This tells us that regardless of differing religions, all experiences originate from the ultimate reality and act as proof for the existence of God. Lastly, there is pragmatism. James was a pragmatist and therefore believed that truth is not fixed. It alters as our values change. From looking at the
Thoughts on Descartes’ Meditation III – On God’s Existence Descartes describes God as eternal, infinite, omniscient, omnipotent, and creator of all things other than himself. He supports his claim of God’s existence with following arguments: 1. Something cannot come from nothing. What is more perfect cannot come from what is less perfect. 2.
He is malevolent. Is God both able and willing? Then whence commeth the evil. If he is neither able nor willing then why call him god?” This is called the inconsistent triad; if God has all these Omni qualities then why does evil still remain on earth? Augustine’s soul deciding theodicy was the demonstration that God is not responsible for the existence of evil.
All types of evil have the potential to cause contradiction between reality and the established conception of a personal God. In the following I will examine the problem of evil and attempt to establish why the presence of evil is the most potent argument against theism. The classical notion of a monotheistic God ascribes certain divine qualities to Him and I will proceed with the assumption that he possesses these qualities. God is conceived as an ultimate perfectly good being, with the unique characteristics of omnipotence and omniscience. God is the knower of all things past and present and has the divine power to do anything.
Our basic understanding of language doesn’t necessarily apply to religion and we see this clearly throughout Hick’s article. For example one might say “ Our God is a loving God”. As Hicks states God has no logical existence or bodily presence in which to express love. Love as we understand it is acted upon. It begins with being felt on the inside deep within our very being is acted upon externally through the use of our bodies and our minds.
Recognising this reaffirms that God is more than we can ever imagine – he is ineffable, can never be described so we cannot say what they are not. Strengths of via negativa are that it allows things to be said about God without implying that the finite (humans) can grasp the infinite (God), it also asserts the claims of revelation, that God is good and then recognises goodness to be a human word and so must be negated by saying too that God is not good to
These arguments never get to any particular God. They have all established that the existence can be described by itself; none of this even implies a deity, or a universal consciousness. When you start by rejecting the presumption of a God, all the arguments fall flat on their face. What these three arguments are, are thesis trying to defend the indefensible. Although, these three arguments all agree in the way that they use unfound assumptions to prove what has yet to be proven; they do disagree on the studies of how to prove what really is God.
The Hyksos Origin of the name * The Hyksos rulers of the fifteenth dynasty of Egypt were of non-Egyptian origin. Most archaeologists describe the Hyksos as a mix of Asiatic peoples, suggested by recorded names such as Khyan and Sakir-Har that resemble Asiatic names, and pottery findings that resemble Palestinian pottery. * The name Hyksos was used by the Egyptian historian Manetho (ca. 300 BCE), who, according to the Jewish historian Flavius Josephus (1st century CE), translated the word as “king-shepherds” or “captive shepherds.” Josephus himself wished to demonstrate the great antiquity of the Jews, and thus identified the Hyksos with the Hebrews of the Bible. Geographical Control * The Hyksos first appeared in Egypt c.1800 BC, during the eleventh dynasty, and began their climb to power in the thirteenth dynasty, coming out of the second intermediate period in control of Avaris and the Delta.
By stating that his followers should have no other gods, God is proclaiming that Jews, Christians and Muslims should not believe in other religions that are not monotheistic. Since the Jewish, Christian and Muslim religions only believe in one god, all the powers of a doctrine are invested in him. This means that God has supreme power and cannot be contested by anyone else. It is evident from the Ten Commandments
Edwards' success shows not only his absolute devotion to his Christian belief but also that his words do somehow give proper credence in spite of their Earthly shackles. Edwards' saw himself in a very precarious situation since his prose is both incapable of divine description and yet the only possible way he can convey his sermons. Edwards' openly admits in his inner contemplations that the soul cannot be described in words, that it "is no impression upon the mind, as though one saw anything with bodily eyes. It is no imagination or idea of an outward light or glory, or any beauty of form or countenance, or a visible luster or brightness of any object". Through the use of oxymoron Edwards claims that since man cannot rationalize the way to God, he must turn to his senses to connect with pure adoration.