Existance Of God Essay Research Paper

Existance Of God Essay, Research Paper

“No one can think the opposite of that which is self evident…But the opposite of the proposition “God Exists” can be thought…therefore the proposition that God existence is self evident.”( Thomas Aquinas)

Some people may say that God is an omnipotent, omniscient being that the universe revolves around. In other words, God is all-powerful, all knowing, and runs the universe, but the mere claim, to prove Gods existence, seems to invite ridicule. The people who ridicule are not always right. They are the people who laugh first and think later. Before modern technology and scientific innovations were discovered, world-renowned doctors and scientists in the past laughed at every new discovery. They laughed when they heard for the first time about diseases so tiny that you could not see them. They continued to laugh at virtually every discovery that challenged their previous believes. They always laughed first, but when premises became proven, they were also the first to jump on the bandwagon.

The question religious philosophers have been pondering for ages, why do we seek proof for the Existence of God. I think the answer is, we fear death and seek assurance that survival is not only possible, but also guaranteed. Since we can only survive within a condition that is not undergoing constant change and decay, we need something that exists forever and is not subject to change. Such condition of eternal being ness is what we termed God. The next question then may be: Is the end worth all the trouble. Here we can again take advice from our Saints, Mystics, Sages, and the Scripture. They all speak of “Heavenly Bliss”. The value this condition has for us is made clear in this quote from the New Testament (Matt. 13:44-46): “The Kingdome of Heaven is like this. A man happens to find a Treasure hidden in a field. He covers it up again, and is so happy that he goes and sells everything he has, and then goes back and buys that field.”

The topic that concerns me in religious philosophy is, can the existence of God be revealed or can He be proved by other people’s arguments. The arguments for the existence of God divide into two main groups, a priori and posteriori arguments. A priori argument depends on no premises and a posteriori argument is based on premises that can know by experiences of life and the universe. Philosophers for centuries have questioned and have tried to prove the existence of a God. The two philosophers that come to my mind are Saint Thomas Aquinas and William Paley. Both of these philosophers are alike in the fact that they both argued a posteriori arguments. Out of both of their arguments, Thomas Aquinas’s argument was categorized as cosmological. This type of argument begins with a posteriori assumptions that a great, spirtitual being exists and something other than the plain existence of the being is supposed to explain it. The second philosopher, William Paley’s argument was theological. A theological argument for the existence of God begins with a premise that the world demonstrates intelligent purpose and goes forward to the conclusion that there must be or there may be a supreme being with a divine intelligence. Even though, Thomas Aquinas and William Paley both agree that God exists, and while their arguments to prove God’s existence share some differences, similarities surface as well. (Pojman,Louis P.(1999) p.41)

Thomas Aquinas was a philosopher in an era of that Christianity was the only religion and to go against Christianity or any of its beliefs was thought to be sacrilegious. The two points, which crossed Thomas Aquinas’, mind, which through his argument he will prove wrong. One was if God was so good why does he let evil exist among those, which he created. The second is everything can be explained through the principal of nature or human reason. In lieu of this there is no need to hypothesis Gods existence. In order to disprove these two points Aquinas presents his five premise arguments in order to prove the existence of God or Supreme Being. (Wulf , Maurice De(1959))

In the first premise he argues the point of motion or change. In this regard another must move anything that has moved. He believes that if there were not a first mover then there would be no other movers. In this premise the first mover is God. If there were no mover before humans became relevant then as of now we would have no movement.( Copleston,Frederick(1976))

His second premise states causation. Causation is the relationship of a cause and its effect. He argues that there are different levels of causes. The cause prior to the cause that recently occurred is the dependent of the two. This is because he made a conclusion that there must be a first cause dependent of all other causes. The existence of non-important beings demands the existence of an important being. All causes would be obsolete if the existence of the first cause or the most important being. This cause represents the existence of God.

In his third premise Aquinas debates contingency and the necessary being. He states that in order for us to exist, since we are dependent on some being; we are dependent on God because God has a master plan for every person. God is like a puppet master and all humans are the puppets. Every person in the universe needs a higher being to look up to and ask for guidance. This is proven in such