Philosophical Arguments About the Existence of God
St. Anselm argued that the presence of God is evidenced by the ability of man to imagine the existence of a greater being. According to the saint, God is present due to the observed occurrences. However, if one would argue that God is absent, then people would have to create a certain image of a greater being in their imaginations. As such, the only greater being that man can create in mind is a God. This imagination alone is thus sufficient to confirm that God exists. To prove God’s existence, St. Thomas Aquinas based his arguments on various concepts. The first was the concept of the unmoved mover where he asserted that following the findings of scientists, no object can move without being set in motion. There has to be an unmoved mover to set all things in motion (Elders 91). In this case, the unmoved mover is God. Apart from this, he also proposed the theories of existence causation, necessary and contingent entities, intelligent design and perfection and degree in order to explain the existence of God.
Away from the philosophical arguments, scientists have also come up with theories to explain God’s existence. Paley asserts that the complexity and intricacy associated with the design of the universe both indicate the presence of a meticulous designer. This can only be God who designed the universe (Ariew 23). Rowe on the other hand refutes the claim that God exists. His arguments are based on the existence of God and evil and lack of proof of both. According to him, the way in which evil overwhelms implies that the probability of God’s existence is lower. Robin Collins bases his argument for God’s existence on the presence of life.
Works Cited
Ariew, André. “Platonic and Aristotelian roots of teleological arguments.” Functions: New readings in the philosophy of psychology and biology (2002): 7-32.
Elders, Leo. The Philosophical Theology of St. Thomas Aquinas. Leiden: Brill, 2005. Print.
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