Proofs For The Existence Of God

Answer : Religion without God is one of the controversial issues in philosophy of religion. Most of the religions of the world has God at the center. All the religion followers worship God. All the religious activities rotate around God.

God is considered to be the ultimate spiritual being towards which a man has the feeling of reverence and surrender. The religions of the West have taken God as the center figure of religion on account of differing ....

Answer : Nyaya believes in the Existence of God. According to this system, God is the creator, sustainer, and the destroyer of the universe. According to Nyaya, God is only the efficient and not the material cause of this universe.

Nyaya holds God is the creator of organic objects of the universe. This world comprises of two kinds of objects organic and inroganic objects. Only some intelligent beings can give life to organic object and that being is ....

Answer : The ontological arguments for the existence of the God are based on the “idea” of God. Since God’s existence is proved on the basis of idea of God, so it is called “a priori” arguments. Anselm, Descartes and Leibnitz have given these arguments. Kant has strongly criticized these arguments by saying that one cannot prove the existence of a thing on the basis of ideas of that thing. For example, suppose I have an idea ....

Answer : The Cosmological Argument is a standard argument for the existence of God, expounded by the theologian Thomas Aquinas, (1225-1274). The argument is based upon the premise that every being and every event has an existing cause which preceded it. This is accepted as universally true in our world; things do not pop into being from nowhere, and things do not happen for no reason.

But if every being and event must be caused by a previous ....

Answer : Over the centuries a large number of philosophers and theologians have tried to argue that God’s existence is somehow necessary. Descartes argued that the mere fact that we can talk about a supremely perfect being implies that that being exists, because perfection and existence somehow go together. Others such as Kant reject this kind of ‘ontological’ argument on the grounds that ‘existence’ is not a property of something in the way that, say, redness is. ....

1. Ontological Argument- Criticism typically deals with the Ontological Argument committing a “bare assertion fallacy,” which means it asserts qualities inherent solely to an unproven statement, without any support for those qualities. It is also criticized as a circular argument, revolving from a premise to a conclusion which relies on the premise, which relies on the conclusion.
2. Moral Argument- This argument is technically valid, provided that the three constituents are accepted, and most critics refuse to accept the first. Morality, they ....

Answer : The first argument is given by quoting Bertrand Russell in this context. The first argument, i.e. Indian Philosophy argument is “If everything must have a cause, then God must have a cause.

If there can be anything without a cause, it may just as well be the world as God, so that there cannot be any validity in that argument.” Russell adds that, “It is exactly of the same nature as the Hindu’s view, that the ....

Answer : Eastern Philosophy version of cosmological argument is -If everything must have a cause, then God must have a cause. If there can be anything without a cause, it may just as well be the world as God, so that there cannot be any validity in that argument.

And, the western Philosophy version of cosmological argument is God is a contingent being (a being such that if it exists it could have not-existed or could cease to) ....

Answer : Many theories have been propounded to prove the existence of God. But the existence of God cannot be proved conclusively on the basis of these theories. On the basis of cogent and convincing rational arguments existence of God cannot be proved beyond doubt. On the basis of nature, proofs are of two types, they are A priori and A posteori. A priori proof are based on deductions and A posteori proofs are based on induction. ....

Answer : In Advaita Vedanta the concepts of Ishvara and Brahman signify the same reality. In Advaita Vedanta Brahma is accepted as the transcendental reality and Ishvara as the empirical reality.

In Advaita Vedanta, Brahma in accepted as devoid of attributes and without personality but only a transcendental reality. Brahma consists of sat (truth), chit (consciousness) and Ananda (bliss). There is no difference in it like Sajatiya bheda, Vijaytiya bheda and Swagat bheda, etc. The Brahma is trikalabadhita. ....

Answer : The above given statement refers to the moral proof given for the existence of God. In the moral proof, God is accepted as a prerequisite of morality.

