Mgs Year 9 Religious Studies Flashcards

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Agnosticism

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The belief that there is insufficient evidence or proof to know that God exists.

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Anthropic Principle

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Anthropic means “relating to human beings or their existence.” Principle means “law.” The AP holds that the fundamental constants of our universe appear to have been fine-tuned for our existence.

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Anthropomorphism

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presenting something non-human in human form (μορφή / morphé is the Greek for form) - it could be God, as in Michaelangelo's painting in the Cistene chapel, or animals (as when a monkey is dressed up in human clothing).

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Atheism

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The belief that there is no God. This is a position that goes beyond agnosticism to assert that there is no God.

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Creation Ex Nihilo

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Creation out of nothing - the belief that an eternal God has made the world by his own command rather than by forming pre-existing materials. All existence is there purely because of God.

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Dualism

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Originating with Plato, cosmic dualism is view that there is heaven above and earth below and that human beings have two elements - body and soul.

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Empiricism

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The view that all truth is dependent on what can be known through sense experience. Knowledge comes through observation and scientific study for the empiricist.

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Immanence

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literally means 'being part of' and so when applied to God, it refers to the way he participates in all aspects of the world and universe.

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Immutability

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The belief that God is changeless. Reasoned from the view that if he is perfect, he cannot change and become greater, it also tends to include the view that God is impassible (cannot suffer), making him sound remote from humans.

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Inconsistent Triad

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J.L.Mackie's argument against God's existence, based on his view that the theist's logic is inconsistent in asserting that God is all loving, all powerful, and that evil (moral and natural), exists.

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Monotheism

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The belief in one God and rejection of polytheism, the belief that there is more than one God.

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Inductive Argument

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An argument whose premises (reasons), even if valid, do not guarantee the truth of the conclusion. In other words, a probabilistic argument rather than a logical proof.

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Ockham's Razor

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The principle of reasoning which gets rid of unnecessary explanations and goes with the simplest hypothesis or explanation just like a razor shaves off extra hair.

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Moral Evil

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Wrongs in the form of suffering and injustice for which human beings are responsible, e.g. crime and war, prejudice and arbitrary discrimination.

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Natural Evil

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Suffering which results primarily from non-human causes such as earthquakes, tsunamis, disease, genetic conditions, or famine.

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Omnibenevolence

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The belief that God is all good, just, and loving.

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Omnipresence

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The belief, as related to God, that he is everywhere; as Psalm 139 reads, 'Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence?'

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Ontology

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óntōs (ὄντως in Greek), means being or existence. Ontology is the study of existence - as related to the ontological argument, how theists can evidence their belief that God exists from the examination of the concept of his being.

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Omniscience

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All knowing

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Predicate

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As a grammatical term, this refers to the description of a concept. In a sentence: 'her dress is red', 'is red' is the predicate, adding to the idea of the dress. To say 'God is omnisicient' is to add an idea to the concept of God. In saying 'God exists', Kant thought that Anselm was adding nothing was added to the idea of God.

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Teleology

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A telos (from the Greek τέλος for "end", "purpose", or "goal") is an end or purpose. The term "teleology" refers to the study of purposiveness, or of objects with a view to their aims, purposes, or intentions.

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Process Theology

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Developed from the mathematical and philosophical ideas of A.N.Whitehead's book 'Process and Reality (1929), Process theologians argue that God is not independent from the natural processes like physics and evolution, but works with them to maximise their potential in a co-operative rather than coercive way. God is not omnipotent, but rather, he exists in time and suffers with his creatures.

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Theodicy

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Irenaeus and Augustine offered theodicies which are defenses of God's goodness and omnipotence in view of the existence of evil.Dikaioó (in Greek δικαιόω) means to justify, so the word is to justify God θεός / Theos in Greek.

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Transcendence

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Above and beyond our everyday experience of the world. Religious language uses metaphor and symbolism to stretch language drawn from everyday experience to speak of God. Here, some medieval theologians emphasised the 'Negative Way' or Apophatic theology, where silent meditation or even saying what God was not, was the best way of reminding theists that God was so infinitely distinct from humans as to be mysteriously beyond their comprehension.

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Quantum Physics

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Quantum theory is the theoretical basis of modern physics that explains the nature and behavior of matter and energy on the atomic and subatomic level.