...somewhere. The cosmological argument in its simplest form claims the following: the cosmos or universe exists, the existence of the cosmos has a cause, that cause is God. (http://www.richmond-philosophy.net/rjp/rjp20_samuel.php). Anything which begins to exist must have been brought into existence by something distinct from itself. the law of causality if there is not God, how was the universe created. How did something in time become itself. There had to be something before time to start it in motion. Things can not create themselves....
Words: 473 - Pages: 2
...➢ 1) Science of God and relations between God and the universe, and 2) essential being and His relationship to the universe as set forth in the Holy Scriptures. pg. 7 What is catechism? ➢ A scheme of questions and answers. What are five presuppositions for the task of theologizing? ➢ 1) there is a God and He has revealed Himself, 2) there are laws that are self-evident, 3) man has the ability to know things to the degree to which he directly observes them, 4) truth does not contradict itself, but is consistent and corresponds to reality, & 5) the mind accepts that which is logical and rejects that which is illogical. What are the tests used to verify theological truths? Explain. ➢ 1) test of consistency, 2) test of correspondence, 3) test of priority of data (what’s essential or irrelevant?), 4) test of cohesiveness, & 5) test of thoroughness (examine beliefs) pg. 12 What is the aim of Biblical theology? ➢ To arrange and classify the facts of revelation, confining itself to the scriptures for its material, and treating of doctrine only so far as it was developed at the close of the apostolic age. Where does Biblical theology get its material? ➢ Apostolic age What does historical theology study? ➢ The expression of theology in each age with an examination of its expressed aim, emphasis, omissions and forces that change its expression from generation to generation since the closing of the canon. What does dogmatic theology study? ➢ Study of varied beliefs...
Words: 1121 - Pages: 5
...R. Debes Natural Law Theory Defended One may pose the question; what is Natural Law Theory? To answer that question I would like to take a look at our book. Thomas Aquinas says this, “[Now] the first principle in practical matters, which are the object of the practical reason, is the last end: and the last end of human life is happiness or beatitude…. Consequently, law must… concern itself mainly with the order that is in beatitude. Moreover, since every part is ordained to the whole as the imperfect to the perfect, and since one man is a part of the perfect community, law must… concern itself properly with the order directed to universal happiness. Therefore Aristotle mentions both happiness and the body politic, since he says that we call those legal matters just which are adapted to produce and preserve happiness and its parts for the body politic.” (Q90) He goes on to say, “Thus,… Law is nothing else than an ordinance of reason for the common good, promulgated by him who has the care of the community. The natural law is promulgated by the very fact that God instilled it into man’s mind so as to be known by him naturally…. The promulgation that takes place in the present extends to future time by reason of the durability of written characters, by which means it is continually promulgated.” (Q90) Simplified we can take a few things from this excerpt such as that Natural Law is instilled in us by God, and directs towards a final end which is happiness and well being. It...
Words: 1422 - Pages: 6
...people have had questions about God and his existence. He wrote numerous books on atheism between 1960 and 1980 including the famous book, God and Evil. This paper evaluates the credibility of McCloskey’s article “On being an Atheist”. One of the McCloskey’s core arguments against theism is his demand for any proof that ascertains theists’ beliefs on God’s existence. He believed that atheism is more comforting than theism because most Christians do not believe in God because of proof but because of certain reasons and factors, he is looking for more solid evidence in God’s existence. However, there are several reasons why a person should believe in the existence of God. Firstly, theists believe that God is the creator of all things and of nature. Therefore, God is the creator of all things in existence and that affect both the atheists and theists are affected by this. The Bible also states, that Koran and other religious literatures all communicate the existence of a high power with some similar characteristics. These writings have been in existence for several years without any alteration of which both theists and atheists draw their arguments. Therefore, to some point, atheists have to believe that God exists in order to make their decisions on being atheists, which is something I never really took into consideration until after reading this article. To prove his point on being an atheist, McCloskey supports atheism against the cosmological argument. He claims that the existence...
