SECTION I: State Your Position: ( 2.5/2.5)
I am a: (Theist)
SECTION II: State Your Belief: ( 2.5/2.5)
I believe that: (God and the afterlife exist )
SECTION III: Clarify Your Belief and Position: (10 /10)
A Supreme Being: (Maximum 200 words)
I am a theist and I believe that God exists. One key reason why is because my mom has raised me to believe that there is a God since I was a baby, I have been to church multitudes of times and also have read the bible many times so naturally I am going to believe that he is real. Yes my mom “raised me in the church” but that’s not the only reason I believe in God though, I believe because after observing and living life on this planet for the past 20 years I have came to my own conclusion God exists. I feel life it self is too far too complex and diverse for there not to be one (The Teleological Argument). Just like how we know a car or a skyscraper was created by people because of the complexity of the creation so is the same logic I use when I defend the existence of God, after taking biology this year it only made my belief in a God stronger by learning how life on earth works, from my point of view It really amazes me how people think that there is no God.
The Afterlife: (Maximum 200 words)
I am a theist and I believe that there is an after life. I am a firm Believer in God so naturally that would make me a firm believer in the after life as well. Proving that the after life is real is a very difficult thing to do but, I believe one of the biggest pieces of evidence that there is a life after this one is of all the testimony of people who have had N.D.E (Near death experiences) around the world and come back to life and share there journey through heaven with everyone. What so remarkable about all this testimony is how similar the details of the testimony are and yet these people who never met each other. I mean come on that is just insane and I bet even the most devout atheist would have a real hard time debunking that. The only other reason I believe that there is an after life is basically because God said there was it’s written in the bible and for me that’s good enough. I’m glad I’m not living life thinking or believing that you will be just worm food when you die that’s just really depressing.
SECTION IV: Clarify Your Belief and Position: ( 10/10)
PART ONE
On the issue of creationism vs. evolution I will humbly stand with the creationism side. Why? Well because that’s what it says in the bible basically. Then God said ” Let us make mankind in our image” (Genesis 1:26). I do agree with basically everything ken ham is saying, when its come to observational science and the timeline of creation, but when it comes on the topic of the age of the earth that is one view I don’t agree with him on. When Mr. Nye asks Professor ham “how could there be billions of stars, more distant then six thousand years when the earth is only six thousand years old” or when he saying how “we have trees with more tree rings then the earth is old” and “that we have ice older then a factor of 100 older then you claim the earth is”. Stuff like that give me a real hard time believing the earth is just six thousand years old. “But don’t not forget this one thing, dear friends: a day is like a thousand years to the lord” (2 peter 3:8). Yes I do believe in creationism but except for the earth being so young.
Creationism vs. Evolution Debate: (Maximum 200 words)
PART TWO
Proof of Heaven: (Maximum 200 words)
Where do I stand on the issue of an afterlife? Well for me there is no issue because I whole-heartedly believe that the after life exists and with that believe there is a heaven and hell. Why do I choose to take this stance? Well one of the main reasons I choose to take this stance is because, I have heard about countless testimony of people Near death experience just like Dr. Eben Alexander story. He said early in the interview that his brain (cortex) was getting wrecked by the bacteria so much so that “his human consciousness” was down and shouldn’t have been aware of anything at all. It was so bad his doctors didn’t think I was possible for him to make a neurological recovery. A little later in the video he begins to talk about his experience in heaven giving details of the “butterfly” he was on and saying the colors where “beyond the rainbow”, and also when he talking about the beautiful girl he met and how her thoughts would go into his “mind”. Those are exactly the details I have heard from the other countless near death experience testimony’s I have examined in my life.
SECTION V: Evaluate Your Belief and Position: ( 9 /10)
PART ONE
Out of the three arguments listed on the existence of God I really feel that the “Teleological Argument” makes the most sense and has the most appeal in my humble opinion. The premise of the “Teleological Argument” is that life itself is composed of very complex and diverse creations like nature or the human body that their must me a “intelligent designer” to create all these things. To me this argument really makes the most sense when discussing the existence of God, because it is based purely on common sense and simple reasoning and that’s something I love very much.
(Pick one of the three above and explain why). (Maximum 100 Words) PART TWO
The one argument from the whole list I choose is again the Argument from design a.k.a “The Teleological Argument” why? Well The premise of the “Teleological Argument” is that life itself is composed of very complex and diverse creations like nature or the human body that their must me a “intelligent designer” to create all these things. To me this argument makes the most sense when discussing the existence of God because it is based purely on common sense and simple reasoning. So yes for me “The Teleological Argument” has the most appeal and falls in line with my views.
(Pick any one argument and explain why). (Maximum 100 Words) PART THREE
No I absolutely do not believe in this view of the afterlife. When Jesus said to one of them men that he was being crucified with “ Today you will be with me in paradise”(Luke 23:43) that for me ends all debate when it comes to reincarnation. I firmly believe that when we die we either go to heaven or hell not to “a place of my own making”. Reincarnation is a cool idea to think about but for me that’s it and only it an idea. Reincarnation is contradictory to the bible so that’s why I don’t believe it.
(Do you agree or disagree with this view of the afterlife? Why? ) (Maximum 100 Words)
SECTION VI: Justify Your Belief and Position with Links to Our Textbook: (10 /10)
Quote 1: (Maximum 200 Words)
The first quote I choose to use was this, “To a believer, God is all-powerful and the ultimate owner of heaven and earth ”(Khaled Abou El Fadl ,172).Does this quote line up with my positions from this paper? Well in my humble opinion yes it does and here why. In this paper I said that I am a theist, I believe in God and a afterlife and I support creationism, and I firmly stand by what I believe because of my life experiences and what I have observed through out my life time. I stand so firmly by my beliefs that when someone says stuff like “there is no God” it really shocks me, because for me the proof of God is everywhere from space to here on earth life is to complex for there not to be a God and I am proud to say that I am a believer. God is the “heart and soul” of the universe he created it and us and whether you want to live life trying to disprove or prove he exists it wont matter, because you cant change that fact that he is the original owner of everything whether directly or indirectly.
Quote 2: (Maximum 200 Words)
The second quote I choose to use is this one, “Have you ever wondered whether God exists? Of course. Most people have. But have you wondered whether Gods existence can be proved? Are there arguments that would convince any reasonable person?”(Whitehead, 590) . In this paper I have made it clear that the argument from design a.k.a the “ Teleological argument” is the argument I firmly believe in when talking about the existence of God. I really do believe that by just observing the creations all around us and using common sense one can prove Gods existence, space is vast and filled with a enormous amount of stars and planets and earth is and was filled with tons of complex and diverse life forms that it only makes sense that there had to be a creator. If the big bang really started life then let me ask you some simple questions. What started the big bang? If there was nothing before life then there should still be nothing right? Common sense leads me to believe that some vastly intelligent force from beyond this life had to get things stared and for me that force is the one and only God.
