Reference no: EM132923075
Worldview Questions
1. How do I know what is true? Can I trust my senses? Can I trust my mind? Does God reveal truth that can bypass my human reasoning? How do I know that I really know what I think I know?
2. Is knowing (thinking) the same thing as believing something? What is the difference, if any? What is the idea of a hermeneutic and do you have one? Is it true that what you believe depends on where you start your position of what you believe (called an argument or a syllogism)? Give an example.
3. Does God exist, and, if so, what is God's nature?
4. Can you, or do you, use logic at all in thinking about God's nature or existence? Do you support or oppose the use of logic in connection with faith? Why or why not?
Chapter 4 Questions
1. What are the three "tests" for truth? Which do you find the most persuasive? Why?
2. What do you think the proper relationship is between the Bible, the Spirit, and the church as sources of truth for a Christian? Why?
3. Do you agree with the claim that a great deal of what we call "the Bible" basically amounts to traditions we have inherited about how to interpret and connect together diverse biblical statements and apply them to today? Why or why not?
4. Do you agree that reasoning is always involved in our appropriation of the Bible? That our experiences significantly affect the way we read it?
5. Articulate your personal opinions: In arriving at truth, what are the respective roles of reason and experience? To what extent do our minds organize our experiences beyond the experiences themselves? For example, how might personality or life story impact our interpretation of our experiences?
Chapter 5 Questions
1. What are the five different arguments for the existence of God presented in this chapter? Try to explain them as if to another person. Which do you find the most convincing? Which do you find the least convincing?
2. How important do you think it is to be able to argue for God's existence? Should we be able to prove it? Does it need to be reasonable? Would you expect it to be a matter of blind faith?
3. How important is religious experience to you? Do you believe that miracles can take place today? Give a brief explanation. How would you recognize a miracle; what constitutes a miracle? What do you think of the historical evidence for Jesus's resurrection from the dead?
4. Why do you think people believe in God's existence, or why should they believe in God's existence? What is the best reason?
Chapter 6 Questions
1. How would you define evil? Would you consider pain or suffering to be evil or only the will or actions of beings? What do you think it means to say that God is love?
2. Which solution to the problem of evil do you find most convincing? Which ones do you find least convincing?
3. How far do you think God's directive will extends into the things that happen in the world? Do you think God directly causes everything that happens in the world? Do you think God leaves some things to chance, to human choice, or to the consequences of natural laws?
4. What do you think about the idea that pain and suffering in nature have resulted from the sin of Adam? Do you have any suggestions for how theistic evolutionists might account for "natural evil"?