agnosticism – not being sure whether God exists Atheism – (the belief that) God does not exist The Universe that We Live in Points to God’s Existence Some people argue that the world or the universe itself points towards the existence of God. There are 2 versions of the argument. 1. The Cosmological Argument Why do we have a universe at all? associated with two thinkers: ✔ Thomas Aquinas - a medieval philosopher and theologian - argued that there must be a first Uncaused Cause ✔ Wilhelm Gottfried Leibniz - an 18th century philosopher - argued there must be an Ultimate Reason Thomas Aquinas’ Argument everything (including the universe) and every change has a cause nothing can cause itself cannot have an infinite set of causes going back in time forever therefore, there must be a first cause of UNCAUSED CAUSE which is itself outside of time (GOD) Page 1 of 5 Leibniz’ Argument science tells us that everything has an explanation therefore the universe must have an explanation the only explanation for the universe is an uncaused cause (God) some people say: Big Bang Christian thinkers say: that is not a good enough explanation; ‘what caused it?’ and ‘why was there a space time singularity (matter and energy in a single point)?’ 2. The Teleological Argument (or the Design Argument) Why do we have the kind of universe that we have? associated with Rev. William Paley who put it forward in his 1802 book ‘Natural Theology’ the universe looks to have the characteristics of something that has been designed - as it is complex has a function or purpose and it would be difficult to explain in terms of chance or accidental processes - it must have been created Analogy of the Watch Maker: he uses the watch because it is so similar to the world; both so well designed, and they both seem to have a designer uses an analogy of an old fashioned watch with a tremendously complex movement of cogs: ✔ imagine walking through the desert and finding a watch ✔ upon discovery, you would believe that the watch had been designed ✔ therefore, the watch must have a designer Paley believed that the same could be said about the universe 3. The Search for Meaning and Purpose in Life leads to, or supports, belief in God this life cannot be all there is; the purpose of this life involves the existence of a life after death one of the purposes of life for many people is justice - the idea that the good are rewarded and the evil punished; this does not happen in this life; there must be a life after death where the good are rewarded and the evil are punished Only God can provide an afterlife and decide who should be rewarded and who should be punished. Immanuel Kant a German philosopher put forward an argument for God’s existence that is about meaning and purpose in life we feel a sense of obligation to be moral - to aim for the highest standard of moral behaviour (that does not mean you always ARE moral but you know that you OUGHT to be) there are lots of people in this world who prosper even though they don’t care about being moral; they may well enjoy doing what they know to be wrong So why do most of us bother to try to be good? Kant says it is because we know in the end, goodness must be rewarded. But if we know this, then it must be rewarded in the next life. There must be a God to ensure that the world is fair. Goodness WILL be rewarded. GOD MUST EXIST OTHERWISE LIFE WOULD BE MEANINGLESS AND UNFAIR. 4. Religious Nurture how religious upbringing in a Christian family and community can lead or support belief in God  the Christian church teaches that the family is a vital way in which children are taught their faith both parents give parental love to their children and bring them up with Christian teaching The Book of Proverbs: ‘Bring up your children in the ways of the Lord, and when (they are) old (they) will not depart from it’. Role of Christian Family love towards children support and strengthen the religious faith of the children: ✔ regular church attendance ✔ praying together ✔ setting an example ✔ involvement in Church life ✔ by talking to them about questions regarding religion Upbringing - children learn from their parents. As they grow older, they learn from others around them, but the basic patterns of life have already been laid down in childhood. This means that although you can decide for yourself what your religious beliefs are, your family has a big influence. 