A God who intervenes miraculously in the world cannot be benevolent

A God who intervenes miraculously in the world cannot be benevolent . Discuss This statement is a paradox in itself, as it assumes that God can act miraculously, and that He is benevolent. This can be seen as a contradiction, as these two beliefs are incompatible. A God who intervenes miraculously in the world cannot be benevolent, because of the presence of natural and moral evil in the world. Surely a God who was able to act through miracles and prevent such evil and chose not to would be partisan, which would obviously detract from his benevolence. Therefore this statement poses a challenge to the theist, who believes in both a benevolent God who cares for humanity, and an omnipotent God who is able to perform the miraculous. The question assumes a realist view of miracles, which claims, 'the word 'miracle' is correctly applied if and only if the event is brought about by the action of God.'1. With this understanding of miracles, it is obvious that God's apparent benevolence is not consistent with the problem of evil. However, how does one decide which events are brought about by the actions of God, and which are simply coincidences which have a religious interpretation imposed on it. Gareth Moore develops this point further, and suggests that it is possible that God is irrelevant to the concept of miracle, and that miracles are simply events, which cannot be explained.

  • Word count: 588
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: Religious Studies (Philosophy & Ethics)
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God and The Universe

God and the Universe Can one still believe in God and the modern cosmological findings? The Big Band was such a cataclysmic event that it is natural to suppose it marked the beginning of the universe. So how do we account for it? Judeo-Christians response has always been God. But there are those who argue that God is not necessary. Instead they attribute the Big Bang to quantum fluctuation. Whether quantum physics had anything to do with the universe we do not know. If it did, it would not solve the problem as to where the physical law governing process came from. Would it not have taken a God to chose the laws? Why are there any laws at all? Behind this richness lies order. If it takes intelligence to recognise this, would it not have taken intelligence to have devised it in the first place? In any case when speaking of God as the creator, we need to be careful. We do not see God as the cause of the Big Bang, there probably was no cause. This arises because any such cause would have had to exist before the effect. But we believe that the instant of the Big Bang marked not only the coming into existence of the contents of the universe but also the coming into existence of time and space. There was no time before the Big Bang and hence no time to accommodate a cause of the Big Bang. 'What place then for a creator?' However, this remark is not as damaging to religious

  • Word count: 832
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: Religious Studies (Philosophy & Ethics)
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Apostles Creed

APOSTLES CREED A creed is a statement of belief. Early Christians believed from what other Christians said about God when they preached to non-Christians and from what Christians said about God to other Christians. Kerygma was the term used for the early beliefs of Christians, these beliefs were: * The man Jesus was God's chosen one, Messiah/Christ - Son of God and fully human. * Through Jesus God made himself known. * Jesus was crucified but God raised him from the dead. * God appointed Jesus to be judge of all people. * Through Jesus God offers people forgiveness of sins, the gift of the Holy Spirit and new (eternal) life. A 'Rule of Faith' written by the early fathers of the church such as Irenaeus and Tertullian was devised to summarise the basic Christian beliefs. It's two main purposes were; to preserve true teaching (doctrine) and to refute false teaching (heresy). It became in practice for new converts to declare their belief in God - Father, Son and Spirit - before being baptized. Not all creeds are religious. Some statements of belief are secular (non-religious) and are used in everyday life: * I believe in looking after number one. * I believe in putting your money into bricks and mortar. * I believe in free speech. * I believe in protecting the environment. * I believe in equal rights. A creed all Christians should be familiar with is the Apostles

  • Word count: 2977
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: Religious Studies (Philosophy & Ethics)
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Sacred Lore.

Sacred Lore Carried by the force of his previous practice, a man who seeks to learn discipline passes beyond sacred lore that expresses the infinite spirit in words. The man of discipline, striving with effort, purified of his sins, perfected through many births, finds a higher way. The Bhagavad-Gita; Sixth Teaching, verses 44-45 Synonymous with virtually every religion is a set of teachings or instructions used to help communicate, explain, and/or ground concepts that could otherwise remain lofty and inconceivable. Despite their conceptual differences, each text is important to the faith system it supports. For example, the Bhagavad-Gita, Hinduism's most popular text, chronicles a conversation in which the foundations of non-attachment are laid in metaphors and suggestions, allowing much room for interpretation. The Christian Bible approaches teaching in a different light, offering a literal story for metaphorical application to life and worship. Almost opposite the Bhagavad-Gita is the Koran, a set of concrete Islamic regulations that must be followed in order to obtain righteousness. Muslims believe that the Koran consists of God's word spoken through a series of visions seen by the prophet Mohammed. These divine revelations began in the year 610 AD during a meditative retreat in the Cave of Hira, near Mecca. They continued for twenty two years until all

  • Word count: 1642
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: Religious Studies (Philosophy & Ethics)
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Religious writers all set out, in Milton’s words, “to justify the ways of God to man”. Few succeed. To what extent is this a valid statement?

