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Does God Exist?Written by: zziegle In my life on this planet I have come to question many things that many take on as blind faith. We all know that someday we will 'physically' die, Yet, we continuously deny the forces working inside ourselves which want to search out the true outcome of what may or may not come after death. It's far easier for humanity to accept that they will go on to a safe haven and be forgiven for all, rather than to question the existence of a super omnipotent being. Fortunately, there are some of us who tend to question the why's and how's that come before us. We question the creation of humanity and the religious teachings received from our parents, our church and our society. This paper examines the many rational arguments for and against the existence of God. It is based on the views of some of the great philosophers and scientists of our world. I will show that there is no sufficient proof or comprehensive arguments for the existence of God. Some people search for eternal peace through the beliefs in God; but this is an impossible belief because of the chances, the plausibility, and because of science. ONTOLOGICAL ARGUMENTS God generally refers to one supreme, holy, personal being,. The divine unity of ultimate good-ness and of ultimate reality. St. Anselm of Canterbury developed what we have learned to be the ontological argument. He began his argument by saying that even a fool can grasp or understand the concept of "a being than of which nothing greater can be conceived." He continues to state that a fool would say that the concept of this being's existence is only in his mind and in the mind of others but not in reality. However he also admits to the possibility of this being existing in reality. Whatever is understood by the fool is argued that than which nothing is greater can be conceived cannot solely exist in the mind but also in reality, hence, God exists. (Angelfire) This personally sounds like a salesperson's pitch to confuse and conquer for a sale. Gaunilo felt the same. He frequently debated with St. Anselm on behalf of the fool. He stated that it was not possible to visualize the concept of this perfect being because one can only imagine an image when one has an idea of what that image is suppose to resemble. There is no idea behind the image therefore the image itself can't exist. St. Anselm's argument in my opinion is reduced to just a statement because it really has no foundation. Kant also agrees with me by stating that the argument is simply based on words and not reality. The ontological argument is impressive to the average mind but to others it's deception is clear. With words like perfect, necessary and existent that are built into it's definition, it seems impossible to be argued with. Even if the theist could prove in some miraculous way this perfect being's existence, he still wouldn't be able to link that "being" to being God. TELEOLOGICAL ARGUMENTS The argument for God's existence from design has also stirred controversy among philosophers and society. It is said that the complex order and design of the universe is obviously the work of an intelligent architect. In Psalm 19 it's written "The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament showeth his work ". Theists have used this well known argument(teleological) for thousands of years as strong evidence for the existence of God. William Paley continued the argument of Socrates, Plato, and Aquinas. He said that if one found a watch in a field, one would automatically conclude that it was made by a watchmaker because of its obvious design. The complex design of the world also points to a grand designer.(god) This is interesting but he left out that people will automatically think of a watchmaker when stumbling upon a watch because we know that watches are made by watchmakers. Aquinas made me question my non-belief with his argument for the existence of God. It is called the posterior approach. He had five ways of proving God's existence which were; argument from motion, efficient cause, possibility and necessity, the gradation to be found in things and the governance of the world. Of all these, his first I found most stimulating. This argument states that nothing can move without being moved by another or an original mover. He continues by stating, motion is nothing else than the reduction of something from potentiality to actuality, but, nothing can be reduced from potentiality to actuality except by something in a state of actuality. In conclusion, since the relationship between motion and mover can't go on to infinity, there must have been a first mover for whom is God. Interesting and almost convincing but not true. David Hume introduced the idea that the universe could have happened by chance and not by design. Science has always been a stronger angle to any argument. Given an infinite amount of matter in the universe, it is proven that the probability of the atoms that make up this universe as we know it to be with an infinite amount of time is almost a 100% certain to take place. Scientists like Darwin claimed that random mutation and natural selection was responsible for the complexities we observed in the animal kingdom. (Wells) It's also reasonable to imagine the universe to be infinite in space and time with a never ending series or "Big Bangs" which created this present universe. David Hume stated in his "Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion" that there is no way to logically link something unknown in the world with something known in the world. This is just common sense to me. At best, the teleological argument can only suggest the possibility of a grand architect and cannot provide evidence that the universe was created. COSMOLOGICAL ARGUEMENTS Even if the universe is randomly formed and there appears to be no design, the theist still believes there is hope within the cosmological arguments of Plato. His argument is based on the obvious. Every day we observe things moving. Whatever moves is either moved by another or is self moved. If a thing is self moved it must be eternal. In this argument for there being a first cause, this self mover is God. (cyberpunks) My question is when the wind blows a hat off a person's head, does