Words: 1660 - Pages: 7
...religious, social and legal importance. The rise of Dalit movements in India has one important point to make: remove everything that is related to Manu. Its consequences we have been watching with concern for the last few years as they have disturbed the very foundation of social, religious and political life of the Hindu orthodoxy. Women's voice of protest has not been so loud, nor their organizations that political clout, though, as we shall see, they have much to complain about for their present state of affairs which has been sustained mainly by the laws of Manu. Manu and Manusmrti If mere mention of the name is the criteria to place a man in his historical context then Manu may be a mythical/historical person. He is mentioned in the Vedas itself and is described as the law-giver (1). The later commentators and law-givers such as Yaska (2), Baudhayana (3), Apastamha (4), Samkara (5), often quote him and his works. There is no doubt about the antiquity of the name, but we do not know the time of the man who was really the author of the work. Manusmrti has been placed between 200BC - 200 AD by the scholars, rather a very long time for a person to exist in his earthly life. However this time in the history of the Indian nation is of permanent importance. It was the time of the rise and decline of Buddhism as religion and political power, decline of Vedic religion and its ascendancy through a newer form, great Indian empires of Ashoka, Mauryan, Gupta; influx of groups from central and...
Words: 7444 - Pages: 30
...UNDERSTANDING CHRISTIAN MORALITY • Fundamental Principle of Morality • The most basic principle of morality is deceptively simple: do good and avoid evil. • Jesus states his version of this adage which is found in the Sermon on the Mount. It is known as the Golden Rule – “Treat others the way you would have them treat you: this sums up the law and the prophets.” (Mt 7:12) • This is message is concerned with action, with positive effort on behalf of others. Contrast this with the teaching of a famous Jewish rabbi of Jesus’ day. When asked to sum up the teaching of the law and the prophets, the rabbi responded: “Avoid doing to others what you do not wish them to do to you.” Whereas the message of Jesus is to get involved as the Father has gotten involved with humanity, the rabbi cautions a more conservative approach. The rabbi wants us merely to keep from harming others. Jesus wants us to act, not just react. • Jesus further puts his own special seal on this maxim by stating the two greatest commandments: love God and love one another. To love someone is to seek to do good to them, and certainly, at the very least, to avoid doing them evil. • What is Christian Moral Life? • Misconceptions 1. Reduced to avoidance of sin 2. Reduced to a series of don’ts and dire punishment if we fail • What is Christian Moral Life? • Positive and Fuller Meaning 1. Moral theology should start with God and God’s love - JP II (Veritatis Splendor) : The moral life is a response...
Words: 1729 - Pages: 7
...the things of a man; but the Spirit of God can alone know and teach the things of God." That is, the human intellect, in its ordinary power and operation, is sufficient to comprehend the various earthly things that concern man's sustenance and welfare in social life; but this intellect cannot fathom the things of God; it cannot find out the mind of the Most High; it knows not his will; it has no just idea of the end for which man was made; of that in which his best interests lie; of its own nature; of the nature of moral good and evil; how to avoid the latter, and how to attain the former, in which true happiness, or the supreme good, consists: and these things it is the province of divine revelation to teach, for they have never been taught or conceived by man.How unspeakably we are indebted to God for giving us a revelation of his WILL and of his WORKS! Is it possible to know the mind of God but from himself? It is impossible. Can those things and services which are worthy of, and pleasing to, an infinitely pure, perfect, and holy Spirit, be ever found out by reasoning and conjecture? Never; for the Spirit of God alone can know the mind of God; and by this Spirit he has revealed himself to man, and in this revelation has taught him, not only to know the glories and perfections of the Creator, but also his own origin, duty, and interest. Thus far it was...
Words: 6266 - Pages: 26
...On November 7, 1855, Dr. David Humphreys Storer gave the Introductory Lecture that commenced the term of Harvard's Massachusetts Medical College where Storer was the Professor of Obstetrics and Medical Jurisprudence. The lecture was titled, "Duties, Trials and Rewards of the Student of Midwifery," but the last portion of the lecture also dealt with the sharp increase in induced abortion and with what David Humphreys Storer argued was a direct result, the increase in women's diseases. David Humphreys Storer's son, Dr. Horatio Robinson Storer, is credited as the founder of the "physicians' crusade against abortion," and Horatio repeatedly credited this lecture of his father as the stimulus for his crusade. The Introductory Lecture was traditionally published as a pamphlet, and this was true for David Humphreys Storer's Lecture, as well. However, at the request of Dr. Henry J. Bigelow, Professor of Surgery at the Medical College, the abortion portion of the lecture was omitted from the pamphlet. Unnecessary abortion was a taboo and controversial topic in 1855, and one reason for suppression was that publication would lead to the condemnation of New England because induced abortion was prevalent. It also was believed that publication would reflect badly on the Medical College and cause fewer students to enroll, reducing the fees students paid directly to their professors. Although the Boston Medical and Surgical Journal was typically controlled by...
