BELIEVING IN GOD

Annie, Sara, and Sheri

What We BelieveAs a group, we share the belief that God exists; that there is a greater being responsible for creating the world and understanding the nature of things. However, we also share doubts that cause us to doubt God’s existence. By delving into the words of philosophers and other knowledgeable figures, we hope to find answers that will help us come to a conclusion about God.

Why we believe

Douglas Wilson: If there is no God, then all that exists is time and chance

acting on matter. If this is true then the difference between your thoughts and mine correspond to the difference between shaking up a bottle of Mountain Dew and a bottle of Dr. Pepper. You simply fizz atheistically and I fizz theistically. This means that you do not hold to atheism because it is true , but rather because of a series of chemical reactions… … Morality, tragedy, and sorrow are equally evanescent. They are all empty sensations created by the chemical reactions of the brain, in turn created by too much pizza the night before. If there is no God, then all abstractions are chemical epiphenomena, like swamp gas over fetid water. This means that we have no reason for assigning truth and falsity to the chemical fizz we call reasoning or right and wrong to the irrational reaction we call morality. If no God, mankind is a set of bi-pedal carbon units of mostly water. And nothing else.

Our Impulse to Worship Something

“The roots of religion appear to run deep. Even humans such as Neanderthal demonstrated an understanding of a supernatural force. Some observers believe that an essential characteristic of human kind is to have faith and to have an intuitive sense of the supernatural- a force, power, or reality beyond the material world.” (Quinlan 5).

The Numbers

An estimated 12.7% of the world are non-religious. An estimated 2.5% of the world is Atheist. An estimated 84.8% of people, therefore, are religious. (Robertson 2009)

Group Discussion

Webster Says: God is:1. The Being perfect in power, wisdom, and

goodness who is worshipped as creator and ruler of the universe

2. Christian Science: the divine Principle ruling over all as eternal Spirit: infinite God

3. A being or object believed to have more than natural attributes and powers and to require human worship; specifically: one controlling a particular aspect or part of reality

4. A person or thing of supreme value5. A powerful ruler

-www.merriam-webster.com

What is God? God means different things to different

people. We see God as the supreme creator, who is

omniscient- God created everything and is therefore a part of everything.

What do you think God is?

Proof of God’s Existence

Ontological Argument First developed by Anselm of Canterbury.

Anselm’s argument is a priori; it does not rely on evidence presented by the senses. Rather, it works only with concepts of reason. Anselm presented nothing more than a definition. He argued that if God is supremely perfect, it follows that God is also all- knowing, and self causing, and that God must have all other perfections. One of these perfections must be the perfection of existence. If God does not exist, then it would contradict our concept of God being supremely perfect, therefore, God must exist. (Paquette 159-160).

The Cosmological Argument

This argument begins with the simple observation that it is impossible for any natural thing in the world to be the source of its own existence. Everything comes from everything else, but at some point, there must be a cause that is not its self cause. The function is this cause it to bestow existence on all other things. Cosmologists say that this beginning point is a supreme being. (Paquette 160).

Sir Isaac Newton In optics, mechanics, and mathematics, Newton was a

figure of undisputed genius and innovation. In all his science (including chemistry) he saw mathematics and numbers as central. What is less well known is that he was devoutly religious and saw numbers as involved in understanding God's plan for history from the Bible. He did a considerable work on biblical numerology, and, though aspects of his beliefs were not orthodox, he thought theology was very important. In his system of physics, God is essential to the nature and absoluteness of space.

In Principia he stated, "The most beautiful system of the sun, planets, and comets, could only proceed from the counsel and dominion of an intelligent and powerful Being."

Søren Kierkegaard (1813-1855)

He agreed with Kant that the existence of God could not be proven by reason. However Kierkegaard did not think that it was rational to believe in God, rather one should have faith in God even if this seems to reason to be absurd. To put it another way reason has no place in faith. God is beyond reason. Kierkegaard is regarded as the first existentialist.

