... this. Prior to his comment that Christians ought to reflect on McFague's provocative suggestion that the world is the "body of God", Lodahl claims that God is "intimately present" and therefore knows nothing from a distance or at arm's length. Lodahl then makes an analogy ... the context of his understanding of these two terms, Lodahl writes: "we are again led to something like McFague's model of the universe as God's body. God does not know any event "at 'a distance', but from within, and indeed through the experiences (conscious or not) of all creatures ... to Lodahl I would only s...

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... , or empirical, evidence. In order to obtain this empirical evidence, we would need to have knowledge based on experience of God. Human beings cannot have a posteriori knowledge of God because God's characteristics are infinite In order for human beings to completely understand a being that is infinite, they must possess an intellect ... which nature itself permits no one to forget" (141). Clark goes on to further support his argument by stating that "if God created us with cognitive faculties which by and large reliably produce beliefs without the need for evidence, he would likewise p...

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... by various philosophers were slightly difficult to fully understand, several readings in the textbook were given in which supported the topic that there is a God who exists: First was "the ontological argument" by Saint Anselm of Canterbury, a Christian philosopher. This argument basically stated that because ... first cause, that is itself uncaused or unchanged. This would require some kind of "unconditioned" or "higher" being, which he feels, must be God. A third reading entitled Natural Theology by William Paley implied something had to have designed the universe. Paley pointed out t...

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... or small things like the boiling point of water being just right to sustain natural systems. One of the major champions of the view that only God could create a universe of this complexity is William Paley. Though Paley presented this argument in 1975, Plato was the first to introduce it. The first ... have no other universe to look to and say "look it is imperfect and so much more poorly designed, ours must have been created by God". For all we know this universe is the worst, most imperfect ramshackle in all existence. Secondly as David Hume put it in Dialogues Concerning Natural ... E...

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... by our parents, our church and our society. During this paper we will examine the many rational arguments for and against the existence of God. It is based on the views of some of the great philosophers of our world. COSMOLOGICAL ARGUMENTS is that someone or something must have ... . Although, we can look at these arguments from a different angle by using Thomas Aquinas's "five ways", which he argues for the existence of God. The first three arguments are dependent on the principal that infinite regresses of causes are inconceivable, which means they rely on the "first cause". His ... pr...

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... a tree or a speech by the president, are different modes of the attribute of thought or extension. A mode is the particular manner which substance, God, or nature assumes. A tree is a mode of extension, and a speech by the president is the mode of thought. But both are basically attributes, ... for Spinoza, imagine an infinitely long list of qualities. Each attribute on this list can be assigned to only one substance or thing. However, God has already been assigned all attributes on the list, and no attributes are left to assign to other substances. Since a substance can't exist if ... ...

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... even desirable in some circumstances, to achieve genuine knowledge by means of human reason. Aquinas" philosophy resulted in five ways of proving God exists. The first of Aquinas" five arguments refers to the Platonian ideal that everything must be moved by something else. "Therefore it ... is necessary to arrive at a first mover, moved by no other; and this everyone understands to be God." Aquinas" second argument comes from the universal fact of cause and effect, where everything a person experiences is an effect resulting from a prior ... similar to Anselm's " that than which nothin...

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... the larger picture, the demand for knowledge." There are many questions in philosophy, many involving the subject of religion. Does God exist? Should we believe in God? Is belief in God justified? These are just some of the questions attempted to be answered in philosophy. Every philosopher has a different opinion ... was a being that nothing greater could be conceived to exist, that it cannot even be conceived not to exist; then this being has to be God. Therefore, God must exist. St Thomas Aquinas (1226-1274) belonged as a member to the Dominican Order as a university lecturer. He wrot...

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... paper first explores the problem of human perception and then relates it back to the ultimate objective: the different issues concerning the existence of God. Content: How did the world come into existence? Are we here for a purpose? These are the two Big Questions that are ... aspects of religion, which are usually more abstract, are rejected by science. The fundamental debate traces back to the question of whether there is God at all. However, let's suppose that with the perfect calibration of physical laws and constants for the survival of present life forms (regardless ... that what...

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... The main difference between them of course is the range of the topics considered. Ontological Argument The Ontological Argument, which argues from a definition of God's being to his existence, is the first type of argument we are going to examine. Since this argument was founded by Saint Anslem, we ... will be examining his writings. Saint Anslem starts by defining God as an all-perfect being, or rather as a being containing all conceivable perfections. Now if in addition of possessing all conceivable perfections this being ... clarify or describe a concept, and since existence is neit...

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... has become the source of much doubt and controversy. What was once certain and surely unquestionable has become the most questioned. The existence of a God has been the topic of fierce debate. This most usually occurring between members of the religious society and, everybody else. As a matter of ... him that which nothing greater can be conceived of, and which cannot be conceived not to exist which we have already defined as God. The second argument for a God comes from St. Tomas Aquinas, who argues for the cosmological point of view. The cosmological argument states that all things in ...

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... the larger picture, the demand for knowledge." There are many questions in philosophy, many involving the subject of religion. Does God exist? Should we believe in God? Is belief in God justified? These are just some of the questions attempted to be answered in philosophy. Every philosopher has a different opinion ... was a being that nothing greater could be conceived to exist, that it cannot even be conceived not to exist; then this being has to be God. Therefore, God must exist. St Thomas Aquinas (1226-1274) belonged as a member to the Dominican Order as a university lecturer. He wrot...

