Gods Existence

Almost everyone at some particular point in his or her life has challenged the existence of God. This may happen for a number of reasons. For example he or she might have been at a point in their life when their faith alone was just not enough for them to believe. Humans have a natural instinct to find reasons for events that can’t be explained. For some, the existence of God may help give them the answers they are looking for.

Philosophers spend a great deal of their time trying to prove or to disprove the existence of God. One philosopher that confronted God’s existence was Anselm.

Anselm was the Archbishop of Canterbury and was a very influential philosopher between Augustine and Aquinas. He proposed his argument for God’s existence. His ontological argument is based on the thought of God as the highest being.

Anselm’s argument is different from other philosophers simply because of it’s premise. He saw a need for a precise logical philosophy as a way for making faith mature, not as a substitute for faith. Because Anselm already believed in God, he was only looking for rational support for this belief. Therefore

Anselm’s method of proving God’s existence is called “Faith seeking understanding.'; He proclaims “I do not seek to understand in order that I may believe, but I believe in order that I may understand'; (Stumpf, 372-372). Anselm had to believe in God in order to support his own rational for God’s existence.

To help prove his belief, Anslem he uses his mind. He claims, “Now we believe that You are something than which nothing greater can be thought.'; He then questions, “Does this something, than which nothing greater can be thought, really exist?'; (Stumpf 373). Anselm also sites Psalm 13:1 which reads,

“The fool has said in his heart: There is no God.'; When a fool hears the question, “Does this something than which nothing greater can be thought really exist,'; he understands what he is hearing. The fool follows what this question because it is in his intellect.

Next Anselm shows how something can exist in the intellect even before the intellectual knows that it exist. He tries to expla... ... middle of paper ...

... Through the philosopher’s arguments covered in this paper, there is legitimate proof for and against the existence of God.

In my opinion, a God can only exist if one wants Him to.

Although one can always rely on he arguments to help support his views. If one does not truly believe that a God exists he can find another argument to support God’s non-existence. I have been brought up to believe in the existence of God however, I have come to question His existence. When I was younger, I used to believe but as I gained new knowledge I began to question if there really was a God.

Some people can have faith alone and succeed just fine, while others need written proof of the existence of God. All of the philosophers mentioned either give support for or against for those who need written proof. I believe that He was created for the sole purpose of people to believe in something that is on some sort of higher level than everyone else. If God does really exist then those who believe now will eventually reach their ending place in life. For those who live in question of His existence will also end up at their own future ending place.