existence of god essay introduction

Essay on Existence of God

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100 Words Essay on Existence of God

Introduction.

The existence of God is a topic that has been debated for centuries. Some people firmly believe in God, while others are atheists and do not believe in a higher power.

Believers’ Perspective

Believers often argue that the complexity of our universe proves God’s existence. They believe in miracles, divine interventions, and spiritual experiences as evidence.

Atheists’ Viewpoint

Atheists, on the other hand, demand scientific proof. They argue that natural processes can explain life and the universe, without needing a divine creator.

In conclusion, the existence of God is a deeply personal belief. It’s a topic that encourages open-minded discussion and respect for others’ beliefs.

250 Words Essay on Existence of God

The concept of god’s existence.

The existence of God has been a fundamental question in philosophy, sparking debates among scholars, theologians, and scientists. The primary viewpoints include theism, atheism, and agnosticism, each presenting different perspectives on God’s existence.

Theistic Perspective

Theists assert the existence of God, often citing cosmological, teleological, and moral arguments. The cosmological argument posits the universe’s existence must have a cause, identified as God. The teleological argument, also known as the argument from design, posits the universe’s complexity and order imply a designer. Moral arguments suggest the existence of moral values and duties is best explained by a moral lawgiver.

Atheistic Perspective

Atheists deny God’s existence, often pointing to the problem of evil, divine hiddenness, and the success of science in explaining natural phenomena without invoking supernatural entities. The problem of evil questions how an omnipotent, omniscient, and benevolent God can allow evil and suffering.

Agnostic Perspective

Agnostics suspend judgment, claiming insufficient evidence either for or against God’s existence. They maintain that the question of God’s existence is unknowable, inaccessible, or irrelevant to human life.

The existence of God remains a deeply personal and subjective matter, often influenced by cultural, philosophical, and personal factors. It is a complex issue that elicits profound reflection on the nature of reality, morality, and human existence.

500 Words Essay on Existence of God

The concept of god.

The existence of God has been a subject of debate for centuries, spanning philosophical, scientific, and religious contexts. The concept of God varies across different cultures and religions, but a common thread is the belief in a higher power or entity that is responsible for the creation and governance of the universe.

Philosophical Arguments

Philosophers have long grappled with the question of God’s existence. Descartes, the father of modern philosophy, proposed the ontological argument, asserting that God, as a perfect being, must exist because existence is a perfection. This argument, however, has been criticized for its circular reasoning.

On the other hand, the cosmological argument, championed by thinkers like Thomas Aquinas, posits that everything in the universe has a cause, and this causal chain must lead back to an uncaused cause or a first mover, identified as God. Critics of this argument question why the causal chain must necessarily end with a single uncaused cause.

Scientific Perspectives

The scientific perspective on God’s existence is often linked to the Big Bang theory and the theory of evolution. Some argue that these theories, by explaining the origins of the universe and life, eliminate the need for a divine creator. However, others contend that these theories do not disprove God’s existence but rather provide a mechanism for God’s creative process.

The Anthropic Principle, which posits that the universe’s physical constants are perfectly tuned for life to exist, is often cited as evidence of a divine designer. Critics, however, suggest that this could be the result of chance or the existence of multiple universes with different physical constants.

Personal Experience and Faith

For many, the existence of God is not a question to be answered by philosophical or scientific arguments but is a deeply personal matter rooted in faith and personal experience. Many believers cite personal experiences, miracles, or spiritual encounters as evidence of God’s existence. However, skeptics argue that these experiences are subjective and can be explained by psychological phenomena.

The question of God’s existence remains one of the most profound and divisive. It is a topic that invites deep contemplation and encourages a dialogue between science, philosophy, and religion. Regardless of one’s belief, the discussion surrounding God’s existence is a testament to humanity’s enduring quest for understanding and meaning in the universe. While definitive proof may be elusive, the debate itself enriches our collective discourse and deepens our individual and societal introspection.

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The Existence of God

Other essays.

The existence and attributes of God are evident from the creation itself, even though sinful human beings suppress and distort their natural knowledge of God.

The existence of God is foundational to the study of theology. The Bible does not seek to prove God’s existence, but rather takes it for granted. Scripture expresses a strong doctrine of natural revelation: the existence and attributes of God are evident from the creation itself, even though sinful human beings suppress and distort their natural knowledge of God. The dominant question in the Old and New Testaments is not whether God is, but rather who God is. Philosophers both Christian and non-Christian have offered a wide range of arguments for God’s existence, and the discipline of natural theology (what can be known or proven about God from nature alone) is flourishing today. Some philosophers, however, have proposed that belief in God is rationally justified even without theistic arguments or evidences. Meanwhile, professing atheists have offered arguments against God’s existence; the most popular is the argument from evil, which contends that the existence and extent of evil in the world gives us good reason not to believe in God. In response, Christian thinkers have developed various theodicies, which seek to explain why God is morally justified in permitting the evils we observe.

If theology is the study of God and his works, then the existence of God is as foundational to theology as the existence of rocks is to geology. Two basic questions have been raised regarding belief in God’s existence: (1) Is it true ? (2) Is it rationally justified (and if so, on what grounds)? The second is distinct from the first because a belief can be true without being rationally justified (e.g., someone might irrationally believe that he’ll die on a Thursday, a belief that turns out by chance to be true). Philosophers have grappled with both questions for millennia. In this essay, we will consider what the Bible says in answer to these questions, before sampling the answers of some influential Christian thinkers.

Scripture and the Existence of God

The Bible opens not with a proof of God’s existence, but with a pronouncement of God’s works: “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” This foundational assertion of Scripture assumes that the reader not only knows already that God exists, but also has a basic grasp of who this God is. Throughout the Old Testament, belief in a creator God is treated as normal and natural for all human beings, even though the pagan nations have fallen into confusions about the true identity of this God. Psalm 19 vividly expresses a doctrine of natural revelation: the entire created universe ‘declares’ and ‘proclaims’ the glorious works of God. Proverbs tells us that “the fear of the Lord” is the starting point for knowledge and wisdom (Prov. 1:7; 9:10; cf. Psa. 111:10). Denying God’s existence is therefore intellectually and morally perverse (Psa. 14:1; 53:1). Indeed, the dominant concern throughout the Old Testament is not whether God is, but who God is. Is Yahweh the one true God or not (Deut. 4:35; 1Kgs. 18:21, 37, 39; Jer. 10:10)? The worldview that provides the foil for Hebrew monotheism is pagan polytheism rather than secular atheism.

This stance on the existence of God continues into the New Testament, which builds on the foundation of the uncompromising monotheism of the Old. In his epistle to the Romans, the apostle Paul insists that God’s “eternal power and divine nature” are clearly perceived from the created order itself. Objectively speaking, there can be no rational basis for doubt about the existence of a transcendent personal creator, and thus there can be no excuse for unbelief (Rom. 1:20). Endued with a natural knowledge of our creator we owe God our honor and thanks, and our failure to do so serves as the primary basis for the manifestation of God’s wrath and judgment. The apostle’s robust doctrine of natural revelation has raised the question of whether anyone can truly be an atheist. The answer will depend, first, on how “atheist” is defined, and second, on what precisely Paul means when he speaks of people “knowing” God. If the idea is that all men retain some genuine knowledge of God, despite their sinful suppression of natural revelation, it’s hard to maintain that anyone could completely lack any cognitive awareness of God’s existence. But if “atheist” is defined as someone who denies the existence of God or professes not to believe in God, Romans 1 not only allows for the existence of atheists – it effectively predicts it. Atheism might then be understood as a form of culpable self-deception.

