Chapter II

THE EXISTENCE OF GOD; HIS ATTRIBUTES AND WORKS

We have seen that man is a creature composed of body and soul. We have shown that he is a rational creature, endowed with free will; that his soul is a spiritual and immortal substance. As rational, intelligent beings, we quite naturally ask ourselves "Who is responsible for our existence and that of all the other beings we see about us?" It is a natural step from a consideration of the things about us to rise to the knowledge of one only true God. In these times men live whose chief interest in life is to do away with God. They deny His existence and strive by all the means in their power to remove Him from the lives of men, not by force of reason or intelligent discussion, but by boycotting Him from all public functions, from schools, from newspapers, magazines and radio, and by confining in concentration camps the men and women who heroically give their lives that mankind may have a knowledge of a loving Father, who is their God, and a happy hope that, after this life of misery, suffering and despair, they may expect eternal rest, peace and love in the mansions of heaven.

It is our intention in this chapter to show how, with reason alone, it is possible to prove the existence of God. To all men of good will His existence is intuitively evident. To all men the fact of His existence can be proved by the light of human reason. But "There are none so blind as those who will not see."

It is convenient to define certain words before proceeding with the proofs of God's existence. One word is cause and the other is contingency. By cause we mean the principle of a new

existence; that by which a thing is or is done. There are four kinds of causes: (1) efficient cause, that which by physical action gives existence to an effect; (2) material cause, or matter; that out of which a thing is made; (3) formal cause, or form, that which intrinsically constitutes a thing in its species; (4) final cause, or end, that for the attainment of which the efficient cause acts. The efficient cause of a statue is the sculptor; the material cause is the wood, marble, or other material he used; the formal cause is the reproduction of the figure which the sculptor wished to make; and the final cause is glory or gain.

The word contingent comes from the Latin contingere, meaning to happen, to come to pass; that which is liable but not certain to occur; that for which it is possible either to be or not to be. Contingency is the possibility that a thing be or not be.

The proofs of the existence of God are all based on the principle that everything that has not the reason of its existence in itself must have it in something else. We ultimately arrive at something which has in itself the reason of its existence. The proofs based on this principle are divided into physical, metaphysical and moral proofs.

The physical proof is based on the fact that there is order in the universe. Who can consider the universe and behold its order, precision and regularity without recognizing the hand of a Wise Designer? Common sense tells us that the earth, the sun, the moon, the stars and all the wonderful things we notice about us must have been made by some one. It is absurd to think they were made by no one out of nothing or that they are the result of chance.

If we go to a jeweler to buy a watch, we ask the name of the maker for we know someone with intelligence had to make it. If we buy a cake from a baker, we know that the flour, butter, eggs and whatever else is needed to make it did not just get

together by accident. We know the baker intelligently and carefully arranged the proper ingredients to bake the cake. Similarly, since we see order, method, design in the universe we say an intelligent being planned this and sees that everything tends toward the end for which it was intended. It is not by accident that "any particle of matter attracts any other particle with a force proportional inversely to the square of the distance between them, and directly to the product of their masses. Nor is it chance that there is total absence of lawlessness or chaos in the universe even though every material body in motion causes motion, however slight, in all the others and all of them are going in different directions at varying rates of speed.

"We see,

says St. Thomas, "beings destitute of intelligence; viz., physical bodies, tending to an end; for they always, or at least very often, so move as to attain the best effect. It is, therefore, not by chance, but intentionally, that they attain their end. Now, things without intelligence attain their end only under the direction of an intelligent being, as in the case of an arrow shot by a hunter. Therefore, there is an intelligent being that conducts things to their end, and this being is He whom all men call God. (Sum. Theol.i.q.a.3.).

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Let us consider several metaphysical proofs of the existence of God. All things in this world are contingent. That is, it was possible for them not to exist. Hence, existence does not belong to them necessarily. Therefore, they depend for their existence on someone else since they do not exist of themselves. This being on whom all other beings depend is necessary. For if the being from which contingent beings get existence were itself contingent, it would have the reason of its existence in another being, this in turn in another and so on ad infinitum. We must then, admit a being having in its own essence the reason of its existence. This necessary being is God. This metaphysical proof is based on the contingency of things.

It is evidently impossible to be at the same time existing and not existing. Now, no being can give itself existence. To give itself existence it must already exist and to receive existence it must be in a state of non-existence. Consequently, what

ever receives existence depends on the being which gives it its existence. This being is its efficient

cause. If this cause is itself contingent, it demands an efficient cause for its existence and so on ad infinitum. This type of contingency is manifest in plants or animals which propagate its kind. We must, evidently, arrive at a first efficient cause. Otherwise there would be no efficient cause and nothing would be produced. cause is God.

The first efficient

Moral proofs are based on the nature of man as a free agent. The principal moral proofs of the existence of God are drawn from the universal consent of men and from the moral law.

Abraham Lincoln stated a truism when he said, "You can fool some of the people some of the time, but you cannot fool all the people all the time. If there is no God all men have been fooled for a very long time. "There is no nation so uncultured and so barbarous as not to know that there is a God, though it may not know His nature. (Cicero). "But ask now the beasts, and they shall teach thee:

and the birds of the air, and they shall tell thee. Speak to the earth, and it shall answer thee: and the fishes of the sea shall tell. Who is ignorant that the hand of the Lord hath made all these things?" (Job xii, 7-9).

It is axiomatic that a universal belief in an object that is easily known, is very important and contrary to the passions and inclinations of man, must be true. Such a universal belief, in order to be held by rational beings, must be founded on intuition or reason. Such a belief is that of mankind in the existence of God. It has for its object a truth easily known, very important and which causes

man to control his evil inclinations and passions. It is a truth easily known because men naturally, without difficulty, attain to some knowledge of a man from his work, of a creator from his creatures. "All men are vain, in whom there is not the knowledge of God; and who by these good things that are seen, could not understand Him that is, neither by attending to the works have acknowledged who was the workman. (Wisd. xiii, 1).

It is a very important truth because without it nothing can be explained; with it everything is explained. "If there were no God, we would have to invent one.

(Voltaire).

It is of the highest interest to man because his conduct will be regulated by his belief or disbelief in the existence of God. This truth is contrary to the passions of man because sin tends to remove from the mind of the habitual sinner the thought of this Witness to his evil deeds Who is a just Judge and the Avenger of vice.

Therefore, this general, universal belief of mankind in the existence of God is a proof that He exists since it must be true.

All men acknowledge that they are bound by a moral law, which commands them to do certain things and forbids them to do others. At all times and in all places men have held the same fundamental views on justice, honesty, right and wrong. Our own conscience testifies to the existence of a law according to which it judges one action as good and another bad; one right, the other wrong. According as we keep or break this law, we experience happiness or remorse. Therefore, our reason tells us that there must be a lawgiver who obliges us to do good and avoid evil; who is a witness to all our actions; who is an infallible judge; who rewards good and punishes evil. This universal lawgiver, witness and judge is God.

People who either deny or place in doubt the existence of God are called Atheists. There are