Exam 3: God

According to Immanuel Kant,God's existence

According to Kierkegaard,what is important is not our conception of God,but

Many people say that they are "spiritual" but not "religious"? What does it mean to be spiritual,and how is this different from being religious? What beliefs does it involve? Is it grounded in some type experience? If religious believers maintain their faith through particular rituals and traditions,and not merely beliefs,what rituals and traditions do you draw on to maintain your spirituality?

Write a dialogue between two characters who are debating about whether it is possible to prove or disprove that God exists. The characters can be theists,atheists or agnostics. The substance of the dialogue should be a critical discussion arguing over at least three lines of argument for and/or against God's existence. These can be from the text,but are not limited to the text. The dialogue can end in the two characters agreeing,in their agreeing to disagree,or in their arriving at a new viewpoint that synthesizes both points of view.

Write an essay developing a philosophy of religious tolerance. Your essay should start with the discussion of tolerance in chapter three. How is tolerance linked with the fact that we can't know whether our religious conceptions are true? Why doesn't this imply giving up our beliefs in the truth of these conceptions? How is tolerance possible,if not on the basis of belief? What is your personal philosophy of tolerance? How do experience and deal with different religious faiths in your life?

According to Aquinas,God is a first cause,both as the cause of the universe's coming into existence,and as the cause of its being preserved in existence from one instant to the next.

Explain the cosmological,ontological,design arguments,and the moral proof for God's existence. Do these arguments share any points in common? How do they differ? What are the strengths and weaknesses of each kind of argument? Develop one objection to each of the arguments. Which of the arguments seems the strongest and why?

Although the Judeo-Christian and Islamic traditions emphasize the existence of one God,there are,in fact,a rich variety of conceptions of this one God throughout our long history. Write an essay describing four of the conceptions of God developed in this chapter. Explain each conception and determine if there are any points of agreement between them. How do they differ from one another? Raise one philosophical question for each of these conceptions. From your point of view,explain which conception is the strongest,and which is the weakest,and why?

According to Buddhism,

Write an essay showing the relationship between morality and religious belief. Begin with Immanuel Kant's moral proof for belief in God. What is this moral proof? Do you agree with Kant that one needs to believe in God to be moral? What's your conception of the relationship of religious belief and morality?