~Position Paper~
This is a position paper I wrote for an Omnibus V assignment. It is based on themes found in the Summa Theologica by Saint Thomas Aquinas.
Assignment:
Write a position paper on the following subject: Can God’s Existence Be Proved?
St. Thomas believed that God’s existence
can be proved. I believe that is he
absolutely correct. There are
overwhelming amounts of evidence that support this position, both inside and
outside of Scripture.
The first piece of evidence that we can
find to prove God’s existence is the fact that we are even here on earth in the
first place! The universe HAD to start
somewhere. Robert Jastrow said, in
describing the ‘Big Bang’: “"The seed of everything that has happened in
the Universe was planted in that first instant; every star, every planet and
every living creature in the Universe came into being as a result of events
that were set in motion in the moment of the cosmic explosion...The Universe
flashed into being, and we cannot find out what caused that to
happen." The only possible way to
explain our entire universe coming into being is found in Genesis 1.
Even if people can come up with supposed
proof for the position that the universe exists apart from God’s sovereignty, they
are still met with the significant problem of the delicate, perfectly
uniform balance of every organism on this planet. God did not have to create the world this
way. He created the world as a
reflection of Himself, not as a reflection of the chaos and disorder sin
creates. Even after sin entered the
world, we can still see enormous amounts of evidence for God’s sovereign
authority over us and His Creation.
Apart from the creation of the world,
we see evidence for God in our own thoughts and consciences. A former atheist describes it this way: “I
didn't realize that the reason the topic of God weighed so heavily on my mind,
was because God was pressing the issue. I have come to find out that God wants
to be known. He created us with the intention that we would know him. He has
surrounded us with evidence of himself and he keeps the question of his
existence squarely before us. It was as if I couldn't escape thinking about the
possibility of God. In fact, the day I chose to acknowledge God's existence, my
prayer began with, ‘Ok, you win...’ It might be that the underlying reason
atheists are bothered by people believing in God is because God is actively
pursuing them.” C.S. Lewis had a similar
experience: "...night after night, feeling whenever my mind lifted even
for a second from my work, the steady, unrelenting approach of Him whom I so
earnestly desired not to meet. I gave in, and admitted that God was God, and
knelt and prayed: perhaps, that night, the most dejected and reluctant convert
in all of England." God wants to
make Himself known to us, because that is how he created us! We were created to glorify God and enjoy Him
forever. Even after we fell into sin,
God had a plan to bring us back into this blissful state of perfect balance and
order. It can be argued that it takes
MORE faith to be an atheist than it does to be a Christian, because there are
so many unexplainable factors that work against the belief that there is no
god.
Christianity is different from any
other religion. Other religions have
ways that their converts can merit salvation, through their own works. They are uncertain and filled with
doubts. They try to tiptoe their way
around sin and leave people with a feeling of emptiness and a longing for
something more. That ‘something’ can
only be found in the Bible. Jesus came
to fully satisfy all of God’s requirements.
No other religion offers any prophet or messenger like that, who is willing
to take all of the punishment his people deserve. 1 John 5:20 says: “And we know that the Son
of God has come, and has given us understanding, in order that we might know
Him who is true, and we are in Him who is true, in His Son Jesus Christ. This
is the true God and eternal life.”
God does exist, and we can see proof of
this in Scripture, in our hearts, and in His creation. What a wonderful thing it is to know that we
have a loving, heavenly Father, Who is ordaining all events in accordance with
His will. He is drawing His people to
Himself, and one day we will be able to enjoy eternity with Him—finally living
as we were meant to live.
