The Existence of God

For many great details on this subject look at the books entitled, Conversations With A Stranger: A Search for God, by Larry Tate. More information can be found at http://www.tatebook.com/.

Do you ever wonder if God truly exists? Even the most secure Christian may have days when he wonders about the existence of God. Wouldn’t it be convenient if you could see God at least once, and have a face-to-face communication with him? Is there anything other than blind faith that can bolster a person’s belief that God does in fact, exist?

First and foremost, faith in the unseen God is of utmost importance. Faith has no equal. Faith is the prerequisite to a walk with God, and is necessary for salvation. With that aside, are there any proofs of God’s existence? Yes, there are many; some of which will be described in this blog. Many men have attempted to prove God’s existence. A few of them are, Blaise Pascal, Thomas Aquinas, Anselm of Canterbury, St. Augustine, Rene Descartes, Avicenna and William Paley.

After examining these proofs, you should obtain the book, Conversations with a Stranger: A Search for God, written by Larry Tate. A good number of proofs about God’s existence are combined into one entertaining and easy-to-read novel about a man’s mission to find out for himself if God truly exists. He eventually finds the evidence he is looking for, but he does not find it where he was expecting to find it. Go to http://www.tatebook.com/ for more information on this enlightening and entertaining book.


Blaise Pascal’s Wager

Blaise Pascal was a French mathematician, physicist and religious philosopher in the 1600’s. His probability theory laid the basis for modern economics and social science.

Blaise Pascal is known for Pascal’s Wager or Pascal’s Gambit. His wager theory is not an actual proof of God’s existence. However after analyzing it, a person has little choice but to live out one’s life as though God does in fact exist.

This simple wager scenario can have a life-changing effect on anyone who honestly studies it. Pascal posed the suggestion that even if a person discards all proofs of God’s existence, he should still live his life as though God does in fact, exist. Why is that? According to Pascal, living one’s life as though God exists has everything to gain, and absolutely nothing to lose. On the other hand, living one’s life as though God does not exist has nothing to gain, and absolutely everything to lose.

It is in Pascal’s Pensees that his wager is detailed. His wager is for all of those who trust neither in faith nor in the logic of reason. Pascal is widely known for the following quote: For after all what is man in nature? A nothing in relation to infinity, and all in relation to nothing, a central point between nothing and all and infinitely far from understanding either.

Pascal did not expect that acceptance of his wager would result in faith, or in salvation. Instead, he expected that acceptance of his wager to result in the beginnings of faith. He wrote, You would like to attain faith, and do not know the way; you would like to cure yourself of unbelief, and ask the remedy for it. Learn of those who have been bound like you, and who now stake all their possessions. These are people who know the way which you would follow, and who are cured of an ill which you would be cured. Follow the way by which they began; by acting as if they believed.

And now, for Pascal’s Wager

God either exists, or He does not exist. This is a fact that cannot be refuted. Every person on the face of the earth is forced to make a wager in life. They must live their lives as though God does exist, or they must live their lives as though God does not exist. It is an absolute impossibility not to make this wager. All of the so-called proofs of God’s existence are in the realm of theory, which cannot be proven beyond the shadow of a doubt. Since reason alone cannot decide the question of God’s existence, one must place a wager on his existence.

The facts are that God exists or he does not exist. And, a person must live his life as though God exists, or as though God does not exist.

Scenario Number One: God does exist.
If a person lives his life as though God exists, and God does in fact, exist, then that person has everything to gain. Eternal life in heaven with God will be the reward. On the other hand, if a person lives his life as though God does not exist, and God does in fact, exist, then that person has everything to lose. Eternal existence in hell will be the punishment.

Scenario Number Two: God does not exist.
If a person lives his life as though God exists, but God does not actually exist, then that person has nothing to gain and nothing to lose. When death overtakes that person, he will simply cease to exist. On the other hand, if a person lives his life as though God does not exist, and God actually does not exit, then that person still has nothing to gain and nothing to lose. When death overtakes that person, he will simply cease to exist.

