Key Terms The Existence of God and Revelation

Design Argument

The argument that God designed the universe, because everything is so intricately made in its detail.

Theist

A person who believes in God.

Atheist

A person who believes that there is no God.

Agnostic

Someone who thinks there is not enough evidence for belief in God.

First Cause Argument

Also called the cosmological argument; the argument that there has to be an uncaused cause that made everything else happen, otherwise there would be nothing now.

Eternal

Without beginning or end.

Creation

The act by which God brought the universe into being.

Miracle

A seemingly impossible event, usually good, that cannot be explained by natural or scientific laws, and is thought to be the action of God.

Proof

Evidence that supports the truth of something.

Faith

A commitment to something that goes beyond proof and knowledge, especially used about God and religion.

Evil

The opposite of good, a force or personification of a negative power that is seen in many traditions as destructive and against God.

Suffering

When people have to face and live with unpleasant events or conditions.

Ultimate reality

The supreme, final, fundamental power in all reality.

The Divine

God, gods or ultimately reality.

Revelation

God showing Himself to believers; this is the only any anybody can really know anything about God.

Special Revelation

God making Himself know through direct personal experience or an unusual specific event.

Vision

Seeing something, especially in a dream or trance, that shows something about the nature of God or the afterlife.

Enlightenment

The gaining of true knowledge about God or self, usually through meditation and self-discipline; in Buddhist traditions gaining freedom from the cycle of rebirth.

General revelation

God making himself known through ordinary, common human experiences.

Nature

The physical world including plants, animals and landscapes; the environment or natural world.

Scriptures

The sacred writings of religion; for Christians these are the Old and New Testaments.

Omnipotent

Almighty, having unlimited power; a quality of God.

Omniscient

Knowing everything; a quality of God

Benevolent

All-loving, all-good; a quality of God.

Immanent

The idea that God is present in and involved in life on earth and in the universe; a quality of God.

Transcendent

The idea that God is beyond and outside life on earth and the universe; a quality of God.

Personal

The idea that God is an individual or person with whom people are able to have a relationship or feel close to.

Impersonal

The ideas that God has no ‘human’ characteristics is unknowable and mysterious, more like an idea or force.

Reality

The quality or state of being actual or true.

Illusion

An erroneous perception of reality.