Believing in God

Believing in God

1. What do Christians believe?

   • God is omnipotent, omniscient and omni-benevolent.
   • He created the world and everything in it.
   • He answers prayers and He performs miracles.

2. Why do athiests not believe in God?

   • Science, not religion, explains how the word was created.
   • There is no physical proof that God exists.
   • Many events that theists believe are due to God (miracles) can be explained by science or as coincidences.
   • Evil and suffering in the world prove that an all-loving and all- powerful God cannot exist.

3. How do Christian families encourage their children to believe in God?

   • Baptism=a child is welcomed into the Church with family, friends and the worshipping congregation promising to support them with the Christian faith.
   • School=Christian parents may choose a Church school that helps to educate children in Christian faith.
   • Parents' example=through their own examples, Christian parents will encourage their children to believe in God. By seeing their parents praying, hearing about God through Bible stories and attending Church, children will be more likely to believe in God.
   • Community=young Christians can meet and share in activities such as Bible study groups, youth clubs, prayer meetings or other events. This offers a sense of belonging and community. Young adults are supported by the Church and may also meet partners in the Church community.
   • Worship=children attend Sunday School to learn about Jesus, God and the Church. They also attend Church services and celebrate Christian festivals.
   • Confirmation=a child will be encouraged to confirm and renew the vows made for them in Baptism when they are old enough to make decisions for themselves.

4. Why do families raise their children to believe in God?

   • Christians believe it is their duty to marry, have a family and raise their children within the Christian faith.
   • Christians believe their religion gives children secure basis and helps them through difficulties.

5. Types of religious experience

   • Numinous experience=an experience which completely amazes someone and often inspires awe and wonder. Usually words are not enough to describe the experience but it leaves a person aware of a being greater than themselves.
   • Conversion= an experience that causes an individual to change their beliefs, ideas or complete lifestyle. An atheist may become a believer in God or a person may change from one religion to aniother
   • Prayer=a method which believers use to communicate with God. Prayer can be personal, or can be a group experience when believers worship together. Believers pray to share their ideas with God, to praise him, to thank him for what he has provided, to ask for forgiveness or to show gratitude.
   • Miracles=an act of God that appears to be impossible as it goes against the laws of nature. It is usually performed for a religious reason.

6. Arguments

   • Design arguement.
   • Paley's watch.
   • Causation arguement.
   • Cosmological arguement.

7. Scientific explanations of the world

   • 'Big Bang' theory=an enormous explosion started the universe around 15 billion years ago.
   • Evolution=Darwin's theory of the gradual development of species over millions of years.
   • Natural selection=the way in which species naturally select the best characteristics for survival.

8. Problems with unanswered prayers

   • Prayers are communication with God. If they are not answered, people might think God is not listening.
   • Many people who experience pain and suffering in their lives pray to God, but if God does nothing about it, they may feel their prayers have been unanswered.
   • Unanswered prayers may lead some Christians to question their belief in God, to reject him or believe he does not exist.

9. Christian explanations for evil and suffering

   • Free will=God gave free will. This is the ability to make choices for themselves. Some accept that evil and suffering can be the result of free will.
   • Test from God=some Christians accept that evil ad suffering may be a test from God. Believers are allowed to go through difficult times to see how thy react. Some become stronger.
   • God's plan= suffering happens for a reason, Evil and suffering are a part of God's plan. People should trust God because He knows why everything is happening.
   • Following Jesus' example= evil and suffering allows people to follow the example set by Jesus in the Bible. People can strive to do good.

10. Christian responses for evil and suffering

    • Praying=hoping God will give them the strength to cope with what they face or praying for others.
    • Helping others= for example becoming a doctor or nurse so they can help others cope with suffering.
    • Volunteering=with a charity or organisation that supports others when they are suffering.
    • Strengthening their faith=with the knowledge God has a plan for them.

