1. Arguments to support the existence of God.
Key Terms:
Theist: a person who believes in God.
Atheist: a person who believes there is no God.
Agnostic: someone who thinks there is not enough evidence for belief in God, someone who is unsure about the existence of God.
Design Argument: the argument that God designed the universe, because everything is so intricately made in its detail that it could not have happened by chance
First Cause argument: also called the Cosmological argument; the argument that there has to be an uncaused cause that made everything else happen, otherwise there would be nothing now.
Eternal: without beginning or end.
Creation: the act by which God brought the universe into being.
Miracle: a seemingly impossible event, usually good, that cannot be explained by natural or scientific laws, and is thought to be the action of God.
Proof: evidence that supports the truth of something.
Faith: a commitment to something that goes beyond proof and knowledge, especially used about God and religion.
Evil: the opposite of good, a force or the personification of a negative power that is seen in many traditions as destructive and against God.
Suffering: when people have to face and live with unpleasant vents or conditions.
Ultimate reality: the supreme, final, fundamental power in all reality.
The divine: God, gods or ultimate reality.
Revelation: God showing himself to believers; this is the only way anybody ca really know anything about God.
Special Revelation: God making himself known through direct personal experience or unusual specific event.
Vision: seeing something especially in a dream or trance, that shows something about the nature of God or the afterlife.
Enlightenment: the gaining of true knowledge about God or self, usually though meditation and self-discipline.
General Revelation: God making himself known through ordinary, common human experiences.
Nature: the physical world including plants, animals and landscape; the environment or natural world.
Scriptures: the sacred writings of a religion; for Christians these are the Old and the New Testament.
Quotations:
‘”In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth”.
“in the absence of any other proof, the thumb alone would convince me of God’s existence” – Isaac Newton.
“When there is a prophet among you, I, the Lord, reveal myself to them in visions, I speak to them in dreams”.
“The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of His hands”.
“’Why do you ask me about what is good?’ Jesus replied. ‘There is only One who is good. If you want to enter life, keep the commandments’”.
“For God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.”
“You have searched me, Lord, and you know me. You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar”.
“The Big Bang… does not contradict the divine act of creation; rather, it requires it… He (God) created beings and let them develop according to the internal laws which he gave every one” – Pope Francis.
Qualities of God:
Omnipotent: almighty, having unlimited power.
Omniscient: knowing everything.
Omnibenevolent: all-loving, all-good.
Omnipresent: exists everywhere.
Immanent: the idea that God is present in and involved with life on earth and in the universe.
Transcendent: the idea that God is beyond and outside life on earth and the universe.
Personal nature (of God): the idea that God is individual or personal, with whom people are able to have a relationship with or feel close to.
Impersonal nature (or God): the idea that God has no ‘human’ characteristics, is unknowable and mysterious, more like an idea or force.
Existence of God and Revelation
Arguments to support the existence of God.
The Design argument by William Paley:
If we found a watch, its intricate workings would show that it had been put together deliberately for a purpose. Its pieces could not have come together by themselves. Someone must have designed and made it: a watchmaker.
Like the watch, the world and universe is intricately designed and everything has a purpose. The universe is far more complicated that a watch so must have a designer: God.
Objections to the Design argument:
Since the process of natural selection (the fittest survive, the rest die out) happens by chance, species designed themselves over time, The thumb, the eye and birds’ wings are all the result of evolution.
If God designed the universe, why is there so much suffering in the world? There is beauty but also cruelty within nature. Why would God have created this?
The order in the universe is necessary to support life, so merely gives the appearance of design. Humans impose the order or structure in nature to explain it.
The First Cause argument by Thomas Aquinas:
Everything that exists or begins to exist must have a cause. The universe exists and began to exist so it too must have a cause. There had to be something eternal that was not caused by anything. The eternal first cause is God. Therefore, God exists. God is the first cause of everything but was not caused himself.
Objections to the First Cause Argument:
Atheists say the argument contradicts itself : if everything that we see has a cause, what caused God?
If you say God is eternal and has always existed, why cannot the universe have always existed too?
Just because events or things have causes does not mean that the universe itself has a cause.
The Big Bang was a random, spontaneous event, not an action by God.