Paul’s convictions about natural revelation are put to work in his preaching to Gentile audiences in Lystra and Athens (Acts 14:15–17; 17:22–31). Paul assumes not only that his hearers know certain things about God from the created order but also that they have sinfully suppressed and distorted these revealed truths, turning instead to idolatrous worship of the creation (cf. Rom. 1:22–25). Even so, his appeals to general revelation are never offered in isolation from special revelation: the Old Testament Scriptures, the person of Jesus Christ, and the testimony of Christ’s apostles.

Elsewhere in the New Testament, the question of the existence of God is almost never explicitly raised, but rather serves as a foundational presupposition, an unquestionable background assumption. One exception would be the writer to the Hebrews, who remarks that “whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him” (11:6). In general, the New Testament is concerned less with philosophical questions about the existence of God than with practical questions about how sinners can have a saving relationship with the God whose existence is obvious. As in the Old Testament, the pressing question is never whether God is, but who God is. Is Jesus Christ the revelation of God in human flesh or not? That’s the crux of the issue.

Arguments for the Existence of God

Consider again the two questions mentioned at the outset. (1) Is belief in God true ? (2) Is it rationally justified ? One appealing way to answer both questions affirmatively is to offer a theistic argument that seeks to infer God’s existence from other things we know, observe, or take for granted. A cogent theistic argument, one assumes, would not only demonstrate the truth of God’s existence but also provide rational justification for believing it. There is a vast literature on theistic arguments, so only a sampling of highlights can be given here.

The first generation of Christian apologists felt little need to argue for God’s existence for the same reason one finds no such arguments in the New Testament: the main challenges to Christian theism came not from atheism, but from non-Christian theism (Judaism) and pagan polytheism. Not until the medieval period do we find formal arguments for the existence of God offered, and even then the arguments do not function primarily as refutations of atheism but as philosophical meditations on the nature of God and the relationship between faith and reason.

One of the most famous and controversial is the ontological argument of St. Anselm (1033–1109) according to which God’s existence can be deduced merely from the definition of God, such that atheism leads inevitably to self-contradiction. One distinctive of the argument is that it relies on pure reason alone with no dependence on empirical premises. Various versions of the ontological argument have been developed and defended, and opinion is sharply divided even among Christian philosophers over whether there are, or even could be, any sound versions.

Cosmological arguments seek to demonstrate that that the existence of the universe, or some phenomenon within the universe, demands a causal explanation originating in a necessary first cause beyond the universe. St. Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274) famously offered “Five Ways” of demonstrating God’s existence, each of which can be understood as kind of cosmological argument. For example, one of the Five Ways argues that any motion (change) has to be explained by some mover (cause). If that mover itself exhibits motion, there must be a prior mover to explain it, and because there cannot be an infinite regress of moved movers, there must be an original unmoved mover : an eternal, immutable, and self-existent first cause. Other notable defenders of cosmological arguments include G. W. Leibniz (1646–1716) and Samuel Clarke (1675–1729), and more recently Richard Swinburne and William Lane Craig.

Teleological arguments , which along with cosmological arguments can be traced back to the ancient Greeks, contend that God is the best explanation for apparent design or order in the universe. Simply put, design requires a designer, and thus the appearance of design in the natural world is evidence of a supernatural designer. William Paley (1743–1805) is best known for his argument from analogy which compares functional arrangements in natural organisms to those in human artifacts such as pocket watches. While design arguments suffered a setback with the rise of the Darwinian theory of evolution, which purports to explain the apparent design of organisms in terms of undirected adaptive processes, the so-called Intelligent Design Movement has reinvigorated teleological arguments with insights from contemporary cosmology and molecular biology while exposing serious shortcomings in naturalistic Darwinian explanations.

In the twentieth century, the moral argument gained considerable popularity, not least due to its deployment by C. S. Lewis (1898–1963) in his bestseller Mere Christianity . The argument typically aims to show that only a theistic worldview can account for objective moral laws and values. As with the other theistic arguments there are many different versions of the moral argument, trading on various aspects of our moral intuitions and assumptions. Since such arguments are typically premised on moral realism —the view that there are objective moral truths that cannot be reduced to mere human preferences or conventions—extra work is often required to defend such arguments in a culture where moral sensibilities have been eroded by subjectivism, relativism, and nihilism.

Cornelius Van Til (1895–1987) gained some notoriety for his forceful criticisms of the “traditional method” of Christian apologetics which capitulated to “autonomous human reason.” Van Til held that any respectable theistic argument ought to disclose the undeniability of the triune God revealed in Scripture, not merely a First Cause or Intelligent Designer. He therefore advocated an alternative approach, centered on a transcendental argument for the existence of God, whereby the Christian seeks to show that human reason, far from being autonomous and self-sufficient, presupposes the God of Christianity, the “All-Conditioner” who created, sustains, and directs all things according to the counsel of his will. As Van Til put it, we should argue “from the impossibility of the contrary”: if we deny the God of the Bible, we jettison the very grounds for assuming that our minds have the capacity for rational thought and for reliable knowledge of the world.

Since the renaissance of Christian philosophy in the second half of the twentieth century, there has been renewed interest and enthusiasm for the project of developing and defending theistic arguments. New and improved versions of the classical arguments have been offered, while developments in contemporary analytic philosophy have opened up new avenues for natural theology. In his 1986 lecture, “Two Dozen (or so) Theistic Arguments,” Alvin Plantinga sketched out an entire A to Z of arguments for God, most of which had never been previously explored. Plantinga’s suggestions have since been expanded into a book-length treatment by other philosophers. The discipline of Christian natural theology is thriving as never before.

Basic Belief in the Existence of God

Still, are any of these arguments actually needed? Does confidence about God’s existence have to be funded by philosophical proofs? Since the Enlightenment, it has often been held that belief in God is rationally justified only if it can be supported by philosophical proofs or scientific evidences. While Romans 1:18–21 has sometimes been taken as a mandate for theistic arguments, Paul’s language in that passage suggests that our knowledge of God from natural revelation is far more immediate, intuitive, and universally accessible.

In the opening chapters of his Institutes of the Christian Religion , John Calvin (1509–1564) considers what can be known of God apart from special revelation and asserts that a natural knowledge has been universally implanted in mankind by the Creator: “There is within the human mind, and indeed by natural instinct, an awareness of divinity” ( Institutes , I.3.1). Calvin speaks of a sensus divinitatis , “a sense of deity,” possessed by every single person in virtue of being created in God’s image. This internal awareness of the Creator “can never be effaced,” even though sinful men “struggle furiously” to escape it. Our implanted natural knowledge of God can be likened in some respects to our natural knowledge of the moral law through the God-given faculty of conscience (Rom. 2:14-15). We know instinctively that it’s wrong to lie and steal; no philosophical argument is needed to prove such things. Similarly, we know instinctively that there is a God who made us and to whom we owe honor and thanks.

