belief in god

Science

 catholic views:

• genesis creation accounts in not in conflict with evolution- order of creation is the same.
• big bang theory shows that the universe does havea designer- created out of nothing exnhilo.
• precise state of the big bang appears to have been organised by an intelligent god.

other people's views:

• science can explain where the world came from and where humans cam from without reference to god.
• if god exists, he must have made the world and be the only explanation of the world. scientific explanation of the worl and humans without refering back to god proves that he does not exist.

catholic views, Disagreement and memorable points

• taught that god made us and granted us free will because he wanted people to choose their own paths and so he could not only create the good but also the bad.
• they believe that they should follow the example of jesus and proceed with the intercessionary prayer to fight against evil and suffering, allowing them to ask god to help those who are suffering from war and poverty.
• god must have a reason for allowing evil and suffering, but humans can not know what it is because they are not god. 

• as there is evil and suffering in the world, either god is not omnipotent or omnibenelovent, or he does not exist.
• if god was omnibenelovent, he must want to remove evil and sufering from the world because they cause a lot of pain, and also costs so many innocent  lives.
• it follows that if god exists, there would be no need for crimes, laws, police and justice, because if he is omniscient, omnipotent and omni benelovent, he would have created utopia where evil and suffering cease to exist, and people did not live in fear, thinking about getting shot, stabbed or ****, as moral evil would not exist.

• if they have a numinous exerience, it is likely they will believe that presence is God and will always believe in him.

• conversion experiences will lead people to believe in god because when jesus told st paul to belive in GOD and convert to christianity, according to  Acts 9:1-19, the experience was so great, paul had decided to become a christian.

• miracles can lead to belief in god because it means that god has acted on earth and that people witnessing it have a great, and direct contact with god.

• the desire to pray is a religious experience because during prayer, a person may experience a sense of joy, peace and the closeness of god.

• a childs parent will have told them about God as part of their covenant to God, to raise them up as a catholic and young children believe what their parents tell them.

• going to church and seeing so many people paying to god and worshipping God is likely to make them think that god might exist.

• being confirmed support their belief, as they learn more about god in the confirmation lessons, and possibly have a religious experience when the bishop lays his hands on them.

• going to children's liturgy would support children's belief in God because children would learn why catholics believe in God and what they believe about him.

catholic views

• the appearence of design in the world must prove that God exists. this argument shows how the appearence of design can lead agnostics to believe that he exists.
• the only possible designer of something as beautiful and complex as this world would be god, as he his oniscient, onipotent and omnibenelovent.
• there is plenty of evidene that the world has been designed, for example, DNA, the laws of science, evolution, the beauty of nature, and also our fingerprint. our finger print are all different from each other which gives each and every one of us a different idenity and talent, and only god is capable of creating such things.

people may disagree...

•    The argument only proves that the world has a designer, not god. It could be many gods or an evil creator, a god who used this universe as a trial-and-run so that he could create a better one.
• it does not refer to the existence of dinosaurs , which may have been a part of design, but no one thinks there could have been part of a design for the world.
• The argument ignores the evidence of the world's flaws such as volcanos, earthquakes hurricanes and diseases. If god was the designer of this world, why would he include these flaws?

• jesus said that his followers must have faith to have their prayers answered. modern catholics have faith that god will answer all prayers in a way designed for longterm good of the person praying or the people prayed for, even though god's way might be a different way from an expected one.
• human parents do not always give their childrens what the want, but they do give them what they need. in the same way, we catholics believe that god may be answering our prayers by giving us what we need rather than what we ask for.
• if what you pray is personal, for instance, your grangfather is dying from cancer,  your prayer might not be answered the way you expect because god has different plans and may be wanting your grandad to enter heaven.
• other people may say that they pray at home and in church, but never feels a numinous experience or getting the answers they've wanted which might make them feel like they're being punished and there is no God listening to them.
• if prayers are continuously being unanswered, especially if they believe they are praying for the good causes, then this proves that God does not exist. this may lead to atheism.
• if a chid dies from rare disease, it may cause parents to reject gods existence. refer to jairus's daughter.