Deck 6: The Problem of Evil and the Existence of God

Question 1

What is the traditional cosmological argument for the existence of God? Is it sound? Why or why not?

Answer 1

Not Answer.

Question 2

What is the Kalam cosmological argument for the existence of God? Is it sound? Why or why not?

Answer 2

Not Answer.

Question 3

What is the traditional design argument for the existence of God? Is it sound? Why or why not?

Answer 3

Not Answer.

Question 4

What is the best explanation design argument for the existence of God? Is it sound? Why or why not?

Question 5

What is the argument from religious experience for the existence of God? Is it sound? Why or why not?

Question 6

What is the argument from miracles for the existence of God? Is it sound? Why or why not?

Question 7

What is Anselm's ontological argument for the existence of God? Is it sound? Why or why not?

Question 8

What is Pascal's wager? Does it provide a good reason for believing in God? Why or why not?

Question 9

Must our lives be part of a divine plan in order to be meaningful? Why or why not?

Question 10

What is the knowledge defense of evil? Is it successful? Why or why not?

Question 11

What is the free will defense of evil. Is it successful? Why or why not?

Question 12

What is the ideal humanity defense of evil? Is it successful? Why or why not?

Question 13

What is the finite God defense of evil? Is it successful? Why or why not?

Question 14

Can the doctrine of Karma and reincarnation solve the problem of evil? Why or why not?

Question 15

Omnipotent means

A) all-powerful.
B) all-seeing.
C) all-knowing.
D) all-good.
E) unchanging.
F) eternal.

Question 16

Which of the following best describes the concept of God at work in the traditional cosmological argument?

A) the perfect being
B) the first-cause
C) designer of the universe
D) personal and all-seeing

Question 17

If the traditional cosmological argument is sound, then it proves that God is

A) omnibenevolent.
B) none of these.
C) omnipotent.
D) omniscient.
E) all of these.

Question 18

The Kalam cosmological argument originated from

A) the ancient Greeks.
B) Islamic theolgians.
C) Jesus.
D) the Apostles.
E) the theory of evolution.

Question 19

According to the Kalam cosmological argument, there is a cause for

A) everything.
B) things that begin to existence.
C) nothing.
D) the purpose of nature.
E) God's existence.

Question 20

If the Kalam cosmological argument is sound, then it proves that God is

A) none of these.
B) omnibenevolent.
C) omniscient.
D) omnipotent.
E) all of these.

Question 21

In Greek, "telos" means

A) end.
B) communication.
C) supreme.
D) sound.
E) patterns.

Question 22

Which of the following best describes the concept of God at work in the teleological argument?

A) the perfect being
B) the first-cause
C) designer of the universe
D) personal and all-seeing

Question 23

The teleological argument, as presented in Paley's thought experiment, is based on an analogy between the universe and a

A) grapefruit.
B) watch.
C) country meadow.
D) telephone.
E) monkey.

Question 24

If the teleological argument is cogent, then it proves that God is

A) the first-cause.
B) omniscient.
C) omnipotent.
D) omnibenevolent.
E) none of these.
F) all of these.

Question 25

According to John Stuart Mill, any evidence for design is evidence against the view that God is

A) omnipotent.
B) unhappy.
C) human-like.
D) a machine.
E) all-seeing.

Question 26

Inclusive fitness is the ability to live

A) in all environments.
B) long enough to reproduce.
C) inside of another creature's body.
D) in another creature's habitat.

Question 27

By which IBE criteria of adequacy do evolutionary theories rank better than creationist theories?

A) conservativism
B) simplicity
C) scope
D) fruitfulness
E) all of these

Question 28

If the argument from miracles is correct, then it establishes that God is

A) omnipotent.
B) omniscient.
C) omnibenevolent.
D) none of these.
E) all of these.

Question 29

Hume discounts ancient reports of miracles like those found in the Bible because they come from

A) sources of dubious credibility.
B) trained observers.
C) very educated people.
D) demons.

Question 30

The scientific competitor to the God hypothesis that explains religious experiences is the

A) hallucination hypothesis.
B) alien hypothesis.
C) supernatural hypothesis.
D) mystic hypothesis.

Question 31

Gaunilo's Lost Island thought experiment shows that if Anselm's line of reasoning is correct, then

A) you could prove that the greatest anything exists.
B) God is evil.
C) heaven is like an island we can never find.
D) lost souls stay behind on earth.

Question 32

Edward's Gangle thought experiment shows that

A) existence is not a defining property.
B) God is infinite in nature.
C) philosophy can one day discover God's TRUE essence.
D) God must have a physical body.
E) evolution cannot explain the existence of certain creatures.

