Over the years, there have been opinions over the existence of a supreme being, with the power that surpasses all wisdom and mankind. He is referred to as omnipresent, eternal, all-knowing and creator of all things, without whom nothing exist. Different people convey God in various ways. Nonetheless, one thing has been clear; that almost every human being tends to submit to someone or something, they believe is superior to them. There has been confusion on who to submit to, where to find him, and how to reach him. Various religions have emerged as a result, and a lot of disparities have risen. Contradictions have grown both for and against the existence of God.
Among the suggestions by the philosophers have been these arguments, Ontological, cosmological and teleological. Cosmological arguments agree with most of the religious beliefs as it is based on logical reasoning and evidence. A lot of scientific reviews have been done on the arguments. Theories have also come up, regarding the existence of a God. This paper will attempt to prove the existence of God by discussing the three theories named above.
The theories were proposed by philosophers R. Descartes, Richard Taylor and William Paley. They have been subject to criticism by fellow philosophers over the years as they try to prove the existence of God. Descartes, a French Philosopher, put much of his time as a writer. Being a physicist and Mathematician he was one of the revolutionists in science, credited with the Cartesian system mathematics. He brought the Ontological argument regarding the existence of God, which was based on conscience and thoughts.
He related the words “think” and “exist” and argued that just the fact that he could think and ascertain that he really was, proved that his thinking had great links to reality. It, therefore, follows that he applied the same principle in determining the existence of God. It stated that the mere fact that one could think of God showed that he indeed existed. He claimed that one conceived only things that exist. The existence could be in body or not, and since it was unknown, it could be eternal (Mackie 30; 41).
Tailor an American philosopher proposed the cosmological argument on God’s existence. He based his principle on logic and the world. He argued that the existence of something called for defense and the non-existence never brought any questions, an example is when you find a completely strange object, you would always think that there was a reason for its existence. Another case is the world; we take it for granted because we are used to its presence but we still have the questions lingering on its existence.
This brings the belief which seems to be in most people, that there must be a reason behind everything’s existence. Applying this principle of ample logic, and reasoning, Taylor, argued that truth would only be true if there is a reason to support its foundation. Truths could depend on themselves or on something, but definitely, there must be a reason.
The object must have links to the reason, and the reason can be eternal through the object does not have to be. For example, the heavens and earth, based on this principle, have an explanation. In this case, God, who is entitled to have created them, must be eternal since we don’t know the timing of his existence but the heavens and the world does not have to. Therefore, if the heavens and earth include everything except God, then we have reasons to metaphysically argue that God created them, and hence his existence (Taylor 1-7).
The third theory, the teleological argument was proposed by Paley, a British philosopher who was a Christian apologist. He based his study on designs and evidence. In his proposal he gave an example of a watch whose function and elaboration meant the designer or the maker, this similarly applies to the universe, which means the universe definitely has a maker. The fact that an object conveys the design implies that the earth, the heavens had a creator, who designed them.
Using this principle, we can state that the universe has its maker. Founding his arguments on Natural Theology, Paley proved that the designs in the watch also existed in nature. This would imply that the maker of the universe also exists in nature. This maker being exceedingly complex to his creation (universe) must definitely be God (Paley 1).
The three theories are similar in their objective. Ontological argument banks on the thought of man, cosmological arguments give power to belief based on logical reasoning and evidence, while teleological argument gives support to the design of the object which defines the creator. Although not explicitly proved, the arguments convey a strong feeling of the existence of a God. They are therefore realistic especially in ascertaining the creator of this very complex universe. However, the theories do not sufficiently give a hint of the form of God and are subject to further scrutiny to give the full description of the appearance of God.
Works Cited
Mackie J. L. “Miracle of Theism: Arguments for and against the Existence of God.” 1982. Web.
Paley, William. “The teleological argument” Natural theology. Philadelphia: Parker, 1802. Web.
Taylor, Richard. “The Cosmological Argument: A Defense”. 2002. Web.