4 - Natural Theology

Natural Theology

Theology deriving its knowledge of God from the study of nature, independent of special revelation

Philosophy

reasoning from effect (observed) back to cause

Material cause

that from which a thing is (made)

Formal cause

the essence or nature of a thing, or what KIND of thing it is (e.g., structure, design, arrangement, shape, appearance) - makes it understandable

Efficient cause

the agent or thing that brings something about or changes something

Final cause

the ultimate end, reason, design, or purpose for a thing (Telos)

Cosmology

the study of the origin, development, and structure of the universe, including time & space

Infinite regress

the idea that there is no first cause in an unending line of causes extending into the past

Cosmological Argument

an argument for the existence of God that has as a premise something that is directly observed in the universe (as opposed to something we only experience within ourselves)

Atheism

Belief that there is no god

Principle of Sufficient Reason

everything that comes into existence needs an explanation -- some adequate reason why it is (i.e., it has a cause)

Agnosticism

the belief that God's existence cannot be known

Contingent being

describes anything that: (a) comes into being and passes out of being; (b) could not be; (c) doesn't carry within itself the reason for its own existence

Necessary Being

describes anything that: (a) exists by its very nature and cannot not be (or must be); (b) can explain its own existence without reference to another being

Design

evidence of order, purpose, and complexity - ex. - things without intelligence act in an intelligent manner - there is a purpose (final cause - Telos)

Anthropic Principle

states that the fine-tuning of the physical laws of the universe/nature makes possible the beginning of life - ex. carbon, water, gravity, nuclear forces, etc.

The Big Bang Theory (Standard Big Bang Model)

the standard scientific cosmological theory for the origin and early development of the universe. According to this theory, the universe was once in an extremely dense, hot state from which it rapidly expanded and cooled.

Principle of Causality

you can't get more in the effect than you had in the cause; if there is intelligence in the effect (man), there must be intelligence in the cause (a mind behind the physical universe)

Ontology

Study of the nature of being - begins with a definition of what something is

Entropy

lack of order or predictability; state of disorder

Georges LeMaitre

Belgian priest and astronomer who is the Father of the Big Bang Theory, because he pointed out that the expanding universe implied an initial state of the universe in a condensed condition, which he called the primeval atom.

Metaphysics

the science of the fundamental nature of reality and being, especially causes - the nature, properties, relations - "beyond physics"

"Red shift"

when light from an object moving away from one's observation point appears more red to the observer (this phenomenon is seen in galaxies moving away from us, and it provides evidence for the Big Bang)

2nd Law of Thermodynamics

nature moves from order to disorder (because every energy transfer or transformation increases the entropy of the universe)

Multiverse Hypothesis

the theoretical, metaphysical speculation that an infinite number of universes might exist - cannot be observed by the sciences

Penrose's number 1 / 10^(10^123) ...

Shows how finely tuned the Big Bang had to be to create the universe today - calculates the likelihood that such a low entropy universe could exist by chance

Edwin Hubble

American astronomer famous for ascertaining the existence of other galaxies besides the Milky Way and for providing the evidence for an expanding universe. (see "red shift")

Teleology

the study of design or purpose in natural phenomena

Borde-Guth-Vilenkin Theorem (BGV)

The deduction that all expanding universes must have an absolute beginning - a past spacetime boundary - makes a past eternal universe impossible

Evil

A privation of the good, not a thing but the lack of something

Evolution

In biology, a theory that the differences between modern plants and animals are because of changes that happened by a natural process over a very long time

Pascal's Three Ladders to Knowing God

Faith, reason + an appeal to self-preservation/ self interest

Faith

A calculated risk, and a process

The Problem of Pain as formulated by C.S. Lewis

If God is good, then he would want His creatures to be perfectly happy and if He were almighty he would be able to do what He wished. But His creatures are not happy. Therefore God lacks goodness or power or both.

The Problem of Pain as formulated by John Stuart Mill

If God were omniscient, he would know about evil. If he were omnipotent, he could do something about evil. If God were omnibenevolent, he would want to do something about evil. Yet, evil exists, so God must not be either omnipotent, omniscient, or omnibenevolent, and therefore He does not exist.

Psychological Arguments

Arguments for God based man's shared universal experience and understanding of himself.

Quinque Viae

The Five Ways to demonstrate the existence of God, as developed by St. Thomas Aquinas.

Theodicy

the vindication of divine goodness and providence in view of the existence of evil.

Cosmic Microwave Background Radiation (CMBR)

an almost-uniformly distributed microwave radiation permeating the universe which is generally thought to be leftover heat from the Big Bang

Ipsum Esse

God is not just a super-being among other beings, but is the act of being/ existence itself --> God's essence is existence

The First Way: Argument from Motion/Change

1) Everything in the universe is in motion 2) Nothing that moves can move itself. 3) There cannot be an infinite regress of movers because without a first mover, there cannot be a second mover, etc. 4) Ergo, there must be a first mover who is unmoved. 5) This unmoved (unchanging) being we call God. - points to God's immutability (pure actuality)

The Second Way: Argument from Efficient Causality

1) Everything in the universe is brought into being (i.e., caused). 2) Everything that is brought into being is brought into being by something that already exists. 3) This causal relationship cannot regress infinitely because without a first cause there cannot be a second cause, etc. 4) Ergo, there must be a first cause that is itself uncaused. 5) This uncaused being we call God. - points to God's eternity

