Tuesday, July 10, 2012
Does God exist? I might believe that God exists, but am I sure? The Catholic Church states I can be sure by way of reason, as taught by the First Vatican Council. I, as a Catholic, believe that I can know truth by faith and reason. I can know things by reason alone and I can know things that reason cannot tell me. For example, I can know the Big Bang, existence of Pluto, formation of a star, and mathematics from reason alone. I do not need God to tell me these truths. However, there are some things which I cannot know by reason like the Trinity, Virgin Birth, and Incarnation. I can only know those if God told it to me, like revealing them in Scripture. Reason is like the eye. I can see a lot of things with the eye, but I cannot see everything with it.
Faith is like a microscope or a telescope. I cannot see a cell from the naked eye, but I can see it with the help of a microscope. This is like the relationship between faith and reason. When people think of faith, they immediately think of something that cannot be reasonable. This is not true. Though reason does not produce faith, faith can be based on reason. It can be a reasonable faith.
With other truths I can know by reason, I can know God's existence by reason. How? From the world. From the effect, I can know the cause. Scripture says, "Ever since the creation of the world, his invisible attributes of eternal power and divinity have been able to be understood and perceived in what he has made." (Romans 1:20) So I can be sure if God really exists by looking at the world and even ourselves (CCC 31). So I believe that since God's existence can be demonstrated, I can be sure if He exists or not. Here are some examples of demonstrations for the existence of God.
I can know God exists because of order in the universe. Let's imagine an iPhone. Break it apart. What do you have? You will have materials that make up an iPhone. Now, put all the materials into a box. Shake it for 15 billion years. Will you have an iPhone? You will probably say no. Now, what if you leave that box for a taco and then come back and see that there is an iPhone. Do you think the iPhone created itself? Probably not. Why? Because it is too improbable. There must be certain conditions met, like where the pieces go, in order for the iPhone to be made.
This is what scientists have found out about the universe. There are certain conditions that have to be met in order for it to be life-permitting. For example, if the Big Bang was a little bit more hotter, there would have been no life. Or if the Earth is a little bit closer to the Sun, there would have been no life. Or take the example of evolution. Scientists, like Barrow and Tipler, have said that there must be certain conditions in order for macro-evolution to occur. They say it is so improbable that before it could have happened, the sun would have ceased to be a main sequence star and would have burned out the earth. Just like you probably thought that the iPhone was made by a designer, the evidence points to a Designer of the universe.
You might then ask, "Who then designed the designer?" If something or some being designed the designer, what happened to the designer? The designer became a design since it was designed. Now take this into infinity, a design designed by a designer, designed by a designer, etc. It is like having an infinite number of iPhones. You know they must be designed and made, but that thing that designed and made it is designed and made as well. Having an infinite number of iPhones does not explain the iPhone at all! This is also like having an infinite number of paintings. It's like saying, "Well, this painting needs a painter, but there are an infinite number of paintings without a painter." This is of course absurd in our minds because a painting, because of its complexity and order, needs to be painted. Only when I can find a painter who is not painted, do I have an explanation of the painting. So too, only when I can discover an un-designed Designer can I explain the universe. To say there is no Intelligent Designer would be like saying there are many paintings without a painter. Therefore there needs to be an Intelligent Designer to explain the order and complexity of our universe.
I can also know God from ourselves. I have a natural desire for happiness. Everything I want is the good for ourselves, for the better good. Even a person who commits suicide believes that it would be best for him to do so. But I don't want happiness that lasts for three minutes or five days, but forever. I all want everlasting happiness. But I cannot find it in this world. I all have problems and it seems like nothing in this world, no glory, wealth, pleasure, or friends can give me perfect happiness. Maybe it does not exist. But why would I desire it if it does not exist? When I hunger, there is such a thing as food to satisfy that desire. When I thirst, there is such as drink to satisfy that desire. So where is that perfect happiness? Since I cannot find it in this world, it seems that the best explanation that I were made for another. This is what I call "life with God."
From the demonstrations above, I tried to explain the design of the universe and our human nature. From those, I have concluded that God must exist. The universe points to an Intelligent Designer. And our nature points to a Being that can give me perfect happiness.
These might not be airtight proofs, but they are sufficient for me as a Catholic to justify our belief in God. I believe that God made the universe so that mankind can appreciate Him more. And I also believe St. Augustine nailed it when he said, that I are made for God and our hearts will be restless until they rest in Him.