In the 1980s, a number of Protestant philosophers led by Alvin Plantinga, Nicholas Wolterstorff, and William Alston developed a sophisticated defense of Calvin’s notion of the sensus divinitatis . Dubbed the “Reformed epistemologists,” they argued that theistic beliefs can be (and normally should be) properly basic : rationally justified even without empirical evidences or philosophical proofs. On this view, believing that God exists is comparable to believing that the world of our experience really exists; it’s entirely rational, even if we can’t philosophically demonstrate it. Indeed, it would be quite dysfunctional to believe otherwise.

Arguments Against the Existence of God

Even granting that there is a universal natural knowledge of God, there are unquestionably people who deny God’s existence and offer arguments in their defense. Some have attempted to exposed contradictions within the concept of God (e.g., between omniscience and divine freedom) thereby likening God to a “square circle” whose existence is logically impossible. At most such arguments only rule out certain conceptions of God, conceptions that are often at odds with the biblical view of God in any case.

A less ambitious approach is to place the burden of proof on the theist: in the absence of good arguments for God’s existence, one ought to adopt the “default” position of atheism (or at least agnosticism). This stance is hard to maintain given the many impressive theistic arguments championed by Christian philosophers today, not to mention the Reformed epistemologists’ argument that belief in God is properly basic.

The most popular atheistic argument is undoubtedly the argument from evil. The strong version of the argument maintains that the existence of evil is logically incompatible with the existence of an all-good, all-powerful God. The more modest version contends that particularly horrifying and seemingly gratuitous instances of evil, such as the Holocaust, provide strong evidence against God’s existence. The problem of evil has invited various theodicies : attempts to explain how God can be morally justified in permitting the evils we encounter in the world. While such explanations can be useful, they aren’t strictly necessary for rebutting the argument from evil. It is enough to point out that given the complexities of the world and the considerable limitations of human knowledge, we are in no position to conclude that God couldn’t have morally justifying reasons for allowing the evils we observe. Indeed, if we already have grounds for believing in God, we can reasonably conclude that God must have such reasons, whether or not we can discern them.

Argumentative Essay On Existence Of God

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Topic: Design , Life , Existence of God , Space , Human , God , Evidence , World

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6.3 Cosmology and the Existence of God

Learning objectives.

By the end of this section, you will be able to:

Describe teleological and moral arguments for the existence of God.
Outline Hindu cosmology and arguments for and against the divine.
Explain Anselm’s ontological argument for the existence of God.
Articulate the distinction between the logical and evidential problems of evil.

Another major question in metaphysics relates to cosmology. Cosmology is the study of how reality is ordered. How can we account for the ordering, built upon many different elements such as causation, contingency, motion, and change, that we experience within our reality? The primary focus of cosmological arguments will be on proving a logically necessary first cause to explain the order observed. As discussed in earlier sections, for millennia, peoples have equated the idea of a first mover or cause with the divine that exists in another realm. This section will discuss a variety of arguments for the existence of God as well as how philosophers have reconciled God's existence with the presence of evil in the world.

Teleological Arguments for God

Teleological arguments examine the inherent design within reality and attempt to infer the existence of an entity responsible for the design observed. Teleological arguments consider the level of design found in living organisms, the order displayed on a cosmological scale, and even how the presence of order in general is significant.

Aquinas’s Design Argument

Thomas Aquinas’s Five Ways is known as a teleological argument for the existence of God from the presence of design in experience. Here is one possible formulation of Aquinas’s design argument:

Things that lack knowledge tend to act toward an end/goal.
It is obvious that it is not by chance.
Things that lack knowledge act toward an end by design.
If a thing is being directed toward an end, it requires direction by some being endowed with intelligence (e.g. the arrow being directed by the archer).
Therefore, some intelligent being exists that directs all natural things toward their end. This being is known as God.

Design Arguments in Biology

Though Aquinas died long ago, his arguments still live on in today’s discourse, exciting passionate argument. Such is the case with design arguments in biology. William Paley (1743–1805) proposed a teleological argument, sometimes called the design argument, that there exists so much intricate detail, design, and purpose in the world that we must suppose a creator. The sophistication and incredible detail we observe in nature could not have occurred by chance.

Paley employs an analogy between design as found within a watch and design as found within the universe to advance his position. Suppose you were walking down a beach and you happened to find a watch. Maybe you were feeling inquisitive, and you opened the watch (it was an old-fashioned pocket watch). You would see all the gears and coils and springs. Maybe you would wind up the watch and observe the design of the watch at work. Considering the way that all the mechanical parts worked together toward the end/goal of telling time, you would be reluctant to say that the watch was not created by a designer.

Now consider another object—say, the complexity of the inner workings of the human eye. If we can suppose a watchmaker for the watch (due to the design of the watch), we must be able to suppose a designer for the eye. For that matter, we must suppose a designer for all the things we observe in nature that exhibit order. Considering the complexity and grandeur of design found in the world around us, the designer must be a Divine designer. That is, there must be a God.

Often, the design argument is formulated as an induction:

In all things we have experienced that exhibit design, we have experienced a designer of that artifact.
The universe exhibits order and design.
Given #1, the universe must have a designer.
The designer of the universe is God.

Think Like a Philosopher

Read “ The Fine-Tuning Argument for the Existence of God ” by Thomas Metcalf.

Evaluate the arguments and counterarguments presented in this short article. Which are the most cogent, and why?

Moral Arguments for God

Another type of argument for the existence of God is built upon metaethics and normative ethics. Consider subjective and objective values. Subjective values are those beliefs that guide and drive behaviors deemed permissible as determined by either an individual or an individual’s culture. Objective values govern morally permissible and desired outcomes that apply to all moral agents. Moral arguments for the existence of God depend upon the existence of objective values.

If there are objective values, then the question of “Whence do these values come?” must be raised. One possible answer used to explain the presence of objective values is that the basis of the values is found in God. Here is one premise/conclusion form of the argument:

If objective values exist, there must be a source for their objective validity.
The source of all value (including the validity held by objective values) is God.
Objective values do exist.
Therefore, God exists.

This argument, however, raises questions. Does moral permissibility (i.e., right and wrong) depend upon God? Are ethics an expression of the divine, or are ethics better understood separate from divine authority? To explore this topic further, students will find a helpful overview and updated references in the Stanford Encyclopedia article, " Moral Arguments for the Existence of God ."

Write Like a Philosopher

Watch “ God & Morality: Part 2 ” by Steven Darwall.

Darwall’s argument for the autonomy of ethics may be restated as follows:

God knows morality best (1:44).
God knows what is best for us (2:12).
God has authority over us (2:48).

How does Darwall refute the conclusion? What is the evidence offered, and at what point within the argument is the evidence introduced? What does his approach suggest about refutational strategies? Can you refute Darwall’s argument?

As you write, begin by defining the conclusion. Remember that in philosophy, conclusions are not resting points but mere starting points. Next, present the evidence, both stated and unstated, and explain how it supports the conclusion.

The Ontological Argument for God

An ontological argument for God was proposed by the Italian philosopher, monk, and Archbishop of Canterbury Anselm (1033–1109). Anselm lived in a time where belief in a deity was often assumed. He, as a person and as a prior of an abbey, had experienced and witnessed doubt. To assuage this doubt, Anselm endeavored to prove the existence of God in such an irrefutable way that even the staunchest of nonbelievers would be forced, by reason, to admit the existence of a God.

