the existence of God and revelation

christian theological approach to the creation of the universe

theists believe in God and most agree that the universe and life was created for a purpose by God - that the universe did not come about by accident or random chance. nature is so intricate and complex that God must have designed it. genesis 1 further supports this

buddhist non theological approach to the creation of the universe

buddhism presents a vision of the universe that is more like an endless cycle - samsara is the endless process of birth, death and rebirth, with no beginning or end because there was no beginning or end of time. furthermore, there is no creator who designed the universe - all things come into existence when the necessary conditions are met

design argument - william paley

paley likened the universe to a watch, as it has many complex parts functioning in harmony towards some useful end. in the case of a watch we take these properties to constitute evidence of design. if we were to stumble across a watch lying in a heath in a natural environment, then we would know, due to its complexity, that it has been carefully designed. we can infer that the world was created by an intelligent agent for a purpose, and also that the designer of the universe is much greater than the designer of the watch because the universe is much more complex than a watch

first way of the cosmological argument - motion

all things are in a state of change. everything is a secondary mover. if all things are a secondary mover then there must be infinite regress. if all this is correct then there is no prime mover, which means no secondary mover and no infinite regress. so there is a prime mover

a weakness is that there is a too large leap from first cause or prime mover to God

second way of the cosmological argument - cause

all things are caused by other things. nothing can be caused by itself. you cannot keep going back in the series of causes forever, or you would have no things - there must be a first cause, which began the causes

quantum physics suggests at a sub atomic level there may be random movement and there exists things that do not have causes themselves

third way of the cosmological argument - contingency

a contingent being is one that relies on something else for its existence, and a necessary being is one that doesn’t. all things are contingent and there must have been a time where nothing exists. nothing can come from nothing so there must be a necessary being (God)

buddhist beliefs on miracles + response to sceptics

miracles are not attributed to God or believed to be evidence of God. instead it is believed that miracles can be the result of extraordinary powers people develop while meditating

buddhists believe you do not have to accept that miracles are literally true. instead it can just be accepted that stories of miracles symbolise important buddhist beliefs and teachings

christian beliefs on miracles and response to sceptics

christian’s believe that god works in the world through miracles. jesus performed miracles that showed the power and love of God, or revealed that Jesus was God in human form. his birth, life on earth and resurrection are all miraculous events. christian’s believe that God still works in the world today, performing miracles as an act of love.

miracles of creation and jesus are held to be the truth. the scriptural interpretations may not be literally true but the scripture points to the ultimate truth

mucalinda

after the enlightenment of the buddha he entered a deep state of meditation. during this time a heavy storm arrived. a snake emerged and coiled himself around the buddha and spread his hood around his head. the snake remained there for seven whole days before uncoiling and transforming into a young boy once the storm passed

lourdes

the holy site of pilgrimage in the south of france where 72 miracles have been officially recognised and declared by the catholic church, for example when Marie Bailly was healed from tubercular peritonitis, after pouring holy water onto her abdomen and praying to mary, the mother of Jesus

atheist/agnostic beliefs on miracles

many atheists might say that a miracle is simply a natural event that science has yet to explain. they would argue that the existence of God is not necessary to explain supposed miracles, especially when natural explanations can be found. healing miracles could be explained by the placebo effect and some miracles have been uncovered as hoaxes

objections to miracles

hume → he noted that there are two ways to know whether a miracle actually happened - if the witness is reliable and how possible the miracle actually is. miracles are unlikely to occur because it involves breaking the laws of nature, which are well established. the evidence from miracles is unlikely to make a non believer believe, but helps believers to confirm their faith

science → there is always a scientific explanation, even if it is undiscovered

evil and suffering → evidence of miracles is outweighed by the amount of evil and suffering

other objections → miracles were easier to believe in ancient times but are outdated in the modern era

miracle of stairwell B

on september 11 2001, 16 people including one civilian survived the collapse of the north tower of the world trade center because they were in a structurally reinforced section of stairwell B, located in the buildings core, which remained largely intact between the fourth and seventh floors as the rest of the tower collapsed around them. the civilian was named a “guardian angel” for causing the delay which caused the firefighters lives to be saved.

