the existence of god deacon ken reisor september 15, 2011
TRANSCRIPT
The Existence
of GodDeacon Ken
ReisorSeptember 15,
2011
We believe in one God, the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and
earth, of all things seen and unseen…
-Nicene Creed
God’s Existence
How do we know there is a God?
God’s Existence
“There is a God-shaped vacuum that only God can
fill.”
God’s Existence“What else does this craving, and this helplessness, proclaim but that
there was once in man a true happiness, of which all that now remains is the empty print and
trace? This he tries in vain to fill with everything around him,
seeking in things that are not there the help he cannot find in those that are, though none can help, since this infinite abyss can be filled only with an infinite and
immutable object; in other words by God himself.” Pascal
God Is Known Through Personal Experiences
• Restlessness (unfulfilled desire)– Our hearts are restless , O Lord,
until they rest in Thee. St. Augustine of Hippo
• Sense of Justice– Heaven and Hell
• Love– No material explanation can fully
explain it• The Human Person
– Moral goodness– Sacrificial love– Truth and beauty
• Rom 1:20Ever 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.
As Catholics, We Understand The Importance of Both Faith and
Reason• Faith (Divine Revelation)
– What we can know about God has been revealed by Him through His Son and taught by His Church
• Reason (Rational thought)– What we can come to know about
God through our natural abilities
• Faith and reason do not conflict – Faith and reason are like two wings
on which the human spirit rises to the contemplation of truth; and God has placed in the human heart a desire to know the truth – in a word, to know himself – so that, by knowing and loving God, men and women may also come to the fullness of truth about themselves.”
– Pope John Paul II (Fides et Ratio)
REASON or RATIONAL THOUGHT,
otherwise…PHILOSOPHY
St. Thomas’ Proofs for the Existence
of God• The First Mover
– A thing must be first moved by something else; it cannot move itself (move here means “change.”)
• The First Efficient Cause– There is no case known
(neither is it, indeed, possible) in which a thing is found to be the efficient cause of itself; for so it would be prior to itself, which is impossible.
St. Thomas’ Proofs for the Existence
of God
• There are three others but let’s stop here…
• “I felt in my bones that this universe does not explain itself.” C.S. Lewis
• Ultimately, we come to the agreement that there must have been something at the beginning that always was!
God Is Known
Through Divine
Revelation
God Is Known Through Divine
RevelationHoly Scripture
In Holy Scripture, there
is no real elaborate argument
attempting to prove that God
exists…
God Is Known Through Divine
RevelationHoly Scripture
His existence is, basically, taken
for granted.
God Is Known Through Divine
RevelationTradition
Sola Scriptura
APOSTOLIC LETTER ROSARIUM VIRGINIS
MARIAE
God Is Known Through Divine
Revelation
Our response to Divine
Revelation is……Faith
So, what is God like?
Qualities of God
• Oneness – God is one• Eternal – God has no
beginning and no end• Omnipotent – God is all
powerful• Omniscient – God is all
knowing• Immutable – God does
not change• Supremely Holy – God is
goodness itself• Personal – God is
intimately concerned about His creation
In Conclusion…• Let’s take a look at Deacon Ken’s philosophical theory called the…
“Well,Duh” Factor.
• Does God exist?
• Well, duh…