Can you prove that God exists?
First – the question of whether something exists or not.
Second – the question of whether we know it exists.
Third – the question of whether we have a reason for our knowledge.
Fourth – the question of whether this reason amounts to a proof.
Fifth – the question of whether it is scientific proof, a proof by the scientific method.
A thing can exist whether we know it or not.
The answer to number two presupposes an affirmative answer to number one.
Many Christians think that God’s existence is something we cannot lead others to by reason.
Most of the reasons we give for what we believe amount to probabilities, not proofs.
The scientific method – experiment, observation, and measurement.
(philosophical proofs can be good proofs, but they do not have to be scientific proofs)
Deductive Argument:
Major premise or general principle
Minor premise states particular data in our experience that come under principle
Conclusion follows from applying general principle to particular case
Design
Deductive Argument:
Major Premise: where there is design, there must be a designer
Minor Premise: the existence of design throughout the universe
Conclusion: there must be a universal designer
Cause and Effect
The Principle of Sufficient Reason
THOMAS AQUINAS
Cause of Motion
Cause of a Beginning to Existence
Cause of Present Existence
Cause of Goodness or Value
Beings that need causes: contingent or dependent
Beings whose essence is to exist: necessary being
The universe contains only dependent beings
Arguments:
“God of Isaac, Abraham and Jacob, not of philosophers” – Pascal
You cannot compare “God’s” causing to man or natures – Hume
Self-Contradiction, if everything needs a cause, what about God – Bertrand Russell
Infinite Regress, just as in mathematics
•Transcendent, Eternal, Uncaused, Immortal, Self-Existing, Independent, All-Perfect
•The concept of cause is analogical – not exact but alike
•Dependent need a cause, not necessaries
•The number 1
“I felt it in my bones that this universe does not explain itself” – C.S. Lewis
See Romans Ch1-7
Genesis Ch1-2
…concept from apologetics by Peter Kreeft
