On the Existence of God
Sorry, there are no pictures of God here.
What follows are four articles concerning the existence of God as described primarily by St. Thomas Aquinas and a final article in which God is explained according to the philosophy of St. Anselm.
Aquinas based much of his philosophy in general on the work of Aristotle, but the influence of Aristotle is most evident perhaps in Aquinas discussion of how God can be known.
Anselm’s philosophy, which pre-dates Thomas by about 200 years, appears to be based more on the ideas of Plato, specifically with regard to Plato’s discussion of forms. Anselm, in my opinion, is in some ways more difficult to comprehend than Aquinas.
These articles are intended to be clear in their presentation. Please let me know if I have simply muddied the waters.
Also, I believe it would most benefit the reader if these articles are read in succession.
I. God must be proven only by deduction according to human observation.
God is something that cannot be seen, heard, smelled or, for that matter, sensed in any physical way. It therefore stands to reason that the existence of God is not something that is self-evident to us. That is, we cannot look at God and say, "Yes, that’s him" in the same way that we can look at an orange and say, "Yes, that’s an orange."
Proving God’s existence then must be a matter of logic and reason.
II. God as uncaused cause: the alpha
Thomas Aquinas discusses the existence of God in five ways. The simplest of these is the idea of efficient causes. This page includes a link to the specific article in the Summa in which Thomas discusses the existence of God.
God is defined by Aquinas in another way: "nothing can quiet the will of man except the universal good, which is found in no creature but in God alone." In that actions are dictated by desires, it follows that God is the fulfillment of all desires and is therefore sought as an end.
In that God is the uncaused cause, the creation of desire itself can be attributed to God. A humanly desire is based upon an incomplete knowledge of that which is desired. If I desire an orange, it is because I first know what an orange is and second do not have one at the moment. In this way, God is both prior to human desire and the object of desire simultaneously.
V. God as a being above all other beings
In his Monologium, Anselm discussed the existence of "a being which is best, and greatest, and highest of all existing beings." In another chapter, Anselm went on to say that "There is a certain Nature through which whatever is exists and which exists through itself, and is the highest of all existing beings.
Anselm’s discussion of the existence of God seems to be derived from Plato’s idea of the Forms. Although his philosophic approach differs from that of Aquinas, it is no less valid.
VI. The Existence of God: Conclusion
