The news in the world today is troubling. Wars‚ disease‚ and other catastrophes make everyone wonder if God exists. Assuming He does exist‚ people wonder why he doesn’t end the suffering in the world. Most refer to this issue as the problem of evil. Natural catastrophes‚ wars‚ disease‚ etc. all bring the non-believer and the believer alike to the problem of evil. The problem of evil arises because of a perceived inconsistency with God. Christians believe that God is all-powerful‚ sovereign‚ and
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Explain Paley’s argument for the existence of God William Paley was a philosopher and a theologian who came up with the design argument. He believed that the universe was so intricately designed that it must have had an original creator. Paley formed the bases of his argument from the Teleological argument. This argument was one of five arguments for the existence of God. It attempted to prove God’s existence by using our experiences of the world or universe around us. This makes it a posteriori
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The argument from evil In this paper I am going to use the very popular argument from evil‚ which was made popular and originated from the Greek philosopher Epicurus‚ to argue that existence of god is highly improbable. I’ll put this argument in the simplest of terms. For my first premise I am stating that if an omnipotent‚ omniscient‚ and omnibenevolent god exists than evil does not exist. For my second premise I am stating that evil exists in this world. When you put these two together
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Assess Hume’s reasons for rejecting miracles Hume defined miracles as a “violation of the laws of nature” and consequently rejected their occurrence as both improbable and impractical. This view has been supported by modern scientists and philosophers such as Atkins‚ Dawkins and Wiles to a certain extent. However Aquinas‚ Tillich and Holland and Swinburne to a certain extent reject Hume’s reasons‚ instead arguing that miracles have a divine cause and that Hume’s arguments are weak. This essay
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Juliana Tabor Professor Webb Introduction to Philosophy 4/1/13 Descartes: Meditations 3 In Descartes’s Meditations III‚ the Meditator describes his idea of God as "a substance that is infinite‚ eternal‚ immutable‚ independent‚ supremely intelligent‚ supremely powerful‚ and which created both myself and everything else."(70) Thus‚ due to his opinion in regards to the idea of God‚ the Meditator views God containing a far more objective reality than a formal one. Due to the idea that of God
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Candide Voltaire said in a letter to Fredrick the Great‚ “Christianity is the most ridiculous‚ the most absurd‚ and bloody religion that has ever infected the world.” Clearly‚ Voltaire believes that religion is a sham. Voltaire made multiple attacks against the Catholic Church. Voltaire’s satire‚ Candide‚ explains why we do not live in the “best of all possible worlds.” This optimistic idea from the character Pangloss‚ is torn apart by the people and concatenations in Candide’s journey. Candide encounters
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Tim Keller‚ one of my favorite authors wrote an article called “Talking about Idolatry in a Postmodern World.” In this article Keller echoed Luther’s sentiments‚ “the command “have no other gods before me” is violated when idolatry is functionally manifested in violating any of the other commands (Keller‚ 2007)”. Luther believed that the fundamentals of law breaking is always rooted in idolatry. I would agree with Both Martin Luther and Tim Keller. Idolatry is a problem that is common in our modern
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I assumed that the pursuit of happiness was goal everyone aimed at. It wasn’t till I read Bonhoeffer’s theology that I realized that some people are in the pursuit of unhappiness. In an excerpt from an unpublished novel that he wrote in prison‚ Bonhoeffer states the complexity of happiness and unhappiness. "Take care not to speak lightly of happiness and not to flirt with unhappiness!…It is not so easy to be unhappy‚ and may he who truly is not despise and revile him who is happy. Why would you take
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’Discuss the presentation of inspector Goole in the play’ The inspector in inspector calls is a very supernatural character‚ how he appears in the play and how he leaves. The inspector says “And I tell you that the time will soon come when‚ if men will not learn that lesson‚ then they will be taught it in fire and blood and anguish‚ Goodnight.” These last words from the inspector are the antithesis of what Mr Birling said‚ Mr Birling says “Every man for himself”‚ and the inspector says the
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Miracles Essay Examine key concepts of miracles and philosophical reasons to believe in them. Miracle is an event that goes against usual of nature or appearing to break the law of science. Hume defined miracles as a “violation of the laws of nature” and consequently rejected their occurrence as both improbable and impractical. Many philosophers back this view up to a certain extent‚ such as Wiles. However Aquinas rejects Hume’s arguments due to the lack of belief of people’s testimonies to be
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