The Nature and Existence of God - Chapter 3 Notes

PART I: NATURE OF GOD AND ARGUMENTS FOR GOD'S EXISTENCE

Unit 3.1: Understanding the Concept of God

• Can We Reason About God? - Some Christians hesitate to reason about God, believing His nature is beyond human understanding.

  • Response:

  • God is the source of our ability to reason.

  • Not attempting to reason about God is self-refuting. - If one uses reasoning to argue against reasoning about God, they contradict their own claim.

    • Need interpretation of the Bible; human reason is necessary to understand scripture meaning and God.

Why Use Reason in Relation to God?

• Reason helps interpret Biblical complexities (ex: moral instruction).

• Importance of Reason: - It aids understanding of the world and God’s nature.

  • Failure to reason about God is akin to neglecting a valuable gift from God.

  • Human reason has successfully explained the natural world, indicating it can also provide insights into the divine.

What is at the Heart of Our Concept of God?

• Basic Conceptualization of God: - Many define God by attributes (omnipotence, omniscience).

  • St. Anselm's Definition:

  • God is the greatest conceivable being, enhanced to: "God is the greatest possible being" (modern interpretation).

Attributes Derived From Anselmian Definition:

• Support for Anselmian Definition: - Reflects prevalent conceptions of God in Judeo-Christian traditions.

  • Explains biblical attributes ascribed to God, like omnipotence and omniscience, from an understanding of God's nature.

Unit 3.2: Cosmological and Teleological Arguments

I. Cosmological Argument

• Definition: - Contingent beings require external explanation; necessary beings do not.

• Key Premises: 1. All contingent beings need an explanation.

  2. Necessary beings do not.

  3. Therefore, a necessary being must exist (often identified as God).

II. Teleological Argument

• Classical Version: - States complexity/design in nature implies existence of a designer (God).

• Evolution Objection: - Evolution provides an explanation for complexity, challenging the need for a designer.

Fine-tuning Argument:

• The universe is finely tuned for life, suggesting purposeful design. - Examples of Deep Fine-tuning:

  • Constants of gravity and physical laws must fall within a narrow life-permitting range for life to exist.

  • Many physicists acknowledge apparent design in the universe structure, supporting theism over atheism.

PART II: THE PROBLEM OF EVIL

Unit 3.4: General Introduction to the Problem of Evil

• Main Problem: - Conflict between the existence of evil and a perfectly good, omnipotent God.

  • Common Theodicies:

  1. Punishment Theodicy: - Suffering as punishment for sin (fails to address why evil exists in the first place).

  2. Satan Theodicy: - Evil caused by Satan (does not explain God’s allowance of evil).

  3. Fall Theodicy: - Evil results from the Fall (does not resolve the reasons for human sin).

Types of Evil:

• Moral Evil: - Evil caused by human actions (ex: sin).

• Natural Evil: - Suffering not caused directly by human actions (ex: natural disasters).

Theodicies Discussed:

• Free Will Theodicy: - Morally significant free will necessitates the allowance of evil.

• Soul-Making Theodicy: - Trials and suffering are necessary for character development.

• Connection-Building Theodicy: - Suffering facilitates relationships of appreciation and intimacy across eternity.

Distinction Between Theodicy and Defense:

• Theodicy: Aims to justify God's goodness in the face of evil by providing an explanation for why He allows it (e.g., free will, soul-making).

• Defense: Offers a rebuttal to the logical problem of evil, asserting that the existence of evil is compatible with God's existence without necessarily explaining it.

PART III: SALVATION OUTSIDE THE CHURCH

Unit 3.8A: Views of Salvation Outside the Church

• Key Terms: - Restrictivism: Only those who hear the Gospel in this life can be saved.

  • Wider Hope Views: Salvation may occur outside explicit faith in the Gospel. - These include Inclusivism (salvation through Christ even if unrecognized) and Postmortem Evangelism (opportunity for the Gospel after death).

Importance of the Issue:

• Restrictivism presents a challenge by suggesting an unloving God.

• Responses: God must act in ways that offer genuine chances for salvation while maintaining justice.

• Wider hope views reconcile concerns of divine love and the existence of the unevangelized.

Primary Scriptural Assertations

• Key Biblical scriptures supporting/wider hope views indicate God's desire for all to be saved regardless of knowledge of Christ’s Gospel.

• Arguments Against Restrictivism: - Cites inclusive love, justice, and the need for everyone to have opportunities for salvation (including afterlife).

Conclusion

• Theodicies and views on salvation shape understandings of the human experience and the role of divine love, justice, and mercy.

• Understanding God’s nature ultimately ties closely to moral philosophy and the meaning we derive from life’s struggles.

Fine-tuning Argument:

• The universe is finely tuned for life, suggesting purposeful design.

  • Key Points on Fine-tuning:

  • The constants of gravity and physical laws must fall within a narrow life-permitting range for life to exist.

  • Many physicists acknowledge apparent design in the universe structure, supporting theism over atheism.

  • The probability of the universe's parameters being set by chance is astronomically low, further implying a designer's influence.

  • Fine-tuning raises questions about the multiverse theory, as this theory suggests multiple universes might lead to life, but it doesn’t resolve the underlying cause of the fine