TDA Atheism and Postmodernism key scholars

Question	Answer
A J Ayer	Verification Principle: Statements only have meaning if we can prove them/ know how to prove them true or false. We don't this for God's existence- Therefore Gods existence if meaningless.
David Hume	"Merely from the known phenomena." Only gain knowledge through experience. God is a metaphysical so cant have knowledge of him.
Gavin Hyman	God is non-empirical = not a physical object. Religious Experience is not an empirical proof.
Emile Durkheim	Cultural Constructs Religion is a result of what your society believes. E.G. Qur'an. Someone who does not know background of Qur'an may drop it or put it on the floor. Muslims know the true system.
Ray Billington	Reason for rise in atheism-Science= Supreme catalyst for rise in atheism. 1. Telescope- Galileo/ Copernicus 2. Biological Revolution- Darwin 3. Psychological developments- Freud. God of the Gaps Response to atheism= empiricism Not all beliefs are proven through the senses.
Aquinas	Reasons for rise in atheism Problem of evil If God is all powerful then why is there evil in the world? Threatens a belief in God. Aquinas doesn't believe the problem of evil threatens God's existence.
Dawkins	Responses to rise in atheism Science cannot disprove God's existence - why are we using this against God?
Hawkings	Responses to rise in atheism Refuses to talk about existence o God- is this because he cant prove or disprove him?
John Caputo	"Religion without religion" True religion refers to virtue of being truly religious or truly loving God, rather than one true religion or 'my religion is better than yours'. Agnostic= uncertainty as to what God refers. e.g. is God love? Living religion rather than intellectual faith Religion is about the way you live your life, not gaining or having knowledge. God and religion is what you do, not what you know.
St Augustine	Reponses to atheism- Problem of Evil God gave us freewill and it is through freewill that evil entered the world.
Os Guiness	No right or wrong religion If we reject absolutes, we need to reject a religions claims to exclusive knowledge. No grand narrative, only lots of different stories.
James Beckford	"A modern supermarket of faith, the consumer seeks to pick and mix religious items to match their commitments and faith." Religion is more personal and we pick what best suits us.
Heelas	E.G. of James Beckford's super market of faith. New Age Spiritualism- find evidence of Christianity, Islam, Wiccan rituals, Yoga, Zen meditations.
St Irenaeus	Responses to atheism- The Problem of Evil Evil is an unavoidable risk if freewill is given. Evil has instrumental value- it is a means to achieve good.
Jacques Derrida	"Deconstruction is not an enclosure in nothingness but an openness to the other." Postmodernism allows us to open up to other religions and not feel marginalised into one correct choice. Agnosticism about existence of God. If we said there was anything definite, we would be sticking to meta narratives. Other= gives a sense of mystery.
Jean Francois Lyotard	Cultural Constructs Meta Narratives- Not absolute but a result of society. E.G. Hebrew God- seen as loving and Just because of the story of Exodus.
Immanuel Kant	Rejects rational proof of God's existence. Moral Laws are not divine commands.
John Hick	Responses to atheism- The problem of evil- If we didn't have freewill, we would be robots and only do good. Evil is a by product of truth. Reasons for rise in atheism- Other faiths. Where you are brought up dictates which religion you belong to. E.G. Egypt- you would be a Muslim. Not absolute but cultural. Religious Pluralism- Accept that all religions have same goal just different paths.
Cupitt	Anti realist No God in terms of an external being. God is a construct of our minds that represents us and our views. -----> Oh wait!! Set spiritual goal is an absolute--- lets word it as a personal spiritual search to reach own spiritual goals.
H.P. Owen	It is impossible to think of a command without thinking of the commander. If we reject a command, we are rejecting who made it. If this is an absolute this would be a rejection of what God teaches.
D.Z. Philips	Reasons for rise in atheism- The Problem of evil. It is never justifiable to hurt people for greater goals. God is doing this- he sees what is happening but is doing nothing about it.
Andrew Wright	Deeds rather than creeds Look at ways to live life as opposed to learning about religion and divine. E.G. Holy trinity- Not teaching us about God but teaching us how to live in these positive roles.
Nietzsche	"God is dead. God remains dead. And we have killed him." Rather than focusing on proving that God does not exist, he instead focused on expressing his judgement that God was no longer relevant to society.

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TDA Atheism and Postmodernism key scholars

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