Introduction
I will argue in support of the argument brought forward by St. Aquinas that God exists since we can experience him through our senses, live up to his purposes and be guided by his perfect will. Human beings are at liberty to search for the truths about God’s existence since this informs their inherent capacity to interrogate religious matters rationally. Bertrand Russell’s argument that intellectual judgment is necessary for understanding the existence of God conflicts with the basis of faith concerning the God subject. According to Alvin Plantinga, the existence of God is a practical idea in human minds which can be substantiated through experiences and logical reasoning. (Swinburne 33).
According to Russell, right or wrong as well as evil or good is inexistent in the universe. The argument therefore contradicts the existence of God based on the cause’s philosophy. The First Cause argument states that everything in existence has a cause initiated by God as the ultimate origin of all causes in the universe. The cause for God’s existence is therefore inconceivable. On the other hand, Plantinga elaborates that a supreme being who is equally omniscient, omnipresent and omnipotent holds as far as faith in God is concerned. The philosophy of religion is therefore a critical study into the God subject including his existence.
St. Thomas Aquinas’ Cosmological Argument
Aquinas observed that everything in the world is in a continuous state of motion. As such, there must have been a prime mover that is in itself stationary which then sets everything in the world to move. This non-moving force that gives virtually everything the force of momentum and acceleration should be God (Swinburne 45). When God set the first thing in motion, the sequence of events is such that the rest of the things adjacent to it began to move in the specified direction of motion. Eventually, all things created by God end up in motion by the original force of momentum he applied.
However, Russell argues that there should be an origin for the immense power possessed by God which instead may not be conceived logically in human minds. According to Plantinga, our minds are capable of appreciating the supernatural existence of God through critical thinking. Since God empowers everything in the universe and that everything in existence has a defining cause, life experiences are an interaction of individual convictions and ordained purposes. Faith in God is therefore a consequence of an open-minded perspective about individuality concerning supernatural influence. (Plantinga 15).
Secondly, the argument states that everything which exists has a purpose that is defined by the ultimate maker. God should have existed before everything and should be considered to hold the mystery about the purpose for every creature. For God to define the destiny of everything in existence, he has to be perfect. As such, the best that exists should be God who then designs other creatures in the subordinate state. It is therefore logical to make reference to a perfect state when comparing or contrasting different aspects of life. For instance hotter things are compared to those that which is hottest. (Swinburne 62).
In addition, God’s existence is equally manifested through times and seasons as designed by him. He created all things with a beginning and an end in time. As such, everything that was created at a particular time is ordained by God to achieve a certain purpose after which it ceases to exist. God is therefore the author of time. He designs the seasons through which different circumstances unfold and designates their timeframes. Since God planned for everything to exist within a specified time, his existence should be eternal.
The existence of God is also illustrated by the existence of the universe. Although the two are different entities, the existence of God is a mystery peculiar to the existence of the universe. God therefore designed the universe at a particular time that has remained in existence to date since God is everlasting (Swinburne 69). God created the universe with a purpose that applies to all its inhabitants. God therefore existed before the universe came into being and is in existence today since the universe still exists. He is therefore omniscient and omnipresent. Rational religion should therefore understand God from the natural point of view as revealed by the current state of the universe and man’s delegated responsibility in creation.
This cosmological theory can be further exemplified by the delegated intellect possessed by human beings. Our intellect guides us to work towards set objectives and goals in order to accomplish certain purposes in life. This is a manifestation of the divine quality of God delegated to man since human beings are created after His image (Plantinga 22). God ultimately understands everything and is the master of knowledge. God should therefore be the creator of everything in the universe and remains the Supreme Being since we exist. Whatever that is non-existent which existed before should have fulfilled the original purpose for its existence.
St.Anselm’s Ontological Argument
The ontological arguments state that God exists basically in our thoughts. As such, we know that God exists because we have developed ideas to that effect in our minds. God’s existence is a practical concept that can be substantiated in tangible terms and reasoning. Since we have internalized the God subject and reality of existence in our minds, there is no way that God’s presence can disappear as long as we also exist (Plantinga 31). The supernatural existence of God is beyond our human imagination; hence the understanding about His presence can be proven through actualizing these great ideas. The idea that God just exists should be greater and perfect since it can be actualized in practical sense. If God just exists in thought and not in practical experiences, then the supernatural concept becomes questionable.
The idea that God exists in thought and fact, should be understood together in order to explain the perfect nature of his presence and power in our lives. When God exists in our minds without being real, then He retains His position as greater than we could comprehend (Plantinga 40). As such, there is a supernatural God whom we can conceive in our thoughts as well as experience in reality. It is therefore true that God being such powerful and perfect should exist in typically all the possible states in order for him to be supernatural. The validity for God’s existence should therefore be ascertained with realm of practical experiences, faith, logic and reality.
Common sense denies the description that the existence of God can be limited by our human thoughts. If human beings are a creation of God, then they are limited in seeking to conceive his power, presence and knowledge to measurable proportions (Plantinga 57). Faith in God’s existence is therefore founded on the premise that logical reasoning requires supportive evidence from belief in a supreme being without which nothing could be inexistent. Our minds therefore conform to the reality of things as they are revealed to us by God and through the practical experiences that substantiate the underlying claims in God’s existence.
Rene Descartes equally states that the existence of God is a logical reality that can be illustrated through empirical knowledge. The existence of God is therefore not just limited to our thoughts but a mathematically measurable attribute. In the same way that we could understand trigonometric functions, then we could explain the existence of God. For instance, a rectangle is a figure with a pair of two similar sides, mathematically speaking. This measurable quality about geometric shapes and mathematical figures provides some empirical support that is required to believe in the existence of God (Swinburne 73).
The existence of God is therefore a matter of necessity in understanding the existence of everything in the universe. According to Alston & Plantinga, there was a time when nothing existed except God. God then created what exists today for a specified period of time. As such, nothing created by God exists forever but ceases to exist at some point. The fate, purpose and period for existence of everything in the universe thus remain in the hands of God. The possibility that God is inexistent is therefore remote and cannot be substantiated philosophically. God therefore existed before everything and nothing existed before him.
Conclusion
Human beings are limited by their own understanding especially when describing the nature and existence of God. The philosophical proofs about God’s existence attempt to explain that the Supreme being may not be entirely understood through human imagination (Swinburne 100). We should therefore believe in his existence since “no other can be conceived” and we exist too. The non-existence of God, therefore, conflicts with human individuality and life convictions. Faith is therefore important in understanding the subject of God’s existence.
Works Cited
Plantinga, Alvin. The ontological argument, from St. Anselm to contemporary philosophers. New York: Anchor Books, 2005.
Swinburne, Richard. The existence of God. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2004.