Words: 3752 - Pages: 16
...The Categorical Imperative Analyzing Immanuel Kant’s Grounding for A Metaphysics of Morals Anders Bordum WP 4/2002 January 2002 MPP Working Paper No. 4/2002 © January 2002 ISBN: 87-91181-06-2 ISSN: 1396-2817 Department of Management, Politics and Philosophy Copenhagen Business School Blaagaardsgade 23B DK-2200 Copenhagen N Denmark Phone: +45 38 15 36 30 Fax: +45 38 15 36 35 E-mail: as.lpf@cbs.dk www.cbs.dk/departments/mpp 2 The Categorical Imperative Analyzing Immanuel Kant's Grounding for a Metaphysics of Morals By Anders Bordum Keywords: Categorical imperative, discourse ethics, duty, ethics, monologic, dialogic, Immanuel Kant, Jürgen Habermas, self-legislation, self-reference. 3 Abstract In this article I first argue that Immanuel Kant’s conception of the categorical imperative is important to his philosophy. I systematically, though indirectly, interconnect the cognitive and moral aspects of his thinking. Second, I present an interpretation of the Kantian ethics, taking as my point of departure, the concept of the categorical imperative. Finally, I show how the categorical imperative is given a dialogical interpretation by Jürgen Habermas in his approach, usually referred to as discourse ethics. I argue that the dialogical approach taken by discourse ethics is more justifiable and therefore more usefuli. I The Synthesis of Rationalism and Empiricism The philosophy of Immanuel Kant (1724-1804) is in the main inspired...
Words: 10855 - Pages: 44
...possible to describe law as the body of official rules and regulations, generally found in constitutions, legislation, judicial opinions, and the like, that is used to govern a society and to control the behavior of its members. Law therefore is a formal mechanism of social control. Legal Positivism John Austin -"A rule laid down for the guidance of an intelligent being by an intelligent being having power over him. A body of rules fixed and enforced by a sovereign political authority." Professor Hart defined law as a system of rules, a union of primary and secondary rules. Positivism emphasizes the separation of law and morality. Thomas Hobbes can be credited to be the father of legal positivism. According to Hobbes , in the state of nature there is “a war of every man against every man, a state of constant strife in which the life of man was solitary, poor, nasty, brutal and short. Law and the government therefore became necessary to promote order and personal security.” According to legal positivists, law is man-made, or “posited,” by the legislature. Where natural law theorists may say that if a law is not moral there is no obligation to obey it, by appealing to moral or religious principles, but positivists hold that until a duly enacted law is changed, it remains law, and should be obeyed. Legal positivism regards law as a system of clearly defined rules, the law is defined by the social rules or practices that identify certain norms as laws. Jeremy Bentham philosopher...
Words: 6207 - Pages: 25
...morality or the goodness or badness of human acts, one idea, is presupposed: retribution. Retribution means that good acts deserve reward; bad acts deserve punishment. Reward and punishment are presupposed by morality. Who metes out reward or punishment? It must be a Lawgiver or an Arbiter of Morality, One who dispenses retributive justice. Without this being, the whole structure of Ethics will collapse. At this early point, it must be explained that cultures other than the Christian speak of retribution in a different way. In some cases, the Supreme Being is not a personal God in Whom Christians believe, but rather a law or a process. These cultures had been in existence long before the biblical and Christian eras. The people of these ancient cultures arrived at these concepts by way of human reasoning without the aid of divine revelation. The Indians do not accept the existence of a personal God but they nevertheless accept the existence of a supreme being called Brahman which is the totality of reality. Owing to their ancient culture, the Indians, many centuries prior to the birth of Christ, had already conceived of a supreme being that encompasses all, or includes everything, past, present and future in itself. The Indian concept is pantheistic according...
