Students Question God Part 2

A very bright student of mine posed this question: "Are there other philosophical examples, such as the watchmaker, backing an Anglo-Saxon God?" I chose to answer this one today because it is interesting and I am leaning more towards philosophy than theology right now.

For those of you who aren't familiar with The Watchmaker Analogy here is a quick version: The Watchmaker Analogy is a teleological argument. This argument shows the intricate design and implies a designer. We argue God from the design of nature. You can't put all of the components of a watch into a bag, shake up the bag and have a working watch. Likewise, the particles needed for our intricate design are not by chance, there is a great designer behind it. This is the analogy I use when arguing against the Big Bang Theory and evolution. My dear student wants to know if their are others like this.

Yes there are several other good analogies for the existence of a God. However, very few of them point to a Judea-Christian theistic God. Nonetheless, they are the best we have and I still use them.

1. The Unmoved Mover:  The Unmoved Mover is a concept described primarily by Aristotle. This unmoved, unchanging entity set all motion in the universe. Aristotle describes the unmoved mover as being perfectly beautiful, indivisible and contemplating only the perfect contemplations. The Unmoved Mover also answers the questions I had from other students, "If God created everything how was he here? How was God made?" God is the unmoved mover, existing outside of time, never being created, incapable of being destroyed.

2. The Cosmological Argument: This is not much of an analogy, but it is an argument for the existence of God. The word cosmological comes from the Greek word kosmos which means world. This argument for the existence of God starts with the world could not exist on its own so there must have been a first cause that brought it into being... Someone or something had to have made it. This cause of the universe must be a higher power. That higher power must be God. This argument also states that there cannot be an infinite regression of causes so things must therefore stop with the existence of God.This argument is backed with both the Watchmaker Analogy and the Unmoved Mover.

3. The Ontological Approach:  This approach could have numerous analogies but they all come down to“God is the greatest being imaginable. One of the aspects of perfection or greatness is existence. Thus, God exists.” Or put another way—“The fact that God can be conceived means that he must exist.” Anselm, a twelfth century theologian and philosopher, said this, "that which nothing greater can be conceived- that is God."I could imagine a perfect island, describe it in detail and assert that it exist because I can imagine it.

4. Moral Law: There are those who use the idea of Moral Law to prove the existence of God. Moral Law goes like this: Without God morality would be impossible. There must be a Lawgiver (God) who originates and stands by moral law. A universal code of right and wrong cannot happen accidentally. There must be a basis behind it-- God.  According to this view, every person is born with an inherent understanding of right and wrong. Everyone, for instance, understands that killing an innocent person is wrong. Everyone understands that helping a drowning person is right. Where did this internal understanding of right and wrong come from? According to adherents of the moral law argument, this understanding comes from God. He put it into the hearts of every person.

So there are four more arguments/analogies for the existence of God. However, it should be noted that most Christian theologians and philosophers believe that God never intended for his existence to be something that could be proven with 100% certainty. They point out that faith is an important component in understanding God and his existence.