Video – Does God Exist?
Viewing Guide – P1010
Those who believe that God exists, generally think that such a Being cannot be ________________
through the ____________.
I. Arguments for the Existence of God
A. The Ontological Argument
1.
In the Middle Ages, St. Anselm’s argument calls for the nature of God being deduced from
the nature of His _____________.
2.
This proof of God proceeds by showing that the very concept of something entails its
_________________.
3.
God is by _________________ the most perfect conceivable Being. If God were just an
__________ then a more perfect being could be conceived.
B. The Cosmological Argument
1.
Based on what we can sense around us, St. Thomas Aquinas offered proofs that assert that
there must be either a sufficient _____________ or a ___________ cause of the cosmos (the
world or universe).
2.
Keith Ward: “If there were an ___________ explanation for everything that comes about,
then what you need a being that is not capable of _________ into being.” That Being is not
caused and explains all.
3.
“…there must be a first mover that is not itself moved. And this first mover is what we mean
by ____.” (Thomas Aquinas)
4.
Although Aquinas’ view required that the universe be eternal, the _______ _________
theory suggests that the universe might not have been eternal. It proposes that the world came
into existence at a specific moment in time, without cause, and out of nothing.
C. The Teleological or _____________ Argument
1.
Based on the structure and purpose (telos) of the world, there is a third argument for the
existence of God. This argument is that the intricate _________ of the Cosmos
(universe) shows that a God designed it with a purpose in mind.
2.
In 1802, the theological William Paley presented one of the best known expositions of
the theory. He proposed an analogy that just as a watch in all of its intricate parts and
mechanisms could not come to be without a watchmaker, neither could such a highly
ordered and _______________ world of nature exist without a Designer.
3.
Darwin countered that Paley was wrong in presuming that where there is design, there
has to be a designer with intelligence. The theory of evolution contends that through a
process of _______________ _______________ organisms that can adapt survive and
the rest perish.
4.
Darwin is arguing that there is a difference between order and purpose. Order (or a
pattern or regularity) can _________ without purpose.
5.
Yet the odds against our universe forming as it has are calculated at 1 chance out of 10
Billion to the 124th power (i.e. “virtually” impossible). Darwin’s argument does not rule
out that it is possible that God purposefully created the precise _______________ for
such a “long shot” to occur.
II. Argument Against the Existence of God
A. The Argument Of Evil
1.
Atheists argue that of course evil things happen in our world. They ask how can evil exist in a
world where an all purpose, ____________ Being also resides?
2.
One philosopher stated: “If God is perfectly and morally good and can do anything God wants
to and knows everything, he would be in a position to eliminate all horrors and __________
humans have gone through in human history. But God hasn’t. So either God doesn’t exist or
He isn’t very ____________.”
3.
Another philosopher argues that the argument presupposes that the purpose of God is human
happiness which is not the basic Christian view. The Christian view is that the purpose of
Man is the _____________ ___ ______.
4.
Another philosopher suggests that it is a great mistake to hold God “responsible” directly for
everything that happens. Supposing that God wants men to have human responsibility and
freedom, the universe have to give man ___________ for that freedom.
5.
The pastor of the First Evangelical Covenant church in Lincoln suggested that there is nothing
in reason or _______________ to suppose that everything specifically happens has a
______________ from God.
III. The Existence of God as a Response to the Human Condition.
A. The Atheistic Side.
1.
Atheists sometimes argue that the idea of the Deity is nothing more than a human
“concoction” offering the comfort we need from _______________.
2.
In one version of this view, religion (and the belief in God) is constructed in the model of a
family to create an illusion of security in a heartless world. In particular, Sigmund Freud
suggested: “Man’s helplessness remains and along with it his longing for his ___________.”
B. The Theistic Side
1.
For Immanuel Kant, the existence of God is necessary to form a coherent picture of the world.
_______________________ arguments for the existence of God fail because they are
concepts of the ______________.
2.
Kant argues that we must believe in God on the basis of a necessary commitment to Morality
since we know in our world, __________ often goes unpunished. Only God could bring
perfect ____________________.
Name: _____________________________