Anselm’s proof is a priori and does not appeal to empirical or sense data as its basis. Much like a proof in geometry, Anselm is working from a set of “givens” to a set of demonstrable concepts. Anselm begins by defining the most central term in his argument—God. For the purpose of this argument, Anselm suggests, let “God” = “a being than which nothing greater can be conceived.” He makes two key points:

When we speak of God (whether we are asserting God is or God is not), we are contemplating an entity who can be defined as “a being than which nothing greater can be conceived.”
When we speak of God (either as believer or nonbeliever), we have an intramental understanding of that concept—in other words, the idea is within our understanding.

Anselm continues by examining the difference between that which exists in the mind and that which exists both in the mind and outside of the mind. The question is: Is it greater to exist in the mind alone or in the mind and in reality (or outside of the mind)? Anselm asks you to consider the painter—for example, define which is greater: the reality of a painting as it exists in the mind of an artist or that same painting existing in the mind of that same artist and as a physical piece of art. Anselm contends that the painting, existing both within the mind of the artist and as a real piece of art, is greater than the mere intramental conception of the work.

At this point, a third key point is established:

Have you figured out where Anselm is going with this argument?

If God is a being than which nothing greater can be conceived (established in #1 above);
And since it is greater to exist in the mind and in reality than in the mind alone (established in #3 above);
Then God must exist both in the mind (established in #2 above) and in reality;
In short, God must be. God is not merely an intramental concept but an extra-mental reality as well.

Hindu Cosmology

One of the primary arguments for the existence of God as found within Hindu traditions is based on cosmological conditions necessary to explain the reality of karma. As explained in the introduction to philosophy chapter and earlier in this chapter, karma may be thought of as the causal law that links causes to effects. Assuming the doctrine of interdependence, karma asserts that if we act in such a way to cause harm to others, we increase the amount of negativity in nature. We therefore hurt ourself by harming others. As the self moves through rebirth ( samsara ), the karmic debt incurred is retained. Note that positive actions also are retained. The goal is liberation of the soul from the cycle of rebirth.

Maintenance of the Law of Karma

While one can understand karmic causality without an appeal to divinity, how the causal karmic chain is so well-ordered and capable of realizing just results is not as easily explainable without an appeal to divinity. One possible presentation of the argument for the existence of God from karma could therefore read as follows:

If karma is, there must be some force/entity that accounts for the appropriateness (justice) of the karmic debt or karmic reward earned.
The source responsible for the appropriateness (justice) of the debt or reward earned must be a conscious agent capable of lending order to all karmic interactions (past, present, and future).
Karmic appropriateness (justice) does exist.
Therefore, a conscious agent capable of lending order to all karmic interactions (past, present, and future) must exist.

Physical World as Manifestation of Divine Consciousness

The cosmology built upon the religious doctrines allows for an argument within Hindu thought that joins a version of the moral argument and the design argument. Unless a divine designer were assumed, the moral and cosmological fabric assumed within the perspective could not be asserted.

Hindu Arguments Against the Existence of God

One of the primary arguments against the existence of God is found in the Mīmāmsā tradition. This ancient school suggests that the Vedas were eternal but without authors. The cosmological and teleological evidence as examined above was deemed inconclusive. The focus of this tradition and its several subtraditions was on living properly.

Problem of Evil

The problem of evil poses a philosophical challenge to the traditional arguments (in particular the design argument) because it implies that the design of the cosmos and the designer of the cosmos are flawed. How can we assert the existence of a caring and benevolent God when there exists so much evil in the world? The glib answer to this question is to say that human moral agents, not God, are the cause of evil. Some philosophers reframe the problem of evil as the problem of suffering to place the stress of the question on the reality of suffering versus moral agency.

The Logical Problem of Evil

David Hume raised arguments not only against the traditional arguments for the existence of God but against most of the foundational ideas of philosophy. Hume, the great skeptic, starts by proposing that if God knows about the suffering and would stop it but cannot stop it, God is not omnipotent. If God is able to stop the suffering and would want to but does not know about it, then God is not omniscient. If God knows about the suffering and is able to stop it but does not wish to assuage the pain, God is not omnibenevolent. At the very least, Hume argues, the existence of evil does not justify a belief in a caring Creator.

The Evidential Problem of Evil

The evidential problem considers the reality of suffering and the probability that if an omnibenevolent divine being existed, then the divine being would not allow such extreme suffering. One of the most formidable presentations of the argument was formulated by William Rowe :

There exist instances of intense suffering which an omnipotent, omniscient being could have prevented without thereby losing some greater good or permitting some evil equally bad or worse. An omniscient, wholly good being would prevent the occurrence of any intense suffering it could, unless it could not do so without thereby losing some greater good or permitting some evil equally bad or worse. (Therefore) there does not exist an omnipotent, omniscient, wholly good being. (Rowe 1979, 336)

Western Theistic Responses to the Problem of Evil

Many theists (those who assert the existence of god/s) have argued against both the logical and evidential formulations of the problem of evil. One of the earliest Christian defenses was authored by Saint Augustine. Based upon a highly Neo-Platonic methodology and ontology, Augustine argued that as God was omnibenevolent (all good), God would not introduce evil into our existence. Evil, observed Augustine, was not real. It was a privation or negation of the good. Evil therefore did not argue against the reality or being of God but was a reflection for the necessity of God. Here we see the application of a set of working principles and the stressing of a priori resulting in what could be labeled ( prima facie ) a counterintuitive result.

An African Perspective on the Problem of Evil

In the above sections, the problem of evil was centered in a conception of a god as all-powerful, all-loving, and all-knowing. Evil, from this perspective, reflects a god doing evil (we might say reflecting the moral agency of a god) and thus results in the aforementioned problem—how could a “good” god do evil or perhaps allow evil to happen? The rich diversity of African thought helps us examine evil and agency from different starting points. What if, for example, the lifting of the agency (the doing of evil) was removed entirely from the supernatural? In much of Western thought, God was understood as the creator. Given the philosophical role and responsibilities that follow from the assignment of “the entity that made all things,” reconciling evil and creation and God as good becomes a problem. But if we were to remove the concept of God from the creator role, the agency of evil (and reconciling evil with the creator) is no longer present.

Within the Yoruba-African perspective, the agency of evil is not put upon human agency, as might be expected in the West, but upon “spiritual beings other than God” (Dasaolu and Oyelakun 2015). These multiple spiritual beings, known as “Ajogun,” are “scattered around the cosmos” and have specific types of wrongdoing associated specifically with each being (Dasaolu and Oyelakun 2015). Moving the framework (or cosmology) upon which goodness and evil is understood results in a significant philosophical shift. The meaning of evil, instead of being packed with religious or supernatural connotations, has a more down-to-earth sense. Evil is not so much sin as a destruction of life. It is not an offense against an eternal Creator, but an action conducted by one human moral agent that harms another human moral agent.

Unlike Augustine’s attempt to explain evil as the negation of good (as not real), the Yoruban metaphysics asserts the necessity of evil. Our ability to contrast good and evil are required logically so that we can make sense of both concepts.

