Existence of God for Centuries

Existence of God

For centuries there have been arguments centering around the existence of a Divine Creator. These ideas about God have been debated far earlier than the Christian world, and actually seem to form the basis of philosophical thought -- what is knowledge and where do we get it? How can there be evil in a world created by an omnipotent God? If God exists, who or what created God? In 1948 the British Broadcasting Company hosted a debate between Father Frederick Copleston, a Jesuit Priest, and the agnostic philosopher Bertrand Russell.

Both agree that Christianity is a term than implies the belief in God and immortality of the saved soul, and that Christ is the Savior of humans and the wisest of men. If one does not believe those constructs, one cannot be a Christian. Russell notes that if one does not believe those constructs, one cannot be a Christian. He then identifies the arguments for the existence of God. Christianity cannot prove the existence of God, it requires that one have faith that God exists or use unaided reason. For Russell, Christianity is a political organization created to complete a hierarchy. He believes it was necessary for the early Church Fathers to control a large population, to find ways of increasing membership, and frankly, to find commonality with paganism so that a strict hierarchy and work-ethic could be multiplied.

Father Copleston, on the other hand, thinks the existence of God can be proven philosophically. If there are absolute values and truths, there must be an ultimate causality to make these truths. Just because we cannot completely define the nature of God does not imply non-existence. Instead, because there are creations, there must be a creator; because there is light, there is dark, good there is evil, and so on.

Debating the existence of a Divine Creator may seem to some as an argument that is circular. Instead, we might view this as a way to mentally help us define what knowledge and truth are in relation to the totality of humans -- not just Catholics, or those in Ancient Greece who believed, X; but all humanity regardless of culture. Indeed, Russell does not say there is no God, he merely says he is not convinced the Christian God is the correct version of an absolute beginning and end. As a philosopher, Russell finds much to be convinced about the moral validity of Christ. but, if in Christ we have the epitome of morality and goodness, then are there not universals of quality that are imbedded in other great people: Buddha, Lao-Tse, etc. If Christ is the Church, why are Christ's principles not universally practiced?

For Copleston, though, the world cannot exist without a first cause, and although that first cause is unpredictable, only the existence of God makes sense of human's moral and religious experiences and drive for understanding. The idea of God is based not just on empirical proof -- but on results. Thus, one must have faith in order to believe; faith is individual and is not proven true or false in all situations.

Russell notes that the Christian idea is that if humans can conceive of a God, then God must exist. This is reminiscent of a famous quote by the German philosopher Nietzsche, "If horses had gods, gods would be horses." Of course, humans perceive God in a certain way because humans think in a certain way. How would we conceive of something in a non-human way? For Copleston, however, God's existence is not a logical argument, but a metaphysical argument and one based on the results of creation.