Review Of Anselm's Argument For The Existence Of God

The idea of a supreme has been around since the beginning of time, and many different arguments have been used in attempt to prove the existence of a god. One of the most well-known arguments for the existence of the Judeo-Christian God is Anselm’s ontological argument. Ontological arguments use natural theology which attempts to prove God existence by using logic, reason, and shared evidence. Scripture, religious experience, and divine revelation are all used as tools. Many great philosophers such as Descartes and David Lewis also used ontological arguments, but Medieval Theologian St. Anselm of Canterbury argument is the most well-known. Anselm’s begins under the premise that his argument is specifically for the Judeo-Christian God, which is defined as being the greatest conceivable …show more content…
Under that definition, he concludes that God’s existence is either necessary or impossible. It is not impossible for God to exist so it must be necessary that he exist; therefore, he exists. Malcolm comes to the conclusion that God’s existence is necessary impossible using two scenarios. In scenario one God’s existence is possible but he failed to exist. For God to have failed to exist something had the power to prevent his existence, but God by definition is all powerful. Therefore, for God to exist his existence is necessary. In scenario two, God could have existed but doesn’t. In this situation something would have caused God to exist or he came into existence at a moment in time without a cause. Both explantion go against the eternal nature of God, which is necessary to be the greatest conceivable being. Therefore, if God does not exist then his existence is impossible. But whatever is conceivable is possible therefore God must exist. Under this argument it is irrelevant if existence is an attribute or not, solving the problem with Anselm’s ontological