In the western philosophy Kant has accepted the moral proof pronouncedly. Kant refused all the traditional proofs given to prove the existence of God. Kant in his book “Critique of Pure Reason” says that God cannot be accepted on the basis of pure intellect but in another book “Critique ....

Answer : Main theories related to description of relation between the world and God are Deism and Pantheism.

Deism: Nature of God, conception of world, and human thinking: on all the three points Deism has its special impact. Supporters of Deism are Herbent, Newton, Darwin, etc. According to it God is complete, infinite, eternal, omnipotent, omniscient, absolute reality and full of personality. Since the God is complete, therefore the God has designed the world in the form of ....

Answer : Proof for the existence of God is necessary to increase the faith of the followers and discourage the non-believers. A religion is centred around supernatural power or being i.e. god and if its existense is unproved then no person will follow the religion.

The vastness of the universe makes us aware of our meagre existense and our loneliness. Thus the existense of god which consoles us that he is with us in the adverse situation and ....

Answer : The modal cosmological argument or “argument from contingency” is the argument from the contingency of the world or universe to the existence of God. The argument from contingency draws on the distinction between things that exist necessarily and things that exist contingently. Something is “necessary” if it could not possibly have failed to exist. God, too, is often thought to be a necessary being, i.e. a being that logically could not have failed to exist. ....

Answer : Causal argument takes the existence of God as first premise and thus proves the existence of God labeling it as first cause. One objection to the argument is that it leaves open the question of why the First Cause is unique in that it does not require a cause. Proponents argue that the First Cause is exempt from having a cause, while opponents argue that this is special pleading or otherwise untrue. The problem with ....

Answer : The first (and therefore second) premise taken by the argument from design for the existence of God assumes that one can infer the existence of intelligent design merely by examining an object. The teleological argument assumes that because life is complex, it must have been designed. It is argued that this is non-sequitur logic. Life or objects are described as “orderly” or “ordered”, which implies that an intelligent designer has ordered them. However, in reality, ....

Answer : The cosmological argument is an argument for the existence of a First Cause (or instead, an Uncaused cause) to the universe, and by extension is often used as an argument for the existence of an “unconditioned” or “supreme” being, usually then identified as God. It is traditionally known as an argument from universal causation, an argument from first cause, the causal argument or the argument from existence. Whichever term is employed, there are three basic ....

Answer : Teleological arguments are arguments from the order in the universe to the existence of God. They are also known as arguments from design (or, to be precise, arguments to design).

The name “the teleological argument” is derived from the Greek word telos, meaning “end” or “purpose”. When such arguments speak of the universe being ordered, they mean that it is ordered towards some end or purpose. The suggestion is that it is more plausible to suppose ....

Answer : Arguments for and against the existence of God have been proposed by scientists, philosophers, theologians, and others. In philosophical terminology, “existence-of-God” arguments concern schools of thought on the epistemology of the ontology of God. The debate concerning the existence of God raises many philosophical issues. A basic problem is that there is no universally accepted definition of God. Some definitions of God’s existence are so non-specific that it is certain that something exists that meets ....

Answer : the statement refers to the ontological argument which was proposed by Anselm. Although he did not propose an ontological system, he was very much concerned with the nature of being. He distinguished necessary beings (those which must exist) from contingent beings (those which may exist but whose existence is not necessary). Anselm made a priori argument for God, based on the idea of necessary existence. He claimed that, if God is that than which no ....

Answer : The statement refers to the cosmological argument for the existence of God. The cosmological argument is an argument for the existence of a First Cause (or instead, an Uncaused cause) to the universe, and by extension is often used as an argument for the existence of God. It is traditionally known as an argument from universal causation, an argument from first cause, the causal argument or the argument from existence. Whichever term is employed, there ....

Answer : Arguments for the existence of God come in many different forms; some draw on history, some on science, some on personal experience, and some on philosophy. The primary focus is the philosophical arguments—the ontological argument, the first cause argument, the argument from design, and the moral argument. Each of these arguments, if successful, supports a certain conception of God: the ontological argument, for instance, is an argument for the existence of a perfect being; the ....

