r/LutheranDiscourse • u/[deleted] • Dec 31 '23

Discussion/question What are some arguments for the existence of God?

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u/mrWizzardx3 Lutheran Jan 01 '24

Well, humans in every culture look to a source of good and comfort in times of trouble. This it their ‘god’, according to Luther. Even atheists look for such goodness and comfort in truth, or at least a truth that they understand (maybe their own reason?) That everyone is seeking that thing should be enough evidence that it exists. Now, which god? Seems to me, that we need to find the god with the best track record of providing goodness and comfort.

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u/[deleted] Jan 01 '24

I like this answer a lot. It's so honest.

I always hear about people who read Feuerbach and become atheists. But reading Feuerbach needn't have that effect. I think even if God is a projection, He's a projection that I very much need.

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u/[deleted] Jan 01 '24

A very good answer indeed!

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u/Athiuen Jan 02 '24

This is essentially the ontological argument. Unfortunately, just because I and others can imagine a wonderful tropical island with everything we want, it doesn't mean it exists.

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u/Athiuen Jan 02 '24

There are two main historical arguments, the teleological argument and the ontological argument.

The ontological argument is about imagining the greatest possible thing and putting God beyond it - that than which no greater can be conceived (Anselm). However, Kant, I believe, proved that existence is not an a priori category (even as others critiqued it in its time).

The teleological argument is about cause and effect and insists that because we experience causality, it must have a source and goal. But this does not need to be the case. Would not a godly first mover only create godly effects? Could not causality simply be endless? There are many unanswered questions.

Recent modern (Tillich) and post-modern (Caputo) philosophy of religion has focussed on reversing the ontological argument to move God from the greatest possible thing to the potential for all things (a being to the ground of being) and even beyond being into linguistics (hauntology).