INTERMEDIATE 1 Resources / RMPS booklets
By the end of the course you should have 4 booklets about the existence
of God unit. They are:
1. Religious Belief:The Universe was created by God
 This booklet contains information about the different ways people
describe God.
 It includes important words about God that will help you describe
‘God as creator’
2. Philosophical argument: The First Cause
 This booklet presents a philosophical argument that tries to
provide evidence for the existence of God.
 It is based around Thomas Aquinas’ argument that there must be a
‘first cause’
3. Philosophical argument: The Design (teleological) argument
 This booklet presents a philosophical argument that tries to
provide evidence for the existence of God.
 It is based around William Pally’s argument that there must be a
designer of the universe
4. Philosophical argument: The Problem of Pain
 This booklet presents a philosophical argument that tries to
provide evidence that God doesn’t exist.
 It is based around the view that if God is benevolent, omniscient
and omnipotent, then why is there suffering in the world?
2
Religious Belief:
The Universe was created by God.
Perfect Being
Omnipotent =
Eternal
Spiritual
Omnipresent =
GOD
Creator
Spiritual
Omniscient =
In order to be the CREATOR of the universe God must be …… (use the
words above to complete a detailed paragraph that begins with this sentence).
God gives life meaning and purpose ...
 If God exists then there is a reason why we exist.
 God deliberately created the universe and deliberately created
humans. It is good to know that are existence wasn’t just an accident.
 If God exists and deliberately created humans then all human life is
valuable. Life has meaning.
 If God doesn’t exist then our existence is just the result of blind chance.
If this is true then there is no reason why we exist.
 If God doesn’t exist then maybe life can still have meaning and
purpose? Humans though will have to create their own meaning and
purpose for their lives.
______________________________________________________________
3
Philosophical Argument: The First Cause Argument
The cosmological argument tries to show that there is a God from this simple
fact that the universe exists.
St. Thomas Aquinas: The argument from the ‘Uncaused Cause’
 Everything has a cause.
 Every cause has a cause.
 This cannot go back forever.
 Therefore there must be an uncaused cause that isn’t caused.
 The uncaused cause is what people understand by ‘God’
Can you explain this argument in a clear, well structure paragraph?

You will not gain marks in an exam if you just memorise and list
the argument in bulleted points

You will gain marks in an exam if you can explain each bulleted
point in your own words
Support for / Strengths of the First Cause argument
1. Everything that has ever been examined in the universe has a cause.
2. It makes sense to say that the universe must have had a beginning
because it doesn’t make sense to say that there is an infinite chain of
causes.
3. The First cause argument appears to be based on reason and logic.
______________________________________________________________
4
Philosophical Objection: Bertrand Russell
Objection – What caused God?

If everything needs a cause then surely God needs a cause to.
Philosophical Responses:

If God is eternal then it doesn’t make sense to ask the question, ‘what
caused God?’

If everything in the universe needs a cause then surely it is better to
say that the universe itself needs a cause than to say that the universe
doesn’t need a cause?
______________________________________________________________
Scientific Objection: the theory of the Big Bang
The order of events goes something like this:
1. The universe explodes into existence.
2. Immediately after the Big Bang the universe was thought
to be smaller than the nucleus of an atom.
3. A millisecond later the universe had expanded to the size
of the sun.
4. A few minutes after the Big Bang the first hydrogen and
helium atoms were formed.
5. Gradually these atoms then formed into gases which
eventually would become the stars and all matter that we
can see.
6. Everything that now exists in the universe could be thought of as debris
from the bang.
Can you explain the theory of the Big Bang using the phrases above?
Remember, don’t just bullet point information, write a detailed
paragraph.
Can you explain why some people think that this theory is an objection
to the cosmological argument?
Support for (strengths of) the theory of the Big Bang

Scientists have observed that the universe is getting bigger.

The theory of gravity means that the universe should not be expanding
unless something incredibly powerful caused them to move apart.

Evidence of background radiation shows that there must have been a
huge explosion early in the history of the universe.
5
Philosophical Responses to the theory of the Big Bang

This theory doesn’t really provide an answer to the cosmological
argument. E.g. you can easily ask, “What caused the Big Bang?”

The Big Bang theory backs up the cosmological argument because it
agrees with the idea that the universe had a beginning

The Big Bang is only a theory. Maybe one day it will be proved wrong?