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Unit 2: Metaphysics

Aquinas’s Five Proofs for the Existence of God

St. Mary's Press

The Summa Theologica is a famous work written by Saint Thomas Aquinas between AD 1265 and 1274. It is divided into three main parts and covers all of the core theological teachings of Aquinas’s time. One of the questions the Summa Theologica is well known for addressing is the question of the existence of God. Aquinas responds to this question by offering the following five proofs:

1. The Argument from Motion: Our senses can perceive motion by seeing that things act on one another. Whatever moves is moved by something else. Consequently, there must be a First Mover that creates this chain reaction of motions. This is God. God sets all things in motion and gives them their potential.

2. The Argument from Efficient Cause: Because nothing can cause itself, everything must have a cause or something that creates an effect on another thing. Without a first cause, there would be no others. Therefore, the First Cause is God.

3. The Argument from Necessary Being: Because objects in the world come into existence and pass out of it, it is possible for those objects to exist or not exist at any particular time. However, nothing can come from nothing. This means something must exist at all times. This is God.

4. The Argument from Gradation: There are different degrees of goodness in different things. Following the “Great Chain of Being,” which states there is a gradual increase in complexity, created objects move from unformed inorganic matter to biologically complex organisms. Therefore, there must be a being of the highest form of good. This perfect being is God.

5. The Argument from Design: All things have an order or arrangement that leads them to a particular goal. Because the order of the universe cannot be the result of chance, design and purpose must be at work. This implies divine intelligence on the part of the designer. This is God.

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The Proofs to The Existence of God

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The bible - a divine revelation, prophecy - divine foreknowledge, nature - a divine design, works cited.

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Aquinas on the Existence of God Essay

1. introduction.

While the existence of God has been a very important issue, to answer this issue, many people have come up with their own ideas, thoughts, and elaborations to prove the existence of God. Some have been very successful in developing a very wide area of ideas, for example comparing with religious references, science, and also philosophy. One of the most successful people in proving the existence of God is Aquinas. He has come up with five ways to prove the existence of God, which is based on reason and very substantial to answer the existence of God compared with the last few philosophers who also come up with a reason among the existence of God. Among them are Avicenna and Al-Ghazali who succeed only to prove God's existence through the interaction between causal and effect, and on the necessity of burst and eternal universe. Next is Duns Scotus and William that also only develop a simple idea on the existence of God, but still all these ideas not as complete and systematic as what has been brought by Aquinas. Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274) believed that the existence of God can be proven in many ways, although allowed for the possibility that God does not exist. Still, his five ways as proved in Summa Theologica is one of the detailed explanations, systematic and complete, in proving the existence of God. All the ways have been simplified and developed in his own way of thinking based on Aristotle's theory. The purpose of this essay is to consider aspects of Aquinas' theories. Next, we will compare with the views of other philosophers on the existence of God, who had come before him. The second purpose is to apply the thought of Aquinas, with the existing reality around us, whether what has been simplified by Aquinas reflects the reality of its own, on the existence of God. Overall, this essay aims to apply the theory of Aquinas, which is nothing more and nothing less to prove the existence of God, and get general conclusions about his theory.

1.1 Background of Aquinas

During what was known as the Renaissance period in Europe, many of the Greeks, who were often seen as great scholars, ideas were imported into the West. In the 12th century, the ideas of the Greek philosopher Aristotle were introduced through the Muslim culture, which had preserved many of his works. At often at odds with Aristotle, was another great philosopher and theologian, St. Thomas Aquinas. It had a great effect on his work, in that it clarified and refined many of his own original thoughts, many of which are contained in his Summa Theologica. His intention was to prove the existence of God using Aristotle's theory that the world is a series of cause and effects. It is from this that Aquinas began the third of his five ways, stating that "it is necessary to admit a first efficient cause, to which everyone gives the name of God". Today the essay will be analyzing only the first of the five ways, to question whether it still holds its ground as a solid argument for the existence of God, considering that Aquinas' work was so heavily influenced by Aristotle's metaphysics.

1.2 Purpose of the Essay

Aquinas wrote the Summa Theologica, in which he creates a model that explains the existence of God. He is reasoning that everything in this world has an efficient cause of creation and this cause we all call God. Aquinas does this by first exploring the world around him and later the internal ways to the existence of God. Within the world around him, there are the 5 ways, which are proofs of the existence of God. These ways are motion, cause and effect, contingent being, good and evil, and the governance of the world. In all of these 5 ways, he always comes to the conclusion that there is an efficient cause of creation and without this, there is nothing. Later on, Aquinas takes an introspective view of ourselves and comes to say that our desire, divine images, self-movement, and intellect ultimately point to the existence of God. Now, because all of these proofs are rather scattered and complex, Aquinas writes the Summa Theologica to put it all together neatly into a guideline for the existence of God. And lastly, he is trying to prove the existence of the Christian God by saying that if we are to believe in heaven and some sort of spiritual afterlife, we must believe that God created it because only he has the power to make immortal things.

2. Aquinas' Arguments for the Existence of God

According to Aquinas, God is the ultimate cause of the universe. The first way, motion, is nothing else than the reduction of something from potentiality to actuality. That something is in motion means that it is in potentiality to that towards which it is in motion. Something moves, something must cause the motion. An infinite regress is impossible, in which case there would be no first cause, and thus no subsequent causes. In the first way, we can see that the second way is closely tied to the first cause. Everything has a cause, there is nothing in existence that is causeless. Aquinas argues that it is not possible for something to be infinitely caused because of this. There would be no first cause, and thus no subsequent causes. Because of this, all causes must be traceable back to a first cause, which is uncaused. Nothing causes itself since this would involve something being prior to itself, which is impossible. An infinite regress of causes does not work.

2.1 The First Way: Argument from Motion

Aquinas' first way starts from the observed motion in the world and tries to prove the existence of God as the unmoved mover. The argument can be schematized as follows: The first is based on the premise that it is observed that things in the world are in motion. The second is based on the evidence that everything in motion is moved by something else. The third claim is that this causal chain cannot go on to infinity, so there must be a first mover which is not itself moved by anything. Step 1: Motion We can see that the first and second claims are true. The most obvious objection to the first premise is that with the development of modern physics the concept of motion as Aquinas understood it has become obsolete. However, it is clear that what he meant by motion is everything that is in potency can only be moved to act by something in act. This is anything that is able to bring about a change in something else. This is something which is still believed today and is sometimes referred to as actualizing the potential. An example of motion in the traditional sense and Aquinas' sense is the conversion of a red billiard ball to a blue billiard ball. The modern objection usually argues that motion is an illusion, with Aquinas' definition it is possible to refute this. If motion is an illusion, then there would not exist anything in potency to be actualized and thus there would be no motion in the sense that Aquinas describes. The second premise is argued from the first. It states that everything in motion must be moved by something else. This is because an object cannot be both in act and in potency in the same respect so it cannot move itself. From this, it is evident that the second premise holds because an object being moved from a state of potency to a state of act is having a change actualized and is moving with respect to the thing causing the change.