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... comes "upon the earth" or "after death"." - Friedrich Nietzsche If we look at all religions that exist nowadays, they talk about the existence of a god or gods in some form or other. They are always seen as some sort of higher force looking down on humans, having some power over them. However, ... such gods is denied. Both texts were key books in promoting the idea of Existentialism. This is the belief that there is no all-powerful God and thus, people have the opportunity to do what they like in their existing lives without worrying about the consequences or results in the after life ....

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... one must start by understanding the ways in which he can conclude an objects' existence. Descartes set out to build a set of arguments designed to prove God's existence. On those, he constructed all of his other arguments. Descartes explains three proofs in which a person might come to such a conclusion - the ... then he would attain a Godly level of existence. Ultimately, it is his own dependence on another being that proves to him that there is a God. Many people are bred into religion, or borne into a set of ideas about a particular infinite being. The interesting problem with most ty...

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... him who is imperfect. Moreover, this perception did not originate from the experiences of the world, nor was this drawn from the senses. Rather, he believes that this perception of God is prior to his own perception, and it could only actually arise from a perfect being. Thus Descartes concludes the only remaining option to be that this perception was innate in ... behind the justifications made by Descartes is related to "free will." Descartes states that the faculty of judgement is not infinite in human beings; human error is not dependent upon God but is rather a mere defect. On the ...

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... , if infinite goodness exists, it is impossible for evil to exist at all. However, his reply to this objection is also convincing. He says God's omnipotence and goodness are powerful enough to "allow evil to exist, and out of it produce good." The second objection to his philosophy is one ... of nature can be reduced to the principle of nature, nature itself is caused by, and also has caused necessity by, the first cause, or God. I feel Aquinas brought up some very validating arguments in his article. He uses empirical premises to support his theory. He uses paradigms for each ... , he s...

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... truth impossible. By setting this idea up, Descartes broke everything down that is certain. Then, Descartes built everything back up by there being a certainty of God. He was able to establish that there was a certainty of God by laying a foundation to build on which was an idea. He first said an idea must have a cause, next he said that the cause must ... perfect. If people don't have those presuppositions (i.e. Atheists) then Descartes argument is disregarded because that's the basis around how certainty is achieved. I believe that Descartes argument for the existence of God makes log...

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... things outside of one's self, and others that can be invented by us, such as ideas of mermaids or unicorns. After he concludes that God must necessarily exist, which will be discussed in more detail later on in this paper, he closes in to the fact that his idea of ... perfect being lets go into more detail on the process he uses to prove that such being actually exists. Descartes' proof of the existence of God occurs in the Third Meditation. He builds his entire argument upon his proof in the previous meditation that in order for him to think, he ... intelligent, supremely powerful, an...

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... not exist. This is probably the simplest answer to the question, because why would God allow something like this to proceed, if he existed? Also the God we think might not be the real God that exists. Others believed that God had turned his back on humanity (he does not care) and if that ... permitted) the destruction of the Jews, the Gypsies and the other victims. The vengeful God Berkovitz responds by saying that man is to bear the burden of Auschwitz not God. According to Berkowitz, God is not completely exonerated from this, because God "shackles his might so that history may be poss...

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... greater for a thing to exist in reality than for it to exist in the understanding solely. We are almost forced to conclude that this God, which nothing greater can be imagined, can be conceived to be greater than it is. That does not make sense, so we go back to ... coffee mug exists the image in your mind does not change. This is why, Kant says, existence cannot be a property. When we say, "God exists." We are using "God" as the subject of the sentence, and "exists" as the property of the sentence. According to Kant one would have to say, "The universe ... argument, his third premise s...

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... of this, since something exists now, it must follow logically that something has existed forever. As Sproul has remarked: "Indeed, reason demands that if something exists, either the world or God (or anything else), then something must be self-existent.... There must be a self-existent being of some sort somewhere, or nothing would or could exist." From this we see that ... , the Universe must have had a designer. This form of logical reasoning, and the implications which are in it, have not escaped the attention of those who do not believe in God. Paul Ricci, an atheistic philosopher an...

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... evolutionary existence. People try to reason with the things around them in order to understand the world. Many, for example, ask the question, "If God exists than why is there evil in the world?" Thomas Aquinas, a well known philosopher of the 13th century addresses these questions and many others by ... In the same sense, there has to be some sort of Devine intervention in order for existence. It becomes necessary to have this Devine entity or god because it is known that contingent beings exist today. " Therefore, not all beings are merely possible, but there must exist something the ...

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... 's presence. But where did it come from? When was it created and who created it? Since God created the world and everything in it, God must have also created Evil. But, why would God do that? Why would this God who loves us unlimitedly and unconditionally who to share with us his kingdom and eternal life create Evil. ... And place us to live on earth with it? Was it a test? Is God playing with us and testing out faith and loyalty? Since it is not an entity, no one created it and thus it has no creator. But where ... does this presence we feel come from? Well, we create it! We created ev...

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... we can conceive does not exist than we can still conceive the greatest thing that does exist, and that would be God. Descartes views God in a similar way to St. Anselm. Descartes sees God as the perfect being while St. Anselm describes God as "that than which nothing greater can be thought." In Descartes "the Argument from Perfection" he reasons that if existence is ... one of the perfections and God has all the perfections, then God must exist. Along with these arguments others in the Jewish, Christian, and Islamic communities have similar views. Cosmological arguments are a posteriori...

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... version of the cogito, or his nature, only to find their selves confused and not fully satisfied when it comes to his proof of the existence of God in Meditation III. Two factors cause this sudden change in the view of Descartes" argument; one is that the proof is more complicated than in the ... and after breaking down thought, innate and adventitious ideas, Descartes simply says that the idea of this God is innate and born within him and that the fact that God is existing in his mind, God must be perfect. God was merely an innate idea that had to be true because this idea of a perfect ...

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