a) Christians believe many different things about God’s nature; due to the huge spectrum of Christians that there are. However, as a general rule they perceive God as being one of the following four things:
• Personal – where God is represented as a human being. Christians believe this because it means they can directly relate to Him through one-to-one means. There are variations within this also: Some say that this Personal God is one human being that is always there for everyone, others believe that He is a different being for each person.
• Impersonal – an Impersonal view of God’s perception is that God is some form of spirit or force, not particularly there for you personally to relate to, but present nonetheless. Impersonality is often seen as the more logical of the two opposites (Personal & Impersonal), merely because the idea of a force follows the idea of God being omnipotent, and the spirit idea follows that of Him being present, but not in human state.
• Immanent – a belief that God plays an active role in our lives. This belief exists due to supposed ‘acts of God’, which are natural disasters, and also because of ‘miracles’. Therefore, Christians who believe God to be Immanent see Him as a being that actually causes things.
• Transcendent – the opposite to Immanency, believing that God is beyond the Earth, Time, and Space. This has links with Impersonality; believing God to be this omnipotent force, however Transcendency leans towards God not actually performing anything, but watching over everything.
The true nature of God (if He does exist) is constantly argued amongst Christians; and indeed many other religions, however there are a few things that they agree on universally: God is entirely unique, holy and extraordinary. Also, the general consensus is that God is omnipotent and omniscient.
b) Christians show respect for the Bible in daily life in a variety of ways. Depending on how strictly they follow Christianity, they will say ‘the Lord’s prayer’ each day, and most Christians go to church services every Sunday (Sunday is significant as it was supposedly God’s day of rest in the Creation story). As well as this, some Christians will read passages from the Bible frequently, recite them, and deep Christians may even try an...
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...that makes them believe beyond all doubt that God does exist. Others may say that the evidence of God’s existence is all around us everywhere, space, life, the Earth.
Intellectuals have ventured into other forms of potential evidence; a good example is ‘Newton and the Thumb’: Isaac Newton believed that thumbprints alone proved the existence of God. This is because the design on a person’s thumb is completely unique; nobody else’s thumbprint will be the same. This kind of intricacy and attention to detail Newton said; couldn’t have come about by some freak accident – and must have had a creator. Another example is ‘Paley and the Watch’: William Paley stated that the Earth is like a watch – it has an extremely complex design, and has to have a designer. He said that if you were to throw all the pieces of the watch up in the air, they could never fall into positions that would make the watch work, similarly he said that the Earth could not have come about by some random dispersal of matter, and that it had to have had a designer (just like a watch does). Obviously, both of these statements can be argued for and against, but regardless they are valid suggestions that God does exist.
When speaking about God, we naturally tend to give God characteristics or attributes that otherwise would be considered un proper. Two approaches that we use when speaking about God are Analogical and Metaphorical. Analogical and Metaphorical approaches are all about giving attribution to thing, in this case God. There are three predications, univocal, equivocal, and analogy. The univocal approach talks about the same term for different subjects that have the same exact meaning. The equivocal approach takes the same term, but it has a different subject and meaning. An analogy is a comparison of two things, in this case God is going to be compared to different things. The analogical approach is also called proper proportionality. When speaking about God in the analogical (proper proportionality) approach, we use the same term, but a different subject. For the metaphorical approach when speaking about God, we compare God to something and give him characteristics that he would not normally have. For example, when talking about proper proportionality, I may say that God is heroic. Now God is heroic may seem simple, but if I replace God with the word George Washington, now I have George Washington is heroic. While George Washington may have been heroic, comparing him to God using the same term gives me a different proportion. Now when I talk about the Metaphorical approach of God, I am ...
... uses the lack of proof of Gods existence for God’s existence. This then essentially leads to a battle between science and religion on the idea of whether or not God can be proven to exist and whether that proof is essential to determine if science or religion has the right answer.
Just because there is not evidence does not mean that is evidence he does not exist. I do not believe that people believe in god, just because they do believe that god exist, but because it gives them something that others cannot. It brings people together and gives people hope in the worst of times, and it can fill voids in peoples lives that are rather impossible to fill. It also gives them a reason to live, and live moral ones at that. However, this is also a problem in the discussion of th...
In light of Craig Stern’s excerpts, from the book, A Higher Law by Jeffrey A. Brauch, he writes concerning four Christian ideas-doctrines “Four Christian ideas-doctrine in fact-are both especially important to that religion and especially important to the rule of law in the common law tradition.” Stern’s begin to explain what formulates the doctrinal belief of the Christian faith. “The first of these is the doctrine of God himself, that is, his being and his work.” By this, Stern’s means that God is the creator of all things he is the beginning and the end. “The Christian faith holds that God is the “I AM,” the uncreated creator of all that is, who is from everlasting to everlasting.” He is also the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, a God of relationship, of covenant. In this way, he is both transcendent and immanent.”
To begin, proof of God’s existence is seen in the group of cosmological arguments. The cosmological arguments are a set of arguments that demonstrate the existence of a sufficient reason or first cause of the existence of the cosmos, or the universe as a whole. There are three different types of cosmological arguments, the Kalam, Thomist and and Leibnizian cosmological arguments. Proponents of the cosmological argument include Plato, Aristotle, and John Locke. Contemporary defenders include William Lane Craig, Alvin Plantinga and Richard Swinburne.
