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The Existence of God:
AQA GCSE Revision
Religious Experience
An experience which involves
God in some way
Arguments AGAINST God's existence
There is too much evil and
suffering in the world
Nature can kill you
eg Volcanos, Earthquakes etc
Humans commit horrible acts
Moral Argument
God must guarantee a place in heaven as
a reward (Kant)
PROBLEMS
Morailty probably evolved in humans
as a survival instinct
We are taught how to
behave by society,
not God
Morality does not exist,
it is just a concept
Guilt comes from breaking the rules
of society, not from God 'telling us off'
This source is God, so God
must exist
This comes from a source outside
them, it is instinctive
There must be a reward for beahing
well in this life
People have an inbuilt sense
of what is right and wrong
Animals hunt and kill other animals
Science has unlocked a lot of the
mysteries of our existence
The theory of Evolution suggests
that life has developed over millions
of years
It was not created in 6 days by God as
in the Bible
The Big Bang theory suggests
that the universe started with a
bang, not God
Belief in God relies on FAITH,
believing something that can't
be proved
This applies to all the arguments
Others think that miracles are good evidence for God, eg walking away from a bad car crash or
getting better from cancer
Miracles, two types:
1) Events that break the laws of nature
2) Coincidental events
Shows God's omnipotence
Healings at Lourdes
Show's God's immanence
First Cause Argument
Therefore, everything has a cause,
including the universe
That first cause of the
universe was God
God is not 'caused' himself
PROBLEMS
Everything is caused to exist
It assumes the universe
has a beginning
Big Bang was a random,
spontaneous event, not a result of a god
If everything has a cause,
what caused God?
Design Argument
As nature is as complicated as
a watch, it too must have a designer
Everything man made has a designer
eg. a watch (it didn't design itself)
William Paley
Watchmaker analogy
Modern: Anthropic Principle
Strong anthropic
Nature is flawed, there are things
wrong with it eg Cancer, poor eyesight
etc. Again, NOT good design.
Nature appears cruel,
not a sign of good
design
Evolution theory explains how nature
developed over millions of years
God is the designer of the world,
therefore he exists
Assumes the world is designed
People often say that their prayers are
answered and that this proves God exists
eg. asking for someone to get better and
they do
This could be through prayer,
a miracle, conversion or 'meeting'
God (a numinous experience; Otto) or physical (stigmata; Padre Pio)
PROBLEMS
People can hallucinate or dream
that they met God. This doesn't mean
they actually have.
Experiencing God is a personal
phenomena, it is not something
everyone can experience
Miracles can not
be scientifically
proven
Why does God answer some
prayers and not others?