Introduction:
On this page, the classical proofs of God are listed. These proofs
are listed by St. Thomas of Aquinas in "Summa Theologica".
These are put in my own words, but a more
orthodox version can be found here.
Then my personal proofs are listed. It can be argued
that they are not valid or are only variations of the
classical proofs. However, in many parts of my engineering work,
philosophical solutions provide the shortest and safest route to the answer,
if the solutions are correctly applied. The personal proofs are
separated, because in my solutions that involve these
proofs, the proofs do not always produce the desired results if
they are part of the classical proofs.
This usually happens because my proofs were developed independently, and
the context of how the proof applies to science isn't necessarily consistent
with how Aquinas applied them.
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Prime Mover (Classical):
Aquinas didn't derive all parts of the "Summa Theologica", rather the book is
listing of all known theology of the time.
The prime mover proof is the first proof listed in history. It is from
Aristotle.
The concept is that anything that is in motion has to have been put into
motion by something other than itself.
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First Cause (Classical):
Nothing can be it's own cause. If there is no cause, then there can be no effect.
Since effects exist, then the first cause exists. We call the first cause God.
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Existence (Classical):
Nothing can exist, unless its existence is derived from something that
already exists. Or, if at any time there was no existence, then at the
present time, no existence is possible. We call the initial and continual
existence, God.
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Different Degrees (Classical):
If anything is more and something else is less, then there has to
be a most or least. We call the most, God.
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Order (Classical):
Contrary to Darwinism, nothing happens by chance. If in billions of
chances an outlier occurs that is fortunate, then look at all the
the opportunity for Murphy's law to be applied in every other case. There are
literally billions of ways that things can and will go wrong. That is for sure.
Entropy always attacks symmetry. If some order did exist but wasn't maintained,
the order soon fades into randomness. Nothing could be more clear than the fact
that all order is from design. The Designer who creates the order is
called God.
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Consistency (Personal):
If there was no god or more than one god
then the physical laws that we know would not be in all places. For
example, the laws of gravity and light are the same on the moon as
they are in the next star system or galaxy. In fact all laws on
earth are good for the universe.
Without a god, the laws would be random and everything would be
random. If there was more than one God, they would implement
different laws in their own domain.
This is an extension of the "order" proof given above. Many scientists
call themselves experts at these universal laws, but they never stop to
think how these laws can be universal.
As John 1 says, "The Light shined forth in the darkness." Yet, the light
doesn't remove the darkness; some of the disorder remains. For this reason,
every leaf, snowflake, and so forth are unique. Actually, they are not unique; they are
random. This is the disorder, that the Light did not remove.
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Butterfly Effect (Personal):
The "butterfly effect" is actually a story where someone goes back in time.
They step off the path and kill a butterfly. When they get back to the future,
things are different, because the effect of killing the butterfly rippled through
history.
The idea is valid, because everything affects everything else. But, if everything
affects everything else, there can be only one Effect. If there were more than
one Effect, universal affection (or relativity in Einstein's language) would not
be possible. Affection is only possible in a relationship, and a relationship is
only possible when there is a common element.
For example, if a computer somehow created a new intelligence, humans would never
recognize or differentiate it from other garbage that a computer creates when it
is not working correctly.
Everything is related to the same Effect. And that makes the butterfly effect possible.
Since everything affects everything else, there is only one effect.
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Human Spirit (Personal):
How is it that humans became a super species, that dominates everything else
on earth? That is not natural. We have no super snake or bird. No, man stands
alone as the species that determines the fate of the world. That has to be
by design which means that there is a Designer.
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Dependent Dimension (Personal):
All of our food comes from light. But we don't
even know what light is, or better, we don't know what light is
not. For example, it is both a particle and a wave. Without light, we would have no photosynthesis and therefore,
no food or oxygen. We have an entire world that is strong and healthy,
but it is completely clueless as to how we even survive for a day.
It is hard to argue, that something is not taking care of us from
another dimension. We live in a dependent dimension.
It is not just light providing us with food and oxygen, either.
We go on and on about how intelligent we are, but we have no idea what
intelligence is or how it happens. Yet as with light, we definitely need it.
To be sure, there is a marketing term, artificial intelligence (AI), but the
definition of what that is constantly changes. In the 1960s, it meant
to think like a human which led to object orientated programming (OOP).
Yet today, OOP is not considered AI, and it definitely does not think
like a human. Expert systems, deep learning, and other AI technologies
are all following the same path as OOP. With the exception of systematic
philosophy, we don't know how we think, and in systematic philosophy, we
think because we have a human spirit which was the previous proof of
God's existence.
We are aware of our environment. If human intelligence was found somewhere
in our dimension, we would have found it. We haven't.
Alas, it is not just intelligence, food, and oxygen; the list goes on and on.
For example, we don't even know who we are, if we don't relate to the
dimension that is supporting us. We get our identity and purpose from that
dimension as well.
We should face the obvious facts. We are living in a dimension that is
dependent upon another dimension. We call the other dimension, God.
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Divine Satisfaction (Personal):
While men chase every satisfaction under the
sun as sex, esteem, money, alcohol, and so forth, only God will
satiate appetites of men.