Answer : The cosmological argument begins with a fact about experience, namely, that something exists. We might sketch out the argument as follows.

• A contingent being (a being that if it exists can’t-exist) exists.
• This contingent being has a cause of or explanation for its existence.
• The cause of or explanation for its existence is something other than the contingent being itself.
• What causes or explains the existence of this contingent being must either be solely other contingent ....

Answer : God is dead” is not meant literally, as in “God is now physically dead”; rather, it is Nietzsche’s way of saying that the idea of “God” (religion and other such spirituality) is no longer capable of acting as a source of any moral code or teleology. Nietzsche recognizes the crisis which the death of God represents for existing moral considerations, because “When one gives up the Christian faith, one pulls the right to Christian morality ....

Answer : The ontological argument is an argument based not on observation of the world (like the cosmological and teleological arguments) but rather from reason alone. Specifically, the ontological argument reasons from the study of being (ontology). The first and most popular form goes back to St. Anselm in the 11th century A.D. He begins with stating that the concept of God is “a being than which no greater can be conceived.” Since existence is possible, and ....

Answer : An ontological argument for the existence of God attempts the method of a priori proof, which uses intuition and reason alone. Ontological arguments were first proposed by the medieval philosophers, Avicenna (in The Book of Healing) and Anselm of Canterbury (in his Proslogion). Important variations were developed by later philosophers like René Descartes, Gottfried Leibniz, Norman Malcolm, Charles Hartshorne, and Alvin Plantinga. A modal-logic version of the argument was devised by the mathematician Kurt Gödel. ....

Answer : Teleological argument, or argument from design, is an argument for the existence of God or a creator based on perceived evidence of order, purpose, design, or direction or some combination of these in nature. The word “teleological” is derived from the Greek word telos, meaning “end” or “purpose”. Teleology is the supposition that there is purpose or directive principle in the works and processes of nature. Although there are variations, the basic argument can be ....

Answer : Philosophers have tried to provide rational proofs of God’s existence that go beyond dogmatic assertion or appeal to ancient scripture. The major proofs, with their corresponding objections, are as follows:

1. Ontological : It is possible to imagine a perfect being. Such a being could not be perfect unless its essence included existence. Therefore a perfect being must exist.

Objection: You cannot define or imagine a thing into existence.

2. Causal : Everything must have a cause. It ....

Answer : Ontological arguments are arguments, for the conclusion that God exists, from premises which are supposed to derive from some source other than observation of the world — e.g., from reason alone. In other words, ontological arguments are arguments from nothing but analytic, a priori and necessary premises to the conclusion that God exists. The first, and best-known, ontological argument was proposed by St. Anselm of Canterbury in the 11th century A.D. In his Proslogian St. ....

Answer : This argument was once used by theologians and philosophers, but has fallen out of favor among those who know what they are talking about. The reason, as it shall be seen, is that this is not simply a flawed argument but can also be a logical fallacy. Aside from its historical importance, it has nevertheless remained popular among amateur and popular religious apologists. It certainly has a nice sound, and John Stuart Mill observed that ....

Answer : The cosmological argument is less a particular argument than an argument type. It uses a general pattern of argumentation (logos) that makes an inference from certain alleged facts about the world (cosmos) to the existence of a unique being, generally identified with or referred to as God. Among these initial facts are that the world came into being, that the world is contingent in that it could have been other than it is, or that ....

Answer : Some of the contemporary philosophers who have challenged the traditional religions and belief in God include Paul Satre, Marx, Singmund Freud, Madman and Nietzsche. The Nietzsche’s saying that ‘God is dead’ that the belief in the God has become unworthy of belief first of all started casting shadow on the belief in God in contemporary world. Nietzsche is of opinion that let us be on our guard against saying that there are laws in nature. ....