Can you match the theory to the philsopher?
One German philosopher is famous for saying that “God is dead” and that humanity has killed him. Who was he?
Nietzsche didn't believe in a literal god who'd died, but instead that God was simply an idea that had now become irrelevant to humanity - so it was the idea that had been killed, as humans realised they no longer needed it.
Which 12th century Islamic writer said that studying philosophy was the only real way to understand nature and to prove God's existence?
Rushd (also sometimes called Averroes, which is the Latin version of his name) is known for his work as a judge and physician as well as a philosopher, and he argues that only the study of religion together with philosophy can lead humanity to an understanding of God's existence.
If God is a perfect being and it's more perfect to exist than not to exist, then God must exist. Who made this argument?
Most famous for his idea "I think, therefore I am", French thinker Descartes also thought that God was the only being where something about the very nature of who and what he is makes his existence necessary. He wasn't the first philosopher to advocate this, however, as this argument was first made about 500 years earlier by Anselm of Canterbury in the Proslogion.
"God does not exist. He is 'being' itself, beyond essence and existence. Therefore to argue that God exists is to deny him." Who said that?
Christian philosopher Paul Tillich was a German American who didn't think of God as a being that exists in time and space, because that would restrict and limit God. He thought that God himself embodied the very concept of 'existing' and made possible the existence of all other things.
“The idea of God, as meaning an infinitely intelligent, wise, and good Being, arises from reflecting on the operations of our own mind…” Who said this?
Scottish philosopher Hume made this statement in his book An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding - but interestingly, Hume’s sceptical approach makes his arguments unclear to us whether he himself believes in a god.
"In the absence of any other proof, the thumb alone would convince me of God's existence." Who said this?
English physicist and mathematician Sir Isaac Newton, widely recognised as one of the most influential scientists of all time, also wrote a lot about philosophy and was very interested in the links between science and faith. Interestingly, Newton stated this before the theory of evolution was developed; further indication that his thinking was ahead of his time.
Who posed the question: "Why is there something rather than nothing?"
Although many philosophers have written about why the world exists and how it came into being, using the existence of the universe itself to prove the existence of a god, it’s Leibniz' simple summing up of the idea that's become most famously quoted.
Which philosopher gave us the Projection Theory, suggesting that the idea of a god was nothing more than a projection or picture of the things humans want most?
Feuerbach thought that humans created God to make up for their own failures and so each of his characteristics reflects something we lack - like we say that he's perfect because we really want to be good but will never quite manage it, and we say that he’s present everywhere because of our own loneliness and need to be loved.
Which philosopher thought that it was impossible to believe in God without also doubting that God exists?
Kierkegaard thought that in order for someone to believe that God exists they would also have to experience doubt about his existence, as doubt is a really important part of rational thought. And without rational thought, belief in God wouldn’t have any real substance.
Which ancient Greek thinker gave us the theory of God as the 'Unmoved mover'?
Aristotle believed that all of life was about movement - creation, change, growth - and that it must be caused by something (or someone) that cannot be moved. He saw God as this 'unmoved mover' or 'prime mover'.