Exam 3: God

According to the problem of evil,if there is evil in the world,then either God can't do anything about it,God doesn't know about it,or God doesn't care about it.

In ancient religions,believers tended to worship the same the gods or goddesses.

Leibniz's belief that "this is the best of all possible worlds" implies that evil does not exist.

When someone attempts to resolve the problem of evil by claiming that everyone who suffers somehow deserves to suffer they are

The "least of the evils" solution to the problem of evil raises the question about whether it is fair to allow an innocent man to suffer even if he will receive an elaborate reward later on.

According to the "least of the evils" position,

If human actions (such as those that produce the green house gases that cause global warming)were part of the cause of a natural disaster,like Hurricane Katrina,then the suffering caused by that natural disaster could have some features of moral evil.

What are the two aspects of religion that are not simply a matter of belief?

The problem of evil only arises because we believe that

Many people have commented on how many of our conceptions and images of God are anthropomorphic.One version of this is the image of God as an old man. Why can't this image be literally true? Feminist theologians focus on masculine and patriarchal images of God that involve more subtle patriarchal biases. Some have argued that the conception of God as totally transcendent,all-powerful,unchanging,and all-knowing,is especially masculinist/patriarchal and,as a result,exclusionary. Do you agree? Why or why not? How might conceptions of God as immanent,pantheistic and in process,escape this charge? Are they (in your estimate)superior to the masculinist conceptions?

Explain what Kierkegaard means by the "leap of faith?"

Sigmund Freud argued that what really makes belief in God irrational is that

According to Kierkegaard,total commitment to God requires that a person must at least arrive at a plausible conception of God.

What is Kant's main criticism of the ontological argument for God's existence?

One of the criticisms of the design argument proposed by David Hume is that even if the world was designed,it might be the work only of inferior deity and is the object of derision to his superiors.

Which of the following is one question that arises if you believe God is transcendent?

Anselm's ontological argument starts off with a single stated assumption,that one has a concept of God,an infinite and most perfect being.

Because of his belief in God's transcendence,the Protestant Reformer,Martin Luther,wanted the Church to serve as an intermediary between the individual and God.

Define and give two examples of theodicy.

According to Immanuel Kant,because there is a clear connection between happiness and morality we do not need to believe in the existence of God in order to be moral.