Words: 9309 - Pages: 38
... 2013 Table of Contents THESIS 3 INTRODUCTION 3 THE CATHOLIC CHURCH 3 THE BAPTIST CHURCH 6 THEY DECIDED TO MEET 8 RELIGIOUS PLURALISM 11 CONCLUSION 12 BIBLIOGRAPHY 13 THESIS How did the meeting between the Southern Baptist and Catholics come to pass? What was the driving force that facilitated a meeting of the minds after centuries apart? INTRODUCTION The Catholic Church and Protestants have not had the greatest of relationships. In fact since the reformation, Protestants were not even considered brothers within the realm of the Catholic Church. Within the pages of Vatican II one can find a decree to not refer to them as brothers. However something new has occurred and this is what this paper will aim to delve into. While not attempting to be an exhaustive work regarding the meeting of the minds. It would seem that Baptist and Catholics have started talks across denominational lines. This paper will focus on why this meeting took place and what can other denominations gleam from these talks. CATHOLIC CHURCH “Over the past three decades a true revolution has occurred in the Catholicism in respect to the authority and use of scripture.” According to Donahue the Bible was believed to have held an extremely high position within the Catholic Church, he believes that the period between the...
Words: 3576 - Pages: 15
...DRAFT! Rule in Bensalem: Francis Bacon’s Island “Utopia” in his New Atlantis Evan M. Lowe University of North Texas Abbreviations The following abbreviations for Bacon’s works have been employed for in-text citations in the name of textual cleanliness. Each work refers to the cited publication in the bibliography. In cases where applicable (eg. New Organon, Advancement), I have also indicated the place in the text by markers common to all editions -- book number, chapter, section, aphorism, essay number. The page number in the cited edition follows a comma where such information is helpful. AL The Advancement of Learning DA de Dignitate et Augmentis Scientarum Essays Essays or Counsels Civil and Moral (1625) GI The Great Instauration ;NA New Atlantis NO Novum Organum PFB Philosophy of Francis Bacon Preface Preface to the Great Instauration PW Plan of the Work (in Weinberger 1989) WA Of the Wisdom of the Ancients INTRODUCTION Understanding political judgment in Baconian terms necessitates an investigation of the question of who rules in Bensalem, Bacon’s island “utopia” presented in his New Atlantis. Only by answering this question might one know where to look for one who either possesses or is in a position to exercise such judgment. By locating the individual(s) who exercise political power, one might begin to come to an understanding of the qualities, disposition, and capacity – both moral and intellectual – of one who exercises judgment...
Words: 9233 - Pages: 37
...A BRIEF OUTLINE OF THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE ENGLISH LITERARY (STANDARD) LANGUAGE ( From: I.R.Galperin. Stylistics. Moscow: Higher School, 1977. pp. 41-57) Up till now we have done little more than mention the literary (standard) language, which is one of the most important notions in stylistics and general linguistics. It is now necessary to elucidate this linguistic notion by going a little deeper into what constitutes the concept and to trace the stages in the development of the English standard language. This is necessary in order to avoid occasional confusion of terms differently used in works on the history, literature and style of the English language. Confusion between the terms "literary language" and "language of literature" is frequently to be met. Literary language is a historical category. It exists as a variety of the national language.' "It must be remembered," said A. M. Gorki, "that language is the creation of the people. The division of the language into literary and vernacular only means that there are, as it were, a rough unpolished tongue and one wrought by men-of-letters."1 The literary language is that elaborated form (variety) of the national language which obeys definite morphological, phonetic, syntactical, lexical, phraseological and stylistic norms2 recognized as standard and therefore acceptable in all kinds and types of discourse. It allows modifications but within the frame work of the system of established norms. It casts out some...
Words: 8269 - Pages: 34
...57 68 81 94 105 114 124 The Divine Teacher III The Human Disciple IV The Core of the Teaching V Kurukshetra VI Man and the Battle of Life VII The Creed of the Aryan Fighter VIII Sankhya and Yoga IX Sankhya, Yoga and Vedanta X The Yoga of the Intelligent Will XI Works and Sacrifice XII The Significance of Sacrifice XIII The Lord of the Sacrifice CONTENTS XIV The Principle of Divine Works XV 134 145 158 168 177 188 200 212 224 234 247 The Possibility and Purpose of Avatarhood XVI The Process of Avatarhood XVII The Divine Birth and Divine Works XVIII The Divine Worker XIX Equality XX Equality and Knowledge XXI The Determinism of Nature XXII Beyond the Modes of Nature XXIII Nirvana and Works in the World XXIV The Gist of the Karmayoga SECOND SERIES Part I — The Synthesis of Works, Love and Knowledge I The Two Natures II 263 278 The Synthesis of Devotion and Knowledge CONTENTS III The Supreme Divine IV 289 301 311 322 337 355 366 The Secret of Secrets V The Divine Truth and Way VI Works, Devotion and Knowledge VII The Supreme Word of the Gita VIII God in Power of Becoming...
Words: 230457 - Pages: 922
