Natural Theology Test

What is Natural Theology?

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

What are the four causes identified in philosophy?

Material cause, Formal cause, Efficient cause, Final cause.

What is the Material cause?

What something is made of.

What is the Formal cause?

The structure of a thing.

What is the Efficient cause?

The creator or agent of a thing.

What is the Final cause?

The purpose of a thing.

What are the three types of proofs for God's existence?

Cosmological Argument, Psychological Argument, Ontological Argument.

What is the Cosmological Argument?

An argument for the existence of God based on observations of the natural world, reasoning from effect to cause.

What is the Psychological Argument?

An argument from a common inner understanding of the human condition and man's shared nature.

What is the Ontological Argument?

An a priori argument from being, arguing from the definition of God as a maximal great being to His necessity to exist.

Which argument corresponds to the attribute 'God is immutable'?

Motion.

Which argument corresponds to 'God is necessary and cannot not exist'?

Time and Contingency.

Which argument corresponds to 'God is the intelligent creator and designer of the universe'?

Design or Governance.

Which argument corresponds to 'God is eternal and has always existed'?

Efficient Causality.

Which argument corresponds to 'God is perfect goodness and the source of all perfection'?

Gradation or Perfection.

What are the four psychological arguments for God's existence?

Desire, Morality, Aesthetic experience, Pascal's Wager.

What does the Principle of Causality state?

You cannot get more in the effect than you had in the cause.

What is the Principle of Sufficient Reason?

Everything that exists has a sufficient reason as to why it exists.

What does it mean for something to be contingent?

It does not have to exist.

What does it mean for something to be necessary?

It cannot not exist.

What characteristics indicate that something is designed?

It displays order, purpose, and complexity.

What is the significance of the Big Bang in the argument for God's existence?

It implies a beginning, which means it must have had a cause.

What does the multiverse hypothesis argue?

There are trillions of other universes, but it does not eliminate the need for an ultimate explanation of existence.

What does the Borde-Guth-Vilenkin (BGV) theorem conclude?

In an expanding universe, it cannot be past eternal; it has a beginning.

What is the difference between an innate desire and an artificial desire?

An innate desire is naturally occurring and has a real object to fulfill it; an artificial desire is conditioned by time, place, and culture.

What is the Beatific Vision?

The fulfillment of humanity's ultimate purpose and happiness: union with God in heaven.

What are the three transcendentals in philosophy?

Truth, Beauty, Goodness.

What does the psychological argument from desire suggest?

Our desire for ultimate happiness points to something infinite - God.

What does the psychological argument from objective moral goodness suggest?

The recognition of objective moral values points to God as the lawgiver.

What does the psychological argument from beauty suggest?

Our appreciation of beauty points toward a source of perfect beauty - God.

What does the psychological argument from truth suggest?

Our desire to know truth points toward God, who is Truth itself.

What does the example of a pot of water on a stove illustrate?

It illustrates Motion or Change in Aquinas's Five Ways.

What does the example of falling dominoes illustrate?

It illustrates Efficient Cause in Aquinas's Five Ways.

What does the example of a tree growing from a seed illustrate?

It illustrates Time and Contingency in Aquinas's Five Ways.

What does the example of gradation in actions illustrate?

It illustrates Gradation in Aquinas's Five Ways.

What does the example of a sprinkler system illustrate?

It illustrates Design in Aquinas's Five Ways.