Below is another way to view this wager for those who would rather see a depiction of it in table-form.

God does exist God does not exist

Living life as if God exists: Reward is Heaven No reward

Living life as if God does not exist: Reward is Hell No reward

Life’s wager has only three possible outcomes: depending on the person’s choice, he will either 1) have an eternal reward, 2) have an eternal punishment, or 3) simply cease to exist. We are left with one startling revelation. There is only one positive outcome associated with the wager of life.

Imagine a person walking up to a game at a casino. Before he makes a bet, the casino employee says, “There are only two bets in this game. You can bet on Red, or you can bet on Black. If you bet on Red, you will either win a fabulous reward, or you will break even. On the other hand, if you bet on Black, you will either lose everything, or you will break even.” The bettor would be a fool to bet on Black because there is absolutely no chance of winning. Red would be the only bet that has any chance of winning. It is the same with the wager of life. There is only one wager with a positive outcome, living life as though God does exist!

If you are a living and breathing person, you are making a wager on your life. You are either living as though God exists, or you are living as though God does not exist. There are no other choices. There is only one positive outcome available for your wager. Which wager are you making on your life?

For an easy-to-understand depiction of this wager scenario, along with other proofs of God’s existence, read my book, Conversations with a Stranger: A Search for God.


The Five Ways of St. Thomas Aquinas’

St. Thomas Aquinas was a Christian philosopher in the 1200’s. He is known for his Summa Theologica and his Five Ways of proving God’s existence: The Unmoved Mover, The Argument of the First Cause, The Argument from Contingency, The Argument from Degree (or Perfection), and The Argument of Intelligent Design.

The Unmoved Mover

The Argument of the Unmoved Mover tries to explain that God must be the cause of motion in the universe. This argument is the first of St. Thomas Aquinas’ Five Ways. His Argument from Motion is based on the observation that any object had to have some other object or force to put it into motion.

An interpretation of his argument goes as follows:

Some things are in motion.
Whatever is in motion is put in motion by something else.
Whatever put that object in motion must itself be put in motion by something else.
Through a chain of events, each object moving another object must have been moved by yet another object further in the past.
There cannot be an endless chain of moving events going on to infinity.
Without a first mover, there would be no motion.
Therefore, it is necessary to arrive at a first mover; a first mover put in motion by no other.
This first mover is God.


The Argument of the First Cause

The Argument of the First Cause is the second of St. Thomas Aquinas’ Five Ways. The argument of the first cause tries to prove that God must have been the cause, or the creator of the universe. It is therefore a form of the cosmological argument. The argument states that no object is capable of creating its own self. Every created object had to be created by something or someone else. Going back in time, there had to be the first creator. This first creator could not itself, have been created. A similar philosophy is discussed by St. Augustine.

An interpretation of his argument goes as follows:

All things and beings that exist are caused by other things.
Nothing can be the cause of its own self. If so, it would exist prior to itself.
Through a chain of events, each object of being causing the existence of another object or being, must have been caused by yet another object or being.
There cannot be an endless chain of objects or beings causing the existence of other objects or beings.
Without a first cause, there would be no objects or beings in existence today.
Therefore, it is necessary to arrive at a first cause; a first cause which is caused by no other.
This first cause is God.

Another philosopher who spoke out on this subject was Avicenna. According to Avicenna, the universe consists of a chain of actual beings, each giving existence to the one below it and responsible for the existence of the rest of the chain below. Due to the fact that there cannot be an infinite past to our universe, the chain as a whole must terminate in a being that is wholly simple and one, whose essence is its very existence and therefore is self-sufficient and not in need of something else to give it existence. For an enlightening understanding on the impossibility of an infinite past, read the novel, Conversations with a Stranger.

The Argument from Contingency and Necessary Objects

The Argument from Contingency and Necessary Objects is the third of St. Thomas Aquinas’ Five Ways. There are only two kinds of objects in existence: contingent beings and necessary beings. A contingent being is an object or being that cannot exist without a necessary being causing its existence.

