M
MindOverMatter
Guest
The following argument has been split into two posts due to restrictions of length.
If you want to make a rebuttal, quote my post argument for argument and give and intelligent reply. If you don’t agree that necessary truth exists and applies to to existence, that’s a debate for another thread. I would rather you did not reply as this argument assumes that logic can be applied to reality and God. Also, i will appreciate any feed back and support my Christian brothers can give.
A Logical Proof For Gods Existence.***
1. Out of nothing comes nothing
2. Therefore nothing cannot precede that which is existing and changing
3. Potentiality cannot precede existence, since potentiality or possibility in nature can only become actual in relation to something’s form or its attributable ability to cause a particular quality either by its own nature or accidental relationship with some other natural event; and this is to say that potentiality cannot proceed from nothing and is not being by itself.
4. Anything that is changing, extends in to a future that potentially exists but does not exist now, and is preceded by a past that at one time potentially existed. Everything that is physical exists in relation to the past no matter what kind of nature it is. Therefore potentiality infinitely precedes that which is changing since its changing and being is a product of potential; and the future potential or possibility of anything has to be grounded in a being. It cannot come from nothing. Because change cannot come from nothing, every event becomes a contingent effect. All changing events are contingent in so far as they do not have in themselves the explanation for why change actually exists. Every precedent effect is only a cause because it is changing. It does not cause the existence of change. This is not just a problem of motion or change, it is also a problem efficient existence, since all past event at one time did not exist; and this is true regardless of whether one claims that the past is infinite or finite.
5. Therefore there is a timeless act and being at the root of change, and it is a necessary being that is not apart of that which is changing.
6. A timeless act and being cannot come from nothing and cannot give effect accidentally or arbitrarily. Neither can such an act proceed or precede itself. It is not dynamic. It cannot arise from potentiality or possibility and thus its action is purely a product of its own nature and nothing else.
7. A possible future might exist necessarily because of its cause, but it is not a necessary being by itself because it is reliant on past effects for its existence. That is to say it is only necessary because there happens to be a chain of events that leads to it.
8. Because a necessary being cannot proceed in act, such a being has to be pure actuality. Its act has to be a fundamental fact of its existence. It also has to be a perfect existence in order to explain that which is possible/that which is changing. It has to be existence by nature, rather than by possibility, since the only thing that can logically exist necessarily is that which is existence by nature. A being that gains in potential existence, does not exist of its own accord since it is gaining in something it did not have before. A perfect existence cannot have a past or a potential future because it cannot fail to exist. Therefore all potential realities have to exist within existence. They become real only because they participate in that which eternally real or true. A being that is imperfect in anyway can change or possibly not exist. Possibility cannot precede existence, but rather possibility or potentiality is the eternal expression of a changeless existence. Given this fact, it cannot be said that existence shares the same nature as that which is changing. Therefore necessary existence is non-physical.
9. All Physical entities have an effect because they’re changing; they are proceeding in to a future through which they can express their attributes. They either begin to exist because of a precedent cause or because a particular form is as such that it activate a potential reality. A random event does not come from nothing but rather its behavior, however random, is a response to something’s existential form. Its random behavior is predictive of a particular form, that is to say that such events are still determined by existential laws and principles even though their effect cannot be known through the predictive outcome of a physical cause. They have a nature only because they exist, and their existence is determined by an “existential cause” which means its existence is due to that which exists necessarily and timelessly as demonstrated in paragraph number 8. Thus random events have a cause and have a nature that is random only because existence has given it that nature. Thus random events, or physical events in general, cannot be the ultimate cause of the universe or any of its physical laws or principles.
10. Through the preceding paragraphs I have established through the necessity of logic, and the universal experience of rational human beings, that a timeless cause exists, that this cause is non-physical, and that such a cause is existence by nature of being. Because the cause is non-physical, we cannot say that the universe ultimately exists because of some kind of physical necessity. Neither is energy responsible since its natural effect and existence is characterized by its dynamism and potentiality. This issue was dealt with especially in paragraphs 4, 8 and 9.
