Goals

Define “God” by the Judeo-Christian definition

Define omnipotence, omniscience, omni-benevolence, and omni-presence

Be able to list and defend several common proofs of God’s existence

Be able to list and defend several common proofs of God’s non-existence

What is God?Think/Groups/Brainstorm

The 4 Omnis

Omni-BenevolentAll-Good

The 4 Omnis

OmnipotentAll-powerfulGod can do anything God wants or would

ever want to do.

The 4 Omnis

OmnipresentEverywhereGod is in all places at all times

The 4 Omnis

OmniscientAll-knowing

God: The 4 Omnis

Omni-benevolent: 100% Good◦God is good◦God wants that which is best.

Omnipotent: All-Powerful◦God can do anything God wants or would ever

want to do. Omni-present: Everywhere.

◦God is in all places at all times. Omniscient: All-Knowing

◦God knows everything.

“Proofs” of God’s Existence

Thomas Aquinas

Tommaso de Aquino Born AD 1224 In 1244, he joined the Dominicans1 month later, his brother abducted him

and held him captive in his family’s castle for a year

He eventually convinced them to let him become a priest.

Aquinas’ 5 Proofs

First MoverFirst CauseGreatest BeingNecessary BeingIntelligent Design

First Mover

Newtonian physics 300 years before Newton

By their nature, objects are at rest. There is motion. Motion is caused by other motion. Therefore, something had to cause the

first motion. “Domino effect”

First Cause

Everything is caused by something else. There is not an infinite set of causes. Therefore, something must have caused

all other things to be. Which came first, the chicken or the egg?

Greatest Being

By natural law, we know that some things are better than others.

There has to be a “best being” to compare with good and bad things.

Which is better: winning $30 million, or seeing a good film?

Which is better, seeing a good film or kicking puppies?

Greatest Being

Kicking puppies

Seeing a good film

Winning $30 mil

Intelligent Designer

Look at the planets perfectly circling the sun.

Look at the moon perfectly circling the earth.

Look at the perfect balance of plants and animals in the ecosystem.

This doesn’t happen by accident. There must be an intelligent designer.

Necessary Being

It is possible for anything I can sense not to exist.

Therefore, it is possible that nothing I can sense exists.

Non-existence is impossible. Something must exist necessarily. Therefore, there is something that exists

necessarily which I cannot sense.

St. Anselm

b. 1033 ADAnselmo de Candia GinevraBorn nobleWanted to join the monastery at 15Dad wouldn’t let himLeft home to travel at age 23Entered a Benedictine abbey at age 27.

St. Anselm’s Ontological Argument

If I am thinking of the greatest being imaginable, I can think of no being greater. ◦ If it is false that I can think of no greater being, it is

false that I am thinking of the greatest being imaginable.

Being is greater than non-being. If the being I am thinking of does not exist, it is

not the greatest being imaginable. If I am thinking of the greatest being thinkable,

I am thinking of a being which exists.

YOU JUST GOT………

INCEPTIONED!!!

St. Anselm’s Ontological Argument

If I am thinking of the greatest being imaginable, I can think of no being greater. ◦If it is false that I can think of no greater being, it

is false that I am thinking of the greatest being. Being is greater than non-being. If the being I am thinking of does not exist,

it is not the greatest being. If I am thinking of the greatest being

thinkable, I am thinking of a being which exists.

Other “Proofs”

Anthropological ArgumentArgument from LoveArgument from Beauty

“Proofs” of God’s Non-Existence

The Problem of Evil

There is evil in the world. Some of it is here by man’s choosing. Some is not. Why would a God who is all good and all-

powerful let evil into the world? EG: Hurricane Katrina

Omnipotence is an inherent contradiction

The very idea of omnipotence is impossible.

Can God create a log so heavy God cannot lift it?

If there is an omniscient God, we cannot have free will.

If God knows what I’m going to choose before I choose it, do I really have free will?

Causality doesn’t matter.

Occam’s Razor

All things being equal, the simplest explanation tends to be the right one.

If two hypotheses both sufficiently explain the data, use the one which makes fewer assumptions.

Belief in God requires more complex assumptions than non-belief

Ironically, William of Occam was a Franciscan priest.

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