Transcript 5 Which God Exists

WHICH GOD EXISTS?
• The elephant and the blind wise man.
– “An elephant is like a wall.”
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• “An elephant is like a Snake.”
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• “An elephant is like a tree.”
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• “An elephant is like a spear.”
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• “An elephant is like a fan.”
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• “An elephant is like a rope.”
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WHICH GOD EXISTS?
• The cosmological and design arguments.
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God is necessary
Powerful
Transcendent
Non-contingent
Intelligent
Personal
• The moral argument.
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God has a moral will
A purpose for how we are to live
He is engaged in the world
Humans motives and actions
Matter to him
• God Is unique
• There is nothing outside of himself that He didn’t create.
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THE GLASS SLIPPER.
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ATHEISM
• God does not exist.
• The physical universe is all that exists
period.
• Cannot explain how the universe came
into existence.
• Supports macroevolution.
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ATHEISM
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EXISTS
IS INTELLIGENT
IS NECESSARY
IS PERSONAL
IS POWERFUL
IS MORAL
IS TRANSCENDENT
IS ENGAGED
IS NON-CONTINGENT
IS UNIQUE
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AGNOSTICISM
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EXISTS
IS INTELLIGENT
IS NECESSARY
IS PERSONAL
IS POWERFUL
IS MORAL
IS TRANSCENDENT
IS ENGAGED
IS NON-CONTINGENT
IS UNIQUE
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PANTHEISM
• Pantheism is the view that everything that
exists is God.
• There are several different expressions of
pantheism. One view holds that God is a
force that is in all things. (like in Star wars).
• Another sees God as manifest in many
forms, each a part of the ultimate reality.
(Hindus have at least 330,000,000 gods.)
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PANTHEISM
x
EXISTS
IS INTELLIGENT
x
IS NECESSARY
IS PERSONAL
x
IS POWERFUL
IS MORAL
IS TRANSCENDENT
IS ENGAGED
x
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IS NON-CONTINGENT
x IS UNIQUE
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• Christian Apologist Ravi Zacharias, who
grew up in India, points out that Hindus in
India look both ways before crossing the
road. They know that oncoming buses are
real things that will cause real pain if they
step out in front of them. Either they wait for
the bus to pass or they will get run over.
Logic is inescapable.
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PANENTHEISM
• Panentheism sees God as both distinct from
and dependent on the world at the same
time. God comes from the world, and the
world comes from God. It is a symbiotic
relationship.
• And because the world is ever changing,
then God is ever changing. As our souls
learn and grow, God becomes more
powerful. God then uses that power to create
new things for us to learn. God is learning
and growing as we are.
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PANENTHEISM
x
EXISTS
x IS INTELLIGENT
x
IS NECESSARY
x IS PERSONAL
x
IS POWERFUL
IS MORAL
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IS TRANSCENDENT
x IS ENGAGED
IS NON-CONTINGENT
x IS UNIQUE
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FINITE GODISM
• Finite Godism describes God as the
first cause that is personnel, loving,
and good. But Finite Godism says that
because evil exists, God must not be
able to control or eradicate it. Therefore
God is not all-powerful and is limited in
nature.
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FINITE GODISM
x
EXISTS
IS NECESSARY
IS POWERFUL
X
IS TRANSCENDENT
IS NON-CONTINGENT
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x IS INTELLIGENT
IS PERSONAL
1/2 IS MORAL
x IS ENGAGED
IS UNIQUE
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POLYTHEISM
• Polytheism is the view that there are a
multitude of gods. These gods either
come from nature or were once men
and became gods.
• As such they are contingent and finite.
• The universe is either eternal or made
from eternal matter.
• Many polytheists are moral relativists
and do not believe morality comes from
the gods.
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POLYTHEISM
1/2
EXISTS
x IS INTELLIGENT
IS NECESSARY
x IS PERSONAL
IS POWERFUL
1/2
IS TRANSCENDENT
x IS ENGAGED
IS NON-CONTINGENT
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IS MORAL
IS UNIQUE
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DEISM
• Deism holds that God is not known
through religion but only through
reason and nature.
• God is a necessary, personal, powerful,
transcendent being and the world is His
only revelation about Himself.
• Thus, there are no miracles. He gave us
reason as the way to understand Him.
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DEISM
X
EXISTS
x IS INTELLIGENT
X
IS NECESSARY
x
IS PERSONAL
X
IS POWERFUL
X
IS MORAL
X
IS TRANSCENDENT
X
IS NON-CONTINGENT
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IS ENGAGED
X
IS UNIQUE
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MONOTHEISM
• Monotheism sees God as the person who
created all things and sustains all things, but
is different from those things. God interacts
with creation in various ways and can reveal
Himself to us through morality, nature,
reason, and even direct revelation.
• Monotheism is taught by three of the worlds
religions: Judaism, Islam, and Christianity.
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MONOTHEISM
X
EXISTS
x IS INTELLIGENT
X
IS NECESSARY
x
IS PERSONAL
X
IS POWERFUL
X
IS MORAL
X
IS TRANSCENDENT
X
IS ENGAGED
X
IS NON-CONTINGENT
X
IS UNIQUE
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Notable Quote
• “Anyone who claims that all religions
are the same betrays not only an
ignorance of all religions but also
a caricatured view of
even the best known
ones.”
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CONCLUSION
• MONOTHEISM
– ISLAM
– JUDAISM
– CHRISTIANITY
• WHICH MONOTHEISTIC RELIGION IS
THE TRUE ONE, OR ARE THEY ALL
FALSE?
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