Existence of God

As Peter Kreeft states, "The idea of God is either a fact, like sand, or a fantasy, like Santa. If it is a fantasy, a human invention, it is the greatest invention in all of human history" (Moreland & Nielsen, 10). On this premise, more lives have either been guided or deluded than anything else.

One thing is certain, however, when we question the existence of God. There can be no compromise . . . God must either exist, or He must not. It is impossible to posit a God which exists for some but not for others, nor a God which once existed but longer does.

Sigmund Freud, the founder of psychoanalysis, suggests that; if religion is an illusion, it is the greatest of all illusions, in fact, a species of collective insanity, like the imaginary friend of a child who never grew up. The same is true, of course, about atheism if theism is true: It is the child's denial of the parent's existence (Moreland & Nielsen, 12).

Where does this leave the Christian? Are we a mass of insane persons, despite being "normal" in most other respects?

On the other hand, our task may be made considerably easier if we reexamine the existence of God as a "mystery" rather than as a "problem." The concept of a "problem" suggests that a definitive answe

. . .
d what exactly is the problem? According to Nielsen, these and similar references are "so obscure that it turns out that we don't know what we're talking about when we use them"--they cannot be used for either true or false claims (51). Nielsen allows that the statement "God by definition is eternal" may be "fair enough," but this is only to say that if there is a God, then He exists eternally. But it is also supportive of the premise that if God does not exist, then He also must have not existed eternally (54). So now what is the Christian supposed to believe? We must necessarily turn to religious experience. Through religious experience, we become aware of the unseen, unfelt, yet holy, loving, kind, and wonderful God. We infer God's existence, just as we put forth any of a thousand theoretical propositions. In the same way that a scientist postulates a theory based on observable effects, the theist may similarly give meaning to the concept of God. The unobservable forces of magnetism and gravity do not preclude the existence of their effects. God is distinguishable by the effects He has on individuals, societies, worlds, and universes. Moreland notes that "through analogy with myself as I reflect upon my own fac
. . .

Some common words found in the essay are:
Moreland Nielsen, According Nielsen, Tower Babel, Babel Genesis, God God, Garden Eden, Fred Hoyle, Law Thermodynamics, Ten Commandments, Jean-Paul Sartre, moreland nielsen, existence god, god exists, god exist, god moreland, god's existence, physical world, god created universe, idea god, god created, density universe, god moreland nielsen, moreland nielsen 13, question existence god, moreland nielsen 12,
Approximate Word count = 2251
Approximate Pages = 9 (250 words per page)