Question 33

Pascal believes that belief in God can be justified on

A) rational grounds.
B) pragmatic grounds.
C) no grounds.

Question 34

Which of the following best describes the concept of God at work in Descartes' ontological argument?

A) the perfect being
B) creator of time
C) human-like
D) miracle worker

Question 35

A theodicy is an attempt to

A) find commonalities among the world's religions.
B) justify belief in God given the existence of evil.
C) identify the first religion humans practiced.
D) translate all holy scriptures into a single language.
E) find common elements among all mythologies.

Question 36

Some advocates of the free will defense try to justify natural evil by blaming it on

A) Satan.
B) poor design.
C) St. Peter's betrayal.
D) botched scientific experiments.
E) God's inability to see the future.

Question 37

Earthquakes, floods, and disease are examples of ____ evil.

A) necessary
B) primary
C) secondary
D) natural
E) moral

Question 38

Murder, rape, and stealing are examples of ____ evil.

A) necessary
B) primary
C) secondary
D) natural
E) moral

Question 39

Omnibenevolent means

A) all-powerful.
B) all-seeing.
C) all-knowing.
D) all-good.
E) unchanging.
F) eternal.

Question 40

Attempts to derive the existence of God from the existence of the universe.

A) Astrological Arguments
B) Ontological Arguments
C) Cosmological Arguments
D) Teleological Arguments

Question 41

Attempts to derive the existence of God from the design or purpose of things.

A) Astrological Arguments
B) Ontological Arguments
C) Cosmological Arguments
D) Teleological Arguments

Question 42

Attempts to derive the existence of God from the nature of God.

A) Astrological Arguments
B) Ontological Arguments
C) Cosmological Arguments
D) Teleological Arguments

Question 43

The ancient Greeks, who believed in 12 gods, were

A) agnostics.
B) polytheists.
C) monotheists.
D) atheists.
E) pantheists.
F) deists.

Question 44

Jews, Christians, and Muslims are

A) agnostics.
B) polytheists.
C) monotheists.
D) atheists.
E) pantheists.
F) deists.

Question 45

Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, and George Washington were

A) agnostics.
B) polytheists.
C) monotheists.
D) atheists.
E) pantheists.
F) deists.

Question 46

People who neither believe nor disbelieve in the existence of God are

A) agnostics.
B) polytheists.
C) monotheists.
D) atheists.
E) pantheists.
F) deists.

Question 47

People who believe that the universe is God are

A) agnostics.
B) polytheists.
C) monotheists.
D) atheists.
E) pantheists.
F) deists.

Question 48

How are ontological arguments for the existence of God different from cosmological arguments?

A) ontological arguments are based on analogy whereas cosmological arguments are based on observation.
B) ontological arguments are based on facts whereas cosmological arguments are based on opinion.
C) ontological arguments are based on reason whereas cosmological arguments are based on observation.
D) There are no significant differences between the two.

Question 49

Gaunilo's "Perfect Island" is supposed to be:

A) a counter-example to the Design Argument.
B) a counter-example to the Cosmological Argument.
C) a counter-example to the Ontological Argument.
D) the latest location for Survivor.

Question 50

What three properties does the argument from Evil assume that God possesses?

A) omnipresence, omnipotence, and omnibenevolence.
B) omnipresence, omnibenevolence, and omniscience
C) omnipotence, omnibenevolence, and omniscience
D) omnipotence, omnipresence, and omniscience

Question 51

Which is NOT a theological defense of evil?

A) God is not all-powerful.
B) Evil is the result of free will.
C) Evil is the result of the devil.
D) Evil is the result of random chance.

Question 52

According to St. Augustine, all of mankind should suffer for Adam's sin because

A) we all share some of Adam's DNA.
B) the sins of the fathers should be visited upon the sons.
C) all of mankind was present when Adam sinned.
D) we are all descended from Adam.

Question 53

Paley's Watch thought experiment is intended to show that

A) every watch has a designer.
B) the universe probably has a designer (God).
C) the universe probably does not have a designer (God).
D) the universe is eternal and requires no designer.

Question 54

Gaunilo's Lost Island thought experiment is intended to show that

A) Anselm's style of reasoning is correct, but he comes to the wrong conclusion.
B) if Anselm's style of reasoning were correct, you could prove that God made the greatest island possible.
C) there is such a thing as the greatest island possible.
D) if Anselm's style of reasoning were correct, you could prove that the greatest island possible exists.