arguments against the the existence of God

the big bang theory → the scientific evidence for the big bang theory directly opposes the biblical teachings in Genesis about the creation of the universe. evidence suggests that around 13.8 billion years ago, a huge cluster of matter and energy exploded and expanded rapidly. it is thought that the earth was formed about 4.6 billion years ago from dust and gas left after the sun formed

evolution → in 1859 charles darwin published his theory of evolution, which provided extensive evidence that all living creatures, including humans, had evolved from primitive life forms over a period of millions of years. the theory states that evolution happens by natural selection - “survival of the fittest”

the problem of evil → evil exists in both moral and natural forms. but if evil exists then it must mean God is lacking in one or more omniqualities - this is shown in the inconsistent triad. if God lacks in an omniquality then he would cease to be God, therefore he could not exist

religious responses to arguments against God

big bang theory → most modern christian’s, including the CofE, believe the big bang is compatible with Christianity. They argue that the Genesis account of creation is not literal. instead it is taught that the genesis is a symbolic story of Gods ultimate power and love. these christian’s have no problem in believing that God was the cause of the big bang.

the question surrounding the big bang is not relevant for Buddhists. the scientific teachings present no challenge to buddhist teachings or beliefs

evolution → many christian’s believe that God controls evolution and that the process has purpose and an end goal. as a “loving father”, it is also believed that God would want his creation to adapt, improve and progress over time

similarly with the big bang theory, evidence for evolution presents no conflict with Buddhist beliefs and teachings. buddhists are free to accept or reject scientific evidence on their own terms

the problem of evil → free will is the argument that in order for humans to experience ultimate freedom, the capacity of evil must exist. if humans did not have free will, then we would be robots designed to love God. this would make God a totalitarian dictator which goes against the notion of his benevolence. original sin is the belief that humans are to blame for evil and suffering entering the world when adam and eve disobeyed God in the garden of eden. before their disobedience, God had created a perfect world

the existence of evil poses no problems for buddhists. evil just exists as a matter of fact. the roof cause of evil is greed, hatred and ignorance

the nature of God

omnipotent → he has unlimited and almighty power

omniscient → he is all knowing

benevolent and compassionate → he loves all of his creation and has empathy and mercy towards human suffering

eternal → he is uncreated and self existent

immanent → he is present and involved in the world

transcendent → he is beyond and outside of life on earth

impersonal → he is unknowable and mysterious

God can be both immanent and transcendent, personal and impersonal because his nature is not restricted by human constraints of space and time. god is formless but can manifest in forms - for example, electricity is formless but exists in light forms

the nature of the Buddha

→ an ordinary person

→ a figure of potential

→ a transcendent figure

→ an immanent ever present reality

→ supremely compassionate force

→ a teacher

depending on interpretation, revelations can be understood as real historic events or as symbols of deeper spiritual truths

value of enlightenment and revelation

• provides theists with proof of their beliefs

• helps start a religion

• build a closer relationship with God

revelation

God showing himself to believers; the only way anybody can really know anything about God

special revelation

God making himself known through direct personal experience or an unusual specific event. examples include a vision, prophecy and miraculous event

• christianity: God is believed to be ineffable (not describable in words). he can only be known when he chooses to reveal himself. many people devote themselves to God their entire life without experiencing special revelation. the most famous example in christianity is the conversion of saul in the bible. he experienced a vision in which Jesus spoke to him. he converted for judaism to christianity. as a jew he had been violent to christian’s but after his conversion he gave his life to Jesus

• buddhism: buddhists do not interpret revelations as being from God. they believe special wisdom may be transmitted through visionary experiences or visionary figures. bahiya was a holy man who was experiencing increased doubt in his mind. he was visited by deva who confirmed his doubts and gave him special instructions to seek out the Buddha. shortly after he became enlightened

general revelation

God making himself known through ordinary, common human experience. examples include nature, holy scripture and moral conscience

• christianity - general revelation through nature is looking at the world around us and seeing evidence of God in its complexity. all christian’s be love that the bible reveals the nature of God. some christian’s believe scripture to be true and the literal word of God, while others believe scripture is symbolic, representing deeper truths

• buddhism - general revelation is open to all buddhists through the practice of meditation. it can be seen in buddhism scriptures such as the tibetan book of the dead. Nagarajuna is a revered buddhist teacher who founded the sutras. the texts are accessible by all buddhists and are focused on attaining perfect wisdom