W5: Philosophy of Religion
Course Objective(s):
• CO4: Evaluate arguments for and against the existence of God.
• CO6: Evaluate various approaches to the problem of free will.
Please pick one of the following questions to answer for the forum this week:
• With reference to Pike’s article, how could it be said that Divine Omniscience challenges the idea that humans have free will?
• With reference to Anselm’s Ontological Argument for the existence of God, evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of his argument as well as his response to Gaunilo.
• Evaluate Aquinas’ argument(s) for God’s existence from efficient causality and/or from motion and evaluate its strengths and weaknesses.
Discussion Guidelines:
• Three posts minimum.
• The initial forum response is due by Thursday at 11:55 p.m. EST and should be a substantive response to the discussion prompt.
• For peer replies, respond to at least two of your classmates by Sunday at 11:55 p.m. EST and give meaningful replies that advance the discussion.
Before you post, please thoroughly edit your writing to ensure it is professional and academic. For more details about the initial post and peer replies are graded, see the linked grading rubric.
Bibliography
“Monotheism.” http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/monotheism/(this link opens in a new window/tab)
“Abraham.” https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/biography/abraham.html(this link opens in a new window/tab)
“Atheism and Skepticism with Greek Philosophers.” http://atheism.about.com/od/atheismhistory/a/AncientGreeceSkepticism.htm(this link opens in a new window/tab)
“History of Agnosticism.” http://atheism.about.com/od/History-Agnosticism/(this link opens in a new window/tab)
“Anselm: Ontological Argument for God’s Existence.” http://www.iep.utm.edu/ont-arg/#SH2b(this link opens in a new window/tab)
“Thomas Aquinas, ‘The Five Ways.’” http://philosophy.lander.edu/intro/aquinas.shtml(this link opens in a new window/tab)
“William Paley.” http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/history/paley.html(this link opens in a new window/tab)
“Skeptical Theism.” http://www.iep.utm.edu/skept-th/(this link opens in a new window/tab)
Image Citations
“Cima da Conegliano, God the Father.jpg” By Attributed to Cima da Conegliano – The Courtauld Institute of Art, Somerset House, Strand, London, WC2R 0RN, UK [1], Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=10662424
“Anselm-CanterburyVit.jpg” By Unknown, English – http://www.arspublik.com/public-domain-images-saint-anselm/, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=9490484
“Saint Joseph’s Catholic Church (Central City, Kentucky) – stained glass, St. Thomas Aquinas, detail.jpg” By Nheyob – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=34473352
“Innards of an AI-139a mechanical watch.jpg” By Michel Villeneuve – Mécanisme / Mechanism /AI-139a, CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=6909157
“Charles Darwin seated crop.jpg” By Charles_Darwin_seated.jpg: Henry Maull (1829–1914) and John Fox (1832–1907) (Maull & Fox) [2]derivative work: Beao – Charles_Darwin_seated.jpg, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=11264065
“PEDERNALES 23 MAV (25904775974).jpg” By Agencia de Noticias ANDES – PEDERNALES 23 MAV, CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=48265147