Question 55

Edwards's Gangle thought experiment is intended to show that

A) to be told that a thing exists is to be given additional information about the concept of that thing.
B) existence can't be a defining property.
C) existence is a defining property.
D) existence is a property like "brown" or "tall."

Question 56

Rowe's Fawn thought experiment is intended to show that

A) animals suffer.
B) God prevents unnecessary suffering.
C) there is no unnecessary evil in the world.
D) there is unnecessary evil in the world.

Question 57

The Invisible Gardener thought experiment is intended to show that

A) God can only be known through faith.
B) the assertion that God exists can be falsified.
C) the assertion that God exists cannot be falsified.
D) there is a divine gardener, but he cannot be sensed.

Question 58

According to Anselm's version of the ontological argument, God must exist both as an object of belief in people's minds and as a reality outside of their minds, because:

A) without a belief in a God who exists apart from their minds, some people would go insane.
B) a being who exists only in the mind is not as great as one who exists both in minds and outside of minds.
C) if God existed only in people's minds, then no one could know God.
D) God is beyond all understanding.

Question 59

One objection to the ontological argument is that existence cannot be contained in the concept of a thing. The reason for this is that:

A) to say that something exists does not tell you anything about what kind of a thing it is.
B) the concept of a thing is greater than the actual existence of the thing.
C) only existing things can exist necessarily.
D) only imperfect things can exist in the physical world.

Question 60

"If everything that exists in the world (including the world itself) is not the cause of its own existence, then there must be a cause of the world's existence which itself does not need to be caused by anything else that uncaused cause is God." This line of argument is called:

A) the existential argument.
B) the cosmological argument.
C) the ontological argument.
D) the teleological argument.

Question 61

According to the analogical version of the design argument, just as a watch has a watch-maker, so the world has a world-maker (God) who designs it. Hume rejects this analogy because, he says:

A) neither the universe nor watches exhibit design.
B) the world resembles an animal as much as it does a watch.
C) even if the universe exhibits design, that does not mean that the universe has a designer.
D) the universe is imperfect.

Question 62

Religious believers sometimes argue that evil is necessary to achieve a greater good. Critics respond to this by claiming that

A) there is much more evil in the world than is needed to achieve any greater good.
B) there is no evil in the world; it is an illusion.
C) any suffering we experience in this life will be more than compensated in an afterlife.
D) evil is the absence of good.

Question 63

Some have suggested that the presence of evil makes the world a better place, because struggling against evil builds character. Critics object that:

A) this does not explain why we enjoy evil so much.
B) no amount of effort or struggle builds character; you're born with a good character.
C) there is no real evil in the world, there is only the appearance of evil.
D) there is much more evil in the world than is necessary to build character.

Question 64

Some argue that mystical experiences are evidence for the existence of God because

A) they show mystics the error of their ways.
B) they allow the mystic to lose their sense of self.
C) they are experiences of God.
D) they are powerful hallucinations.

Question 65

Some thinkers (e.g., William Clifford) argue that we should never believe anything unless we have sufficient evidence. William James replies that even in the absence of sufficient evidence, we can justifiably believe something if it

A) makes us feel good.
B) makes us rich.
C) is consistent with other things we believe.
D) is unavoidable and could make a significant difference in our lives.

Question 66

A necessary condition for a miracles is that a natural law be violated.

Question 67

The teleological argument excludes the possibility of polytheism.

Question 68

Vacuum fluctuations show that every event does not need a cause.

Question 69

Logic demands that every series have a first member.

Question 70

It is logically possible for the universe to be eternal.

Question 71

Logically speaking, the Problem of Evil is considered to be a counterexample to the existence of an omniscient, omnibenevolent, and omnipotent God.

Question 72

One consequence of the Hick's soul-building defense is that it is wrong to eliminate evil.

Question 73

According to the theory of intelligent design, it's possible that life on earth was created by aliens from outer space.

Question 74

According to Schleirmacher, God is responsible for original sin because God made Adam susceptible to temptation.

Question 75

Paley's Watch thought experiment is intended to show that the universe probably has a designer.

Question 76

Gaunilo's Lost Island thought experiment is intended to show that Anselm's reasoning is faulty.

Question 77

Edwards's Gangle thought experiment is intended to show that existence can't be a defining property.

Question 78

Pascal's Wager thought experiment is intended to show that we know a great deal about God.

Question 79

Rowe's Fawn thought experiment is intended to show that there is unnecessary suffering in the world.

Question 80

The Invisible Gardener thought experiment is intended to show that the assertion that God exists is a rational claim that can be falsified.