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Unlock This CourseMany people look at the same world as religious believers and reach a different view. Remember, an agnostic says we do not or cannot know whether God exists, and an atheist believes there is no God. The spec lists five reasons or factors that lead to, or support, these views. The same reason can lead to either view, depending on how strong a person finds it.
Key terms:
We accept most things because we can see, measure or test them. God cannot be seen, weighed or tested in an experiment. This is the hiddenness of God. Why would a God who wants people to believe stay hidden? An agnostic says the evidence is not enough to decide either way. An atheist goes further and says that with no good evidence there is no reason to believe.
Some people think there may be a God, but not one who cares about human lives. The main example is unanswered prayer. A family prays for a sick relative to recover, and the relative does not get better. If a caring God heard, why did nothing change? Suffering raises the same doubt, as you will see in The Problem of Evil and Suffering.
How believers respond: God is not an object inside the universe, so a laboratory test is the wrong tool. Belief rests on faith, which means trust, not proof. Many say the world itself and religious experience are evidence. On prayer, they say God may answer 'no' or 'not yet', and that prayer is about growing closer to God, not a list of requests.
The spec mentions the origin of the universe (how it began) and its operation (how it works day to day). Science offers explanations of both that do not mention God.
In the past, many people explained storms, harvests and the movement of the stars as the direct work of God or the gods. Now science explains them. Some people conclude that God is only a 'God of the gaps', and that the gaps keep shrinking. They see no reason to add God to the picture.
How believers respond: science explains how the universe works, but not why there is a universe or why it follows laws at all. Many believers say that natural laws point to a lawgiver, a God who set them up. They see no clash between science and belief.
This reason is not about explaining the universe. It is about how much human beings can now do for themselves.
Vaccines prevent diseases that once killed many children. Antibiotics cure infections. When people fall ill today, most turn first to a doctor. Recovery is put down to the treatment, not to a miracle.
People once prayed for rain, for a good harvest or for safety from floods. Now farmers water crops by irrigation, forecasters warn of storms days ahead, and flood defences protect towns. Human beings can control much of their environment.
The result is that many people feel less need to turn to God, so belief may fade or never begin.
How believers respond: many see medical skill as a gift from God and believe God works through doctors and scientists. Human control also has limits. Nobody can stop an earthquake or escape death. And science cannot tell people what is right or what their life is for.
Religions disagree about ultimate reality. Some teach one God, some speak of many gods, and some teach no creator God. They also disagree about the purpose of life. Some teach one life followed by judgement. Others teach many lives, with the aim of escaping the cycle of rebirth. Doubters argue that these teachings cannot all be true. So perhaps none is right, or nobody can know.
Children tend to share the views of the people who raise them. A child who grows up without prayer, worship or festivals, and whose family and friends do not believe, may never think of God as real. This is a factor, an influence on a person, not an argument.
How believers respond: disagreement does not show that everyone is wrong. Some believers say one religion has the truth. Others say the religions are different paths to the same truth. On upbringing, believers reply that how you were raised explains where your view came from, but not whether it is true. That applies to a religious upbringing too, and people change their minds in both directions as adults.
Unbelief is not only about saying 'no' to God. Remember, humanists are non-religious people who look to human beings, not to God, for answers. Humanism offers a positive way of life:
Religious believers share the concern for others. They reply that, for them, God is the source of goodness and gives life its purpose.
Do not mix up the two science reasons: one is about explaining the universe, the other is about what humans can now do. Do not write that science has disproved God. Write 'some people argue' and 'believers reply'. And do not describe humanism as only being against religion.
Paper 1 style question. Parts (a) and (b) test AO1. Parts (c) and (d) test AO1 and AO2.
(a) Identify three reasons why some people do not believe in God. [3 marks]
(b) Outline two ways in which advances in science and medicine may lead people away from belief in God. [4 marks]
(c) Explain why some people are unsure whether God exists. [6 marks]
(d) 'Science has made belief in God unnecessary.' Evaluate this statement, showing you have considered different points of view. In your answer you should refer to at least one religion. [12 marks]
(a) 1. Lack of clear evidence that God exists (1). 2. Scientific explanations of how the universe began (1). 3. A non-religious upbringing (1).
(b) One way is that medicine can now prevent and cure many diseases (1), which means people turn to a doctor instead of praying when they are ill (1). Another way is that science now explains why people recover from illness (1), which means recovery is put down to the treatment and not to a miracle from God (1).
(c) Some people are unsure because there is no clear evidence that God exists. God cannot be seen or tested, so agnostics say the evidence is not enough to decide either way. This means they hold back from saying that God does or does not exist.
Unanswered prayer also causes doubt. If people pray for a sick relative who does not recover, they may wonder whether God takes any interest in human lives. This means they doubt that a caring God is listening, without being sure there is no God.
A third reason is conflicting religious teachings. Religions disagree about ultimate reality and the purpose of life, for example over whether there is one God, many gods or none. Because they cannot all be right, some people conclude that nobody can know the truth.
(d) Plan. For: the Big Bang theory explains the origin of the universe and evolution explains how living things developed, without God; natural laws explain how it operates, so God becomes a 'God of the gaps'; medicine and technology mean people rely on human skill, not prayer; humanists live good and meaningful lives without God.
Against: science explains how, not why there is a universe or why it has laws, which may point to a lawgiver; science cannot say what is right or what life is for; human control has limits, such as death; many believers see science and medicine as gifts from God.
Your religion: add what your own religion teaches about God as creator or about the purpose of life, by name, on the side it fits.
Possible conclusion: judge each point as you go, then pick a side. For example: I disagree. Science has made God unnecessary as an explanation of storms or disease, but belief in God is also about meaning and purpose, which science does not replace.
In part (d), test the word 'unnecessary'. Unnecessary for what? God may no longer be needed to explain an eclipse, but believers say God is still needed to explain why anything exists and what life is for.