To be continued…
If you want to make a rebuttal, quote my post argument for argument and give and intelligent reply. If you don’t agree that necessary truth exists and applies to to existence, that’s a debate for another thread. I would rather you did not reply as this argument assumes that logic can be applied to reality and God. Also, i will appreciate any feed back and support my Christian brothers can give.
A Logical Proof For Gods Existence.***
1. Out of nothing comes nothing
2. Therefore nothing cannot precede that which is existing and changing
3. Potentiality cannot precede existence, since potentiality or possibility in nature can only become actual in relation to something’s form or its attributable ability to cause a particular quality either by its own nature or accidental relationship with some other natural event; and this is to say that potentiality cannot proceed from nothing and is not being by itself.
4. Anything that is changing, extends in to a future that potentially exists but does not exist now, and is preceded by a past that at one time potentially existed. Everything that is physical exists in relation to the past no matter what kind of nature it is. Therefore potentiality infinitely precedes that which is changing since its changing and being is a product of potential; and the future potential or possibility of anything has to be grounded in a being. It cannot come from nothing. Because change cannot come from nothing, every event becomes a contingent effect. All changing events are contingent in so far as they do not have in themselves the explanation for why change actually exists. Every precedent effect is only a cause because it is changing. It does not cause the existence of change. This is not just a problem of motion or change, it is also a problem efficient existence, since all past event at one time did not exist; and this is true regardless of whether one claims that the past is infinite or finite.
5. Therefore there is a timeless act and being at the root of change, and it is a necessary being that is not apart of that which is changing.
6. A timeless act and being cannot come from nothing and cannot give effect accidentally or arbitrarily. Neither can such an act proceed or precede itself. It is not dynamic. It cannot arise from potentiality or possibility and thus its action is purely a product of its own nature and nothing else.
7. A possible future might exist necessarily because of its cause, but it is not a necessary being by itself because it is reliant on past effects for its existence. That is to say it is only necessary because there happens to be a chain of events that leads to it.
8. Because a necessary being cannot proceed in act, such a being has to be pure actuality. Its act has to be a fundamental fact of its existence. It also has to be a perfect existence in order to explain that which is possible/that which is changing. It has to be existence by nature, rather than by possibility, since the only thing that can logically exist necessarily is that which is existence by nature. A being that gains in potential existence, does not exist of its own accord since it is gaining in something it did not have before. A perfect existence cannot have a past or a potential future because it cannot fail to exist. Therefore all potential realities have to exist within existence. They become real only because they participate in that which eternally real or true. A being that is imperfect in anyway can change or possibly not exist. Possibility cannot precede existence, but rather possibility or potentiality is the eternal expression of a changeless existence. Given this fact, it cannot be said that existence shares the same nature as that which is changing. Therefore necessary existence is non-physical.
9. All Physical entities have an effect because they’re changing; they are proceeding in to a future through which they can express their attributes. They either begin to exist because of a precedent cause or because a particular form is as such that it activate a potential reality. A random event does not come from nothing but rather its behavior, however random, is a response to something’s existential form. Its random behavior is predictive of a particular form, that is to say that such events are still determined by existential laws and principles even though their effect cannot be known through the predictive outcome of a physical cause. They have a nature only because they exist, and their existence is determined by an “existential cause” which means its existence is due to that which exists necessarily and timelessly as demonstrated in paragraph number 8. Thus random events have a cause and have a nature that is random only because existence has given it that nature. Thus random events, or physical events in general, cannot be the ultimate cause of the universe or any of its physical laws or principles.
10. Through the preceding paragraphs I have established through the necessity of logic, and the universal experience of rational human beings, that a timeless cause exists, that this cause is non-physical, and that such a cause is existence by nature of being. Because the cause is non-physical, we cannot say that the universe ultimately exists because of some kind of physical necessity. Neither is energy responsible since its natural effect and existence is characterized by its dynamism and potentiality. This issue was dealt with especially in paragraphs 4, 8 and 9.
To be continued…
