why God exists

1. Whatever begins to exist has a cause of its
   existence.
2. The universe began to exist. 

   2.1 Argument based on the impossibility of an
       actual infinite.

         2.11 An actual infinite cannot exist.
         2.12 An infinite temporal regress of
              events is an actual infinite.
         2.13 Therefore, an infinite temporal
              regress of events cannot exist. 

   2.2   Argument based on the impossibility of
         the formation of an actual infinite by
         successive addition. 

         2.21 A collection formed by successive
              addition cannot be actually infinite.
         2.22 The temporal series of past events
              is a collection formed by successive
              addition.
         2.23 Therefore, the temporal series of
              past events cannot be actually
              infinite.

3. Therefore, the universe has a cause of its
   existence.[i]

---

[i] Taken from http://www.leaderu.com/truth/3truth11.html

on September 30, 2008 at 4:17pm

No God, No Morality

 

 

Apparently, I have been discussing some topics that are of great interest to most of my readers.  So, I might as well keep it up since it is such a hot topic.  As I’ve suggested before, to have no God is to have no morality.  Now, what do I mean by that?  Do I mean to say that an atheist cannot do moral things?  No, not all.  Of course atheists can do moral things.  What I am saying is that the word “good” loses all sense of meaning if there was ever a time when God didn’t exist.  In fact, I posit that God’s existence is necessary when it comes to understand the “good” from the “bad.” 

 

Now, I know that there have been some who have attempted to create a system of ethics without invoking divinity (Kant, for example, had his categorical imperative).  Yet, do these systems pan out in the real world? 

 

For instance, Immanuel Kant said that we should “act only according to that maxim whereby you can at the same time will that it should become a universal law.”

That is, we know that an action is “good” if and only if we can will that same action into some sort of universal law, which everyone is obligated to obey.  For example, we shouldn’t lie because if we were to make lying into a universal law, then the world would not function correctly.  We wouldn’t want someone to lie to us, so we should lie to them.  The world, no doubt, would be chaotic if this happened.  So, the question of the hour is this:  does Kant’s system hold up to scrutiny? 

 

I maintain that it does not.  For one thing, Kant presupposes some things that I just don’t think he is privy to.  That is, for his system to work, he has to already have some sort of idea of good and evil.  How else would he know the hypothetical universal law of lying is a bad thing?  Why should we care if society goes to the dump because of our universal law of lying?  Who says I have to care about society?  The reason Kant thinks we should care about society is because if we didn’t, then it would negatively reflect upon us.  So, we see that this system is merely a selfish, egotistical system that has man at the center. 

 

Besides this, who is Kant to tell me what to do?  Why does Kant even think we need a moral system?  The reason Kant thinks so is because he already had some preconceived notion of “the Good.”

 

Thirdly, how do we know the categorical imperative is true?  Well, by applying its own rules to it.  However, this is circular reason, which will not do for a cohesive worldview.

 

The simple fact of the matter is that if there is no God, there is no ethical system.  Morality cannot be based up reason alone, but on God alone.

 

soli Deo gloria

 

Matthew  

The Existence and Glory of God

 

We have two options:  Either God exists, or He does not exist.  If God does not exist, then we would have some sort of problem figuring out what the source of morality is.  If God does exist, then it is no doubt a little easier to account for the moral absolutes that we all know to be real.  For instance, God could command for all of us to perform/not perform certain actions, and this would be our source of morality.

 

Now, the atheist, as said in my last post has some serious problems.  He cannot, I claim, account for the moral absolutes that we all recognize as true.  For instance, the statement, rape is wrong is recognized as a moral, absolute truth, regardless of the circumstances.  The atheist cannot give an adequate reason as to why this statement is true. 

 

I noticed that the comments in my last post try to give an adequate account of this truth without invoking God; however, I think they sort of miss my argument.  I never said that atheist could not be moral people.  In fact, I think that there were some moral atheists in history (David Hume, for example).  Yet, my question is not whether atheists could do moral things, but whether atheists could account for their morality.  That is a totally different question.  Of course there are atheists who give to the poor, but what makes giving to the poor good?  That is the question that must be answered.