An interpretation of his argument goes as follows:

Many things in the universe may either exist or not exist. Such things are called contingent beings.
It is impossible for everything in the universe to be contingent, for then there would be a time when nothing existed, and so nothing would exist now, since there would be nothing to bring anything into existence, which is clearly false.
Therefore, there must be a necessary being whose existence is not contingent on any other being or beings.
This being is God.

Another way of stating the argument is as follows:

We find things (beings) are possible to be, and possible not to be.
That which is possible not to be, at some time is not.
If everything is possible not to be, then at one time there could have been nothing in existence.
If there was a time when nothing was in existence, then even now there would be nothing in existence because that which does not exist only begins to exist by something else already existing.
Therefore, not all beings are merely possible.
There must exist something, the existence of which is necessary.
This necessary being must have of itself its own necessity, and not receiving it from another.
This necessary being is God.



The Argument from Degree, or The Perfect One

The Argument from Degree is St. Thomas Aquinas’ Fourth Way, in which the qualities of all things are judged by something else.

An interpretation of his argument goes as follows:

Everything that exists has certain qualities, such as whiteness, greatness and goodness.
Among beings, there are some that are more or less of certain qualities, such as: more or less good, true, great, tall, large and hot.
For something to be more or less of a certain quality, there must exist something that is the ultimate of that quality, such as: the hottest, the largest, the best, the tallest, and the whitest.
If anything is great, there must exist something that is the greatest. If anything is hot, there must exist something that is the hottest. If anything is good, there must exist something that is the most good.
Among things in existence, anything which seems to contain the greatest of a certain quality will eventually be replaced by another thing that contains an even greater of that certain quality.
There must exist something which expresses the greatest of all qualities by which all other things are judged and compared.
This being that expresses the greatest of all qualities is the Perfect One.
The Perfect One is God.


The Intelligent Designer

The Intelligent Designer is St. Thomas Aquinas’ Fifth Way. A similar philosophy is found in Paley’s Teleological Argument. This argument suggests that all things must be designed by an intelligent designer. The main idea of this argument is that there exists so much intricate detail, design, and purpose in the world that we must suppose a creator. All of the sophistication and incredible detail we observe in nature could not have occurred by chance. By observing the fulfillment of purpose in nature, the teleological argument moves to the conclusion that there must be a designer.

An interpretation of this argument goes as follows:

There are things which lack intelligence.
Nevertheless, these things act for an end, by acting in the same way, so as to obtain the best result.
It is by design that they act in such a manner as to achieve their end.
Whatever lacks intelligence cannot move toward an end on its own. It must be directed by some being endowed with knowledge and intelligence.
Therefore some intelligent being exists by whom all things are directed to their end.
This Intelligent Being is God.
Another way of stating the argument is as follows:

1. Human artifacts are products of intelligent design.
2. The universe resembles human artifacts.
3. Therefore, the universe is a product of intelligent design.
4. But, the universe is complex and gigantic in comparison to human artifacts.
5. Therefore, there probably is a powerful and vastly intelligent designer who created the universe.
6. This intelligent designer is God.


St. Anselm’s Ontological Argument

The Greater is St. Anselm’s Ontological Argument. St. Anselm was a Christian philosopher around the year 1100 A.D. His argument is based on reason alone. Rene Descartes had a similar Ontological Argument.

An interpretation of this argument goes as follows:

God is a being in which none greater is possible.
The concept of God exists in one’s mind.
It is possible that God may also exist in reality.
It is greater for a thing to exist in both the mind and in reality than in the mind alone.
If God exists in the mind only, then a greater than God could be thought, because one could think of God in reality, in addition to being in the mind alone.
It cannot be that God exists in the mind only, because God is a being in which a greater is not possible.
Therefore, God exists in the mind and in reality.

For many great details on this subject look at the books entitled, Conversations With A Stranger: A Search for God, by Larry Tate. More information can be found at http://www.tatebook.com/.