On the negative side, no sin has lasting satisfaction. A priest was
teaching a high school class. He gave all the students a chocolate covered
eclair with the instruction that no one was to take a bite until given
permission. When they chomped down on the eclairs, the students found
that they were filled with dirt. The priest said, "That is the way sin
is. At first, it tastes good. Then there is the dirt."
For example, most people are faithful in heterosexual marriages, but no gay
"marriages" were found where the couple was faithful more than 5 years
(see "What Catholics Think About Sex" on this website.)
Every appetite will lead to addiction, if it is leaned on for happiness.
As Jesus says, "everyone who commits sin is the slave of sin." (John 8:34)
Do we say that the drunks on skid row are the happiest people on Earth?
In addition, while other things will appease one appetite but leave
another unsatisfied, God satisfies all appetites. St. Augustine said,
"My heart was restless, until it rested in God." However, he could
have substituted any body part for "heart". As St. Thomas of Aquinas
demonstrates, every part of the body has appetites for God, and so
only God can unite the body to a single purpose. Or as Jesus says,
"But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things
will be added to you" (Matthew 6:33). Only God satisfies every appetite.
No old person is happy, except for their relationship with God. We are
meant to love God. If we don't, we will never be content. This makes the
question, "Does God Exist?", very personal. If God exists, then you can
be happy and content in every appetite. You can not be happy without God.
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Law of Life (Personal):
Life reinforces the law. Every good thing makes us live longer.
The opposite it true as well; sin kills.
The concept of good was covered in "What Catholics Think About Sex".
As a review, good things make us live longer, and sins
shorten are life. Since sin is complex, statistics have to be
used to determine between the good and bad. With good data,
the answer is infallible.
In addition, the worse the sin, the faster the death, and
vice-versa, those who are the most good, live the longest (I'll repeat; sin is complex, so statistics have to be used).
You can follow the link, if you want to see how this works.
Yet, since this is the way life is, it shows that God is
in control.
Jesus says, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life" (John 14:6).
Only life gives life. And only life can maintain life. For example,
you can not stay alive unless you eat something that is alive. Man
can not create life; only life creates life. We don't know what life is, except that we experience
life. Life is like intelligence; we have it, but we don't know what life is.
Yet, Jesus says that he is the life. These are clear signs that life comes
from another dimension.
So, while we don't know what life is, we know that life is increased
by following the law which builds an unbreakable bond between life
and law. It gets more interesting than that. Our ability to
follow the law depends on how much we love. As Jesus says, "If you love Me, you will keep My commandments"
(John 14:15). Many read this as, if you keep My commandments, then you demonstrate
your love for me, but that is backwards. Our ability to keep the law
depends on how much we love. Obedience follows love (not vice-versa - see next paragraph).
That creates a tight circle between love, law, and life which is verified
by statistical facts that no one can deny.
Jesus says, "If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love" (John 15:10). This
is often interpreted as, "I will love you if you keep, my commandments." But,
Jesus always loves the sinner. The correct reading is, if you follow the law
you will live because of your relationship with God that enabled you
to follow the law. In other words, our relationship with God is why we
are alive. The intensity of the relationship determines the obedience to
the law which statistical correlates to how long we live.
The statistical proof of John 14:6 (see above) proves that God exists.
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System of God (Personal):
This isn't so much a proof that God exists, as it is an answer to the
most commonly held reasons that atheists and agnostics cite that
there is no God or He is not personally involved.
The most popular reason that God does not exist, is that God is made
into the image of the person. For example, a person might have been abused
when they were young, and they ask, "If God is all loving and all
powerful, why didn't He prevent it?" This question can also be rephrased
as, "If God is so great and kind, why don't I get everything I want?" which
is slightly more hedonistic.
Of course, the answer is that God is not a hedonist. Not only that, Jesus
had it made being the God of Heaven and all, but He gave all that up to
come down to Earth to die for our sins on a cross. Then He feeds His Church
with His own body. Does that sound like a hedonist?
Let's start with the cross which is usually depicted in a confusing way.
Only an engineer could marvel at the efficiency of that torture. In the
first place, the whole cross wasn't carried. It would be too heavy. How
would it be set upright without a lot of work? That's not how it was done.
The hands of the Christ were tied to the cross beam. When He carried the
cross, He could not catch Himself when He fell. That is why the falling
down was such a big deal. He would fall flat on His face and the beam would
intensify the damage.
The post of the cross was already planted and reused. When the execution party
reached the post, they simply hung the beam on a couple of hooks and tied
the feet. After several days of agony, the victim would die. In extreme and rare
cases, when they really had it in for the victim, they would nail the hands or
feet to increase the pain. In some cases, they nailed both the hands and the feet.
The nails didn't hold the victim on the cross; that would be unreliable. Rope
or chains, that were probably tied at the elbows and ankles, held the victim to the cross.
In other extreme cases, they would scourge the victim before they put him on
the cross. This increased the pain because his raw back would rub on the wood
as the victim tried to keep from suffocating (the dance of the crucifix).
Jesus, the God of Heaven, received both the scourging and nails which is almost
unique. In addition, Jesus was crowned with thorns. In other words, God didn't
make it easy for Himself.