 

God’s existence is necessary to explain why we people recognize moral absolutes.  If we think it is absolutely true that torturing babies for fun is wrong, then we need to invoke a Lawgiver into the equation to make sense of our observation.  That is, we need God to validate our claim to truth; otherwise, we would be encroaching in on moral relativism, or a might-makes-right mentality.  I’m sure none of us wants to go there.

 

 So, I challenge anyone to come up with a good reason as to why there are moral absolutes in the world if God does not exist.  Note:  You cannot say, “Because it is good for society,” or, “Because I would get beat up if I did wrong.”  This simply will not work.  For one thing, why should I do what is good for society?  And not doing something supposedly “wrong” simply because you would get beat up is not a good reason.  Suppose that you secretly hired someone to kill babies for fun, forever hiding you, the true culprit.  Because nobody would know your identity, you probably would not get beat up.  So, according to one comment on the last post, would that make killing babies okay then?  After all, you wouldn’t get beat up! 

 

It seems to me—and I say this as a seeker of truth—that only a supreme, good, Almighty God can make sense of the universe.  His existence is necessary to understanding why there are moral absolutes.  And He, in the end, gets all the glory for being that One, Great, Necessary, Greatest Conceivable Being. 

 

All to Christ do we owe.

 

soli Deo gloria!

 

Matthew 

What if God Doesn’t Exist?

I think one of the most interesting questions a person can ask themselves is, “What if God does not exist?” That is, what are the implications of His non-existence? Of course, the questions presupposes that there are implications, as some would tend to say that there are none. I think this is an interesting question in and of itself. Does it even matter if God does not exist? Well, let’s take a look at a couple of things to figure this out.

The question of morality. If God does not exist, then what does this do to the idea of moral absolutes? Would there be any governing moral rules that have a right to impose themselves upon us? For instance, if God—being the moral Judge of the universe—does not exist, then what would make killing babies for fun morally wrong? I suppose the atheist could say, “Well, it would be wrong because the child is innocent, having done nothing wrong.” But this type of answer is not really all that good. For instance, why is it wrong to kill innocent people? The atheist could respond, “Because this type of action would not be good for a society to embrace; therefore, it is wrong.” But wait a second. That just poses another problem. Why should I do what is right for society? What makes doing right for society a noble action?

You see, the atheist has a real problem on his shoulder. He cannot, under any circumstances, give a valid answer as to why it is wrong to do seemingly evil actions (like killing babies for fun). No matter what answer he gives, it will always introduce a new problem—that is, another question that cannot be accounted for.

The question of meaning. If God does not exist, and our universe is just a product of chance, then what kind of meaning would there be? If there is no soul, if there is no ultimate judgment where rewards and punishments are dispersed, if all mankind is made up of is just chance and matter, then we have a real problem. In fact, we have a huge problem. If God does not exist, then the inner longing for absolute meaning that resides in all of our hearts would be just a myth—that is, an illusion. We have deceived ourselves into thinking there is true meaning in life. Some will say, “But wait. We can make up our own meaning. We have the ability to create it.” But isn’t this just a shot in the dark? I mean, think about it. If we have no meaning to begin with—that is, if there is no meaning from the start—, then what makes us finite creatures think we can create meaning ex nihilo—that is, out of nothing? If all that exists is matter, then do you, Mr. Atheist, suppose we impart meaning upon something physical and brute?

Personally, I just don’t think it can be done. Ascribing meaning to the physical realm by the physical realm (that is, by us), is just pure nonsense. The only thing—or being—that can accomplish such a feat would be the Greatest Conceivable Being—the one we call God. Only the infinite can give infinite meaning to something. Any meaning we give to the universe would be pure fictitious; it would be finite meaning at best.

So, what if God does not exist? What kind of universe would this be? The answer is that it would be a lonely one. It would be a cold, dark place to live. Man would just be the lonely speck that rests inside the Milky Way. No purpose would exist; no true meaning could survive the vastness.

As a Christian, I have found that the ultimate meaning, the ultimate purpose, and the ultimate satisfaction and joy is found in nothing, save Jesus Christ. He is the source of meaning in the universe; He is our purpose. We are to glorify Him and enjoy Him forever.

soli Deo Gloria

Matthew Halsted