The Search for God Page 3.4.1
Ontological argument
I always thought the ontological argument was dumb. There it is, straight out. I mean the greatest conceivable being must exist. What does this prove? All it proves is we can come up with alot of theories and speculation. Existence is proven through experience.
I mean, physicists can theorize quarks exist, but they have to find them. I can theorize that God exists, I can make any definition I want, but what I want to know is can I find this being in actual reality?
Search for Reality
So I took up St. Anselm’s challenge to conceive of the greatest possible being using what we know exists 100% of the time and ran those ideas through philosophical reasoning to make sure they are not illogical or contradictory and to make sure they all fit together.
So now I have this amazing, massive, unique being we term God. So what now? Other than the guilt of all-goodness, are there any demands upon me, do I know this being actually exists or am I just playing some mental game?
Two things I realized
I don’t remember where I was or how the idea came to me, but I began to realize these two things: this being should want to communicate, and the only way to communicate with this being is for him to communicate with us.
Philosophy is wonderful, but philosophers continue to spin their mental wheels by not taking the next step, we must go find the God we conceive of. We have to test the theories of each of the beings we conceive of to determine if they exist in reality.
What good would the physicist be if everyone was just a theoretical physicist. Let’s just come up with theories, but never experiment or test the theories. What good would car or computer design be if we never built the design?
Philosophers have all this theoretical, rational mental computing power, but the experimental philosopher is the religionist who examines communication from God. Philosophy is missing one key component that science provides, experimentation.
The ontological argument is theoretical philosophy at its best. I took up the challenge and developed the greatest conceivable being possible, then set out on an experimental journey to find whether this God exists in reality. If I am right, the communication from God should exist, proving that God exists.
What Next?
- What is the crucial concept?
- The ontological argument prompted me to consider, theorize, and characterize the greatest possible being. I developed my hypothesis, now I must test the hypothesis.
- Why is that significant?
- The only way to test my hypothesis is for this God to speak to humankind. Based on God’s attributes, he should want to communicate with humans.
- If you agree, the next steps.
- If you disagree, please consider reading.
References and Links
- 123 Help Me – The greatest conceivable being.
- The Philosophy Forum – Existence is proven through experience.
- The Gospel Coalition – Theorize that God exists