Atheism and Christianity on the Conceptual View of God – Vocabulary Flashcards (Video)

A set of vocabulary flashcards covering atheism, agnosticism, conceptions of God, philosophical arguments, and key Christian responses from the video notes.

Atheism

Rejects or denies the existence of God (CCC 2125); includes several forms such as strong, weak, and agnostic varieties.

Atheistic humanism

A form of atheism that regards man as an end in himself and the sole maker/controller of his own history.

Contemporary atheism

Seeks human liberation through economic and social freedoms; claims religion hinders this freedom by promising a future life.

Autonomous atheism

Atheism based on human autonomy, refusing dependence on God to protect human dignity.

Agnosticism

Makes no firm judgment about God's existence; claims proof is impossible; often viewed as similar to weak atheism.

Agnosticism (searching for truth)

An agnostic who is seeking truth and has not yet received the gift of faith.

Agnosticism (indifferent to truth)

An agnostic who would not bother to make a judgment about God's existence.

Theos

Greek word for God; its origin is linked to the verb thein meaning “to run,” as used by Plato.

Ontological argument (Anselm)

God is defined as ‘that than which no greater can be thought’; existence is necessary and can be proven a priori.

A priori knowledge

Knowledge obtained independently of experience, by reason alone (e.g., 1+1=2).

A posteriori knowledge

Knowledge that requires sense experience or empirical evidence (e.g., empirical facts about the world).

Essence

What something is; the nature or kind of a thing (its inherent nature).

Existence

The fact of being; the act of existing.

God as being itself

In Christian thought, God’s essence and existence are united; God is being itself, the great Existent.

Difference between God and creatures

Creatures differ in their essences and ends and exist in a limited way; God’s essence is existence and He is necessarily, uniquely, pure being.

Feuerbach’s projection theory

The claim that God is a projection of human desires; “God did not make man in His image; we made God in ours.”

Christian reply to Feuerbach

Humans are made in God’s image; God is being itself; Acts 17:27; CCC 27; the longing for God is written on the human heart.

Marx on religion

Religion is the ‘opium of the people’; it dulls awareness of earthly suffering and blocks liberation through material change.

Moralistic Therapeutic Deism (MTD)

A modern view of God as a moral guide, therapist, and distant creator who does not intervene; fosters a tolerable, easygoing spirituality.

Deism

God is a powerful creator who does not intervene in the world after creation.

Christianity vs. Moralistic Therapeutic Deism

Christianity centers on Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection; the gospel emphasizes suffering and salvation, not mere moralism or therapy.

Existence precedes essence (Existentialism)

The view that existence comes first and a person creates their own essence through free choices.

Essence precedes existence (Christian view)

The view that human nature (essence) precedes and shapes existence; humans have an intrinsic end or purpose.

Sartre on freedom

Existence precedes essence for him; freedom is radical and can imply God’s nonexistence; critiques include misdefining freedom and responsibility.

Weaknesses of Sartre’s argument

Confuses freedom with independence; overstates rebellion; underplays responsibility and the possibility of objective goods without God.

Freedom (CCC 1731)

Freedom is the power to choose or Not to choose the good, grounded in reason and will, sustained by God.

Freedom of indifference

Freedom understood as indifference between competing values, defined by personal inclination without external constraint.

Freedom for excellence

Freedom achieved through disciplined formation of desires and abilities, leading to mastery and genuine liberty.