Viewpoints & Arguments
Life Questions
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It's been said that the two greatest questions of life are "where did life come from?" and "what is the purpose of this life?" Many different philosophers throughout the centuries have attempted to answer these questions basically coming down to six different viewpoints.
1. Atheistic- Atheism says that everything comes from nothing. There is no God. There is no purpose in life. Might makes right as Hitler believed. There is no absolute rule as there is no God to dictate such rules.
2. Agnostic- While the atheist says there is definitely no God and the Christian says there IS a God, the agnostic says we can't know and won't know if there is a god. Agnosticism was first coined by Aldous Huxley in 1869. He was called Darwin's Bulldog.
3. Pantheism- First thought to have originated from the Dutch Philosopher Spinoza who died in 1677, this belief says all is god and god is all . God is the trees, the trees are God. This belief recognizes the divine in nature rather than nature being separate or distinct from its creator.
4. Polytheism- Poly meaning many and theism meaning God. This belief is in "many gods." Pagans did and still do believe in the many gods of nature. There was the sky god, the water god, the fire god, the earth god and so on.
5. Deism-Edward Hebert who died in 1648 was the founder of Deism. While this belief was closer to the truth as a belief in Deism does have God at its root, it stops short of the biblical, personal God. Deism, while it does answer the first question doesn't help us much with the second. Deism is sort of like God winding up the earth like an alarm clock and then walking away havng no interest in being there when it goes off.
6. Monotheism- Mono meaning one is a belief in one God. In this position God did create life and is always interestsed in it epecially in his creation of man.
The greatest and most profound idea the human mind can ever entertain concerns the possibility of the existence of a personal God. The importance of man's response to this idea cannot be exaggerated. It will not only govern his life down here but will also determine his ultimate destiny. Unless one satisfactorily answers the who question, he cannot possibly solve the how, why, when and where problems of his own existence.
There are different philosophical arguments for the existence of God. The first one is the universal belief argument which says all mankind has some idea of a Supreme Being. This argument has often been challenged but never refuted. While the concepts of God found among many cultures and civilizations differ greatly on the number, name and nature of this Supreme Being, the idea still remains.
I gave a classic example of this the other day with Helen Keller who was blind, deaf and dumb. When first introduced to God she responded with joy saying...."I always knew He was there, but I didn't know His name." Pretty interesting.
Another argument would be the cosmological argument. Cosmos means "systematic order of things" and Logos means "study or word." This argument says that every effect must have an adequate cause. It's sort of like if you were in bed reading a book late at night and you suddenly hear a noise. Since crime is very prevalent in your neighborhood you have every reason to go there first. But in your mind you try and rationalize this saying it's the wind, a mouse, the cat or maybe a book fell in the other room. You don't want to admit the chilling possibility of what could be the truth. You don't want to go there. From a Christian perspective every design has a designer. We may not want to go there first. We may want to rationalize this and come up with a myriad of other possibilities.
Then there is the anthropological argument which says that the conscience and moral nature of man demands a self-conscious and moral Maker. This built-in barometer supplies no information, and the information on which it passes judgment may be incorrect. But conscience tells us we ought to do what is right regarding the information we have.
We know the conscience may be weak, defiled, good, seared, strong or pure but it is never absent. Where did the conscience come from? The only accurate explanation is that the great Moral Being who created us all planted the moral sense in us. No other explanation will do.
I'm sure there are other arguments for the existence of God but I especially love the scriptural argument for God. Well maybe I should say lack thereof. The Bible simply assumes the existence of God. There are no arguments for the existence of God biblically speaking. God assumes all mankind will know or does know in His existence. We have to be taught to be an atheist. It doesn't come naturally.
"For the Scripture then, the existence of God is both a historical truth (God acted into history), and an existential truth (God reveals himself to every soul). His existence is both objectively and subjectively evident. It is necessary logically because our assumption of order, design, and rationally rests upon it. It is necessary morally because there is no explanation for the shape of morality apart from it. It is necessary personally because the exhaustion of all material possibilities still cannot give satisfaction to the heart. The deepest proof for God's existence apart from history is just life itself. God has created man in his image, and man cannot elude the implications of this fact. Everywhere His identity pursues him. "
Clark Pinnock "Set Forth Your Case"
1. Atheistic- Atheism says that everything comes from nothing. There is no God. There is no purpose in life. Might makes right as Hitler believed. There is no absolute rule as there is no God to dictate such rules.