2.2 The Second Way: Argument from Efficient Causes

The second way builds on the first, and is as follows. It is certain, and evident to our senses, that in this world some things are in motion. Now whatever is in motion is put in motion by another, for nothing can be in motion except it is in potentiality to that towards which it is in motion; whereas a thing moves inasmuch as it is in act. For motion is nothing else than the reduction of something from potentiality to actuality. But nothing can be reduced from potentiality to actuality, except by something in a state of actuality. Thus that which is actually hot, as fire, makes wood, which is potentially hot, to be actual, and thereby moves and changes it. Now it is not possible that the same thing should be at once in actuality and potentiality in the same respect, but only in different respects. For what is actually hot cannot simultaneously be potentially hot; but it is simultaneously potentially cold. It is therefore impossible that in the same respect and in the same way a thing should be both mover and moved, i.e. that it should move itself. Therefore, whatever is in motion must be put in motion by another. If that by which it is put in motion be itself put in motion, then this also must needs be put in motion by another, and that by another again. But this cannot go on to infinity, because then there would be no first mover, and consequently no other mover; seeing that subsequent movers move only inasmuch as they are put in motion by the first mover; as the staff moves only because it is put in motion by the hand. Therefore it is necessary to arrive at a first mover, put in motion by no other; and this everyone understands to be God.

2.3 The Third Way: Argument from Possibility and Necessity

If everything has the possibility to not exist, then at one time there could have been nothing in existence. Picture this: if the proposed nothing has the potential to be realized, and there were nothing existing, then it could be possible for not anything to exist, which would mean that it exempts the proposed nothing and thus something would have to exist. We cannot say that everything does not exist (it has the possibility of not existing) because there must be something in existence in order to prevent nothing from existing. Therefore, there are some things that exist necessarily. Simply put, it is impossible for these things to not exist. This is to say that there are some things which cannot fail to be realized and therefore have an always-instantiated possibility. This argument is the most comprehensive of the 5 ways as it relies upon the ontological distinction between necessary and possible existence. Using elements of the first two ways to accumulate the stages of possibility and necessity.

3. Criticisms and Responses

Defender of Aquinas' arguments against Anselm was not that he was speaking nonsense, but that he was attempting to do the impossible, assuming that it is possible to think of God, where no greater conception is that which is beyond a. The Gaunilo's criticism is saying that the argument does not go deep enough into saying God's existence. This is saying that to say that God is the greatest conceivable being, from this it does not necessarily prove that God exists, only that if he does exist he is the greatest conceivable being. Aquinas might respond to this by saying that this is the initial way of proving the existence of God, and that there are more ways, which he goes on to say in the other 4 ways. Also, it is possible to merge the 3rd way as well as the 2nd way into proving that God does in fact exist. Hobbes objections lead to Aquinas' 2nd way, an efficient cause of the universe. Hobbes claimed that to say that something was caused, the cause no longer exists, and it has an infinite regress. Cause is in fact an accident, he didn't want to admit that the universe was caused, and that it's a continual process. If there is a cause of the universe, Aquinas admits that he cannot prove that it is God. However, he argues that there is a cause that is intelligent, and that the universe is not a process, but an intentional result.

3.1 Objections to Aquinas' Arguments

Back to top. Another difficulty with the view that Aquinas' argument is conclusive is that it has been very widely felt that it must be mistaken, but it has often proved extremely difficult to say exactly where it goes wrong. The arguments put forward by many of these readers have often been of poor quality, amounting to more than the expression of disbelief and sometimes based on a very poor understanding of the Five Ways. But there are also many better attempts to show that Aquinas' arguments are not conclusive. It would take us into many philosophical thickets to discuss these arguments in any detail and it may be wondered whether any useful philosophical purpose would be served by such discussions. Here I shall only deal with two objections which seem to me to have a good deal of force and interest. The first argues that causal series are not such that we are compelled to posit an uncaused cause. And the second argues that even if there is an uncaused cause this need not have any of the traditional divine attributes and there is no reason to identify it with God. Both of these objections are discussed by Aquinas himself at SCG I, 13 and I shall consider his replies to them at 3.2.

3.2 Aquinas' Responses to the Objections

Aquinas gives his responses to the objections in Summa contra Gentiles. To the first objection, that God's existence is not self-evident because his essence is not known to men, Aquinas replied that it is the nature of the necessary to be self-evident, as we can see with mathematical axioms. Now God is the absolutely necessary being, hence his existence should be self-evident. To the second objection he agreed that humans have no direct experience of God, but pointed to the things that are caused by a cause, both in its nature and its power, arguments that he has already set out in more detail in Summa Theologiae. To the third objection, Aquinas denied that God's existence was impossible to say or to think about, and asserted that we are able to give demonstrations that are his existence. Aquinas is clearly aware of the fact that his argument is complex and difficult for the ordinary person to understand. He reiterates it in many ways at many times, and as we have seen repeatedly states that the existence of God is evident. This is to be expected; prior to the Reformation, the Catholic Church had a paternalistic view of education, where knowledge of the divine was the right of all men, but the duty of clergy to deliver. This is reflected in his wish to be able to give five demonstrations of the existence of God. When he turns to his third demonstration, he says that the first two are too complex for the common man, and that "Since the salvation of men is the end of human life, therefore for the salvation of men it was necessary that the truth concerning God which is needful for salvation should be known surely and without admixture of error." He states that "salvation," here is the attainment of the end of human life, which is happiness. It would seem that Aquinas is at odds with himself; earlier he was emphatic that the existence of God was self-evident, but here he seems to be saying that knowledge of the divine is necessary for human life and attainment of the divine end. Nonetheless, Aquinas never wavers from his belief that God's existence is evident, and these statements simply reflect his wish to ensure that the simple man could find a way to come to knowledge of it.

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The Five Proofs of God’s Existence Essay

Introduction, understanding the concept of the unmoved mover, understanding the argument of the first cause, understanding the argument of contingency, understanding the argument of degree, the teleological argument, comparing scientific examination to the arguments of aquinas, works cited.

The concept of God has eluded, fascinated and enthralled humanity since time immemorial yet despite the amount of attention, speculation and religious doctrine used to conceptualize the concept of an all powerful being there has been no definitive proof that actually shows that God is real. Based on this one must wonder whether it is rational to believe and place absolute faith in an entity that for all intents and purposes has not been proven beyond the shadow of a doubt to actually exist.

Many people rationalize the existence of God by stating that nearly every single culture both in existence has believed, in one form or another, of the presence of an ultimate being or beings who have created the world as we know of it and preside over the faith of humanity. Various creation myths focusing on the origin of the world have also used divine entities as the creators of the world itself.

Not only that ancient myths connected to the Egyptians, Greeks, Romans, and Vikings all state the existence of Gods that control the very essence of life and death itself creating humanity in the process. Historical scripture in the form of the Koran, Torah and Bible, all of which are thousands of years old, all point to the existence of an all powerful entity that created the world, performed miracles beyond imagination and is the source of salvation for humanity (Haldane 381).

Yet despite all this evidence to prove otherwise many groups still believe that the existence of God is doubtful. Various psychological studies attempting to explain the reasoning behind the belief in God state that it is very likely that humanity itself created the concept of God/divine entities in order to create explanations for natural phenomena.

In Greek mythology thunder and lightning were connected to the anger of Zeus who was hurling lightning bolts at the ground, tidal waves and tsunamis were connected to the wrath of Poseidon while earthquakes and volcanic eruptions were associated with the Titans being sealed deep underground by the Gods who were trying to escape their prison (Usher 292). In fact human history is littered with natural occurrences being explained away as being the result of divine intervention rather than a simple scientific cause.

