Philosophy of Religion exam 2

what is the problem of hell

A perfect God Doesn't Exist or does but there's no eternal damnation

what was Adams' response to the POH

Only a cruel indifferent God would allow people to suffer so deeply

what was Graige's response to the POH

The "good" of free will overrides suffering. our free will is impaired by the imperfect humans that raised us

how does Adams respond to Graige

The sacred will be affected by the suffering of the damned

what was Swinburne's response to the POH

God can make good from evil and won't give up on the wicked

what is universalism

temporary reform place for sinners but everyone is sill saved

what is Peter Van Inwagen's defense

humans abused their free will and relationship with God. We must know what it's like to be separated from him and use free will to reconnect with him

what is Peter Van Inwagen's defense

terrible evil is needed so we know what it's like to be separated from God. we are playthings by chance if we are separated from God

Explain Elenor Stump's Arg. from evil

-We need evil to appreciate goodness

-God gave us free will to choose evil

-If God has is choose freely good sometimes, than he can freely determine to freely determine to freely choose good 24/7

describe the problem of evil

a perfect God would prevent evil unless it contributed to a greater good

what are some responses to the problem of evil

-Swinburne: must be natural laws and natural evil to have free will

-Hick: we need natural laws and natural evils to build character

Indeterminism

Given the past, the future CAN be otherwise. if true, our choices are based on randomness and chance not free will

Determinism

Given the past the future can NOT be otherwise. our paths are "set in stone"

what are Mackie's ideas on the POH

-evil is necessary, no pain no gain

-some evil is better than none, overcoming evil makes overall good

what are the theist's rebuttal on Mackie

evil is due to free will and God allows but isn't responsible for pain and misery

what is Mackie's response to the theist

-God isn't good, he's just better than what he's compared to

-It can be absolute. there's not logically necessary counterparts where all things may be large

what are problems with religious diversity

All religion can't be correct. either one is correct or none at all. conclusion: all religions are false

what is a religious exclusivist

someone who believes only their religion is correct and you won't be saved unless you're apart of their religion

what is a religious inclusivist

their religion is the true religion and if you don't believe in their religion, you can still be saved

what is a religious pluralist

no religion is true because religious doctrines aren't made to be true or false

what is the logical contradiction to Professor Park's "MEA"

God is omnibenevolent, with full knowledge of right and wrong

-He has the power to communicate via Devine revelation

-God at times gives immoral or imperfect commands and for that reason is not real

what is an anticipated objection to the logical contradiction and professor Park's response

Obj: developmental app. just like you shield a child from certain hard topics, God does the same to us

Prof Park: The book of revelation orders a murder of all non believers. You can't let a child hit another child and then expect them to stop when they're older.

what is moral relativism

what's morally true is ONLY specific to certain eras/culture

what is the moral reading approach and his response to it

we can pick and choose which commands are moral and ignore the others

response: the scripture is holy and coming from God. the contradiction sill remains

what is the canonical approach and his response to it

read passages within a wider context of the entire book(s)

response: overarching moral things can be attained in better ways

what is skeptical theism and his response to it

god works in mysterious ways. we can't understand God's intentions, but there's no contradiction

response: God works in mysterious ways both for good and bad. you need evidence to prove it

what are McCormick's views on religion

the Salem witch trials had more of a chance happening then the resurrection of Jesus.

what does magic have to do with the Salem witch trials and resurrection

no magic in Salem implies there was no magic in Jerusalem. by measure in quantity and quality the evidence for witches is better than resurrection

what are the three responses to McCormick

-magic in neither: there is nothing supernatural happening in Salem or Jerusalem

-magic in both: lower your standards, there's magic in both

-magic in jerusalem not Salem: there's some disanalogy that makes it reasonable to believe in Jesus not Salem

what is shellenberg's deductive reasoning for divine hiddenness

someone who is okay with God's presence but doesn't believe (a nonresistant nonbeliever is capable of being in a meaningful relationship with God and doesn't believe God exists). If God is real, there would be no non existent nonbelief but there is so he doesn't exist

what is Maitzen and Marsh's inductive argument

the distribution of theistic belief is uneven across geological time periods and history. This would be unlikely if a loving God exists but would be likely if naturalism is true. It is likely that God doesn't exist

what are the theistic responses to divine hiddenness

-cognitive science says prehistoric humans were susceptible to supernatural beliefs

-there can be meaningful relationships without belief in existence(ex: online relat. w/o worry of being catfished)

-we have unconscious relationships and that's sufficient(ex: valuing nature or helping others)

-if everyone believed in God, moral testing would be trivial and exercising free will wouldn't matter

-hiddenness may increase longing for God which will deepen the relationship with him

- God may want to prevent ppl believing in him or self interest or coercion becoming resentful of him do to evil or ignoring human relationships

what is Shellberg's closing remark on divine Hiddenness

A meaningful conscious relationship with God would be the greatest good for people and it can't be overridden