“Jesus: A Model of Faith”

1. Summarize the section.

The main idea in this section is Jesus as a model of faith, and it starts off with apologetics, or a logical argument for the existence of God. The section then moves into different arguments for the existence of God, or teleological arguments. There are five of these arguments in the section: William Paley’s analogy of “The Watch and the Watchmaker”, the Golden Ratio, the Anthropic Principle, Kalam’s Argument, and the Argument from Degrees of Perfection. Each one of these arguments presents a different reason and explanation to support the idea that the universe was purposefully created. The second way in which we gain knowledge of God is via the human person. This is revealed to us through man’s need for meaning, the mystery of death, the thirst for happiness, and the pain for loneliness. Our conscience and the universal natural law both give us knowledge of God also. Inside of the natural law is human nature. There are five basic inclinations of human nature: to seek happiness, to preserve oneself in existence, to preserve the species, to live in community with other, and to use intellect and will and to know the truth and to make free decisions. Christians believe that we receive the greatest amount of knowledge about God from Jesus and His teachings.

2. What are three of the most important ideas you want to remember from this section?

1. The Anthropic Principle

The chances of the earth being created and us living here right now without us being created on purpose are very slim. The conditions on earth were perfect to support human life. These conditions have stayed the same way since the beginning of human life. These facts lead us to believe that we had to be created on purpose. There is a very slight chance of humans beating all of the odds and surviving without help.

2. The Golden Ration

The Golden Ratio is an irrational number that was discovered by the ancient Greeks, which ends up being found mysteriously throughout all kinds of natural bodies. It has a strong suggestion that the universe exhibits intelligent design. The Golden Ratio has been named phi.

3. Pascal’s Wager

In Pascal’s Wager, there are two possibilities: God exists, or He doesn’t exist. He said that our choices are either to believe or not to believe and not believing is actually taking a chance. He states that if God exists and we believe in him then we will be rewarded, and if we believe in him and he does not exist we are wrong, but we lose nothing. The odds are 50/50 and if believing in God has no negatives or downfalls if he doesn’t exist, why not believe in Him.

3. Pick one image that reminds you of the topic.

This image was found on http://plus.maths.org/latestnews/may-aug06/spacetime/universe.jpg

4. Reflect shortly on “who do you say” that Jesus is.

I say that Jesus is my savior, my friend, and my everlasting companion. Jesus is my savior in many ways. He saves me from sin by forgiving me when I accept that I have done wrong. He also saves me from my temptations. He is always there with me and this helps me get through all of the temptation that I go through everyday of my life. I not only look upon Jesus as my savior though, I also look upon him as a friend. I know that I can talk to Jesus anytime, no matter what, and he will always be listening. He never argues with me or leads me towards evil; He is just there to help me. I can trust Him to keep all my secrets and He can give me courage to do what I know is right. But Jesus isn’t only my savior and my friend, He is also my everlasting companion in life. Even when I feel alone and no one is around me, Jesus is. I never even have to ask him to be there for me, He just is. He is there to comfort me whether I have done good, or I have done bad. He is my savior, my friend, and my everlasting companion all at the same time, and no one can do a better job at any of those positions than Him. He did the unthinkable for me. He gave His life for me. Is there anything else that one can ask for?