Religious creation stories are just myths (stories that tell a spiritual, rather than actual, truth).

2. Existence of God and Revelation
Miracles as an argument for God’s existence
Theists argue:
If there is no scientific explanation for an event, it must have a supernatural cause, something outside nature.
Only God is outside nature so it must be a result of God’s intervention in the world. Therefore God exists.
Christian responses:
Believe God works in the world through miracles.
Jesus performed miracles that showed the power and love of God and revealed Jesus was God in human form.
The incarnation and resurrection of Jesus are the most important miracles.
There have been many miracles recorded, e.g. at Lourdes, that have been fully investigated by the Church.
The Catholic Church has to date officially recognised 69 miracles to have takes place at Lourdes.
Some atheists and agnostics have been converted to faith in God because they experienced miracles. Christians believe these experiences show the miracles are genuine.
Objections to the argument of miracles:
Miracles are no more than lucky coincidences.
They may have scientific explanations not yet discovered.
Miracle healings may be the result of mind over matter on the part of the sufferer, or a misdiagnosis by doctors.
Some ‘miracles’ are fakes made up by people who want fame or money.
Arguments against God’s existence
Science:
Science can now explain things that people in the past could not understand, people no longer look to religion for answers and have turned away from belief in God.
Atheists believe science will eventually have all the answers to everything.
Many Christians see no conflict between science and religion. If the Bible’s creation stories are not taken literally, then science can be seen as revealing the laws by which God created the universe.
The Big Bang theory is a description of how many scientists believe the universe began. They say the universe began about 20 billion years ago. There was nothing and then there was an explosion that made a cloud of dust and gas, eventually forming the universe.
Charles Darwin came up with the theory of evolution which stated how everything adapted and developed over time, suggesting there was no need for a God.
Suffering and evil:
Atheists point to the existence of evil and suffering as evidence that God does not exist.
The argument goes like this: Christians believe that God is all-knowing, all-powerful and
all-loving. Therefore God should be aware of evil, should be able to prevent it and would want
to do so. God does not do this so God does not exist.
Atheists also point to cruelty in the animal kingdom and natural disasters as evidence of
poor design, an all-powerful and all-loving designer would not have created this.
Why would a good God create humans that choose evil over good?
Existence of God and Revelation
Special Revelation
Special revelation is when people experience God directly in a particular event. It might be a dream, vision, prophecy, miracle, or hearing ‘God’s call’.
Visions:
Comes in picture or image form.
People see holy people, angels, or hear messages from God.
A vision holds a deep meaning for the person receiving it and enables them to become aware of reality in a new way or with a new intensity.
Examples of visions in the Bible:
The Jewish prophets experienced vivid visions that gave them a message to pass on about God’s dealing with people (see Isaiah 6:1-10).
Saul, who later became know as Paul, received a vision on the Damascus road that completely changed his life (see Acts 9:1-19).
The apostle Peter had a vision that influenced his ideas about ‘unclean foods’ (see Acts 10:9-16)
Atheist view:
They put visions down to lack of food, sleep deprivation or drug use.
The free will argument
Christians believe God gave humans free will and that Adam and Eve’s disobedience brought evil and suffering into this world.
God didn’t want robots, He wanted people to choose to be good and have a relationship with Him.
They also argue if there was no good and bad, the richness of life would be reduced and human qualities wouldn’t be fully shown. E.g. there would be no compassion, learning from mistakes or choosing to do the good thing.
General Revelation
Many people come to know God through general revelation, through ordinary, everyday human experiences. It comes to people through seeing God’s presence in nature, or through a person’s reason, conscience or sense of right and wrong. People say they experience God through worship or through reading scriptures of their religion. The experiences are available to everyone unlike special revelation. They depend on people’s interpretation of them.
Nature:
The beauty and order of the natural world, the power of storms and the sea, the wonder of a new-born baby, and the complexity of the human body lead many to believe in God.
By looking at the world around them, believers think God is shown as creative, artistic, powerful, clever and awesome.
Scripture:
They tell what God is like, how God acted in the past and how God wants people to live.
God’s nature is revealed as powerful, loving, just and forgiving.
The Bible can be interpreted differently, some taking a literal view and others seeing it as more symbolic. All will agree it shows what God is like and reveals to them the nature of God.