Does God sustain the world? How?

L.O We are learning the arguments for God Sustaining the created world.

Starter: What does the term sustain mean?

strengthen or support physically or mentally

What facts do we know about time/space and the created world? How is God different?

Wednesday 5th March 2014

God sustains through Jewish creation stories

Genesis 1:1-31 In the beginning God created the heaven and the

earth.2 And the earth was without form, and void; and

darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.

3 And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.

What does this imply the universe was like before God’s creation?

Creation as a Continuum

Creatio ContinuaThose who speak of creatio continua think of creation taking place in many successive acts, partly in response to events in time. Thus, at any particular time God's creation has not been completed, and the future is partly open, in some theological views, even for God.

God’s sustainability through other sources

Hebrews 1:33 He is the radiance of the glory of God and the

exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high,

Who is He?

Homework

Read Psalms 90-100 and explain how it links to the subsection of the topic.

Also think about what issues arise from the belief that God sustains the world.

Mainstream Christian view

Holds that the existence of the universe depends on God’s Will: God’s creative word ‘holds’ the universe in existence.

How can God’s attributes prove his sustainability within the world?

Omnipotence – powerOmniscient – knowledgeOmni benevolence – LoveOmnipresent – everywhere

God sustains the world part 2L.O We are continuing learning about

the arguments linked with God sustaining the created world.

Friday 7th March 2014

Starter: Talk to the person next to you about your homework.

Will be randomly selecting people for their understanding in 5-10 mins

More philosophical view

It is often asserted that God’s essence is his existence, thus He sustains the universe by existing… know of a theory/argument?

PlatoAristotleAquinas Copelston comments

Cosmological argument Handout- Nothing can come from nothing – must be a creator.

Creation keeps on changing so the creator must be outside of creation. It can only be God. He is the first and last cause , He is the Unmoved, mover. He is transcendent.

Copleston's comments on Aquinas (Hick pp. 86-93)• Aquinas means a hierarchy of movements and causes existing

now, not a sequence in time.• Aquinas admits that time might be infinite, but says that the

hierarchy of movements and causes could not be.• The third way assumes that time is infinite (so that contingent

things must have ceased to exist by now).• The key to all the cosmological arguments is to admit that

existence is a problem.

Process Theology

Summary• Process theology argues that the reality of God is not fixed and

that God himself is still developing. From this point of view, God is "dipolar" - that is, has two "poles", one mental and one physical. The physical pole is the material world itself, which acts almost as God's "body".

• Because of this relationship, God is partly distinct and partly immersed in the world - just as we are in our bodies. As a result, any suffering in creation is also undergone by God, and creation itself is seen as a cooperation between God and all other beings. Whether this cooperation actually takes place is thus up to humanity - in other words, God cannot force humans to do His will, but can only influence them.

Conclusions/ summary

1) The concept of God as creator and sustainer of the world underpins most accounts of God’s relationship with the universe. Having created the universe, God is said to sustain it by his will – its continued existence is willed by God, and without that act of will, nothing could continue to exist.

2) God remains distinct from the universe, and transcends it.

3) God sustains creation because everything is dependent on God.

Homework

Complete the macrotheme plan for essay question

Explain the view that God sustains the created world.

Jan 2012 paper.