Religious belief, it is argued, is nothing more than an evolution of the notions humanity had in the past which evolved into the present day belief system. Is it any wonder then why people question whether it is rational to believe in God when there is no evidence of his existence and multiple lines of reasoning stating that God is nothing more than the result of the fanciful notions of the human imagination.

Confronting this line of reasoning is the Quinque viae, also known as the five proofs behind the existence of God which were summarized by St. Thomas Aquinas, a 13th century Roman Catholic philosopher and theologian whose book, the Summa Theologica, is one of the most influential philosophical works in Western Literature despite it never actually being finished.

Higgins in his examination of the work of Aquinas states that “the arguments of Aquinas center around the five proofs of God’s existence namely: the argument of the unmoved mover, the argument of the first cause, the argument of contingency, the argument from degree and finally the teleological argument” (Higgins 603).

Combined these five arguments supposedly prove that there is a God with many contemporary philosophers and scholars largely agreeing with his work (Higgins 603). As such this paper will seek to examine whether it is rational to believe in the concept of God based on the philosophical arguments of St. Thomas Aquinas

Under this particular concept it is perceived that everything in the world is divided under two specific categories that which is in motion and that which could potentially be put into motion.

For example a person is an entity that is constantly in motion while a rock is an object that is not in motion but has the potential to be put into motion by a person should that individual choose to pick up the rock and throw it (Higgins 605). Higgins elaborates on this idea by stating “everything which is not in motion has the potential to be put into motion by an outside force which is already in motion” (Higgins 605).

The concept of motion is not isolated to movement rather it extends to the concept of actuality and potentiality. Actuality refers to something which has already been put into motion whereas potentiality refers to something which has yet to be put into motion (Higgins 605). For example once a person is conceived that is considered a potentiality being put into actuality by an outside force namely the parents of that individual.

Using this line of reasoning it can be stated that everything that can be seen in the world today was the result of a potentiality being turned into an actuality by an outside mover. Since it is only objects in motion that can put stationary objects into motion themselves this means that if one were to trace the path of objects that have been put into motion a continuous line could be seen showing all movers of objects that came after them.

Logical reasoning dictates that such a line cannot continue on to infinity since there must a primary mover to set a chain of events into motion (Haldane 381). As such this is where the concept of God comes into play as the initial unmoved mover who began the first movement which started all other forms of movement.

In confirmation to this Masibay states “the argument of the unmoved mover is actually inherently similar to that of Isaac Newton’s law of inertia which states objects at rest tend to remain at rest unless acted upon by an outside force” (Masibay 6). In this particular analogy God was the outside force necessary to precipitate the motion of all other objects in the Universe.

Everything in the world today is the result of cause and effect wherein a particular action creates a specific type of result (Higgins 606). There is nothing in the world today which exists prior to itself and as such nothing is the cause of itself this means that there must be a preceding action to have brought it into existence.

Logically speaking though, similar to the argument of the first mover there must have been a cause to start off the first effect (Powlowski 17). A cause that was not influenced by any prior action before it, it is in this instance that the concept of God is introduced as being the first cause in the long line of cause and effect.

In this particular argument everything in nature is assumed to exist and to not exist with the necessity of something currently existing to bring about that which does not exist (Higgins 607). For example the person that is reading this paper right now was initially nothing until brought into existence by his/her parents. Under the argument of contingency it is assumed that every being in existence is a contingent being namely an entity that came into being from nothingness as a result of beings which are already in existence.

Therefore it can be assumed that there is need for a being currently in existence to bring about a contingent being that is in nothingness. Powloski clarifies this idea by stating “since everything in nature shifts between existing and not existing it can be assumed that at one time in the past nothing existed however such an argument is highly improbable since right now we are currently existing if there was a period where nothing existed there would not have been an existence to bring us into being” (Powlowski 17).

As such this brings up the topic of a sort of necessary existence already in place that brings about the existence of all other things that does not require the existence of anything that comes before it. Such an existence is thus described as God being the creator of all things.

Everything in the world today has certain gradations namely some things are described as hotter, colder, better or worse. As such it assumed by Aquinas that the maximum of any genus, namely the hottest of the hot and coldest of the cold is the cause and origin of that particular genus (Higgins 608).

Based on this argument if everything has an origin which is at the maximum or height of that specific type of genus then the highest genus or the absolute maximum measure for all things namely utter and complete perfection is God. This does make sense since if everything has certain gradations with some things being better than others. It goes without saying that following this line of thought to its absolute zenith will result in something that has no equal and is absolutely perfect.

The teleological argument states that all natural bodies in the world work toward some predetermined goal, even animals such a birds seem to explicitly know where to go when its winter its water, what is ok to eat and where they can fish (Higgins 609).

This argument assumes that all natural things in the world lack knowledge and as such it does not make sense that they would know such things such as which particular direction would be the best to fly towards. An example of an arrow released by an archer would be the best way to explain this. An arrow lacks any form of brain yet hits its goal due to the actions of the archer guiding it before hand. As such the teleological argument presents the idea that there is something that directs nature towards a particular design.

First and foremost I would like to state that it would have been far easier to simply focus on scientific evidence to disprove God rather than try to prove his existence through philosophical and theological means. Haldane in his work states “the inherent problem with using science as a means to disprove the existence of God is that while it is able to show evidence that God does not exist it is unable to disprove that God does exist” (Haldane 390).

In other words “science can neither prove nor disprove with absolute certainty the existence of God” (Haldane 390). Science does confirm that the world does follow certain immutable laws however this only serves to prove the teleological argument of Aquinas in that God acts as the grand designer for all things. Science has yet to prove how such laws came into being and as such cannot state with absolute certainty that they were not the result of a grand design created by God.

Another factor to consider is that science also cannot explain the how the concept of instinct comes about in animals. While it apparent that some form of learning process does occur through certain animal species the fact remains that some of the feats seen by some animals (migratory birds, spawning salmon etc) seem to go beyond what normal teaching methods in the animal kingdom can provide.

Finally while it is generally believed in most scientific communities that the Big Bang was the start of the universe few can sectors can explain how the needed energy utilized during the event came into existence since it is generally perceived that the universe was initially nothingness. As such if one were to examine the five proofs of God as stated by Aquinas one cannot help but rationalize that in the absence of contending scientific fact to prove otherwise proves there most certainly is a God.

After elaborating on the five proofs of God’s existence and combining them in an examination of current scientific reasoning it can be said that it is rational to believe in the concept of God based on the philosophical arguments of St. Thomas Aquinas.

Earlier on it was mentioned that it would be irrational to believe in something that did not exist at all yet if God does exist as shown through the five proofs of Aquinas it would not be irrational at all to worship him. As such despite the lack of solid scientific data to prove it does seem somewhat rational to worship the concept of God so long as it is done with the knowledge of the five proofs of his existence in mind.

Haldane, John. “Common Sense, Metaphysics, and the Existence of God.” American Catholic Philosophical Quarterly: Journal of the American Catholic Philosophical Association 77.3 (2003): 381-398.EBSCO. Web.

Higgins, James. “St. Thomas’ Pedagogy – Ignored, Discovered, Applied.” Heythrop Journal 50.4 (2009): 603-619. EBSCO. Web.

Masibay, Kim Y. “Thrills and Spills.” Science World 58.14 (2002): 6. EBSCO. Web.

