On the Essence of God

924 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Existence of god

The existence of God has been questioned and asked by many human beings since they were given revelations. A clear answer to the question has not yet been verified nor proven to be true by anyone and philosophers trying to prove so have failed too. Regardless of the disappointing search for God’s existence people still have hope and believe in God. Humans never stop seeking for a supreme being other than themselves, and when they prove God’s existence similar to how Descartes does, it opens up a lot of questions. What is God’s essence and what relation holds between God and oneself as an existent? And, how does the divine essence need anyone?

First, we want to start off with identifying what God’s true essence is, and then we can start making assumptions on what we know about God. The essence of a thing is the property or set of properties that the thing cannot do without. By knowing that, we assume God has to have a property or properties that proves his existence. The existence of God is his essence because he would not be God if he did not exist. The essence of God has to be clearly and distinctly perceived in order for us to conduct that God exists. A way to prove this is Descartes triangle theory, where he states that a triangle has three sides but not because his senses told him that a triangle has three sides. Instead his intellect and knowledge tell him a triangle has three sides, meaning that triangles do exist and this is a clear and distinct perception. Relating this to God we can say that God is just like the triangle where our senses don’t tell us he exists, instead our intellect and knowledge does. Relating this to the real world Descartes states that we can clearly and distinctly perceive that bodies take up phy...

... middle of paper ...

...escartes. With this theory we can prove that the essence of a body is mass or space it takes up and if god has an essence we know he exists. Because we know that god exists we know we exists as we have ideas and a mind of our own which is knowledge and knowledge is infinite which we as finite creatures can not create. Knowing this, we know that we innate our ideas from God who is an infinite creature and is thus perfect. We humans have a cogito and our cogito is imperfect as it makes mistakes and only a perfect being (God) could have created such. And since God is perfect we can assume that god needs us, than for something to be perfect it has to be build up with a lot of imperfect bodies such as humans, objects and space itself. Because we know that God needs us we know that God is us and we are God as everything put together makes perfection and perfection is God.

Show More
Related

  • Prove the Existence of God Using Who Has the Idea of God

    930 Words  | 2 Pages

    (1)Direct reason: If I am the reason I exist, it has an incredible conclusion “if I got my being from myself, I would not doubt, nor would I desire, nor would I lack anything at all. For I would have given myself all the perfections of which I have some idea; in so doing, I myself would be God!” (Descartes 32, 48) This means, I have great perfection, I do not need depend on anything else, if so, I become God, it is clearly impossible. Because it is harder for me to think about getting things that I lack than the things I have. On the other hand, it is more difficult for me to think I come from nothing than to acquire things I do not know. If I give this great thing to myself, I will not lack things that are easily to get, and I will not lack things I understand from the idea of God. Since none of them are difficult for me to acquire. If any of them are difficult for me to acquire, I will experience my power is limited. As a result, I am not God.

    Read More

  • The Proof of the Existence of God

    1421 Words  | 3 Pages

    The. His existence is seen as simply another property of his being. Just like omnipotence and omnipresent are the properties of the. One example that has been used to explain this is a triangle. The sand is a triangle.

    Read More

  • The Cartesian Circle is Wrong

    1602 Words  | 4 Pages

    Rene Descartes meditations on the existence of God are very profound, thought-provoking, and engaging. From the meditations focused specifically on the existence of God, Descartes uses the argument that based on his clear and distinct perception that cannot be treated with doubt, God does exist. In the beginning of the third meditation, Descartes proclaims that he is certain he is a thinking thing based on his clear and distinct perception, and he couldn’t be certain unless all clear and distinct perceptions are true. Before diving into the existence of God, Descartes introduces smaller arguments to prove the existence of God. For example, Descartes introduces in his argument that there are ideas in which he possess that exists outside of him. Utilizing the objective versus formal reality, Descartes states “If the objective reality of any of my ideas turns out to be so great that I am sure the same reality does not reside in me, either formally or eminently, and hence that I myself cannot be its cause, it will necessarily follow that I am not alone in the world, but that some other thing which is the cause of this idea exists” (29). In other words, the ideas of objective reality that resides in Descartes can potentially only come from a supreme being, which is God; God possess more objective reality than he does formal reality. We as humans, as Descartes states, are finite substance, and God is the only infinite substance. The only way for us as a finite substance to think of an infinite substance is possible if, and only if, there is an infinite substance that grants us the idea of substance in first place. After these smaller arguments, Descartes states that while we can doubt the existence of many things, due to the fact that ...

    Read More

  • Rene Descartes' Meditations on First Philosophy

    1961 Words  | 4 Pages

    ... God alone remains; and, given the truth of the principle that whatever exists has a cause, it follows, Descartes declares, that God exists we must of necessity conclude from the fact alone that I exist, or that the idea of a supremely perfect – that is of God – is in me, that the proof of God’s existence is grounded in the highest evidence” Descartes concludes that God must be the cause of him, and that God innately implanted the idea of infinite perfection in him.

    Read More

  • Meditation on First Philosophy by Rene Descartes

    1212 Words  | 3 Pages

    ... is not just an idea but also a real thing. So the innate idea proof leads up to the ontological argument proof that completes Descartes analysis on the existence of God.

