Theist Believes in God Atheist There is no
§ Theist Believes in God § Atheist – There is no God § Agnostic – Don’t know if there is a God
§ 500 CE – 1600 CE § A few thousand years ago God created the World and human beings in a pretty short period of time § God, or other heavenly powers, directly controls natural and heavenly phenomena
§ 1600 -1800 CE § The Rise of Modern science § Scientific thinking replaces supernatural causes (demons, gods, witches, etc) with natural ones (weather patterns, gravity, germs) § A move from pre-scientific to scientific thought: two examples a) witches, b) vampires
Newton 1687 Darwin 1859
Theory: All living things on this earth evolved from one single common ancestor. And they evolved through a process of natural selection
1) Organisms reproduce and their reproductions differ a little bit from them (mutation) 2) Some mutations are advantageous in the environment an organism finds itself in, some are not. 3) The organisms with an advantage pass on their traits, the one’s without an advantage die off 4) Eventually the changes are big enough that we have a brand new species
P 1: God is an explanation for the existence of our world P 2: But science can now explain everything in our world with purely natural mechanical explanations P 3: So (From P 1 + P 2) God is not needed to explain to our world P 4: We should not use unnecessary explanations C: We should not use God as an explanation for our world
1) Deny the science 2) Resort to the “God of the Gaps” 3) Belief in God is not about an explanation for why things exist, but about experiences of God
§ P 1: God is said to be all-knowing, all-powerful, and perfectly loving and good § P 2: God must know about all pain suffering § P 3: God could prevent all pain and suffering § P 4: God would want to prevent all pain and suffering § P 5: There is a ton of pain and suffering § --------------------------§ C: There is probably no God
God has a good reason for allowing all this pain and suffering. a) here’s the reason (theodicy) b) There must be a reason but I don’t know what it is God influences the world and people in it. God strives to bring about good things, but there are limits to God’s power; there are things God just can’t stop.
- Slides: 11