The Existence of God

 Date: 22 April 2025

The existence of God is the premise of Christianity. However, many non-believers do
not believe in God as they cannot grasp the concept of God’s existence. The aim of
this essay is to prove the existence of God, using Aquinas’s Theories of Gradation
and Design and a theist perspective. This essay will first discuss the Theory of
Gradation and the Theory of Design, their objections and finally the clarification of
these objections.

The Argument of Gradation is Aquinas’s fourth argument for the existence of God.
This argument suggests that there are degrees in which moral good can occur and
that the highest form of good is God (UNISA, 2024). To explain this theory, we may
use the example of a circle: In our reality, there is no such thing as a “perfect circle”,
despite this, we are aware of what a perfect circle would entail. Such as the example
above, we may not know what the truest form of good is, but we know that it contains
qualities (such as honesty, kindness and selflessness). Additionally, as humans, we
may strive for good moral behaviour, but in reality, there is no perfect moral person.
Therefore, the highest degree of good must be a perfect being, which does not exist
in our plane of living. Thus, the highest good must be God, as he has all morally
good qualities and exists in the metaphysical world where “perfection” is suggested
to exist (Archie, 2024).

The most common objection to the Theory of Gradation is the Problem of Evil. This
problem is significant as it questions God’s omnipotency and omniscience (thus His
whole being) by questioning how He is the highest form of good and is aware of
these evils, but does not stop them (Beebe, 2020). The first answer to this question
is given by Plantinga, who suggests the evil that exists is always less than the good
that follows (Plantinga, 1974). Whilst this is a harsh reality, Plantinga suggests that
God allows evil to exist as its presence will result in good- the reason why we cannot
see this is because we are unable to know the bigger picture (His divine plan for all
individuals). For example, a child may want to walk into the house with muddy
shoes, but the parents will not allow it, the child doesn’t understand why their parents
are preventing them from entering the house, but the parents are aware that it will
cause an unnecessary mess (Koukl, 2012). It is, in the same way, that we are
ignorant of God’s Divine plan. Additionally, Saint Augustine presents the explanation
that the absence of good is evil, caused by free will that is misused by humans and
that a world without evil would undermine the importance of good (Archie, 2024). If
we had a world with no evil, being morally good would lose its value, as we no longer
understand the power and importance of overcoming evil and choosing good. The
importance of evil in terms of choosing good is hinted at in the New Testament,
Romans 12:21, “Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good” (St.
Athanasius Orthodox Academy, 2008, p.3572). To conclude, the Problem of Evil
threatens the Argument of Gradation, but it is clear that the Problem of Evil no longer
threatens God’s being as evil exists to solidify the importance of good and His divine
plan.

The Theory of Design is Aquinas’s fifth argument for the existence of God. This
theory suggests that everything in existence has a specific purpose that it fulfils and
is thus created in a very specific way (UNISA, 2024). According to Archie (2024), the
universe’s order cannot be explained through chance, as everything has a perfect
purpose, and thus we can deduce that only a “Divine Intelligence/ Great Designer”
could have created the universe, and in this case, it is God. To clarify, we will use the
analogy of design between man-made materials and naturally occurring materials.
According to D. Hume, there are an array of naturally occurring structures prevalent
in existence, that are structured the same way and complete the same specific
function (such as eye structures). We can compare these materials to objects
designed by man, that are also created in a very specific way and complete a
specific function (such as a telescope) (Himma, 2015). In conclusion, the connection
between man-made materials and naturally occurring materials in the universe is
that they each have creators; Man-made materials are made by man and naturally
occurring materials are made by God.

The main objection to the Argument of Design is the Theory of Evolution. The Theory
of Evolution was coined by Charles Darwin and states that organisms occur
naturally. The Theory of Evolution is ensured through scientific evidence (such as
Gradualism and Natural Selection) that cannot be proven false as scientific research
has failed to create an objection to it (Burks, 2024). Despite the lack of scientific aid,
there are still objections to this theory. It is important to note that these objections do
not believe evolution is false; they rather object that evolution replaces God as the
Divine Creator. The first objection to this theory being the only way of creation is a
combination of Evolution with theist beliefs: To clarify, it is believed that God created
the universe, not only the organisms that live within it, therefore, is it not possible that
he created the universe and the first forms of organisms with the Theory of Evolution
in mind? After all, it would make sense that he created the beginning of mankind with
evolution in mind, as it is a process in which new species can be created and that
generations can consist of optimal organisms. The second objection is the fine-
tuning argument (Swinburne, 1968). This argument compares these two ideas: Idea
1 states that the universe was created by a Divine Designer and Idea 2 states that
the universe, and everything in it, occurred by chance (Evolution)…which one of
these two options does your intuition and rational thinking agree with? It is most
likely the first option. Thus, is not to say that evolution is incorrect, it rather considers
that God is the main creator and thus was aware of the process of evolution.

In conclusion, whilst the Problem of Evil and the Theory of Evolution object to
Aquinas’s Theory of Gradation and Theory of Design, these objections can be
accounted for and clarified through a theist perspective.

 

*This essay is my original work. 

 
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