God, Creation and Existence
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Transcript of God, Creation and Existence
7/29/2019 God, Creation and Existence
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Is it Reasonable to
believe in God?People have since the beginning of time asked thequestion Why?-Why do we or anything exist?
Plato- Noticed that certain patterns and shapes
constantly appeared in nature. He saw order
amongst chaos-therefore he thought there must be
an Ultimate Source
Aristotle – Noticed that everything was moved by
something else. This constant motion but be
caused by an Unmovable mover
St. thomaS aquinaS’ 5 WaYS A 13th Century Dominican Friar. One of the most influential
thinkers within the Church and still essential for Catholic
theologians.
His Five Ways or Proofs are not proofs in the modern scientific sense, but rather demonstrate
that belief in God is reasonable. They bring together the work of pagan philosopher and
Christian thinkers such as St. Augustine and St. Anselm
I) First Mover: Some things are in motion, anything moved ismoved by another, and there can't be an infinite series of movers. So
there must be a first mover . A mover that isn't itself moved by
another. This is what we call God.
II) First Cause: Some things are caused, anything caused is caused
by another, and there can't be an infinite series of causes. So there
must be a first cause .A cause that isn't itself caused by another.
This is what we call God.
III) Necessary Being: Every contingent being at some time fails to
exist. So if everything were contingent, then at some time there
would have been nothing -- and so there would be nothing now --
which is clearly false. So not everything is contingent. So there is a
necessary being. This is God.
IV) Greatest Being: Some things are greater than others. Whatever
is great to any degree gets its greatness from that which is the great-
est. So there is a greatest being, which is the source of all great-
ness. This is God.
V) Intelligent Designer: Many things in the world that lack intelli-gence act for an end. Whatever acts for an end must be directed by
an intelligent being. So the world must have an intelligent designer.
This is God.
St. ThomasAquinas
1225-1274
Feast: 28th January
YouCat Qs: 1-6; 14-16; 40-48;
56-70
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What Can we say of
God? God is one God is eternal
God is everywhere (omnipresence) God knows everything (omniscient) God is all-powerful (omnipotent) God is pure spirit God is not created
What do we mean by
Creation? God creates everything from nothing
( Latin: Ex Nihilo ) Nothing is Not-A-Thing. It is the absence
of existence Creation is not a single act but God holds
everything in existence
Discussion Questions:
Does a Christian have to believe in the historical truth of the creation narrative
in Genesis?
What is the point of the creation story in the Book of Genesis
Can a Christian believe in evolution? Can a Christian believe in the ‘Big Bang’?
What must a Christian believe concerning Creation?
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Creation and the BibleThe Bible is not a single piece of work. It is a
Collection of Books. The word ’Bible’ means ’the
Books’ (from the Greek τὰ βιβλία).
The Books of the Bible were written over thousandsof years by many people, inspired by God. This is
why we can call Sacred Scripture: The Word of God
The Books of the Bible also have different Genres:
such as ; Histories, poetry, prayer books, Law Books,
letters, fables and mystical writings.
The Book of Genesis is collection of writing about
the birth of the Jewish people. The creation account
is not a historical account but a parable.
To read Genesis as a historically literal account is to
be a Biblical Fundamentalist. This is NOT an au-
thentic Christian approach
The Truth in Genesis is that: God created the
Universe and made humanity in His Image
Do Faith and Science
disagree ?Many people suggest that science and
religion are in conflict concerning
creation. This is not the case! Truth
cannot contradict truth.
Each discipline has a different purpose.
"The Bible teaches ushow to go to heaven,
not how the heavens go. “
-Cardinal Baronius
(quoted by Galileo in 1615)
Reason and Revelation complement
and enrich each other in the honest
pursuit of Truth. There is no conflict
between science and the Faith.
St. Augustine354-430 AD
Feast 28th AugustSt. Augustine wrote that the first two
chapters of Genesis are written to suit the un-
derstanding of the people at that time. He pro-
posed that God created a world which could
develop over time – A very basic description of evolution
Monsignor Georges Lemaître1894-1966
Georges Lemaître was a Belgian priest
and physicist, who proposed the
‘hypothesis of the primeval atom' or the Big
Bang Theory in 1927. Einstein initially dis-
agreed with him but eventually declared "the
most beautiful and satisfactory explanation of creation to which I have ever listened.".
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Discussion Questions
Do humans have a special place in the order of creation?
If so: Why?
Is humanities relationship with God as He intended?
If not: How and why?
What does the Bible say on the subject?
What does the expression Made in the image of God mean?
God, Humanity & the
FallHumanity was made in the image of God.
Unlike the rest of creation, we have an Im-
mortal Soul. This soul makes humans
someone rather than something.
God made humanity to dwell in His friend-
ship and share in His Divine Life. Human-
ity however chose to reject this life and
God. We call this SIN
All humans (apart from Jesus and Mary)
have been wounded by this original act of
disobedience. This wound is called
Original Sin.
The Solution to the Problem of Sin?