11. What does the Bible say about evil and suffering?

    • Genesis says that God created a perfect world.
    • The fall=Adam and Eve used their free will in the Garden of Eden to disobey God which allowed evil and suffering to enter the world.
    • Christians believe God sent Jesus to Earth to overcome the evil in the world and die for the sins of humanity on the cross.

12. The argument against design

    • We cannot possibly 'prove' God's existence and the design argument only suggests he is the designer.
    • The appearance of design could actually be the result of evolution.

13. Arguments against causation

    • Cannot be proved.
    • Even if everything in the world seems to have a cause, it doesn't mean the universe had a cause.
    • It only suggests that God is the cause of the universe.
    • If everything has a cause, what caused God?
    • There are other possible causes of the universe such as the scientific 'Big Bang' theory.

14. Is there a God?

    • They offer alternative explanations of how the world and humans came to exist, with no reference to God.
    • Science offers evidence that can be seen and tested whereas God cannot be seen or proven in the same way.

15. Christian responses to scientific explanations

    • Believe scientific theories are compatible with God.
    • The Bible's description of the creation of the world is more of a story.
    • The six days of creation were 'stages' not actual periods of time.
    • Science describes how the world cam to exist and the Bible explains why.

16. What is evil and suffering?

    • Moral evil=actions caused out by humans that cause suffering, for example murder, rape, war, theft etc.
    • Natural evil=things that cause suffering but have nothin to do with humans, for example things that humans have to controll over such as famine, disease and natural disasters.

17. Why does evil and suffering make belief in God difficult?

    • If God is all-good, He would want to remove evil and suffering as he cares for his creation.
    • If God is all-knowing, He would know how to remove evil and suffering.
    • If God is all-powerful, he would be able to remove evil and suffering.

18. Why are some people agnostic?

    • Unsure about God's existence.
    • No reliable evidence to support God or go against God.

19. Christian responses to unanswered prayers

    • They may accept that they do not have enough faith that God will answer their prayers, so they must go on trying.
    • They may accept that God hears and answers prayers but not always in the way they hope or expect.
    • They may feel that God is not listening to them.
    • Some may accept that God does not answer selfish prayers.
    • Some may believe what they are praying for is not part of God's will or divine plan.

20. Design argument

    • Design is the result of intelligent thought.
    • The universe shows evidence of being designed.
    • This suggests that a being with intelligence designed the universe.
    • The universe is too complex to have happened by chance or designed by any bring other than God.
    • God exists.

21. Paley's watch

    • Paley compared the world to a watch.
    • If a person saw a watch for the first time he or she would immediately know it had been designed because it is so complex.
    • A watch has many parts that have been carefully made and put together to work successfully, so it must have been planned and designed.
    • Paley argued the same of the universe saying it could not have happened by chance and must have had a clever designer.
    • The only being capable of deigning the universe is God.
    • God must exist.

22. Causation argument

    • Nothings happens by itself.
    • Everything that happens must be cause by something else.
    • The universe cannot have happened by itself.
    • A powerful cause was necessary to cause the universe.
    • This cause has to be God.
    • God exists.

23. Cosmological argument

    • Another name for the causation argument.
    • Thomas Aquinas argued that everything that happens is caused by something else.
    • However, he argued that you cannot go back indefinitely and that there must have been a first cause of the universe.
    • Aquinas believed this first cause had to be God and called him the 'unmoved mover' because he is the start of the universe.

24. Agnosticism

    • Not being sure whether God exists.
    • A person who holds this view is called an agnostic.

25. Atheism

    • The belief that God does not exist.
    • A person who holds this view is called an atheist.

26. Theories

    • Evolution=this is the idea that species developed over millions of years and adapted to their surroundings. For some, evolution may suggest the appearance of design.
    • The Big Bang=this is the idea that an enormous explosion started the universe around 15 billion years ago.

27. Does God exist?

    • Some people do not believe in God.
    • When evil and suffering is around them God is not powerful.