The Proof of the Existence of God

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The Proof of the Existence of God

There are many arguments that try to prove the existence of God. In

this essay I will look at the ontological argument, the cosmological

argument, empirical arguments such as the avoidance of error and the

argument from design. There are many criticisms of each of these that

would say the existence of God can’t be proven that are perhaps

stronger than those saying it can be. The definition of God for which

is being argued is the Christian God who has the qualities of being

perfect and who created the universe.

The ontological argument follows that God id perfect and no greater

being is imaginable. If God did not exist, he would not be the

greatest being imaginable. He is the greatest thing imaginable.

Therefore he does exist. From this argument, God’s existence is viewed

as necessary (Ayer. A.J. 1973). His existence is seen as simply

another property of his being. Just like omnipotence and omnipresent

are properties. One example that has been used to explain this is a

triangle. A triangle has certain properties such as all of the angles

add up to 180o and even if we have never thought about it before we

clearly recognise these properties ‘whether we want to or not’

(Cottingham. J. 1986). A triangle’s real meaning is independent of our

mind just as God’s existence is. We can’t separate the property of all

angles adding up to 180o from a triangle and we can’t separate the

property of existence from God.

But this argument raises the question of whether or not existence can

been defined as a property. A property of something should give more

information about what is being described such as sayi...

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...God and that we should not and

cannot try to prove his existence because of this (AR V11 180; CSM 11

127, as cited in J. Cottingham, 1986). Belief is a question of faith.

For those who believe in God do not feel it necessary to prove his

existence as their faith is enough for them. To a person who’s belief

is so certain and so strong, God’s existence cannot be denied even

without proof. But on the other hand, God’s existence can not be

proved in terms of objective arguments and scientific facts. In answer

to the question, God’s existence cannot be proved, but neither can his

non existence.

References

Ayer. A.J. (1973) The Central Questions of Philosophy: The Claims of

Theology: Chapter 10

Cottingham. J. (1986) Descartes: Blackwell Publishing

Cottingham. J. (2005) Western Philosophy: Blackwell Publishing

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