that person think God was its cause? No!. Many things move and with modern technology and science there is almost an answer for every movement. Ignorance to what caused the first movement should not be a reason to praise the unknown and label this first cause as God. Hume brought up a valid argument for this concept. If Plato and his likes can't conceive the thought that things that movement don't necessarily have a mover and not all effects have causes, then they should accept that God might have a cause like the universe supposedly has one. Plato said that stopping the regress of causes at God is an arbitrary decision. Now, I do have a problem with Hume's arguments too. It is illogical for there to be an infinite regress of causes, but, it is more acceptable than to think that there must be a supreme and very powerful being that made all of this happen without any proof. To go further, for example, in nature, scientists, time after time have tried to predict tornadoes, their next movement and how they will affect the area they hit. Years and years have passed and still they have come to the conclusion that they are unpredictable. Kant said that we can never know everything there is to know about everyday objects we see and touch and We are limited by our senses and our limited intellect. (Dawkins) We as humans don't know very much about the universe as is, so to think we can make definite predictions about any particular cause and effect based on previous experience is senseless because even that previous experience is vaguely known. Personally, I would like to believe that there is a God. Unfortunately, it is painfully clear to me that an existence based upon blind faith is no longer an acceptable tradition to follow. Throughout my research, I had hoped to find some form of evidence in order to maintain the path of faith in God instilled in me by my parents and church. Unfortunately, such was not the case. It would have been nice if the teleological, ontological, or cosmological argument could have linked the observed world with a God beyond this world, but they could not. The teleological argument formulated unfounded conclusions from analogies of empirical observation and materialists provided alternatives that are logically valid. The ontological argument failed because it was only a deceptive play of words that could not extend into reality. The cosmological argument also failed because it never logically reasoned the creation of the universe. There are many great individuals who have spent a vast amount of time in studying the Bible. Great minds like Socrates, Plato, Paley, Aristotle, Augustine, Anselm, Descartes have made arguments for the existence of God. We must realize that individuals like King James are in fact men, not Gods and the Bible is, in actuality, only a book. To believe the contents of any book completely, in my opinion, is devastating to ones well being, especially those with little to no proof to defend its stories /statements. Hey………., like I said, that is my opinion.
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| Sunflower 2001-10-28 08:00AM | No Rating |
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Hi I have to be honest, I didn't read your whole essay. But I honestly believe that there is a God. Just look outside. And I'm sure also you can find God. Just an advice, read the Bible and search for God there. I don't want to offend you with this comment. I just wanted to tell you that there is a God and that He loves you. --------------------- | |
| JakeWood 2001-12-12 08:00AM | |
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I don't take to much stock in their being one. I also do not buy God in the singular(and I'm not a Pagan). It is pretty illogical, some magical man, rather than beings at the very zenith of any food chain. --------------------- Go to jakewood.50megs.com for amature backyard fighting (not wrestling) and 18 year old boys | |
| laprunner 2001-12-19 08:00AM | No Rating |
| This was a poorly written essay! There were many pieces of "evidence" which proved nothing, and were just empty words. But look outside and around you there is no way Science could have created all of this. What are the two fastest growing religons in the world? Christianity and Satanism which shows you there maybe there are some super-natural powers. And dude Jesus Loves you!!! | |
| chefgrad 2002-03-13 08:00AM | |
| In reply to sunflower>> How do you know god exists? and how do you know he loves us? Did he tell you ? or did you read it in the bible? if so then How do you know the bible tells the truth? What makes you believe? Please give me a not so mystical answer.. if you can> be straight forward.. I realy do want to know. I just can't understand a person when I ask them> "How do you know god exists?" and their reply is "It says in the bible" | |
| krellen 2002-07-11 10:00AM | No Rating |
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chefgrad, I agree with you on this subject. There is alot of people that don't look for the truth.It is FEAR, they don't want to go to the bad place for asking honest questions. there is an answer to this . And it is not the book or the holyest man. A nice story,to tell your kids. No one can live by these rules no matter how holy they think they are. Not even the pope and his bulletproof car. I feel sorry for man because we are not looking hard enough. Keep searching. What else is there to do? | |
| beeki 2002-10-10 10:00AM | |
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I enjoyed reading your essay. I disagree entirely! But hey, like you said, it's your opinion. One tiny thing I would pose to you though. I believe in God. I haven't a shred of evidence that you couldn't brush off as coincidence. My parents are believers. My life is fairly simple, with the odd glitch common to any life now and again. I'm neither poor nor rich, genius nor dumb. I'm just an every day person. I have no need for God. Yet I believe. My best friend was killed in a car accident earlier this year. I still believe God is all-loving. Why? I'll leave that one for you to figure. --------------------- | |
| emmy 2002-11-09 08:00AM | No Rating |
