This is a basic overview on the GCSE Religious Studies topic of believing in God. It includes religious upbringings, religious experiences, the argument of Design, causation and the problem of evil.
Protestants believe that nothing should distract you from worshiping God.
Usually have plain churches
Do not have a Pope
This relates to the fact that they believe
that everyone is equal in the eyes of God.
They pray directly to God
Protestants usually use the Bible as a means for infallible guidance.
They believe that people are equal in the eyes of God.
Catholicism
Usually have decorative
churches
They have a
Pope
This relates to the fact that they believe
that certain people can be 'chosen' by God.
Believe that certain people can be 'chosen' by
God
Mainly uses the Church as a means of guidance
Catholics use the Pope, who interprets the Bible,
to provide them with guidance on moral decisions.
Religious
upbringing
Why may living with a
religious family cause you
to...
Believe in
God
Sunday schools will teach you about the Bible every week.
Your parents may teach you to...
Pray
Read the Bible
Obey the Decalogue
Take part in ceremonies (i.e.
baptism, communion, etc.)
Religious schools will have an impact on your upbringing
since everyone in the school is religious like you.
Disbelieve in God
Not going to a religious school will expose you to
different religions and therefore make you question
your own religion.
Religious experiences
Examples
Conversion
The conversion from Saul to Paul.
Prayer
Praying for a relative to get better.
Miracle
The resurrection of Jesus.
Numinous
Isaiah's numinous experience.
Why religious
experiences may cause
you to believe in God
If you pray for a family relative or a friend to
get better and it happens, you may be left
thinking that God listened to your prayer and
answered it which may cause you to believe
that He exists.
If you were to have a numinous experience,
you would feel the presence of God. After
that, it may be hard for you to ever deny
God's existence again.
Due to the fact that a natural law that you have
believed most of your life would have been
broken, miracles may cause you to believe in God
because there would have been no other
explanation for what could have naturally made
the event happen. The only explanation that
there could be would be God.
The argument
of Design
Laws of science: A reason why people think that the
universe has been created is because the universe
works according to specific rules and laws. An example
of this is the law of gravity.
The beauty of Nature: Many people
believe that because the world is so
beautiful, it couldn't have been made
simply by chance.
William Paley made an analogy of a watch to the Earth.
The argument went along these lines: "If you come
across a watch in an uninhabited place, you could not
say that it was put there by chance. The complexity of
its mechanism would make you say it had a designer.
The universe is a far more complex mechanism than a
watch, and so, if a watch needs a watchmaker, the
universe needs a universe maker. As the only being that
could design the universe would be God, it follows that
God must exist."
For
The only possible creator of something as
beautiful and complex as the world would be God.
Therefore the appearance of design in
the world proves that God does exist.
Without order, benefit, purpose of sustainability...
Something can't exist - these things need a creator.
Against
Paley's argument ignores the lack of
design in the universe (i.e. volcanoes,
earthquekes, etc).
All the evidence of design can be explained by
science without needing to even think of God.
The argument only proves that the universe has
a creator, not God. The designer could be many
Gods, an evil creator, a God who used this
universe as a trial run - to the create a better
one.
This is also know as the teleological argument
Causation
The idea of causation is that everything
links back to one, originating cause.
For
You can't just keep going
back forever - there must be
some form of 'uncaused
cause'.
There has to be something rather than nothing
Against
If everything needs a creator - then who created God?
Science shows everything without a
need for God in the equation.
Scientific explanations
The Big Bang theory
Scientists believe that energy existed before the
big bang and that it was the result of a collision
of this energy form. The big bang happened 15
billion years ago and as everything started to
cool down, everything started to form such as
planets and even life.
Mr Cunnane's cup analogy
This analogy basically states that if you leave
a cup of coffee unattended, some mould will
start to grow. When you think about it in
detail - the mould growing in the coffee is like
the starting point of universe, because when
the conditions changed the became more
suitable for life to form such as plants,
bacteria, etc.
Evolution
Scientists also believe that humans didn't come from monkeys
but they do in fact have a common ancestor. Over millions of
years, there were gradual changes and eventually human life
came into play. Also, survival of the fittest was going on and
this means that several life forms were competing to survive,
and the human gene was the fittest. This was devised by
Charles Darwin.
The Problem of Evil
A theodicy is the way in
which Christians respond to
the problem of evil and
suffering - and why it exists
in this world.
One theodicy is that suffering is
preparation for Heaven and that we need
to suffer in order to 'make our soul'.
However, if Heaven is an all-good place, why
would we need to suffer in order to prepare
us for it unless there is suffering in Heaven
as well.
The Freewill Defense is a theodicy that states
that humans are free to do what they want and
it is their action which cause suffering.
Moral evils include: Rape,
torture, murder, theft, war
and hatred.