The Third Way: Time + Contingency (Dependency)

1) Things in the universe come into being and go out of being (i.e., dies). (or doesn't explain itself) 2) Anything that comes into being or goes out of being is not a necessary being, i.e., does not have to exist. 3) If there is no necessary being, then nothing would exist right now. 4) Things do exist right now, ergo, there must be an absolutely necessary being (a being that cannot not exist). 5) This absolutely necessary being we call God (God is supernatural, has always existed, never dies) → Material Cause

The Fourth Way: Perfection/ Gradation

1) Some things are better than other things. 2)Something can only be better than something else if it is measured against an absolute standard. 3) Therefore, an absolute standard of goodness must exist. 4) This standard of goodness we call God. - points to God's Perfection/ Goodness

The Fifth Way: Design/ Governance/Teleology

1) Design (defined as "order, purpose, complexity") requires a designer (mind). 2) Nature is filled with design. 3) Ergo, a designer must exist. 5) This designer we call God. - points to God as creator - there is a Telos (purpose)

Revelation about God in Genesis + Exodus

We cannot grasp or hide from God - only fall in love with Him (Creation account); we can only experience God indirectly (Exodus) + God is existence itself

Ex Nihilo

God created the world out of nothing + continues to hold the world in existence - creatio continua

Omnipotence

God presses upon every thing He has made with unconditioned power, not the strongest, most powerful thing around

Omniscience

Not the smartest being around, but that God has known everything into being, and therefore his knowing precedes and determines all that is.

Omnipresence

Not an all-enveloping energy, but stands under all finite reality, and is hence inescapably present to it.

Transcendentals

Timeless and universal attributes of being - truth, goodness, beauty, etc.

Change

the actualization of potential - potential does not realize itself on its own - it needs something beyond itself to act on it

Form + Matter

The natural kind in nature (design, act), and the stuff of potentiality that can be shaped by it

Essence

What something is

Existence

That something is in reality

Primary Causality

The unique causality of the very ground of being; points to the mystery of being as such

Secondary Causality

The philosophical proposition that although created things are empowered to act within the framework of natural laws, their activity, being, and existence is dependent upon the primary cause (God).

Moral argument for the existence of God

1) If God does not exist, objective moral values and duties do not exist. 2) Objective moral values and duties do exist. 3) Therefore God exists. This is not mere instinct, a social construction, nor something that changes over time

Innate desires

Natural desires such as food, water, meaning, etc., which there is a satisfaction for - we realize when there is a deprivation of them

"Fool's Way", "Way of the Disillusioned Sensible Man"

Two ways of dealing with "that which has evaded us" - one constantly seeks pleasures, the other suppresses desire and says that one cannot be happy - the Christian way recognizes that our desires are not meant to be satisfied by the things of this world, but by something greater

Qualities of Beauty

Unity, harmony, proportion, wholeness, radiance - beauty is a pre-rational force upon the soul - through the power of experience

Goodness

The perfection of being

Truth

The mind being in accord with reality

Scientism

metaphysical claim that the only things that are true are those things which can be measured and subjected to the natural sciences

Relativism

The claim that there is no objective truth

Ontological argument for the existence of God (St. Anselm)

1) It is greater for a thing to exist in the mind and in reality than in the mind alone. 2) "God" means "that than which a greater cannot be thought." 3) Suppose that God exists in the mind but not in reality. 4) Then a greater than God could be thought 5) But this is impossible, for God is "that than which a greater cannot be thought." 6) Therefore, God exists in the mind and in reality.

Pascal's Wager

Argument to skeptics who reject both reason and faith - an appeal to self-interest to believe in God - everything gained if He's real, nothing lost if He's not - rules out agnosticism

Tribulation System

God can use pain to shatter the illusion that a) all is well, b) we are self-sufficient, c) teach true self-sufficiency on God

Argument from Desire

1) Every natural, innate desire in us corresponds to some real object that can satisfy that desire. 2) But there exists in us a desire which nothing in time, nothing on earth, no creature can satisfy. 3) Ergo, there must exist something more than time, earth and creatures, which can satisfy this desire. 4) This something more than time, earth, and creatures is what people call "God" and "life with God forever."

Per se causal series

Causal series where the effect is directly dependent on the cause - if the cause ceases, the effect ceases

Per accidens causal series

Causal series where the effect is NOT directly dependent on the cause - if the cause ceases, the effect can still continue

Special or Instantaneous Creation

Belief that creatures did not develop, but were instantaneously and directly created by God.

Theistic Evolution

Belief that creatures developed from previous states or forms, but that this process was under God's guidance.

Materialist Evolution

Belief that creatures developed due to random forces alone, without any connection to God

Four Causes

Answer the question of "why" something is the way it is - efficient, formal, material, final

"Kindness" view of God's "love"

Belief that someone should escape suffering, and it doesn't matter what they're doing as long as they're happy - disinterested concern

God's love

Would rather that we go through suffering so that we might be transformed into love, than we be "happy" in our sinfulness

Artificial Desires

Externally conditioned desires given to us through culture, advertising, fiction, etc. - may or may not exist