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Explain this statement: “Relativism is self-refuting.”

Quiz: Get a ¼ sized paper

Class Standing(3 to 5 quizzes) 15%◦ 20 points per quiz (minimum of 10 pts)◦ Total 100

Two Reflection Papers5%

Group Project 10% Two Long Exams (Written/ Orals)

40% Final Oral/ Written Exam 30%

__________

TOTAL= 100%

Grades

Relativism is self-refuting

Truth Truth

Objective Truth

Choice Choice

Objective Truth

There is no truth!

Truth is a social construct (man made)

Doubt??

The Paradoxes of Faith (An

Introduction)Faith as a Response to a God who reveals

Himself in Love

Review

Reasons to believe

REASONFAITH

“Swimming Analogy”

SCIENTIFIC METHOD?

LOVE AND TRUST

What “authorities” do we rely on?• Jesus and

His Disciples• The Church• The Bible

Scientific Method and Love

REASONFAITH AND LOVE

“Swimming Analogy”You Learn by Doing it!!

Faith is a response to a God who reveals Himself in Love!!

The Paradoxes of Faith (An Introduction)◦ An Introduction to the Paradoxes of Faith

Certain and Obscure◦ Faith as both Certain and obscure

Certain enough to die for And yet a mystery

◦ Can you prove that God exists? : What does the bible say?

Genesis 1: 1-26 Romans 1:18-25

Five Arguments to the Existence of God

Overview

Certain yet ObscureReasonable, yet Beyond Natural Reason

Free yet Morally ObligingParticular Act yet Life Long ProcessGift, yet Our DoingPersonal and yet Ecclesial

An Introduction to the Paradoxes of Faith

Paradoxes of Faith

Paradoxes

The convergence of opposites”(logic) a statement that contradicts

itself• Ex. “Love-Hate” Relationship

What is a paradox?

Free, Yet Morally Obliging

Certain, Yet ObscureReasonable, yet beyond Reason

An Act, yet a Life Long Process

Personal, yet Ecclesial

A Gift, but Our Doing

Free, Yet Morally ObligingCertain, Yet Obscure

Reasonable, yet beyond Reason

An Act, yet a Life Long Process

Personal, yet Ecclesial

A Gift, but Our Doing

Certain and Obscure

Faith as both Certain and Obscure

Certain enough to die for…◦ Rev 12:11 And they have

conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, for they loved not their lives even unto death.

Yet a “mystery” because like love, there is always more to understand about our faith

Reasonable, yet beyond natural

reason

Reasonable, yet beyond natural reason

Faith does not conflict with reason.Human beings have the capacity to have faith because they have the ability to reason.

Reasonable, yet beyond natural reason

Yet, natural reason is not enough. We need God to enlighten us!Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, "I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life." (Joh 8:12)

A free personal response to God, yet morally binding

in conscience

Definition of Freedom The condition of being free; the power to

act or speak or think without externally imposed restraints

Definition of Conscience

This can mean our basic tendency toward the good, the "voice always summoning us to love the good and avoid evil." CFC 701

...conscience acts as "the proximate norm of personal morality" (Veritatis Splendor 60) for discerning good and evil (cf. CCC 1796). CFC 701

A free personal response to God, yet morally binding in conscience

Example: Mother and Father Story

“You are meant to love freely and yet you are obliged to express that love.”

Mt. 11: 25-27

A gift of God through both Revelation and interior inspiration, yet something we do---nobody can “ believe” for us

Mt. 11:25-27--At that time Jesus said in reply, 14 "I give praise to you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, for although you have hidden these things from the wise and the learned you have revealed them to the childlike.

26 Yes, Father, such has been your gracious will. 27 All things have been handed over to me by my Father. No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son wishes to reveal him.

28 15 "Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, 16 and I will give you rest. 29 17 Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am meek and humble of heart; and you will find rest for your selves. 30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden light."

Faith is an individual act that would entail perseverance, i.e. a life long process.

