"Explain how followers of the religion that you are studying may be influenced by these beliefs".
"Explain how followers of the religion that you are studying may be influenced by these beliefs" Some Christians believe that Satan, or the devil, is a real being who has the power to corrupt us and turn us from God's will. These people's lives often revolve around "resisting Satan" and may ban the music of rock groups with satanic lyrics. They also hold exorcisms, to rid people of satanic influence. They say that, if they are able to resist Satan, God will be pleased and let them into heaven. Some Christians, who believe in the balance of nature, may claim that they should do nothing about suffering and evil since God is inflicting pain for a reason, which is beyond our understanding. They say that, if they prevent the suffering of some people, then they will be merely inflicting suffering upon others. An example of this is a flood, which kills some people but waters the ground for others to grow crops. If the flood was prevented, then the other people would not be able to grow food, and die. Most Christians agree that God gave them free will. They live their lives as they choose and say that, if God interfered every time people did something that would cause harm to themselves or others then people would be puppets of God. Some Christians believe that suffering is a punishment for sin and so try to live their lives according to God's teaching and repent any sins
The Design Argument For The Existence Of God
The Design Argument For The Existence Of God This argument is also called the teleological argument, it argues that the universe did not come around by mere chance, but some one or something designed it. This thing was God. This argument is a prosteriori because the observation of the natural world is taken into the mind to conclude that there is a designer. The belief that the universe was designed by God was triggered by things like the four seasons; summer, spring, autumn and winter, that change through the year. The adaption of the human body and the structure of earths natural things. All of this had to of been designed to make the universe come into order, have a purpose and regularity. Because the world is so complexed and in order, God is believed to have so much power and is omnipotent to have designed the universe. Such natural things such as trees, grass and flowers are each individual. Everything is a part of everything else, Einstein thought that everything is connected to have a specific purpose on earth. If everything was all muddled up then they wouldn't work properly. For example; a car would not drive if the engine and other parts of the car were not fitted right. Isaac Newton took interest in this argument and put across a theory that even some thing like the human thumb, so individual, had to of had a designer. Isaac Newton was a Christian. A
"The Ontological Argument is a logical sleight of hand." Discuss
"The Ontological Argument is a logical sleight of hand." Discuss The ontological argument for the existence of God is perhaps the only argument which makes use of logic and a priori statements to support its reasoning. If the argument is successful, it proves that God's existence is logically necessary, and therefore, the existence of God is proven. The first thing the ontological argument tries to do is to provide a definition for the word 'God'. This is necessary in order to justify that the statement 'God exists' is true - in other words, it is an analytic statement, which supporters of the argument accept to be true. St. Anselm of Canterbury defined God as "that than which nothing greater can be conceived," and maintained that this definition would be accepted by both believers and non-believers. He states that God exists in the mind, but he must also exist in reality, because God is "that than which nothing greater can be conceived", and it is better to exist both in the mind and in reality. Therefore, Lord, not only are you that than which nothing greater can be conceived but you are also something greater than can be conceived. Indeed, since it is possible to be something of this kind, if you are not this very thing, something can be conceived greater than you, which cannot be done. St. Anselm, Proslogian 2 And so, Anselm concludes that God must exist, and
Is Galileo considered a "hero" or "anti-hero"?
Is Galileo considered a "hero" or "anti-hero"? Galileo Galilei, the central character of Brecht's play, is known as one of the most famous scientists of all the times. He was one of the first to study in depth the universe and is known as the Father of Modern Science. I consider a "hero" a person noted for his acts of courage or noble purpose, especially one who has risked or sacrificed his/her life for the advantages of the human society. Galileo is shown as a "hero" on the first nine scenes of the play, for his courage to stand up the church and also for his passion and enthusiasm towards his aims. On the other hand, on the following scenes he is exposed with some characteristics of an "anti-hero" for his irreverence towards the church showing no respects whatsoever towards it's privileged leaders and also for his coolness towards his daughter Virginia. Nevertheless, should Galileo be considered a "hero" or "anti-hero" for his actions? One of the most important characteristics that make Galileo a "hero" is his great determination and self-confidence in proving and demonstrating his ideas. He dedicated almost his entire life proving that his discoveries about the universe were right. Although, he knew that it would cost him a lot, he did not gave up the discoveries that he made. This is shown when he says: "The sum of the angles in a triangle cannot be varied to suit the
Preliminary Interpretation of Descartes Meditations
Preliminary Interpretation of Descartes Meditations René Descartes was a revolutionary figure in the 17th century during the renaissance period, at a time when the way people viewed the world was changing dramatically. In the past people had described things using a mixture of colour, hot, cold, sweet tasting, hard (secondary qualities) and distance, velocity, time, mass and acceleration (primary qualities). But in a time of dramatic change, mathematical science was, through mathmaticalised theories and predictions of measurable quantities proving primary qualities to be more reliable and efficient than secondary qualities. A now scientific, world seen predominantly by primary qualities left no place for secondary qualities. Descartes was in the forefront of renaissance maths, natural philosophy (physics) and wrote many books on geometry and astronomy among many other subjects. However in his book 'Meditations and Other Metaphysical Writings' he attempts to maintain his place as a mathematical scientist yet find a place for the secondary qualities, afraid that science will sweep them away. The place he finds for these secondary qualities is as part of the thinking substance. Descartes begins the first meditation of 'Meditations and Other Metaphysical Writings' by introducing reasons why we can doubt everything which we have come to believe, even those things which we
Explain the difference between knowing something and believing something
Explain the difference between knowing something and believing something Something doesn't have to be true to be believable. People say lies and people believe them. There are things out, such as God, which there is no actually evidence to his/her being real, but for years people believe there is one. You can't stop someone believing something. Back in Columbus's day, people didn't even believe about the world being anything but flat, until Columbus proved it. He had evidence, it was proved that the world was, in actually fact, sphere. In this essay, I am going to show how believing something and knowing something is different and try explain the differences. The characteristics of knowledge are that it must be true; knowledge can't be knowledge if there is any doubt in any of it. It must be justified. It can't be true, if it's not right - e.g. 2 + 2 = 4 not 5 or 6. Knowledge is not in the future. What we definitely know has happened in the past. Belief can be in past, present or the future; it doesn't need to be true. Most religions are based on beliefs. Nothing is solid in religion, it is all something that may or may not be true. Belief is something that someone wants to believe, whether it's true or not. There are two main types of philosophers, i) Empiricism - where philosophers believe that knowledge comes from our senses ii) Rationalism - where philosophers
What are the strengths and weaknesses of the Cosmological Argument?