5. Religious Experiences broad term describing an event in which a person feels they are in direct contact with God NUMINOUS EXPERIENCE a person senses God’s presence or existence (e.g. in a religious building, a place of natural beauty or when they are just observing the sky above them) a person feels they are in the presence of something magnificent and powerful (God) often so powerful and life changing that people find it almost impossible to put into words properly, as it is not an everyday experience that can be related with another experience or put into context first-hand experience of God lead people to believe in God because they feel for themselves that he is real, rather than just being told he exists by others example: Archbishop Anthony Bloom MIRACULOUS EXPERIENCE result of an event taking place that goes beyond the normal laws of science and therefore cannot be explained by anything other than the intervention or workings of something beyond the world (God) those involved believe it to be the work of God living proof of the intervention of God would cause someone to believe in God as there would be no other explanation for that experience to have happened example: Nebraska Choir Story CONVERSION EXPERIENCE someone’s life is converted or changed; being ‘born again’ Page 3 of 5  involves a person changing their life for the better after having felt or experienced the presence of God or another Christian figure enables a person to start living their life in a way God would approve of example: the Conversion of Saul PRAYER EXPERIENCE a specific prayer is answered in a way that means someone believes in God or has their faith strengthened the feeling that God has listened to and answered your prayer confirmation that he really does exist and is capable of acting on earth Reasons why people do not believe in God: Scientific Explanations of the World; without reference to God Humans and the Environment ✔ God was an invention of humans when they were in fear of their environment ✔ religion developed as a response to things that made humans fearful ✔ we are much more able to understand and control our environment ✔ We can predict the movement of comets or hurricanes; we have put men on the moon; less unpredictability about the environment; we do not feel that we need lots of religious rituals or to believe in God Humans and Medicine ✔ medical advances in the last 200 years ✔ life expectancy has risen hugely ✔ many cancers e.g. leukemia that were recently incurable are now not seen as the death knell that they once were ✔ stem cell research raises the prospect of growing new organs or nerve bundles when our present ones malfunction ✔ the result is that there is less expectation of death Non-religious Upbringing parents who do not believe in God may well have a similarly powerful effect on their children's belief systems a lack of interest in religion and religious ideas or even hostility towards them the media’s coverage of religious issues and religious people may re-inforce this process Unanswered Prayers prayer can be defined as ‘an attempt to contact God, usually through words’ some say their prayers in church and at home but never feel God’s presence when they pray make them feel they aren’t praying correctly or that THERE IS NO GOD LISTENING TO THEM no feeling of presence of God when they pray may make them question whether God is there at all, leading to agnosticism and possible atheism How Christians respond to the scientific explanations of the origin of the universe?  Response One. Many Christians believe that the scientific explanation are true. However, they believe that the scientific explanation does not mean that everyone should be agnostic or atheist. The believe that the scientific explanation proves that God created the universe for reasons such as: ✔ The Big Bang had to be at exactly the right micro-second. If it had been too soon it would have been too small to form stars; if it had been too late, everything would have flown away too fast to allow stars to form. ✔ There had to be scientific laws such as gravity for the matter of the universe to form solar systems, and only God could have made the laws on which the universe is based. ✔ Life on Earth requires carbon to be able to bond with 4 other atoms and water molecules. This could not have happened by chance, so God must have ensured it happen. Response Two. Some Christians believe that both the scientific explanations and the Bible are correct. They claim that the main points of the bible story fit with science. One of God’s days could be billions or millions of years. They claim that Genesis 1:3 ‘‘God said ‘Let there be light’’’, is a direct reference to the Big Bang and that the order in which God creates life as described in genesis- plants, trees, fish, birds, animals, humans- is the same order as described in the theory of evolution for the development of species. Response Three. Some Christians believe that science is wrong and that the Bible is right. They claim that all the evidence there is of the Big Bang and evolution can be explained by the effects of Noah’s flood (which must have totally changed rock formations) and the APPARENT AGE THEORY. Apparent Age Theory claims that if you accept the Bible view, then when Adam was made, the Earth was 6 days old, but to Adam it would have looked like billions of years old because trees would have been created with rings showing them hundreds of years old; and the Grand Canyon would have looked 2,000,000,000 years when it was one second old. Therefore they believe that God created the Universe in the way described in the bible - this response is often called CREATIONISM. Page 5 of 5