2. Agnostic- While the atheist says there is definitely no God and the Christian says there IS a God, the agnostic says we can't know and won't know if there is a god. Agnosticism was first coined by Aldous Huxley in 1869. He was called Darwin's Bulldog.
3. Pantheism- First thought to have originated from the Dutch Philosopher Spinoza who died in 1677, this belief says all is god and god is all . God is the trees, the trees are God. This belief recognizes the divine in nature rather than nature being separate or distinct from its creator.
4. Polytheism- Poly meaning many and theism meaning God. This belief is in "many gods." Pagans did and still do believe in the many gods of nature. There was the sky god, the water god, the fire god, the earth god and so on.
5. Deism-Edward Hebert who died in 1648 was the founder of Deism. While this belief was closer to the truth as a belief in Deism does have God at its root, it stops short of the biblical, personal God. Deism, while it does answer the first question doesn't help us much with the second. Deism is sort of like God winding up the earth like an alarm clock and then walking away havng no interest in being there when it goes off.
6. Monotheism- Mono meaning one is a belief in one God. In this position God did create life and is always interestsed in it epecially in his creation of man.
The greatest and most profound idea the human mind can ever entertain concerns the possibility of the existence of a personal God. The importance of man's response to this idea cannot be exaggerated. It will not only govern his life down here but will also determine his ultimate destiny. Unless one satisfactorily answers the who question, he cannot possibly solve the how, why, when and where problems of his own existence.
There are different philosophical arguments for the existence of God. The first one is the universal belief argument which says all mankind has some idea of a Supreme Being. This argument has often been challenged but never refuted. While the concepts of God found among many cultures and civilizations differ greatly on the number, name and nature of this Supreme Being, the idea still remains.
I gave a classic example of this the other day with Helen Keller who was blind, deaf and dumb. When first introduced to God she responded with joy saying...."I always knew He was there, but I didn't know His name." Pretty interesting.
Another argument would be the cosmological argument. Cosmos means "systematic order of things" and Logos means "study or word." This argument says that every effect must have an adequate cause. It's sort of like if you were in bed reading a book late at night and you suddenly hear a noise. Since crime is very prevalent in your neighborhood you have every reason to go there first. But in your mind you try and rationalize this saying it's the wind, a mouse, the cat or maybe a book fell in the other room. You don't want to admit the chilling possibility of what could be the truth. You don't want to go there. From a Christian perspective every design has a designer. We may not want to go there first. We may want to rationalize this and come up with a myriad of other possibilities.
Then there is the anthropological argument which says that the conscience and moral nature of man demands a self-conscious and moral Maker. This built-in barometer supplies no information, and the information on which it passes judgment may be incorrect. But conscience tells us we ought to do what is right regarding the information we have.
We know the conscience may be weak, defiled, good, seared, strong or pure but it is never absent. Where did the conscience come from? The only accurate explanation is that the great Moral Being who created us all planted the moral sense in us. No other explanation will do.
I'm sure there are other arguments for the existence of God but I especially love the scriptural argument for God. Well maybe I should say lack thereof. The Bible simply assumes the existence of God. There are no arguments for the existence of God biblically speaking. God assumes all mankind will know or does know in His existence. We have to be taught to be an atheist. It doesn't come naturally.
"For the Scripture then, the existence of God is both a historical truth (God acted into history), and an existential truth (God reveals himself to every soul). His existence is both objectively and subjectively evident. It is necessary logically because our assumption of order, design, and rationally rests upon it. It is necessary morally because there is no explanation for the shape of morality apart from it. It is necessary personally because the exhaustion of all material possibilities still cannot give satisfaction to the heart. The deepest proof for God's existence apart from history is just life itself. God has created man in his image, and man cannot elude the implications of this fact. Everywhere His identity pursues him. "
Clark Pinnock "Set Forth Your Case"
