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The existence of God
Description
GCSE R.E Mind Map on The existence of God, created by Lara Coffin on 11/05/2013.
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r.e
r.e
gcse
Mind Map by
Lara Coffin
, updated more than 1 year ago
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Lara Coffin
over 11 years ago
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Resource summary
The existence of God
How do we prove that things exist?
Personal experience
'I have seen it so I know it exists'
Reliable evidence
'I have not seen it, but others have convinced me they have, so I accept its existence'
Logic
'I have not seen it but there is a logical reason to believe in its existence'
First Cause argument
Everything that exists was caused to exist
The universe exists so it must have a cause
Must be something eternal, that was not caused be anything
The first cause is God
Therefore God exists
Thomas Aquinas
Christian
Lived in the middle ages
Argued the first cause argument
Time
We are able to measure time
So it must have a starting point
This means the universe has a beginning
The beginning was caused by God
Big bang theory
Scientists believe that the big bang was a random spontaneous event that caused the universe to exist
Theists would argue that God caused the big bang
What caused God?
The design argument
The universe is too complex to have appeared by random chance
There must be a designer
This designer is God
Thomas Aquinas
The planets, sun and moon must be kept in place by an intelligent being
This being is God
William Paley
He argued that you can tell that a pocket watch is designed, in the same way, you can tell that the natural world has been designed
For example: birds have wings to fly
This designer is God
Issac Newton
He said that the fact that we have opposable thumbs proves the design argument
He said that giving humans opposable thumbs was part of God's design
He also argued using the fact that we all have different thumb prints
He believed that this was proof that God planned us all separately
The anthropic principle
Developed by F.R Tennant
He believed that God designed the Earth just right for human life to develop
Why did God create suffering?
Evolution
Miracles
Type 1
Events that break the laws of nature
E.g. Jesus turning water into wine
Type 2
Events when a lucky coincidence occurs
E.g. a toddler is stuck on a railway line, the train breaks down just before it hits him
Arguments
Could be something science cannot explain yet
Could be faked by people who want money or fame
Illness could have been wrongly diagnosed and the person was cured naturally
Could be a coincidence
Does God pick and choose who he helps?
Religious experience
When people claim to have met God
Communication through prayer and meditation
Feeling God's presence in nature
Experiencing a conversion
Involvement in a miraculous event
Feeling God's presence in worship
Could be hallucinations
Hard to prove as real
Could be mistaken or mislead
Morality
The sense of right and wrong that guides people behaviour
People have a sense of inbuilt morality
This sense comes from outside
This source is God
Therefore God exists
Conscience is the voice of God
Morality is part of human evolution
Science and Faith
All of these arguments support the faith that theists already have
Atheists don't believe in God so they will find other solutions
In the past people looked to God for answers
But now we have science, do we need God anymore
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