Secondly, Aquinas concludes that common sense observation tells us that no object can create itself. In other words, some previous object creates it, but there cannot be an endless string of objects causing other objects to exist. Aquinas believes that ultimately there must have been an uncaused first cause that begins the chain of existence for all things. I quite assent to the idea that there must have a first unmoved mover to put the universe into motion. As we all know, everything has a beginning and an end, so as to the universe.
The rational mind states otherwise. It is what we say in our hearts that allow us to think that God does exist. In Samuel Clarke’s Cosmological Argument it is clearly argued that something has existed for all of eternity. Nothing was ever created without a cause therefore this is a contradiction. Yet if anything is made and there is no cause at all for it, is to say that something is affected when it is affected by nothing or at all affected.
He does not see why order means there has to be a designer. However, he is open to the idea of a designer or creator but doesn’t see why this has to be a God. He believes that there are many different possibilities such as a “team of Gods” or even a totally different entity. Hume believes the world is far too complex to be compared to something as simple as the mechanism of a watch. He believes there truly is no comparison.
We know clear and distinct perceptions independently by God, and his existence provides us with a certainty we might not possess otherwise. However, another possible strategy would be to change Gods role in Descartes philosophy. Instead of seeing God as the validation of clear and distinct perceptions, rather see him as a safeguard against doubt. This strategy, however, is a problem since it re-constructs the Meditations – Philosophical work of Descartes –.This is because it would not be God, who is the ultimate foundation of knowledge, but the clear and distinct
He argued that they were part of the structure of the mind and that we would have no experience without them. He says that sight, smell, touch etc. are all meaningless to us unless they are brought under these innate concepts. Kant believes in a world beyond our conceptual scheme called the noumenal world which he says we can know nothing about and it is impossible to discuss. People have criticized this view by say that how can Kant know that the Noumenal world exists if there is no evidence of it.
“Visions and voices are not caused by God but can be explained through science” Discuss. (35) A vision can be termed as an experience of seeing something or someone in a trance like state or as a supernatural apparition. When complimented by voices from religious figures it can be said to evoke an even deeper religious experience for believers. However, there exists much debate on what the catalyst is for these experiences; some would argue for God attempting to communicate through his creation, whereas others believe the answer lies in science. A vision and auditory related religious experience can occur in a person consciously or unconsciously.
(Across the Spectrum 4) Understand the significance behind authorial intention as it relates to Genesis 1 and the literary framework view. Note that according to this view, the author was interested in thematic rather than chronological organization. What does this mean when applied to the age of creation debate? (Across the Spectrum 4) How does the literary framework view respond to the accusation that it acquiesces to liberal theology? (Across the Spectrum 5) Be able to define and distinguish between the three views of the imago Dei (the image of God in which humans were created) offered by the textbook: 1) the substantival view, 2) the functional view, and 3) the relational view.
Descartes' argument in the Meditations is circular. Discuss. In trying to prove the existence of God, Descartes will, of course, have to rely on what he can clearly and distinctly perceive, because this is the only way he can know anything. However, Descartes also needs to prove that God exists for us to know what we clearly and distinctly perceive. This leads to the famous objection that he uses the existence of God to establish his doctrine of clear and distinct ideas, and that he uses his doctrine of clear and distinct ideas to establish the existence of God: his argument is circular.
This is especially true of Christianity. In short it can be said that theology works on religion. Theology is in fact based on religion. It is a system of studying about God especially Christian religion. Religion does not deal with any sort of rational analysis.
The first part of being timeless deals with existence. In order for a being, A, to be timeless, A must exist, but not in any specific temporal location or time. You could say that although A does not exist at any time, A exists in “eternity.” It is important to realize that time and eternity are different things. “Time” as most people today understand it would likely be defined as the progression of moments. This progression of moments would be similar to the motion of an object.