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this is a relpy to chefgrad's comment. i believe in God but i can understand ur need 4 hard core proof. firstly, u should try 2 research and look into the number of miracles that have happened to people and the life stories of some of the great Christian saints - and im not talking aabout stuff from thousands of years ago, im talking about continuing evidence that there is a God. u will truly b amazed at the visions, the miracles, the profesies etc. that happen to people all the time in the name of GOD!! secondly, u should have faith enough 2 believe without seeing and with simple trust in God. and 2 the writer of this essay, it's well written, but very incorrect. if u really want to find evidence that there is a God, try 2 stop disproving Him | |
| rod_yof 2002-11-14 08:00AM | No Rating |
| Well I'm impressed by your essay. Yet I'm not shaken from the faith I have in God. I didn't inherited it from my parents but I got it with my experience w/ God- by reading the Bible. I'm not here to persuade you to be believer but to say what I know. Its this words that the writer of ecclesiastes said. He said that there is a God. All I can say is if there is no God, you and I have the same ending. But if there is God you would spend your whole eternity weeping and while I rejoice. | |
| smirnofflenins 2002-12-06 08:00AM | |
| i didnt really read it, but ill just say that i think there mightve been some all-powerful being at one point, but its either dead or heartless. this being should be able to help all the people with pain and death, yet it allows so many people to suffer. so fuck the holy creature | |
| vic 2002-12-07 08:00AM | No Rating |
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Does God Exist? Well an interesting question, and I'm just about to read your essay. I don't believe in God...at all, and I can pretty much predict what your essay will say. But to laprunner, he says that your essay is badly written, well I'm gonna take a wild stab in the dark and say that this is just because he doesn't agree with your view. A different person has said that your essay is well written-and yet they don't believe in what you say. Something can be written well, even if you don't agree.... --------------------- "The nail that sticks up gets hammered down." | |
| vasuki 2003-10-13 12:39AM | No Rating |
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In this world there is no one who has seen the god in person..,but still we all know there is some power which makes our life..So according to me that power is god..there should not be strict rules and regulations to reach the.. We do good,Always think positively..we can reach that power... GoodLuck | |
| vasuki 2003-10-13 12:40AM | No Rating |
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In this world there is no one who has seen the god in person..,but still we all know there is some power which makes our life..So according to me that power is god..there should not be strict rules and regulations to reach the.. We do good,Always think positively..we can reach that power... GoodLuck | |
| heartion 2006-03-27 11:25AM | No Rating |
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I have decided to post an essay I wrote, within this comment, which technically and logically holds just as much validity, and evidence as the one written by ZZIEGLE. DOES GOD EXIST? Yes. Hey, that is my opinion. | |
| heartion 2006-03-27 11:26AM | |
| Sorry dude I forgot to rate... | |
| apollo_crash 2006-09-09 11:44PM | |
| Heard of Deism? The belief in life after death and the possibility of a supreme being unrelated to Christianity. Christianity is flawed and archaic. The monks burnt many of the original maunscripts (the dead sea scrolls) because they were cold and they didn't realise what they had. Apparently Jesus preached reincarnation but the Romans changed the bible as they wanted greater control over the population and didn't think they could hold it if people had more than one chance to redeem themselves. In my opinion blind faith is far too risky and the possibility of worshipping the wrong form of something; a huge waste of time. Question always and one day you may be fortunate enough to be gratified with a real answer beofre you die. Metaphysics is possibly not the best avenue to proceed with and certainly not Theology. Try reading "Destiny of Souls" it offers an enlightening alternative perspective through scientific method. | |
| Pac_man 2007-01-11 05:34PM | |
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Dudes, there is no god... he said so himself there's no evidence that there is one... However, theres MORE evidence that there is NOT one. You can believe in science fiction or spacecraft stories that have a contingency to exist, but for realz... GOD? People who study Science Level 1 already contradict the theory of GOD. And although christianity and satanism ARE the two most popular religion , it doesn't mean GOD exist given the fact that in the old days everyone believed that FROGS and FLIES spawn spontaneously. For realz... religion is just like racism... if you are born with it... you can't live without it... and those are the people who believe in GOD. I don't take any offence in this OR want to be taken offence. I just want people to know... I wasn't born with religion or racism teachings in my life, just like any natural living thing should be born with. And about Deism... I think it is an OK religion because there is a contingency of a superior being, but I don't believe that the superior being can be all-powerful which is just plain dumb. Of all the things, I think that there actually MUST be a superior being... but it does not exist as a GOD but more as a RACE. | |
| Athiestjc 2007-02-25 08:21AM | No Rating |
| READ THE GOD DELUSION BY RICHARD DAWKINS | |
| arhyll 2007-07-31 04:05AM | No Rating |
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mmhhmmm...... i haven't read your essay, i had just read the comments about it, first to all the people who had been an atheist, i respect it, for | |
| arhyll 2007-07-31 04:36AM | No Rating |
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mmhhmmm...... i haven't read your essay, i had just read the comments about it, first to all the people who had been an atheist, i respect it, for | |
| boner12334134 2008-09-23 09:42PM | No Rating |
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