Christian Philosophy and Applied Ethics

Is something boring because of it or because of you?

Reasons Christians believe in God. Obj: to recap the meanings of theist, agnostic and atheist to explore our own beliefs about God and the Universe to think about the reasons Christians believe in God

What do you believe? Look at the statements on your sheet and shade in the boxes that are closest to your views Then, compare your sheet to a person sitting close to you

What do other people think? Watch the following clip which shows a rather ironic criticism of belief ch?v=9goLXFJzSikwww.youtube.com/wat ch?v=9goLXFJzSik

Theism A theist is someone who believes that God exists There are many theistic religions in the world each claiming different things about God These are also known as monotheistic faiths because they all teach that there is one God Look at the pie chart on your leaflet to see how many theists there are in the world Some of these religions are: Hinduism, Judaism, Christianity, Islam and Sikhism

Video Clip Watch the following video clip about why people might believe in God /watch?v=gq4C9s7hHiQwww.youtube.com /watch?v=gq4C9s7hHiQ Add them to your books

What would make you believe? Look at the statements on your sheet about what makes people believe in God Rank them in order of what would make you more likely to believe (1 being the strongest reason, 7 being the weakest)

Agnosticism Agnostics note that some people have tried to prove that God exists and others have attempted to prove that God does not exist Agnostics feel that neither side has convincingly succeeded at their task An agnostic is a person who feels that God's existence can neither be proved nor disproved, on the basis of current evidence

A famous Agnostic Charles Darwin, most famous for his theory of evolution, said: "The mystery of the beginning of all things is insoluble by us; and I for one must be content to remain an Agnostic." "I think an Agnostic would be the more correct description of my state of mind. The whole subject [of God] is beyond the scope of man's intellect."

Atheism An atheist is someone who does not believe that God exists There may be many reasons why they believe this, including:

1.They believe that science has provided evidence of how the universe began 2.They are convinced that everything that happens can be explained scientifically 3.They are convinced that if there was a God, he/she would not have created a world where evil exists 4.They have not seen any evidence in their daily life or experience 5.They see all the suffering and disease in the world and this makes them feel that a loving God would not allow suffering

Richard Dawkins It’s easy to put people into 3 distinct categories But can we divide belief so easily? Watch the following review of faith by the famous biologist Richard Dawkins tube.com/watc h?v=Y_jD- ki6b_Q:// tube.com/watc h?v=Y_jD- ki6b_Q See sheet-do you agree?

Your Task: On your leaflet are 3 sets of discussions In each discussion one argument has been given for you Your task is to write what the other person would say in reply This will show that you understand what each group of people believe about God

Plenary – next lesson… Religious people rely on faith and personal experience rather than scientific proof to support their reasons for belief in God. What do you think this means?

Presentation by Brockwell