In this paper, I will examine the ontological argument of Anselm for the existence of God. Anselm defines God as “that-than-which-nothing-greater-can-be-thought,” which means, at least for Anselm, that God must exist because he is the greatest being that can be conceived. Furthermore, he argues that all people, whether or not they believe in the existence of God, at least understand his definition, including the fool who denies that God exist. Anselm, in addition to that, describes two main differences between understanding the definition of God, and understanding God to exist.
Attributes usually attributed to God are that he is omnipotent, omnipresent and omniscient. Descartes suggest that existence is one of God’s attributes. Mersenne argues against this point by stating that:
According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, God is “a being or object believed to have more than natural attributes and powers and to require human worship; specifically: one controlling a particular aspect or part of reality.” (“God”). For a philosopher, however, this concept has proven to be more than a little difficult to solve. According to O’Brien in his book An Introduction to the Theory of Knowledge, “The philosophy of religion is (in part) concerned with whether such a belief is justified.” (177). The belief that O’Brien mentions as being problematic is the belief that the God worshiped by the monotheistic religions such as Judaism, Christianity and Islam is the “supernatural” being who is responsible for creating the universe and can control reality in some way (177). This God is intelligent and has the ability to interfere with human affairs if s/he sees fit, and is “omnipotent (able to do anything), omniscient (knows everything), perfectly good, and eternal.” (177). Many philosophers throughout the ages have tried to prove/disprove the existence of God—men such as René Descartes, George Berkeley, David Hume, Thomas Reid, Bertrand Russell, and Immanuel Kant. Each of these philosophers had a different take on the issue of God, some of them believed that they had proved his/her existence, some believed that they had disproved his/her existence, and the others came to the conclusion that we either can’t know that s/he exists or his/her existence essentially doesn’t effect our lives. Overall, the proposition of “God” creates many epistemological problems that are not easily solved, but there is an a priori argument and two empirical arguments that make valiant attempts.
"The Christian god can easily be pictured as virtually the same god as the many ancient gods of past civilizations. The Christian god is a three headed monster; cruel, vengeful and capricious. If one wishes to know more of this raging, three headed beast-like god, one only needs to look at the caliber of people who say they serve him. They are always of two classes: fools and hypocrites”(Jefferson). Atheism is the belief that God does not exist and Judaism believes in only a unitary God and Christianity believes in the Trinity of God. This natural progression might be thought of as the stair steps to truth, but whose truth is the real question we need to answer, and I can assure you that it cannot be answered in a mere 8 pages. Disregard you’re current opinion and give merit to each point of view, and then decide which is right for you.
A Christian is someone who is struck by the symbol of Jesus. A Christian is someone who is tied to his or her community and someone who has accepted the tenets of the Christian faith. Not only is the person rooted in a religious community, the person has interpreted the tenets in his or her own way, which allows for a more well-rounded understanding of Christianity. A Christian accepts not only the doctrine of faith but applies the faith to his or her daily life, which is crucial for living in the world today. Finally, a Christian is someone who follows the symbols and gestures outlined by the community he or she belongs to.
Gerald Bray shares, “The Christian doctrine of God contains two distinct, though obviously related aspects. The first…what is God like? The second…who is God?” These questions impact the way I view God personally and practically, and the impact it has on my ministry application. The nature of God and how He is viewed from human beings’ perspective could have grave implications. More than often, our view of God limits His overall splendor, glory, and His association with the universe. From a personal standpoint, I have always viewed God as omnipotent, omnipresence, and omniscience. My limited mind cannot fully comprehend all there is to know about Him. However, when I open my mind to understand certain aspects of Him, His purpose and plans
The Bible teaches and orthodox Christians through the ages have believed that God is Spirit (John 4:24; 1 Timothy 6:15,16), He is not a man (Numbers 23:19; Hosea 11:9; Romans 1:22, 23), and has always (eternally) existed as God — all powerful, all knowing, and everywhere present (Psalm 90:2; 139:7-10; Isaiah 40:28; Luke 1:37).
The conception of God in Christianity, Judaism, and Islam is monotheism, the belief in the existence of a single indivisible God. The three of religions maintains that there is only one God, who is active in and concerned about the world. These religions are also patriarchal, male-dominated, which has resulted in God being described as “He.” However, how Christians, Judaism and Islam conceptualize God in their respective theologies is actually quite different. In Christianity, God is the supreme creator and ruler of the universe. Christians believe God is infinite, omnipotent, all-powerful, perfect, personal, eternal, unchanging, holy, all-knowing, and all-loving. Their idea of God is shown in the belief of the Trinity. God is one, but with three aspects: God is Father, the creator, ruler, and sustainer of all life, and divine judge; God is the Son, who is Jesus, God made incarnate and savior of humanity; and the Holy Spirit, who is God working in the world. Both Muslims and Christians love and respect Jesus, however, the major difference between Islam and Christianity is the Christians insistence on the supposed divinity of Christ. In Christian scriptures, God never claimed divinity while the emphasis in the Islamic theology of God is “absolute unity;” God is sublimely one. Muslims think that by believing in the Trinity, Christians believe in three Gods. For them, God is One God. Judaism views the existence of God as a necessary prerequisite for the existence of the universe, and the existence of the universe is sufficient proof of the existence of God.
When you think of God, you jump straight to the immortal God of the Christianity faith where they are not physically present; they are omnipresent (ReligionFacts, 2004). In relationship
The nature of God differs in every religion. Some religions have one, many, or even no God that they worship. However, no matter who or what they worship, there is always a spiritual aspect to their belief system. These spirits play a key role in influencing their actions in their everyday life.