Some scientists say that you can believe in the Big Bang and God at
the same time (maybe God caused the Big Bang?)
______________________________________________________________
Do YOU think the Big Bang theory means that God doesn’t exist?
Do YOU think the Big Bang theory means that the cosmological argument has
failed to prove that God exists?
Can you justify (give reasons) for your own view?
Do YOU think that the cosmological argument has proved that God exists?
Do YOU think that the cosmological argument provides good reasons for you
to believe that God exists?
______________________________________________________________
6
Philosophical Argument: The Design Argument
The Teleological Argument (Philosophical argument for the
existence of God)
Religious Belief: God is a purposeful creator; all of life is created by God
with a definite purpose and goal.
The basic strategy of this argument is based on another observation about the
universe.
There are things within the universe (particularly living things)
that are very, very complicated.
People believe that complicated things don’t just appear by themselves. They
must have been designed. The only possible designer is God.
Examples of the complexity of the universe …
Humming bird’s
wings beat _____
times per second.
A common fly’s
wings beat _____
times per second.
William Paley: The Design argument
An argument from ANALOGY
1. What is an analogy?
2. What is an argument from analogy?
3. Can you explain Paley’s argument
from analogy?
4. Can you use a quote from Paley to
help you explain the argument?
Paley compares a watch with an eye …
ANALOGY
7
WATCH
√ complex
√ has an obvious purpose
HUMAN EYE
√ very complex
√ has an obvious purpose
Conclusion
Conclusion
“we know that a watch
has been designed”
“we can assume that the
human eye has been designed”
Philosophical Objection: The Bad design argument
“If the universe was designed then God didn’t make a very good job of it”
Examples of bad design in the universe …
Three examples of
natural disasters are
_______________
_______________
_______________
The female quall
doesn’t look
designed because
______________
______________
______________
NB Can you explain the bad design argument in
your own words?
Philosophical response to the bad design argument …
1. The human body doesn’t look like it was badly designed
There may be some examples of things that don’t look like a good God would
design them; however, there are many more examples of incredibly complex
things that seem to make the bad design argument a bit weak.
For example:
Write about the human body
 Heart, lungs, eye etc.
 The brain is so complicated we can’t even begin to
understand how it works.
 Are these things badly designed?
 Do they point to a designer?
The human body does appear to have been designed with a specific
purpose in mind.
8
2. The anthropic principle

The universe doesn’t look like an
example of bad design.

All the planets are in just the right
place.

The Big Bang happened with just the
right force to create a universe that
works.
______________________________________________________________
Scientific Objection: The Theory of Evolution
Evolution claims that we can get complicated things
without the need for a designer.
 Charles Darwin: The Origen of Species
 Richard Dawkins: The Blind Watchmaker
 Natural Selection …
 Natural processes …
 Survival of the fittest …
 Designoids …
Can you explain clearly why the theory of evolution is often used to challenge
the design argument?
Philosophical Response to the theory of evolution …
1. Did God design the process of evolution? F.R Tennant believed that
evolution can’t explain why humans love music, art and natural beauty?
2. Evolution is only a theory. Maybe one day it will be proved wrong?
______________________________________________________________
9
Do YOU think the theory of evolution means that God doesn’t exist?
Do YOU think evolution means that the design argument has failed to prove
that God exists?
Can you justify (give reasons) for your own view?
Do YOU think that the design argument has proved that God exists?
Do YOU think that the design argument provides good reasons for you to
believe that God exists?
YEAR
Examples of Exam Questions (INT 1)
“Were you there when I (God) made the world?
Who decided how large it would be?
Who stretched the measuring line over it?
Who laid the cornerstone of the world?”
1.
The passage above suggests that the world has
been designed by God.
Describe one design argument for the existence of
God.
4KU
2007
2.
Give two other examples of evidence from nature to
support the Design argument.
2KU
2007
3.
Describe one traditional objection to the Design
argument.
2KU
2007
4.
“If God had designed the world, he would have made
a better job of it.”
How might religious people respond to this
statement?
4AE
2007
5.
What are the main points of the theory of evolution?
4KU
2007
6.
“The theory of evolution proves that God did not
create the world.”
Do you agree? Give two reasons for your answer.
4AE
2007
7.
Describe the theory of evolution.
4KU
2009
8.
Describe two examples of evidence to support the
theory of evolution.
4KU
2009
10
9.
What is meant by God as a powerful creator?
2KU
2009
10.
Is the Design argument for the existence of God a
good argument?
4AE
2009
Give two reasons for your answer.
11.
Describe one traditional objection to the Design
argument.
2KU
2009
12.
“If there is no designer, there is no purpose to life.”
4AE
2009
2KU
2010
Do you agree? Give two reasons for your answer.
13.
“Nothing would exist without God.”
What is meant by this statement?
14.
Describe the First cause Argument
4KU
2010
15.
“The First Cause Argument does not prove that God
exists.”
4AE
2010
Do you agree? Give two reasons for your answer.
16.
Describe the main points of the Big Bang theory.
4KU
2010
17.
What evidence supports the Big Bang theory?
2KU
2010
18.
“Accepting the Big Bang theory makes it difficult to
believe that God exists.”
4AE
2010
Do you agree? Give two reasons for your answer.
More Exam Type Revision Questions (INT 1)
a.
Describe Paley’s argument for the existence of God
4KU
b.
State two pieces of evidence in the world that could
be used to support Paley’s argument.
2KU
c.
What are the key ideas in the theory of evolution?
4KU
d.
Why do some people say that the theory of evolution
challenges the design argument? Give two reasons.
4KU
e.
Do you think that the theory of evolution has proved
that God doesn’t exist? Give a reason for your view.
2AE
11
f.
“I don’t think the design argument will ever convince
me that the God must exist.”
4AE
Do you agree with this view? Give two reasons for
your view.
g.
Describe the cosmological argument for God’s.
h.
What evidence is there in the world that supports this 2AE
argument?
i.
Describe the scientific theory called the Big Bang.
4KU
j.
Describe two pieces of evidence that can be used to
support the Big Bang theory.
4KU
k.
Describe one philosophical objection / response to
the First Cause argument.
2KU
l.
“God is the best explanation for the existence of the
universe”
4AE
4KU
Do you agree with this view? Give reasons for your
answer.
j.
“God is the best explanation for the existence of life”
4AE
Do you agree with this view? Give reasons for your
answer.
12