What are the strengths and weaknesses of the Cosmological Argument? The Cosmological Argument is one that involves us to always bring out the big question, and develop it. It also requires you to work out the flaws and the good aspects of it. The word cosmological comes from the Greek word cosmos, meaning 'universe' or 'world'. The Cosmological Argument does not seek to prove God's existence from a definition of the concept of God, but rather from an analysis of our experiences of the world about us. The Cosmological Argument is one that can be broken down into smaller particles, particles that can explain the experiences of the world about us. Instead of asking the 'big question' we can break down the question into relatively smaller pieces, therefore making it smaller and easier to answer. Fallacy Of Composition, this shows how things which may seem big and difficult to answer to be broken down into smaller questions. The Fallacy Of Composition is basically where you describe the parts of something, so therefore you have described it all e.g. instead of explaining the existence of the world, you explain everything in it, thus explaining the world. This therefore means that if the question of God seems to be something which you can't explain all you need do is describe is everything in the world, find out where it started and then say it all just came from God. However
Explain Paley's teleological argument Paley's version of the teleological argument argues that structure or order or purpose in the universe
The Teleological Argument-June 2003 a) Explain Paley's teleological argument Paley's version of the teleological argument argues that structure or order or purpose in the universe is evidence for the idea of a creator or a designer. Paley says this designer is God. Paley's argument works by analogy, this is when 2 cases are compared and what is true about one is then claimed to be true of the other. Similar effects imply similar causes, this is argument from analogy. The argument is based on goals or ends or purposes and a designer is needed to explain the goal-orientated structure of such objects in the universe. Paley uses the idea of a watch created by a designer and compares this with the eye. This analogy of the watch is used to argue for the existence of a designer- who is God. The following example is used to explain the teleological argument. A watch has a complex structure, it has cogs, hands etc. An eye also has a complex structure, the retina, pupil etc. The complex structure of the watch allows it to display the time of day. The complex structure of the eye allows us to see. Without the structure of the watch it could not display the time. Similarly without the complex structure of the eye, it would not be able to see. The structure of the watch is the result of an intelligent designer. The structure of the eye is also the result of an intelligent designer,
The Tsunami
The Tsunami We have all recently become dramatically aware of the consequences of living on a dynamic earth. An earthquake that was initially estimated at 8.5 on the Richter Scale, but subsequently revised to 9.0 occurred on 26th December 2004. Many died in this tragic event. It is said to be 160,000 lives had been lost and thousands injured. When the sea floor is raised during an earthquake, water is raised with it, the sea surface is tipped, and water rushes away. An enormous mass of water is suddenly set in motion and complex slushing back and forth continues for many hours. The result is a train of water waves of a unique type. The velocity of a water waveform increases with its length, and in the deep ocean these uniquely long waves travel at 500mph. As the wave approaches land, its bottom is slowed down by contact with the shallowing sea floor but travelling fast enough to cause damage. This tsunami could be considered as an act of moral and natural evil. Why, because the Sri Lankan people had experienced a Tsunami many years ago and were warned by scientists that another one would come, however nobody took any notice. They still allowed resorts to be built so that they could make money from tourism. Many of the areas near the tourist resorts were filled with child prostitutes and drugs. There was a lot of crime and corruption among the people and many had lost
View of Christians on Abortion
A01 View of Christians on Abortion Christians believe that they are obliged to preserve human life from the time of conception to the time of death. Therefore they don't approve of abortion and euthanasia. Abortion is the deliberate termination of a pregnancy for various reasons such as risk of child being born seriously handicapped, risk of injury to the mental health of existing children and etc. Christians recognise the basic rights of all individuals including the unborn. They all have rights, which cannot be taken away from them, the right to life. God gave us the right to live from the moment of conception. 'The Lord God formed man--- and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being.' So Christians believe no one can take this right away except God himself. ' It is I who put to death and give life.' (Deuteronomy 32:39) Christians consider life to be scarce as God created man in his own image. '...so God created human beings, making them to be like himself (Genesis 1/27).' Therefore great respect must be given to human life. Most importantly Christians believe that human life begins at the moment of conception. 'Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart (Jeremiah 1:5).' Therefore from the moment of conception a unique life begins with potential so aborting a foetus would break the sixth