Religious writers all set out, in Milton’s words, “to justify the ways of God to man”. Few succeed. To what extent is this a valid

  • Word count: 6607
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: Religious Studies (Philosophy & Ethics)
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The Confessions of St. Augustine

The Confessions of St. Augustine In this autobiography of Augustine's confessions, we are brought face-to-face with sin and the conversion of St. Augustine. In this paper, I will try and give an explanation on Augustine's understanding of sin and also explain Augustine's understanding of conversion. Sin was not unusual to Augustine, even as a young boy. In the second book, Augustine reveals that he and some of his friends stole some pears from a neighbor's tree. They took the pears and threw them to the pigs. Augustine just got a thrill out of doing what was wrong. He said, "My desire was to enjoy not what I sought by stealing but merely the excitement of thieving and the doing of what was wrong". (II.iv.9) Later in his life, Augustine resorts to some more "sinful" pleasures. He begins to find sexual activity appealing. He said,"The bubbling impulses of puberty befogged and obscured my heart so that it could not see the difference between love's serenity and lust's darkness". (II.ii.2) He did not understand the difference between emotional love and physical love. Augustine then took a concubine as his partner. Augustine did not believe these acts to be sinful but merely the lesser good from a larger good. Some goods were simply better than others. There is no evil. The conversion of Augustine took place in two separate themes; the Intellectual conversion and the Moral

  • Word count: 749
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: Religious Studies (Philosophy & Ethics)
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Ancient religions - A comparison.

Ancient Religions: A Comparison As civilization has expanded and improved it has gone through many different religions. Some of the most interesting and different have been the Mesopotamian religion, the religion of the Greeks and finally Christianity. These three religions were practiced in different areas and different time periods and therefore they will be excellent for a comparison. Religion is a key part of every society and civilization. No matter how it is organized or what type of God they worship, a society would be nothing without some kind of deity to organize it. Through the units of study the amount that people rely on Gods has been evident and that is why this makes a very good essay topic. Three areas of religion will be used to compare each of the religions chosen, worship style, their temples or places of worship, and the nature of their God or Gods. Each of the three religions selected had very different ideas of how to worship their God or Gods. In the Mesopotamian religion worship was very straightforward and casual. They would give daily offerings of food and drink with sacrifices during special monthly and annual feasts. The most important of these feasts was the New Year's festival, which later on during the first millennium came to include some lesser festivals as well. These worship events were held by the Priests and Priestesses who also took care

  • Word count: 2173
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: Religious Studies (Philosophy & Ethics)
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A summary of the Cosmological argument according to Thomas Aquinas and Copleston.

Tom Smolen A summary of the Cosmological argument according to Thomas Aquinas and Copleston. The Cosmological argument is basically an argument that begins with the existence of the Universe and tries to prove God's existence. Cosmos means the Universe. In order to argue the Cosmological argument one must already believe that the Universe is there for a reason and be willing to ask: "Why is there a Universe?" The first step in the argument is the premise- there is a Universe. We know there is a Universe because we are constantly experiencing it. St Thomas Aquinas put forward five proofs for the existence of God and the first 3 are Cosmological arguments. The first argument is that everything in the Universe is moved by something else. Unless we can go back in time forever, with things being constantly moved by something else, there must be a point where movement started. Aquinas says there must be a Prime mover that began movement in the Universe, when there was nothing, and this is God. The second way is very similar, but argues that every event is caused by an event before it. At some point there was a first cause that triggered more events, which began the chain of causes that brings us to the present day. These to arguments are both similar to Aristotle's ideas about cause and purpose in relation to God. He too said that there must be a Prime, or Unmoved Mover. The

  • Word count: 586
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: Religious Studies (Philosophy & Ethics)
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What are Muslim beliefs about god?

In this essay I intend to illustrate what Muslims believe about God. In my RS class I learned Muslims believe in one, unique, incomparable God, Who has no son nor partner, and that none has the right to be worshipped but Him alone. He is the true God, and every other deity is false. He has the most magnificent names and sublime perfect attributes. No one shares His divinity, nor His attributes. In the Quran, God describes Himself: Say, "He is God, the One. God, to Whom the creatures turn for their needs. He begets not, nor was He begotten, and there is none like Him." (Quran, 112:1-4) No one has the right to be invoked, supplicated, prayed to, or shown any act of worship, but God alone. God alone is the Almighty, the Creator, the Sovereign, and the Sustainer of everything in the whole universe. He manages all affairs. He stands in need of none of His creatures, and all His creatures depend on Him for all that they need. He is the All-Hearing, the All-Seeing, and the All-Knowing. In a perfect manner, His knowledge encompasses all things, the open and the secret, and the public and the private. He knows what has happened, what will happen, and how it will happen. No affair occurs in the whole world except by His will. Whatever He wills is, and whatever He does not will is not and will never be. His will is above the will of all the creatures. He has power over

  • Word count: 1049
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: Religious Studies (Philosophy & Ethics)
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Is a knower's personal point of view an asset or an obstacle to be overcome in his pursuit of knowledge?

John /03/03 Is a knower's personal point of view an asset or an obstacle to be overcome in his pursuit of knowledge? People have positions from which something is observed or considered, which can be influenced by previous experiences and beliefs, culture, and mostly emotion. Our schema is based on this viewpoint and is influenced by the above factors. Reasoning is affected by emotion, one of the most prominent problems of knowledge. An irresponsible knower will take one point of view and dismiss other proof. Emotion can both enhance and undermine reasoning as a way of knowing. If a knower believed a problem of knowledge to be true, he would spend all his time and effort in proving it. The knower will be so preoccupied in debating his belief and believing that it is true that he won't consider other proof or the debater's view. When emotions are involved in beliefs, the beliefs are most likely biased and reasoning is curtailed. Reasoning will be enhanced because of the emotion aspect. Beliefs affect us in our every day life. They affect our actions, our interactions with people, and even our eating habits. If we believe that it is important to eat well then we are not going to eat cookies for lunch, instead we would try to eat something healthy, such as a sandwich or fruit. If we believe that the ozone layer is deteriorating

  • Word count: 656
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: Religious Studies (Philosophy & Ethics)
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