Evidence for the Existence of God

Bible Pictionary

Noah's Ark

Sermon on the Mount

Golden Calf

The angels appeared to the shepherds

The Burning Bush

Jesus feeds the five thousand

Solomon’s wisdom

Jesus curses the fig tree

Moses lifts the serpent in the wilderness

Jesus heals the man lowered through the roof

David dances before the Lord with all His might

Lesson

Cosmological argument: Argument that God exists, by looking at the cosmos, the universe, there is life that exists therefore something must have made it. The universe was designed intricately, so there must be a designer.

Moral Argument: Every society in the world has had a basic understanding that some things are good and some things are evil, there has to be a standard to hold that against

Ontological Argument: The fact that we can think up a maximally perfect being, means that on some plain existence, one must exist. Like the moral argument there has to at some point be an ultimate standard, that standard is God.

Aquinas

First Mover

Change is immediately apparent in the universe, in the sense that things move from a “potential” state to an “actual” state. Logically, this chain of changes cannot be infinitely long, or else nothing would have ever changed in the first place. Therefore, there must exist some unchanged and un-changing thing that actualizes all other changes. This principle is not related to time or a sequence of events. Rather, it points out the need to have something capable of causing the changes we observe: God, the Unmoved Mover.

All bodies are either potentially in motion or actually in motion.

"But nothing can be reduced from potentiality to actuality, except by something in a state of actuality" (419).

Nothing can be at once in both actuality and potentiality in the same respect.

Therefore, nothing can be at once in both actuality and potentiality with respect to motion

Therefore, nothing can move itself; it must be put into motion by something else.

If there were no "first mover, moved by no other" there would be no motion.

But there is motion.

Therefore, there is a first mover, God.

Efficient Cause

Cause and effect are apparent in the universe. Everything that occurs is caused by something else. All events are dependent on some other occurrence or thing in order to make them happen. A thing cannot be the cause of itself, or else it would never come to exist. Logically, this chain of causation cannot be infinitely long, or nothing would ever have come to exist in the first place. Therefore, there must be an uncaused thing that causes all other things. This argument is not related to time or a sequence of events. Rather, it considers the fact that all things are dependent on something else for their existence.In other words, the second of Aquinas’s ways to show God’s existence is based on the fact that all effects are caused by some other event, which in turn is the effect of some other cause. But this chain of causality cannot be infinitely long, so there must be some uncaused cause: God, the First Cause.

Nothing is the efficient cause of itself.

If A is the efficient cause of B, then if A is absent, so is B.

Efficient causes are ordered from first cause, through intermediate cause(s), to ultimate effect.

By (2) and (3), if there is no first cause, there cannot be any ultimate effect.

But there are effects.

Therefore, there must be a first cause for all of them: God.

Contingency

Nothing we observe in the universe is necessary; nothing needs to exist in and of itself. We often observe things that cease to exist, falling victim to death, destruction, or decay. Eventually, all non-necessary things cease to be. But, if it were possible for everything to cease to exist, and if there has been an infinite amount of past time, then all things would have already ceased to exist. There would be nothing left at all. The fact that anything exists at all, even now, means there must be one thing that cannot cease to exist, one thing that must necessarily exist. There must be one thing that is non-contingent—i.e., its existence is not dependent on anything else. This thing must be. In other words, Aquinas’s third argument or way to prove God’s existence is that if everything were impermanent, eventually, everything would cease to be. Therefore, there must be at least one thing that must necessarily exist (one non-contingent thing): God, the Necessary Being.

"We find in nature things that are possible to be and not to be:" contingent beings.

Everything is either necessary or contingent.

Assume that everything is contingent.

"It is impossible for [contingent beings] always to exist, for that which can not-be at some time is not."

Therefore, by (3) and (4), at one time there was nothing.

"That which does not exist begins to exist only through something already existing.

Therefore, by (5) and (6), there is nothing now.

But there is something now!

Therefore (3) is false.

Therefore, by (2), there is a necessary being: God.

Perfection

Every trait we see, in every object, is compared to some standard: health, morality, strength, and so forth. The fact that we instinctively see degrees in these areas implies that there is some ultimate standard against which to judge that property. And all comparative properties share a common sense of “perfection.” This means there must be some ultimate standard of “perfection” from which to judge all other properties; those objects cannot be the source or definition of that property in and of themselves. In other words, Aquinas’s fourth argument in favour of God’s existence points out that, in order to speak of “goodness” or “power,” we must have an absolute standard against which to judge those terms; there must be some other thing from which they ultimately derive that characteristic: God, the Ultimate Standard.

There is a gradation to be found in things: some are better (hotter, colder, etc.) than others.

Things are X in proportion to how closely the resemble that which is most X.

Therefore, if there is nothing which is most X, there can be nothing which is good.

It follows that if anything is good, there must be something that is most good.

"Therefore there must also be something which is to all beings the cause of their being, goodness, and every other perfection; and this we call God"

Final Ends / Purpose

Many things in the universe “drive” toward a particular end, not random results. Magnets “drive” to seek metal or to align their poles. Seeds “drive” to become adult plants, not animals. This regularity, as opposed to randomness, is a sign of purpose—of intention or intelligence. However, magnets and seeds and such have no intelligence of their own. Therefore, their “drive” must be the result of some external intelligence setting or fixing or designing their behaviour. In some means or mechanism, all purposes and functions must originate in some intelligent entity. In other words, Aquinas’s fifth way to show the existence of God involves the fact that inanimate matter and energy do not exhibit intelligence or purpose. When we see something unintelligent that appears to have some specific purpose or that fulfills some purposeful role, we must assume that thing to have been given that purpose by some other intelligence. Ultimately, this leads to God, the Grand Designer.

We observe that natural bodies act toward ends.

Anything that acts toward an end either acts out of knowledge, or under the direction of something with knowledge, "as the arrow is directed by the archer."

But many natural beings lack knowledge.

"Therefore some intelligent being exists by whom all natural things are directed to their end; and this being we call God"