Pawłowski, Miłosz. “Traversing the Infinite and Proving the Existence of God.” Forum Philosophicum: International Journal for Philosophy 12.1 (2007): 17-31. EBSCO. Web.

Usher, M. D. “Theomachy, Creation, and the Poetics of Quotation in Longinus Chapter 9.” Classical Philology 102.3 (2007): 292-303 EBSCO. Web.

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IvyPanda. (2020, January 20). The Five Proofs of God’s Existence. https://ivypanda.com/essays/god-2/

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The Existence of God is a sequel to The Coherence of Theism , originally published in 1977. The Coherence of Theism was concerned with what it means to say that there is a God and whether the claim that there is a God is internally coherent. The Existence of God is concerned with whether the claim is true; it is concerned to assess the weight of arguments from experience for and against this claim, and to reach a conclusion about whether on balance the arguments indicate that there is a God or that there is not. The present book assumes that the claim that there is a God is not demonstrably incoherent (i.e. logically impossible), and hence that it is proper to look around us for evidence of its truth or falsity. For argument in justification of this assumption I must refer to the earlier work. However, it is in no way necessary for a reader to have read the earlier work in order to understand this one; nor, with the exception just described, does this work in any way presuppose the results of the earlier one. The issues discussed in The Existence of God are ones of more general concern than those discussed in The Coherence of Theism . Most people have usually supposed that they understood in some very vague way what it meant to say that there was a God; and, so long as they supposed that human words were only a rough guide to what was claimed, that the claim was not demonstrably incoherent. Intense concern about the exact meaning of the claim and whether it is coherent has been primarily the concern of professional theologians and philosophers. But what has worried ordinary people down the centuries is whether the evidence of human experience shows that the claim is true or that it is false. That issue is the topic of this book. The book aims to discuss the topic in depth and with rigour.

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Other ('minor') arguments for the existence of God that have received serious discussion in recent times include: moral arguments (such as those initially developed by Kant and Newman); arguments from religious experience; arguments from ... Wide-ranging introduction to philosophy of religion includes discussion of: ontological arguments ...
God's Existence: Views and Ideas Essay (Critical Writing)
Introduction. The various views of God's existence provide a plurality of ideas and arguments used to justify God's meaning as a phenomenon. Rational, theological, and critical ideas form the underlying principles of the probability of God's existence. A unified view of God is impossible because denying it would have a more significant ...
Aquinas's Five Proofs for the Existence of God
One of the questions the Summa Theologica is well known for addressing is the question of the existence of God. Aquinas responds to this question by offering the following five proofs: 1. The Argument from Motion: Our senses can perceive motion by seeing that things act on one another. Whatever moves is moved by something else.
Arguments for the existence of God
Bayne, Tim, 'Arguments for the existence of God', Philosophy of Religion: A Very Short Introduction, Very Short Introductions (Oxford ... There is certainly no shortage of arguments that purport to establish God's existence, but 'Arguments for the existence of God' focuses on three of the most influential arguments: the cosmological ...
The Existence of God : A Philosophical Introduction
Yujin Nagasawa is Senior Lecturer in Philosophy at the University of Birmingham, UK. He is author of God and Phenomenal Consciousness (2008), and editor/co-editor of There's Something About Mary: Essays on Phenomenal Consciousness and Frank Jackson's Knowledge Argument (2004), New Waves in Philosophy of Religion (2008) and Scientific Approaches to the Philosophy of Religion (2012).
Introduction
The Existence of God is a sequel to The Coherence of Theism, published in 1977.The Coherence of Theism was concerned with what it means to say that there is a God and whether the claim that there is a God is internally coherent.The Existence of God is concerned with whether the claim is true; it is concerned to assess the weight of arguments from experience for and against this claim, and to ...
PDF The Existence of God Richard Swinburne
existence of God. Each of the phenomena cited in my opening paragraph has formed the starting point of an argument for the existence of God. These arguments seem to me to have a common pattern. Some phenomenon E, which we can all observe, is considered. It is claimed that E is puzzling, strange, not to
The Existence of God: Key Arguments
This essay is going to provide two arguments for the existence of God. The anthropic principle is an argument of the existence of a reasonable plan for the structure of the Universe. According to this argument, only God may create the complex structure of nature, universe, and life on the Earth. Such phenomena as a fixed distance of Earth from ...
Evidence that God exists
One very strong point that Plato brings out to explain the evidence of God is that everything that exists (matter) requires the presence of a superior being to get into motion. The cosmic level interpretation of his argument points out to a universe that exist, but which requires certain power. In other words, the movement of the universe ...
Anselm: Ontological Argument for the God's Existence
Existence. One of the most fascinating arguments for the existence of an all-perfect God is the ontological argument. While there are several different versions of the argument, all purport to show that it is self-contradictory to deny that there exists a greatest possible being. Thus, on this general line of argument, it is a necessary truth ...
The Existence of God
The Existence of God: A Philosophical Introduction assesses classical and contemporary arguments concerning the existence of God: the ontological argument, introducing the nature of existence, possible worlds, parody objections, and the evolutionary origin of the concept of God. the cosmological argument, discussing metaphysical paradoxes of ...
The Existence of God and Its Importance
The race of good people everywhere, we change the world in different identities to make it better. If God does not exist, all our efforts will fail, and life will eventually be meaningless. The third reason is the origin of the universe. Regarding the existence of God, many people don't know what the universe is.
Existence of God Essay
Free Essays from Bartleby | The existence of God has been in question for as long as mankind has existed and thought logically. ... Existence of God Major issues and controversies on the existence of God Name: - Yasin Eroglu Student Number: - 213483441 Course Name and Code: - The Nature of Religion: An Introduction, AP/HUMA 1860 6.00 Teacher ...
The Proofs to the Existence of God: [Essay Example], 940 words
The Proofs to The Existence of God. The question of the existence of God has ignited profound philosophical debates, spiritual quests, and intellectual inquiries throughout human history. It is a question that transcends cultures, religions, and worldviews, beckoning us to explore the mysteries of the universe and the very nature of divinity.
Aquinas on the Existence of God Essay
1. Introduction While the existence of God has been a very important issue, to answer this issue, many people have come up with their own ideas, thoughts, and elaborations to prove the existence of God. Some have been very successful in developing a very wide area of ideas, for example comparing with religious references, science, and also philosophy. One of the most successful people in ...
The Five Proofs of God's Existence
Learn More. Higgins in his examination of the work of Aquinas states that "the arguments of Aquinas center around the five proofs of God's existence namely: the argument of the unmoved mover, the argument of the first cause, the argument of contingency, the argument from degree and finally the teleological argument" (Higgins 603).
Introduction
The Existence of God is a sequel to The Coherence of Theism, originally published in 1977.The Coherence of Theism was concerned with what it means to say that there is a God and whether the claim that there is a God is internally coherent.The Existence of God is concerned with whether the claim is true; it is concerned to assess the weight of arguments from experience for and against this ...
Essay: Existence of God
Existence of God. Essay. Pages: 10 (3906 words) · Bibliography Sources: 10 · File: .docx · Level: College Senior · Topic: Mythology - Religion. Existence of God. God's existence is not provable, but one can just believe in it. Believe of God's existence depends on understanding and source of information that individual has on this subject.