Theology and Philosophy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Theology and Philosophy - Essay Example This approach emphasizes that belief in existence of god relates to the self-interest of people, rather than their faith in the god’s existence. This approach is supported by the argument that believing in god’s existence will mean being rewarded in heaven. However, if god does not exist, then only loss that people can have is the absence of this reward. Similarly, god’s existence would mean, for non-believers, going to hell and receiving infinite punishment. However, if god does not exist, it means no change in their condition. Pascal’s Wager is a better argument as it clearly defines the reason as self-interest of people to believe in god’s existence, while ontological argument is based on abstract reasoning only. (Arguments, nd) Natural theology and philosophy cannot be different, when discussing about the personal beliefs. For example, natural disasters such as the recent Nepal earthquake and Asian Tsunami reaffirm the belief that god exists. However, rational thinkers and philosophers provide scientific evidence for such happenings. The timing of these disasters cannot find any support from philosophical reasoning. Hindus and Buddhist have strong faith that the god is creator, destroyer and responsible for recreation as well.(Burke, 2015) When discussing about natural theology and philosophy, rational thinkers cannot deny about the existence of god, as the plain proofs such as above are sufficient to convince them. As human beings begin to ponder on the issues involving life and death, they realize that people are obliged to remain obedient to the god’s commands. However, these aspects of natural theology find scientific support from philosophy in establishing that the events or situations created by god can be scientifically explained and justified, as is evident in the Nepal’s earthquake. This affirms the existence of god, which is supported by the

Thoreaus Ideas of Sound Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Thoreaus Ideas of Sound - Essay Example The incident of hearing the railroad cars moving along the tracks prompted an extended meditation on the relationship of man to nature. Thoreau originally responded to the sounds of the train as normal people would. He was bothered by the disruption, feeling a great distaste for the loud, clanging noise. It bothered him that it was this train that disturbed the natural peace and quiet of Nature. These thoughts led to the concept that some aspects of the modern human world were not always horrible. The trains, for example, allowed people to get from one place to another, especially if they were great distances from each other.   However, almost in the same breath, Thoreau realises that trains have taken away from a more simple time of life, when travels were done by means of walking or loading wagons - methods that did not involve disturbing Nature. Furthermore, these methods of transportation actually allowed these people to become closer to Nature. It aggravated Thoreau to realise that while people had come along way in regard to technology and amazing inventions that they had really set themselves quite far back by abandoning Nature for these wonderful creations.  It became rather confusing trying to decipher how Thoreau really felt about the existence of the train, especially as it was so close to his new home. He understood its purpose in the modern world, yet he found it difficult to comprehend why people would want to trade such peaceful methods of transportation for something.