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



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?



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.".



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?

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