[Philosophy] Existence of God

How do we know whether God exists or not? Is it a pure belief, is it based on evidence, or can it be proved with reason?

Thomas Aquinas’s Five Ways to Prove the Existence of God

Thomas Aquinas provided 5 ways to prove the existence of God, which laid the basis for future debates and arguments.

1. The First Way: Motion
   • All bodies are actually or potentially in motion.
   • If there is no first mover, there is no motion.
   • Therefore, there is a first mover, God.
2. The Second Way: Efficient Cause
   • There are cause and effect.
   • Nothing is the cause of itself.
   • Therefore, there is a first cause, God.
3. The Third Way: Possibility and Necessity
   • Everything exists only through something that already exists.
   • If there was nothing, there is nothing now.
   • There is something now.
   • Therefore, there is a necessary (first) being, God.
4. The Fourth Way: Gradation
   • There is a gradation to be found in things: some are better (darker, colder, etc.) than others.
   • If anything is good, there must be something that is most good.
   • Therefore, there is the entity that is most good and most perfect, God.
5. The Fifth Way: Design
   • All natural beings tend to act toward an end (a goal or purpose).
     • such as an acorn and an oak tree (Aristotle)
   • These things act toward an end either by chance (without knowledge) or by design (by direction).
   • However, many natural beings lack knowledge or the ability to make intelligent decisions.
   • Therefore, there is an intelligent being, God, for all natural things to direct them to their end.

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Teleological Arguments

Teleological:
(in philosophy) involving the belief that everything has a purpose or use

https://dictionary.cambridge.org/

The teleological argument is based on the inherent design within reality and attempts to infer the existence of an entity (God) responsible for the design.

• The fifth way of Thomas Aquinas is one form of teleological arguments.

Intelligent Design – Arguments in Biology

• There exist so much intricate detail, complexity, and purpose in the world that we must assume a designer or a creator.
• William Paley (1743~1805) was one of the earliest proponents of the biological design.
  • Paley employs an analogy between the design of a watch and that of the universe. How do all of the complex parts work together without a skillful designer?

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Moral Arguments

The moral argument can be very strong and has influenced many people. Without God, there seems to be no morality to guide us, and we might do anything we want.

1. If objective values (which can be applied to all moral agents) exist, there must be a source for their validity.
2. Only God, who is most just, can be the source of all values.
3. God knows what is good and has authority over us.
4. Objective values do exist.
5. Therefore, God exists.

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Ontological Arguments

The basic form of the ontological (being or existence) argument of the existence of God was proposed by Anselm, Archbishop of Canterbury. Anselm’s proof is a priori and does not appeal to empirical or sense data.

1. God is a being than which nothing greater can be conceived.
2. If something only exists in the mind and does not exist in reality, there must be a greater entity (exists both in the mind and reality) than this.
3. God must exist in both the mind and reality because God is the greatest entity we can think of.

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Problem of Evil

The problem of evil has challenged many thinkers on how God, the most benevolent and powerful being, and the apparent evil and suffering in the world can coexist. It is one of the most powerful arguments of atheists.

The Logical Problems of Evil

David Hume, the great skeptic, proposed the following logical arguments.

• If God knows about evil and suffering but cannot stop it, then God is not omnipotent.
• If God is able to stop the suffering but does not know about it, then God is not omniscient.
• If God knows about the suffering and can stop it but does not wish to do it, then God is not omnibenevolent.

Christian Defense against the Problem of Evil

Saint Augustine argued the problem from the Neo-Platonic ideas.

1. Evil is not real. God would not introduce evil into our existence.
2. Evil is a state of absence or negation of God.
3. Evil ensures the necessity of God.