Pascal’s Wager Pascal suggested that people view God’s

existence as they would a bet. God exists, or God does not exist.

1. If you chose to believe in God and it turns out that God exists, then you have bet, and won big.

2. If you chose not to believe in God, and it turns out that God does exist, then you have lost big and risk eternal suffering in hell.

3. If you chose to believe in God and you live life accordingly, and it turns out that God does not exist, then your loses are minimal.

4. If you choose to live as if there is no God, and it turns out that God does not exist, then you have won the bet. Your gain is the relatively insignificant one of being right.(Paquette 162)

Challenges and Solutions

1. Why is there Unfair Cruelty and Evil in the World?

Leibniz Says: If God is omnibenevolent, omnipotent, and

omniscient, how do we account for the suffering and injustice that exist in the world? Leibniz’s solution casts God as a kind of optimizer of the collection of all original possibilities. Since he chose this world out of all possibilities, this world must be the best out of all possible worlds. The best possible world would have the most good and the least evil. Courage is better than no courage, without evil to challenge us, there would be no courage. God made some evil to make the best of all possible worlds. Leibniz says that because of the necessary connections of goods and evils, God could not improve it in one way without making it worse.

According to Alvin Platinga

Contemporary philosopher Alvin Platinga provided an argument against God’s allowance of evil in the world:

“God’s creation of persons with morally significant free will is something of tremendous value. God could not eliminate much of the evil and suffering in this world without thereby eliminating the greater good of having created persons with free will with whom he could have relationships and who are able to love one another and do good deeds” (Beebe 2005).

2. Where are you God?

Levinas Says “Levinas believes that people hold traces

of the Good or in other words, God. No tangible object is ever identical to God, or the Good. Everything we encounter is finite. The trace of God in persons is not a faint presence of God. We do not encounter God anywhere, but only a trace of God. A trace says that God was there but is no longer there, God has gone ahead. The infinite one is always one step ahead of us.” (CCCB 18).

3. Limited Perspective?

Painting

For those who challenge God..

The 18th century German philosopher Leibniz proposed an analogy to explain the theistic position.

His analogy is that of which we just portrayed. “You were standing before a massive painting… It towers above you and extends far beyond the horizon. You can only see some of it and what you see is a jumbled mess. There appears to be no order to it. If you were able to see the whole painting at once you would see the most beautifully ordered, detailed and harmonious artwork ever created. Your complaints about this messiness would vanish instantly… your complaints are just like the complaints about evil and suffering in the world. They are a function of an extremely limited perspective” ( Paquette 163).

Final Reflection

While we believe in God, there have been doubts which have caused us to

question our beliefs. The main cause of our of doubts is our limited perspective. Challenges against God concerning the

senses, “Evil” in the world, and questioning the power of God, all tie

into the limited perspective.

About our Presentation

1) Where there any weak points in our presentation?

2) What did you like about our presentation?

3) Did your perspective on God change at all with our presentation?

Works Cited Beebe, James R. Logical Problem of Evil. www.iep.utm.edu

. University of Buffalo, 12 July 2005. Web. 18 May 2011 CCCB. In Search of the Good: A Catholic Understanding of

Moral Living. Ottawa: CCCB Publications. 2004 Paquette, Paul G., Laura Gini-Newman, Peter Flaherty,

Michael Horton, David Jopling, Heather Miller, Peg Tittle, and Peter Yan. Philosophy: Questions and Theories. Toronto: McGraw-Hill Ryerson Ltd. 2003. Print.

Quinlan, Don, Dennis DesRevieres, Sean Dolan, James, Ellsworth, Sharon Goodland, Deo Kernahan, and Peter Lawley. Exploring World Religions: The Canadian Perspective Ontario: 2001. Print.

Robertson, B.A. Number of Adherents of World Religions. www.religioustolerance.org. 20 December 2009. Web. 19 May 2011