Existence Of God Essay

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Proving existence of God The existence of God is a very fundamental topic on which many philosophers have argued and till date there is no physical proof of His existence. At some point or the other of our life, we all ask the question, does God exist? The answer to this changes our way of living, our thinking and how we understand or interpret the world. If one answers a yes then they live for a purpose and hope for eternity, while others create their purpose on planet earth and understand death as their final end. Most of the religions have a general view that God is not only omnipotent (capable of doing anything) and omniscient (all-knowing), but also, supremely benevolent (all-good). These religions would mainly include Christianity, Judaism and Islam. However, does He actually exist? How can a reasonable person believe in his existence when one cannot even see Him? There are different types of arguments by different philosophers proving the existence of God. According to Immanuel Kant (1724-1804) a German philosopher there are only three possible bases on which to prove God’s existence: no experience, many experiences and one experience The first argument is the ‘Ontological Argument’. Unlike the other two claims, this one is not based on evidence. ‘The Design argument’ depends on the nature around us and ‘The Cosmological argument’ is based on scientific evidence, the cause and effect. However, the ontological argument by St. Anselm (1033-1109), which is described as non-experiential or a priori in character, states that if God exists then he should be perfect and it is an imperfection not to exist, therefore, since God is perfect He exists. St. Anselm said that “God is a being than that which nothing greater can be conceive... ... middle of paper ... ...s easier for me. However, there are some philosophers who argue against His existence by saying for example, God is infinite goodness and if He existed, there would be no evil, but there is evil in this world so He does not exist. Secondly, they say every natural thing can be explained by science or nature and all voluntary things can be explained by human will so there is no need for His existence. But these statements were responded to by saying that it is a part of infinite goodness that He should allow evil to exist and for us to extract the good out of it. And the second argument was replied by saying that whatever is done by nature or done voluntarily must be traced back to a higher cause other than human will because these can change and fail and all things which are changeable and capable of defect must be traced back to an immovable principle, which is God.

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