Existence precedes essence

Internet Encyclopedia (http://www.iep.utm.edu/aquinas) Thomas Aquinas lived in 1225–1274, as a catholic priest in Italy. He was well known for his philosophical and theological ideas or arguments. One of his arguments was that he can prove Gods existence gradation of beings. Anyone who claims they can prove God to be real comes off as possibly heretical or blasphemous. In this case Aquinas teaches bad doctrine and I would classify it as heretical. There is no room for heresy in the church…

kids and uneducated peasant shepherds), furthering the skepticism behind whether the evidence for miracles is accurate. This is a large part of why I do not believe that the laws of nature can, or have, be broken. The supporting evidence for the existence of miracles is far less convincing than that of proven…

that people seeking to escape from the absurdity of human life may resort to broader ultimate concerns, with religion and the glory of God constituting one of the larger enterprises pursued by people. However, Nagel (1971) is adamant that even the existence of God may be insufficient to give human life a purpose or meaning. A careful analysis of Nagel’s argument leads to agreement with his position, informed by his observations regarding the ability to cast doubt upon the larger purpose, which…

fallibility of providing causal answers for the creation of the universe. In light of the fallibility of causal answers, Parfit seeks to incorporate his response to the creation of the universe with the use of non-causal answers which explains something’s existence in virtue of its properties, rather than attempting to follow an infinite chain of reasoning. While Parfit adequately demonstrates an inability to conform our reasoning to causal interactions for the creation and nature of the…

According to Euclid’s Elements, Book I, “Parallel straight lines are those straight lines which, being in the same plane and being produced indefinitely in both directions, do not meet one another in either direction.” Euclid defines about parallel lines at last of his definition of Book I which he uses to prove a lot of his proposition. He proves two lines are parallel lines in proposition 27 and uses parallel lines properties in every proposition after that. Therefore, this paper seeks to…

In an effort to argue for the existence of God, Saint Thomas Aquinas provides five cosmological arguments in his piece “The Existence of God”. The second argument he states examines causes and effects and looks to explain these series in regard to their beginning, or first cause (43:1-2). Aquinas says that the chain of causes and effects cannot go back to “infinity” (43:60) because when the first cause is taken out, so is its effect and every following effect (43:61). I find this claim plausible…

He says, “He knows God’s hand is extended to him. He speaks to God and receives an answer. He prays to Him, being just as certain of His existence as he is of his own or that of his neighbor. He requires no proof of this supreme certainty; yet should others desire proof he cannot provide it. He cannot offer objective evidence for what, in his heart, he knows to be utterly true and real” (Bergman…

of evolution, indisputable, issues of morality, and the subject matter that questions the existence of God, which he also has expressed in his article (McCloskey). The arguments were meant to be used together to provide some insight on the subject matter. The first argument that is presented in the article is the Cosmological argument. This argument attempts to infer the existence of God from the existence of the universe. In McCroskey statement…

suggest that a god would not be able to come from nothing, which means that god would not be able to have the highest degree of reality, because god’s existence would have to have a cause it relied on. Something with the highest degree of reality would not have to rely on anything to be able to exist. This would mean that either the proof of the existence of god failed, or there is a possibility that god is not at the highest degree of reality, as Descartes puts it, and he is not the all perfect…

Reeves argues that we look at God in a very one-dimensional way and that humanity tends to look at God and project qualities that only exhibit a part of God. (pg 20) Quoting Karl Barth Reeves argued that even Hitler knew who God was, but that Hitler missed the full point that “… God is almighty, but he wanted to make very clear that mere might is not who God is.” (pg 20). God goes far beyond just power, and Reeves moves on to show that God doesn’t just flex muscles at us in hopes of us loving…