critical evaluation

reason is more objective - evidence can be seen eg design argument and universally-proven

reason and logic with evidence is not sufficient alone for the existence of God

God gave us ‘reason’ in the first place to try and understand Him and His existence

humans can’t explain God, who is all-knowing and all-powerful » we’re not meant to

Paley said due to complexity of Universe - there must be an external agent

human reason = arrogance

Bonaventure said about eye of contemplation - can’t do reason alone

religious faith not based on reason - doesn’t have to be rational

synthetic statements are definitions and need evidence to go along with it

some arguments » not enough evidence

humans may not be able to comprehend the logic behind God

personal revelation ppl go through

but Bible stated that faith means to have belief because of evidence in Jesus’ miracles

Dawkins said faith is based on blind belief w no evidence

main reason for God, as no concrete evidence so faith needed to believe

not enough because faith could encourage ppl to be lazy and accept things at face value

everyone might believe if there is concrete evidence, so faith is necessary, fundamentally

ppl have faith in a lot of ‘crazy’ conspiracies, as they take ‘evidence’ at face value

everyone has different personal relationships with God and logic alone removes that important aspect

big bang theory has evidence but still there are questions about what caused it likewise there are still questions of God’s existence despite evidence

science also requires faith to believe - eg in scientific methods/theories are accurate

Augustine: argued that Original Sin prevented ppl from being able to know God » had become corrupt in their will, could never be holy enough to approach God through their own efforts

God is all-loving thus why would He punish all humans, innocent, from an event that happened at the start of Creation (adam n eve)?

Barth: argued that God reveals Himself to us as n when He wants to » our own attempts to attain knowledge of God on our own will fail

God created us all and how we view the world thus all knowledge is 'revealed knowledge' - so illogical that it removed 'natural human knowledge' when we are all God's beings​

we have finite capacities n sinful natures = without God’s help we are never going to reach knowledge through our own efforts » will create distorted n misleading ideas about God

Aquinas said gift of rational thought was given to us by God and we are thus meant to use it ​

Barth: also argued that natural theology attempts are unnecessary as God has revealed Himself perfectly n finally in Jesus

'Sense of the divine' is within us by God, evidence a Creator was thought of pre-Bible (religion involving God existed since the beginning)​

Fall so disastrous that it placed a barrier between God and humanity and humans never will be holy enough to reach God again - Augustine​

He also says natural theology unnecessary as God revealed himself to us through the Bible​

'All knowledge of our own is given to us by God and we will fail on our own' - Barth​

Aquinas said original sin destroyed our ability to control our desires but not our rationality

everything exists because God wanted, thus everything discovered so far is part of God’s plan - thus line is blurred because God omniscient (source of all knowledge)

Natural knowledge doesn’t reveal Gods true nature and is lacking compared to revealed

Reading the Bible allows for different interpretations, so knowledge gained causes the lines to blur between natural and revealed​

Revealed is directly from God whilst natural may be tainted by human reasoning 

Comes from same foundation – just expressed in different ways ​

illogical to not trust him due to God’s inherent nature of being all-loving, powerful and kind ​

Big Bang Theory questions Gods existence ​

Pascal's wager – you have a better outcome of believing and trusting in God and not ending up in Hell​

Lot of people may believe God is out there but don’t trust him due to lack of personal connection 

St Anselm says to admit there is a God misses the point of Gods existence being necessary - you have to trust in him 

Inconsistent Triad argument - (of God is all-knowing, powerful and loving then why does evil exist in the world)​

Bible says to put your trust in him through nature of Jesus and Gods loving nature where there is evidence, he is all-loving​

Might choose not to trust him as there is no evidence to say He is involved in daily matters of the World​

Can't overlap as just because something exists doesn’t mean it should be trusted wholeheartedly ​

Justified to believe in something  bigger than you but doesn’t have to necessarily trust in him​