An individual act of our graced reason, yet also a life-long process

1Jn 1:1-4 That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we looked upon and have touched with our hands, concerning the word of life (2) the life was made manifest, and we have seen it, and testify to it and proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and was made manifest to us(3) that which we have seen and heard we proclaim also to you, so that you too may have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ. (4) And we are writing these things so that our joy may be complete.

A personal individual response, yet only possible as a member of a the Christian community, the Church.

1Jn 1:1-4 That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we looked upon and have touched with our hands, concerning the word of life (2) the life was made manifest, and we have seen it, and testify to it and proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and was made manifest to us(3) that which we have seen and heard we proclaim also to you, so that you too may have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ. (4) And we are writing these things so that our joy may be complete.

A personal individual response, yet only possible as a member of a the Christian community, the Church.

1Jn 1:1-4 That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we looked upon and have touched with our hands, concerning the word of life (2) the life was made manifest, and we have seen it, and testify to it and proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and was made manifest to us(3) that which we have seen and heard we proclaim also to you, so that you too may have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ. (4) And we are writing these things so that our joy may be complete.

A personal individual response, yet only possible as a member of a the Christian community, the Church.

Can you prove God exists?

◦First, there is the question of whether something exists or not.

◦Second, there is the question of whether we know it exists.

◦Third, there is the question of whether we have a reason for our knowledge.

◦Fourth, there is the question of whether this reason, if it exists, amounts to a proof.

◦Fifth, if there is a proof, is it a scientific proof, a proof by the scientific method, i.e., by experiment, observation, and measurement?

Can you prove God exists?: Five key questions

To Know TO EXIST

Yes!

Yes!ReasonProofs

Scientific/ Philosophical

Fourth, there is the question of whether this reason, if it exists, amounts to a proof.

Most reasons do not. Most of the reasons we give for what we believe amount to probabilities, not proofs.

Can you prove God exists?: Five key questions

Fourth, there is the question of whether this reason, if it exists, amounts to a proof.

Building not collapsing??

Proof?? Probabilities

Fifth, if there is a proof, is it a scientific proof, a proof by the scientific method, i.e., by experiment, observation, and measurement?

Philosophical proofs can be good proofs, but they do not have to be scientific proofs.

Can you prove God exists?: Five key questions

Fifth, if there is a proof, is it a scientific proof, a proof by the scientific method, i.e., by experiment, observation, and measurement?

Love

Know

Can you prove God exists? What does the bible say?

Gen. 1: 1-26

Rom. 1: 18-25

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form and void, and darkness was upon the face of the deep; and the Spirit of God was moving over the face of the waters. (Gen 1:1-2)

For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. Ever since the creation of the world his invisible nature, namely, his eternal power and deity, has been clearly perceived in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse; (Rom 1:19-20)

The Argument from design The Argument from Motion The Argument from Existence The Argument from death The Argument from goodness

Five clues to the existence of God

The Argument from Design

The Argument from Design “ Brain Test”

…could the design that obviously now exists in man and in the human brain come from something with less or no design? Such an explanation violates the principle of causality, which states that you can't get more in the effect than you had in the cause. If there is intelligence in the effect (man), there must be intelligence in the cause.. Peter Kreeft , Argument of Design

Causality…

And only where God is seen does life truly begin. Only when we meet the living God in Christ do we know what life is. We are not some casual and meaningless product of evolution. Each of us is the result of a thought of God. Each of us is willed, each of us is loved, each of us is necessary. There is nothing more beautiful than to be surprised by the Gospel, by the encounter with Christ. There is nothing more beautiful than to know Him and to speak to others of our friendship with Him.

Benedict xvI--on the Evolution

Not an Accidernt

Willed

Loved

Necessary

The Argument from Motion

Chris: Who started the Big Bang? Sal: That’s not a scientific question Chris: Exactly. And therefore science has

no answer to it. But religion does. It is not a scientific question not because it is not about the real world—it is– but because science can’t answer a question about God, Who’s outside the universe, just by looking at the inside of the universe

Science Can not answer the question of God

Science

Religion

Debate Statement: God exists because the universe exists.

Discussion/Debate