    Read More

  • Descartes Proof Of God

    1660 Words  | 4 Pages

    He has new ideas of God. He concludes he did not create the idea of God. A finite being is incapable of creating an idea of an infinite possibility. Therefore, God must have created the idea already in him when he was created. Concluding that God exists. He also touches upon the idea in which he resolves it cannot be a deceiver. For instance, deception only relies on imperfection, while that is not God, which makes God a non deceiver.

    Read More

  • Benchmark Assignment: Gospel Essentials

    1701 Words  | 4 Pages

    A wonderful description of the nature of God’s existence that includes the absolute possession of characteristics that have to be uniquely God was said, “First, God must exist necessarily, which means that God’s existence differs from ours by not being dependent on anything or anyone else, or such as to be taken from him or lost in any way. God has always existed, will always exist and could not do otherwise than to exist. Also, whatever attributes God possesses, he possesses necessarily” (Wood, J., 2010, p. 191).

    Read More

  • How Did Descartes Conceit The Existence Of His Own Existence?

    577 Words  | 2 Pages

    Through Descartes’s Meditations, he sought to reconstruct his life and the beliefs he had. He wanted to end up with beliefs that were completely justified and conclusively proven. In order to obtain his goal, Descartes had to doubt all of his foundational beliefs so that he could start over. This left Descartes doubting the reality of the world around him and even his own existence. In order to build up to new conclusively proven and justified true beliefs, Descartes needed a fixed and undeniable starting point. This starting point was his cogito, “I think, therefore I am.” In this paper I will argue that Descartes’s argument that he is definite of his own existence, is unsound.

    Read More

  • The Theory of Origin in Aristotle's Metaphysics

    394 Words  | 1 Pages

    This theory is Aristotle’s belief that something can not come out of nothing. Aristotle says, “How will there be movement, if there is no actually existing cause?…The seeds must act on the earth and the semen on the menstrual blood”. What he is saying is that something must be set into motion by something else. There is always a cause to an effect. One relies on the other. Therefore, before origin there must have been an “immovable mover”, that being God.

    Read More

  • The Sovereignty and Goodness of God

    1260 Words  | 3 Pages

    The Sovereignty and Goodness of God is a primary source document written in the 17th century, by a well-respected, Puritan woman. This book, written in cahoots with Cotton and Increase Mather, puritan ministers, tells the story of her capture by Indians during King Phillip’s War (1675-1676). For three months, Mary Rowlandson, daughter of a rich landowner, mother of three children, wife of a minister, and a pillar of her community lived among “savage” Indians. This document is important for several reasons. First, it gives us insight into the attitudes, extremes, personalities and “norms” of the Puritan people we learn about in terms of their beliefs, and John Calvin’s “house on a hill”. Beyond that, despite the inevitable exaggerations, this book gives us insight into Indian communities, and how they were run and operated during this time.

    Read More

  • William Lane Craig Does God Exist

    677 Words  | 2 Pages

    The existence of God is quite controversial issue. God has different names in the world, and a lot of people, strongly believe in his existence. While, on the other hand, there are also people who don’t believe in his existence. In their discussion entitled “Does God Exist?” William Lane Craig, who is the supporter of the idea of existence of God, debates with Austin Dacey, who is an atheist, on the idea of existence of God. They provide the strong arguments and their debates are quite interesting, and innovative (not similar to those arguments, we usually read about in book). These are the fresh views on the question of existence and non-existence of God.

    Read More

  • Third Meditation, by Rene Descartes

    869 Words  | 2 Pages

    In the Third Meditation, Descartes forms a proof for the existence of God. He begins by laying down a foundation for what he claims to know and then offers an explanation for why he previously accepted various ideas but is no longer certain of them. Before he arrives at the concept of God, Descartes categorizes ideas and the possible sources that they originate from. He then distinguishes between the varying degrees of reality that an idea can possess, as well as the cause of an idea. Descartes proceeds to investigate the idea of an infinite being, or God, and how he came to acquire such an idea with more objective reality than he himself has. By ruling out the possibility of this idea being invented or adventitious, Descartes concludes that the idea must be innate. Therefore, God necessarily exists and is responsible for his perception of a thing beyond a finite being.

    Read More

  • Descartes

    1175 Words  | 3 Pages

    of God; therefore, God must intrinsically exist, inasmuch as he, too, is a product of His own creation. Descartes was

    Read More

  • Definition Essay – Defining God

    396 Words  | 1 Pages

    The concept of God can be a difficult one to grasp especially in today's world - a world in which anyone that believes in God is trying to define exactly what God is. To even attempt to grasp such a concept, one must first recognize his own beliefs in respect to the following questions: Is God our creator? Is God omnipotent (all-powerful) or omniscient (all-knowing) or both? Does God care? Is God with us? Does God interfere with life on earth? These questions should be asked and carefully answered if one should truly wish to identify his specific beliefs in God's existence and persistence.

    Read More

  • Does God Exist?

    627 Words  | 2 Pages

    However, if we picture God as something that could be everywhere, surrounding us like air or awareness, then, understanding if and what God is - all of a sudden - becomes a possibility. I am sure you can agree: if there is a God, then God has to exist and has to be aware of His Existence (can you even picture an unconscious God). Also, He must exist on his own, which means God must be self-energetic. That is the safest thing we can say without too much speculation. And, in fact, that is precisely what God is: God is self-energetic awareness.

    Read More

More about On the Essence of God

Open Document