COSMOLOGICAL
Whatever begins to exist has a _______.
What is a cause?
This 11th-century monk created the ontological argument.
Who is Anselm (of Canterbury)?
The word "teleological" comes from the Greek word "telos," which means this.
What is purpose or design?
According to the moral argument, if objective moral values exist, then _______ exists.
What is God?
Recite 1 Peter 3:15 from memory.
"But in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect."
According to the Kalam Cosmological Argument, the universe began this many years ago.
What is 13.8 billion years ago?
The ontological argument is unique because it requires no evidence from the physical world. Instead, it uses only this.
What is intellectual reasoning/logic/thought?
A watch implies a watchmaker. DNA implies a _______.
What is designer/Creator/God?
This form of moral relativism says that morality is determined by whatever each culture approves or disapproves.
What is cultural relativism?
These are all four approaches to apologetics.
What are classical, evidential, presuppositional, and experiential?
Three attributes that the cause of the universe must have according to the cosmological argument.
What are: timeless, spaceless, immaterial, powerful, and personal?
According to Anselm, God is "that than which nothing _______ can be conceived."
What is greater?
In the information-theoretic design argument, this type of complexity—found in DNA and computer code—always comes from an intelligent source.
What is complex specified information (or specified complexity)?
The three historical moral reformers mentioned in class who opposed the dominant moral values of their culture.
Who are Martin Luther King Jr., William Wilberforce, and the early Christians?
In the cosmological argument, the First Cause must be this, since time itself began with the universe.
What is timeless (or eternal)?
This scientific law states that the entropy of the entire universe will always increase over time, suggesting the universe cannot be eternal.
What is the Second Law of Thermodynamics?
CHALLENGE: Explain in your own words why, according to Anselm, God must exist in reality and not just in the mind.
Something that exists in reality is greater than something that exists only in the mind. Since God is the greatest conceivable being, God must exist in reality.
According to William Paley's famous analogy, just as finding this object in a field would indicate a maker, so too does biological complexity point to a designer.
What is a watch?
C.S. Lewis argued that the moral law acts like this official in a sports game, deciding which of our competing instincts we ought to follow.
What is a referee (or umpire)?
A scientifically-minded friend says "I don't believe in God because there's no evidence." You would likely start with one of these two arguments because they use scientific discoveries.
What are the cosmological argument and the teleological (design) argument?
CHALLENGE: Someone says to you, "Okay, but who made God? Your argument defeats itself!"
You have 30 seconds to respond to this objection.
The argument states whatever BEGINS to exist has a cause. God is eternal and didn't begin to exist, therefore doesn't need a cause. Only things that come into being require causes.
You're brave for choosing this...
500 bonus points!
CHALLENGE: Explain the difference between random complexity and specified complexity. Give an example of each.
Random complexity = complex but meaningless (example: KJHGFDQWERTY)
Specified complexity = complex AND meaningful (example: DNA, language, computer code)
Key point: Specified complexity always comes from intelligence
CHALLENGE: According to C.S. Lewis, the moral law is like a referee between our instincts. Give the example he used with someone drowning in a river—what are the two instincts, and what does the moral law do?
Instinct 1: Help the person (herd instinct)
Instinct 2: Stay safe (self-preservation)
Moral law: Tells you which instinct you SHOULD follow (you ought to help despite fear)
"But in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect." This is the reference.
What is 1 Peter 3:15?