preview

Arguments For The Existence Of God

Decent Essays
Open Document

Arguments for the existence of God through critical thinking and rationalization are

called ontological, cosmological, teleological, or pragmeatic arguments. The most widely known

of such arguments is that of St. Anselm from Proslogium of St. Anselm, which states that God is

considered a perfect being unlike humans or any other world subject. The fact that he is perfect

in a world of imperfection proves his existence. God is also the highest conceivable idea of

perfection, and therefore, if he were not to exist, there would have to be a higher form of

perfection that exists in reality.

An important critique of this is that Anselm argues that God is a perfect being which exists. However, can anything that exists be perfect? …show more content…

Such a mover would have to be unmoved itself, and therefore not a part of this world. Herein comes the existence of God, a holy and unmovable force. Aquinas’ argument is contradicted by a previously learned concept called Ockham’s Razor, which focuses on the simplest reasoning without any assumptions. The text from Summa Theologica contradicts this by creating the idea of an eternal God to explain the universe. The simplest idea would be to believe that the universe is eternal itself, rather than creating an exterior being. The idea behind Ockham’s Razor is that the simplest answer is the most easily testable and most likely. Where did the idea of God creating the universe even begin? This concept is far more complex than simply the universe created itself. The famous William Paley has a different ontological argument within his text Natural Theology. The title of the reading gives insight to the theory, which focuses on something called natural design. The writing is based on an intricate and extensive analogy between the man made and the natural. For instance, Paley describes a man made watch in great detail. This intense detail sets the notion that each piece must have been put in place by someone, whom we can infer is a watchmaker. He then compares this to the intricacy of nature, which must have been made by a supreme diety. Such complexity could not have come about by chance. Only the most

Get Access