Unit 4 Vocab Apologetics

Theist

someone who believes in a transcendent, personal creator of the universe.

Atheist

someone who claims there is no God.

Agnostic

someone who doesn’t know if God exists or someone who is certain human beings cannot know if God exists.

Polytheist

someone who believes in many gods.

Monotheist

someone who believes in only one God.

Nihilism

the belief that nothing matters.

Deist

someone who believes God created the universe but no longer interacts with the world he created.

Naturalism

the view that only the natural world exists.

Materialism

the belief that only matter exists, and therefore an immaterial being like God does not.

Natural Theology

the project of arguing for the existence of God and his attributes on the basis of observed natural facts.

a posteriori

knowledge based on empirical experience (sensorial evidence).

a priori

knowledge independent of empirical experience (evidence of necessity).

Universe

the total collection of all space, time, matter, and energy.

Principle of Sufficient Reason

anything that exists must have an explanation for its existence.

Principle of Causality

no potential can be actualized unless something already actually actualizes it.

Fallacy

an error in reasoning that renders an argument invalid.

Scientism

the belief that whatever cannot be experienced by the senses, i.e., seen, touched, heard, etc., simply does not exist.

Burden of proof

the obligation to prove one’s assertion or claim.

Contingent

something that does not have to exist; it could be different, or it could not be at all. Dependent on other things.

Principle of Self-Sufficiency

whatever has a self-sufficient nature has a necessary nature (i.e., no potential for non-existence).