1. The Existence of God
Theology

2. What is Theology?
Theology is the study of God—who He is, what he does, and how humans can know him.
The world theology comes from two Greek words:
theos (God)
logos (word/study/doctrine)

3. 2 Different Meanings Theology as… Bible Doctrines in general
The study of the personhood of God, the Father

4. What is theology?
“A unified science in which all things are treated under the aspect of God either
because they are God himself or because they refer to God.”
Thomas Aquinas (1225 –1274)
Summa Theologica 1.1.7

5. What is Theology? Do other religions study theology too? Yes, they do.
We’ll study “Christian theology” in our class.
However, one could study Hindu Theology or Islamic Theology.

7. Is there a God?
If so, is it male or female? What is this God like? What is his or her personality? Can we know anything about this God? How powerful is this God?
What are some other questions we could ask about “god?”

8. How can we answer that?
There are two main types of answers we can use to prove a deity exists:
Humanity’s inner sense of god/deity/ or the supernatural
Evidence in Nature

9. The Inner Sense
All cultures have adopted some sort of believe in a higher power, supernatural beings, and the spiritual realm.
This has been the case in almost all of human history.
There must be something in the human psyche looking for the divine.

10. The Natural Realm
Many cultures have recognized that the world they lived in was the product of complex design.
It was not in a human’s power to create the world.
They ascribed this power to some sort of supernatural being or deities.

11. Let’s check out these verses!
Romans 1:19-25
Let’s check out
these verses!

12. A Note When speaking with others, we may…
First have to prove an existence of a higher power
Second, then prove that YWHW, the God we know from the Bible, is that higher power.

13. The Inner Sense for Christians
The Bible also speaks of the inner sense that we have towards YHWH, the true God, when we become Christians.
Romans 8:16- Children of God
Ephesians 3:17- Christ in our Hearts
Our personal experiences testify to ourselves and to others about God’s existence.

14. God’s Creation
The Bible does not attempt to prove God’s existence. It merely states it as fact. It also states that everything in our world was created by his hand. The wonder of creation is His. Creation points back to its Creation—YWHW.
Psalm 19:1-2- God’s glory in creation
Romans 1:20- God made it

15. Proof?

16. Rational Arguments and Proofs
People should be rationally convinced of something before they believe it.
How can we ourselves, and others, be rationally convinced that there is a God?
Let’s look at some common arguments and proofs used for such a task.

17. The Cosmological Argument
Cosmos= means universe in Greek
(this word is used in English too)
An argument that basically says that every thing we know in the universe has a cause. Something made it happen or created it.
If there is a cause, there must be a causer
Sometimes called “The unmoved mover”

18. The Teleological Argument
Teleos= means end, purpose, or goal in Greek (It’s similar to the cosmological argument)
If the universe has order and harmony that looks like a design was in place. Having a design denotes purpose and reason.

19. The Moral Argument
Humans seem to have a sense of right and wrong. They also seem to have a sense that justice must be given to those who commit wrong. Where does that come from?
If no deity or God put the standard of right and wrong into place, how can we decide what truly is right or wrong?