The night before He did all of that, He had the last supper. We were instructed
to eat His body and drink His blood. He fully intended to give His life to us
for all time in a bath of pain that held nothing back.
This tells us something about God and, thus, the system of God. After the death
and resurrection of the Christ, the Holy Spirit empowers the Body of Christ
that was prepared by Jesus with His own body. From Spider-man, "With great power comes great
responsibility." Jesus tells us to take up our cross and follow Him (Luke 9:23).
Nowhere does it say that if you follow Jesus, you will have an easy life. Jesus
says the exact opposite.
But, the atheists rephrase the question, "If God is all powerful, why doesn't He
just Will it without all the suffering". The answer is that, "The one who does not love does not know God, for God is love" (1 John 4:8).
If God theoretically loved us (nothing physical), then it is not love.
And vice-versa, we can not simply say that we love God, we have to
live it. Love is holistic. God is a Trinity, and all three parts of
God needs to love us. In the same way, we have to love God with our
Body, mind (spirit), and appetites (soul). As Jesus says, "the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak" (Matt 26:41).
Just as a toddler can never walk without developing muscles and coordination,
so too, we will never be holy without prayer (relationship) and penance (pain).
Theoretical love is never given. How can that be real?
No, love has to be expressed and tested or it is
not love. A love that is never tested can not be authentic.
It is not enough for us to sometimes think that we love God when we
get what we want.
From God's frame of reference, we were created yesterday and know nothing.
We have some growing to do and decisions to make. If we don't express our
love by sacrificing our life, we our not worthy of a God who already did that
for us.
In a living body, the cells must give up their own independence to
become a part of the body; if not, the body will reject them. "For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his
life for My sake, he is the one who will save it" (Luke 9:24).
The atheist question ultimately becomes, "If God is all powerful and
all loving, why do we live in a messed up world that is rife with pain."
The traditional answer is that humans have free will, and they can choose
evil. But that is incomplete. Let's take God's point of view.
It would be highly selfish of God to have everyone love God by design.
What is the point of that? It is similar to a naughty teenager creating
beautiful people for sinful purposes. Is that the God you want?
Do you want God to create you to satisfy His own selfishness?
The fall of man (Adam eating the apple) was not necessary, but the sin of
men testifies to the authenticity of God, because God did not rig the
game to get His way which would be selfish. No, God allowed Himself to
be rejected. When not appreciated or even recognized, He redeemed
men in a bath of pain. Is it not edifying for men to see the
example set by God?
When teaching, it is sometimes better to let the student make a mistake.
By correcting the mistake for the student, you teach through the eyes
and mindset of the student. So too, God teaches us through our own mistake.
Besides it being selfish of God, if God rigged the system so that
we could not make a mistake, our love could never develop. How could it?
For we would not be independent and responsible. It is only our narrow
mindset that causes us to want everything to go our way and demand God do
the same. That is not love. God operates on a much greater scale, and we
need to crawl out of our own infancy by becoming independent and responsible.
In other words, we need to love God back. That relationship makes
us move beyond human narcissism, where we start to see God as something
more than a sugar daddy in the sky. As we do that, we begin to appreciate
love more than pleasure. To state this in the atheist question, just because
we feel something less than great, doesn't mean that God is not all loving,
because feeling good is not the same thing as love.
As previously shown and as Jesus declared, life, love, and God are
all the same. God is infinitely simple. There is only one design.
God is love (not selfish hedonism). The Body of Christ can not tolerate
hedonism. For then it would no longer be a living body of love.
No one can serve two masters (Matt 6:24). We either love our own
body, or we love the Body of Christ. Our love will be tested,
and our hope is that our love for Christ is real.
Appetites have an orientation. It is going to hurt to change them.
Yet, we have the power to undergo the necessary change, because we are loved.
When we choose love, we choose everlasting life.
The power of love will seem like nothing more than a bland euphemism before
we have developed a relationship with God. Yet, as we grow in our relationship
with God, we will find that every appetite will kneel before the power of
Love. It is only then, that we begin to see that God is a omnipotent force who
is perfect and requires us to be like Him so that we will live in Him.
The god that the hedonist invents, does not bestow on us the dignity of Love.
We can't live is our own selfishness and at the same time live for the love of
God and others.
The Christian God is one who has expressed His love for us. With the exception
of Judaism, which is a forerunner for Christianity, no other religion redeems through
relationship. In this life, we are given the chance to express our love for
God. That design is not an accident. God gave the angels the same test, and
that test was authentic because some failed. God is real, and He demands
a real relationship.
The expression of love is a feature (not a weakness).
The system of God has pain and suffering, because we are called
to be a true witness of love which is necessary in the perfect system.
Or without pain and suffering, love is artificial and synthetic. Real
love is expressed and tested. Even the Garden of Eden had a test. God doesn't need anything.
But God is love. So God expresses His love for us and His love for us is as real as the crucifixion.
There is no greater love than to lay down one's life for their friends (John 15:13).
In the same way, "If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross
daily and follow Me" (Luke 9:23). Even in our imagination, we could not invent a more
loving system.
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