There Is a God!
By: Bred • Essay • 808 Words • January 27, 2010 • 824 Views
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God" exists. This is a fact. Allow me to elaborate. Please push out of your mind all the detailed images you have of a deity. In fact, focus upon "god," the word, merely. Do not attribute "god" to be anything other than a word. We will at first define what "god" is - not according to Judeo-Christian scripture, or wise teachings of eastern religion, or the oral folklore of Native traditions. We will define "god," instead, as a word, even ignoring dictionary definitions which are also jaded by years of differing beliefs.
Thomas Aquinas taught us long ago, using the science and logic that his naysayers cling to, that some version of "god" must exist. There are five proofs of "god's" existence. They are various roles that nothing other than a "god" of some sort could fulfill - keep in mind, not any "god" in particular, but rather some thing, entity, being, event, etc, that we might properly label "god." In summary, they are: 1) the unmoved mover; 2) the efficient cause; 3) contingent and necessary beings; 4) degrees and perfection; and 5) intelligent design.
I'll briefly summarize these proofs in a few sentences each. The "unmoved mover" uses basic laws of physics. All objects in motion are set in motion by another object, which is also in motion, as it is an object and therefore has to have been set in motion. You must trace back to an original object that was NOT moving, that set other objects in motion. This is the "unmoved mover." We call it "god."
The "efficient cause" is similar. Our existence is a chain of causes: one thing causes another, which in turn causes another, and so forth. Nothing is perpetually the cause of itself. Something had to be so efficient that it did not require a cause or caused itself to be. We call this "god."
"Contingent beings" is also similar. Take all forms of life, for example. We are all contingent upon our mother and father conceiving us (naturally or artificially). A painting is contingent upon the painter painting it. A chair is contingent upon the chair maker, and the materials involved in its construction. One thing must exist that is necessary, and not contingent on anything else. The "necessary being" is "god."
The last two take different approaches. "Degrees and perfection" refers to how we compare things. We look at one item and call it good. We look at the next item and call it better. Even the best of a kind is not necessarily perfection. There are things, beings, and entities for which no possible perfection can be reached, but the standard of perfection nonetheless exists. "God" either is this standard or an entity that embodies it.
"Intelligent design" is a hot topic right now, however often confused - and the current obsession with this is based on arguments that are entirely