Philosophy Stack Exchange
Philosophy Stack Exchange

Questions tagged [theology]

Theology is the field of study and analysis that treats of God and of God's attributes and relations to the universe; the study of divine things or religious truth; divinity.

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What would it take in a book to convince a rational person that it had been written by or directly inspired by a god?

Many of the world's religions are based on a book or text that adherents claim to have been written by or directly inspired by a god, perhaps omniscient, omnipotent and omnibenevolent. My question is whether there is anything, in principle, that…
JDH
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Is the "omniscient-omnipotent-omnipresent" definition of God consistent?

God is commonly defined as an omniscient (infinite knowledge), omnipotent (unlimited power), omnipresent (present everywhere) entity. Is there any logical inconsistency in this definition? I have seen several paradoxes like below Does God know what…
AIB
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Does Pascal's Wager contain any logical flaws or fallacies?

Blaise Pascal's famous wager was that even if the existence of God cannot be determined through reason, a rational person should wager as though God exists, because living life accordingly has everything to gain, and nothing to lose. What logical…
John Lyon
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How can one not believe in god as the root cause of the universe?

How can you lack belief in the existence of god? I define god here as prime cause. As the world is a sum of collections of events, causally linked to the past through time, then there must be a prime cause. As of now the Big Bang singularity has…
Nik Faris
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Does a negative claimant have a burden of proof?

I have often heard it said that the burden of proof is on the positive claimant but not on the one making a negative claim. A person claiming, "God exists" has a burden of proof but not a person claiming, "God does not exist." If I assert,…
user409
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What should a rational person accept as a miracle?

I was reading through this collection of short essays from theologians, scientists and thinkers each responding to the question "Does the Universe have a purpose?" which was suggested to me in a response to my question here on the purpose of the…
Saeed Neamati
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Asserting that Atheism and Theism are both faith based positions

I am recently testing an assertion that I have concluded namely that atheism is a faith based position just like theism is a faith based position. The reason I arrived at this conclusion is that theists have no proof that God actually exists. It's…
user37713
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What is the purpose of the universe?

There are two extremes known as creationism vs evolutionism. Let's consider creationism for a moment, and imagine that God exists, and he/she has created us. The question that obsesses my mind after that is simply, why? What was the purpose of God…
Saeed Neamati
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Does humanism's rejection of God necesitate relativism?

I had the following discussion on Programmers.SE: @Peter Turner, Which is a good example of how religion warps morality, leading people to imagine their concerns are moral when they are profoundly immoral. – TRiG @TRiG, Which is a good example of…
Peter Turner
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Where is the weakness in the ontological proof for God's existence?

I read the ontological proof for God's existence. As much as I understood, it says that if you consider that existence is part of essence, then the most complete essence should also exist. Now, I see that as a perfect, flawless argument, on the…
Saeed Neamati
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Why does Dawkins think it is wrong to posit that a paragon of 100% morals could theoretically exist?

Let’s move on down Aquinas’s list. 4. The Argument from Degree We notice that things in the world differ. There are degrees of, say, goodness or perfection. But we judge these degrees only by comparison with a maximum. Humans can be both…
user8572
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Evil thoughts without actions?

Can a thought without a corresponding action be morally wrong? More fully, under which approaches to morality do thoughts, in and of themselves, carry moral significance? In particular I'm looking for approaches that yield affirmative answers to the…
Dave
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If the universe has a beginning does that prove God exists?

It is curious to note that a eminent Physicist like Stephen Hawking thinks the universe has a beginning. This has some rather startling Religious implications You can find the link here: http://www.hawking.org.uk/the-beginning-of-time.html Now let…
Neil Meyer
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Is there any rigorous philosophical basis for atheism?

Definition/Update In what follows I use the term God to refer to an entity that has at least one of the following properties: Has created the universe Is omnipotent Is omniscient Approaches to Atheism A great many philosophers and scientists have…
Pantelis Sopasakis
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Does the idea of being created imply the necessity for obedience to a creator?

If a scientist created intelligent life (biological, AI software, etc.), would that scientist have the right to dictate to that life a moral framework? Does the act of creation give implicit rights of ownership? Extending this to religion, do we…
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