Believing in God Revision Belief, Religious Upbringing, Religious Experience, Design and Causation.

Have a look at the work we did on religious upbringing. How are you going to remember this? How are you going to remember this? Take 5 mins to try to learn these features. test each other if it helps. (you can use spare paper to make mindmaps etc. It is up to you how you learn!) Now look at the four types of religious experience. You have 5 mins to try to learn these and what they mean, test each other if it helps. (you can use spare paper to make mindmaps etc. It is up to you how you learn!) You can use the text book as well as your booklet. You can use the text book as well as your booklet.

Now turn to pg 23 of your booklet Without looking in the book or asking your neighbour, fill in the information on; religious upbringing and religious experience. (The section on pg 23 asks for a description while pg 24 asks for an example. These are different.)

How does a Christian upbringing support belief in God? Teaching – Children will believe their parents and therefore believe in God. Praying – Children will believe that God is listening to them. Why would their parents pray if God did not exist. Going to church – Children will see many other people worshipping God and will become part of this community. Sunday School – Children will learn more about the Bible and the teachings of Jesus. Church School – God and Christianity would be a normal part of school life. Confirmation – Baptism is a welcome into the church, during confirmation the child learns more about God and about being a Christian. They may have a religious experience when the Bishop blesses them.

MARKING Numinous This religious experience can be just a feeling you get when you are in a holy building, say your prayers, or even look up at the stars and feel in the presence of something greater than yourself. This is called the numinous.

Conversion It can be a more definite feeling of God’s presence which makes you more religious and changes your life. This is called a conversion experience.

Conversion Many people who have conversion experiences describe it as if they have a sudden understanding. They realise that they have a path which they must follow. It may be that they discover a believe in God, or they may change their religion as they realise they would have a greater religious experience within a different religion.

Prayers Prayer is a way for a religious person to feel that they can make contact with God. This can be through formalised prayer during worship such as the Christian Eucharist, Muslim Salah or the Hindu Arti. Prayer can also be a private experience. The feeling that your prayers have been answered is itself a religious experience.

Miracles A miracle is an event that seems to break a law of nature. When science cannot explain the event then the only explanation to a believer is that it is the work of God. Experiencing a miracle is a religious experience. Miracles are common to most religions they serve as a proof of God’s existence.

Examples Numinous – use the example of the Toronto Blessing Conversion – Use the example of St Paul on the road to Damascus Acts 9 Prayers – use the example of the prayer of St Francis of Assisi

Miracles in Bible The Great Flood Genesis 7 The Red Sea parting Exodus 14: 22 Feeding of the 5000 Luke 9: An example of a miracle from the Bible is from Mark 5: Jesus raised a girl from the dead. For modern day miracles use the belief of those who go to Lourdes.

Design and Causation Look at your work on the Design Argument and the argument from Causation. Try to learn the flow diagrams as well as the arguments against. You have 10 mins?

Now turn to pg 25 of your booklet Without looking in the book or asking your neighbour, fill in the information on; the design argument and the argument from causation.

Summary The universe seems to be designed. Anything that is designed must have a designer. Therefore God must exist because only God could have designed the universe. The way everything seems to have a cause makes people think the universe must have a cause, and the only possible cause of the universe is God, so God must exist.

Design Argument Anything that is designed needs a designer There is plenty of evidence that the world has been Designed (laws of science, DNA) If the world has been designed, it must have a designer The only possible designer of the universe is God Therefore, the appearance of design proves that God exists

Arguments for design as proof of God The example of Paley’s Watch. DNA Laws of science discovered not invented. The beauty of the world Arguments against design as proof of God  It ignores lack of good design in the universe such as volcanos and earthquakes.  Everything can be explained by science.  Why did the dinosaurs live and then die out?  The argument proves the earth has a designer but not that the designer is God.

Causation (Cause and Effect) If we look at things in the world, we see they have a cause, Nothing happens on its own. Anything caused to exist must be caused to exist by something else. There must be a beginning, something which started it all off. As there is a universe, there must be a First Cause of the universe. The only possible First Cause of the universe is God, therefore God must exist.

Arguments for causation as proof of God Cause and effect seem to be a basic feature of the world Each event is caused by something that came before. An example would be a goods train where each wagon is caused to move by another wagon. The process can only happen if there is an unmoved mover causing it to happen. Arguments against causation as proof of God  If everything needs a caused then why not God?  A better explanation is that the Universe itself is eternal (goes on for ever) and so there is no beginning.  Even if the First Cause were to exist it would not have to be God, it could be any sort of creator.

Summary The way everything seems to have a cause makes people think the universe must have a cause, and the only possible cause of the universe is God, so God must exist.