The Controversy of Existence of God - Essay Example

20 March Argumentative Essay on the Existence of God Introduction: Religions across the world embrace the tradition of worshipping a supreme power, which people know as God. The concept of a supreme power is popularly known as God, and this power is perceived to be omnipotent, omnipresent and omniscient. Different religions worship different deities, attributing different qualities and traits to each. However, the educated elite in Europe subsequently came up with the idea of rationalism, which upheld a view that no such power existed and challenged the concept of God. The existence of God has been the first doctrine of the Theo-philanthropists. They considered Bible as the universal philosophy of God and they claimed that the messages in Bible are those of God. Thus, the belief in the existence of God dates back to earlier ages in the history of mankind. People worshipped God in different religions institutions such as churches, mosques, temples and so on. When a study on the emergence of universe and the whole system of creation arises one must surely be aware of the fact there are a million concepts for which no proof exists about their founder. In philosophy, especially in the natural philosophy, it God is considered as a divine entity. Through the development of science, the belief of God’s existence is challenged but no one can disregard the existence of a supreme power. Discussion: From the early stages of evolution, humans have harbored the faith in a super power. Primitive humans worshipped natural forces such as water, fire and wind. Subsequently, as human civilization evolved, they began to worship God in the name of various religious faiths. However, with the emergence of science, the existence of God has been challenged and the issue became a controversy. Many characteristics have been attributed to God and it transpires that God is a positive and benevolent power. All the religions in the world have developed through the concept of God. However, some people take the concept of God as a mere thing, but it is a universal truth that there exists a supreme power. The existence of the universe and various mysteries in it rather tend to validate the theory that God exists. There have been philosophers in the ancient periods who were great thinkers also. They believed that there is a supreme power. Philosophers such as John Locke, Nyaya, Plato, Zhuangzi, Descartes, Nagarjuna, Ganges, Thomas Reid, Edmund Burke, and Sextets Empiricus have postulated various theories about God. Of these philosophers, most support the theory of existence of God. Plato developed the theory of Republic, emphasizes the existence of God. He also argues that God is intangible. “In Republic, Plato’s point is not to establish an idea of God, but instead to determine what is right, good, just, and true; however, in his journey, Plato has implicitly brought forward a vague, abstract notion of God” (Plato’s Philosophy in Republic Implies a Concept of God p.1). That is, God exists not only by virtue because of his power, but morals, values and virtues that he represents. Only such a force can handle the whole world in a balanced form. The books such as Odyssey and Iliad, which are epics and like many other books, they promulgate the morals and duties that humankind needs to follow. Different cultures are formed with the belief in God. All of these have a common characteristic that the ideas are all the same. It spreads the notion of love and goodness. Also, God is worshiped not only in the form of animals and trees, but also is worshipped with God’s picture kept in front of the statue. Thus, overall, the belief in God brings love, peace and harmony in the world and that in itself is the proof that God exists. The ancient philosopher Descartes in his theory of Modality illustrates about the existence of God. “Descartes had described the essences of things as ‘immutable and eternal’, Gassendi had demurred at giving that label to anything but God, and Descartes replied—unlimbering his voluntarism doctrine—that God causes everything that is immutable and eternal” (Bennet p.1). Descartes tells about the spiritual aspects of meditation through God in this theory. One can make everything possible through meditation. When one is depending on God, with admiration and worship, he will necessarily have pity on the person and bless them. The people who believe in God would definitely have the qualities of kindness, love and happiness with the spiritual light. A person having the spiritual power would have no negative effects of worldly matters on him. That is, if anyone is in a sad condition or if they are trapped in a difficult situation; if he has belief in God, then he can overcome any such difficulties when praying to God. There are so many arguments against the existence and belief of God which are known as atheism. The proponents of this theory do not believe in the supreme power. They argue that the formation of universe is not by God and it was gradually formed by some scientific phenomenon. They confirm that everything in the world has its own scientific basis. Besides, they say that if there is God, then why does not God prevent the evils dangers which are affecting all the believers. However this theory can be refused by the simple motion of the free will of humans and their freedom to exercise it. Besides God is not there to do the chores for humans and they must take the responsibility of their deeds and their destinies. Conclusion: The existence of God has remained the most controversial is the most popular debating issue nowadays. God is not a mere super natural power. He is a symbol of all good qualities and the salient features of great religious books such as Bible, Bhagavad-Gita and Quran propagate the good things that people need to follow. There can be opposing and supposing arguments for every aspect. There are so many arguments that can support the existence of God. But the arguments which are opposing the existence of God do not seem accurate. The universe contains plenty of unknown things which are yet to be discovered. Even the discovered facts do not have the evidence to prove it as a scientific phenomenon. Thus scientific and philosophical facts have limitations in their theories. They do not give a perfect answer to the question. Thus, it can be construed that scientific view are not able to disprove the existence of God. Works Cited Bennet, Jonathan. Descartes’s Theory of Modality. 1994. Web.19 March 2013. http://www.earlymoderntexts.com/jfb/descmod.pdf Plato’s Philosophy in Republic Implies a Concept of God. n.d. Web.19 March 2013. http://austinche.name/docs/God.pdf Read More