I give you what is quite literally the fruit of my life’s greatest accomplishment as-of-yet; my proof of God. (I say that it is quite literally the fruit of my life because I have thought about God since I was two)
Proof of God. There cannot be an infinite amount of moments to have passed before now. If, indeed, an infinite amount of moments have passed before now, then we must also contend to be fatalists, since everything that will ever happen has already happened an infinite amount of times, and will happen another infinite amount of times, from the very writing of this to every single thought in my head to every single movement of every single least particle of matter; the exact universe that we see playing out right now will in every single detail happen an infinite amount of times, and has already happened an infinite amount of times. Is there a pattern? Not necessarily, but I can promise you that everything will happen in this universe has already happened and will continue to always happen. As the number 1 appears in the number π an infinite amount of times, out of the ten digits, on a grander scale will will this exact same thing happen in all the universes that existed and shall exist.
To claim that an infinite amount of time came before us is sheer ridiculousness disguised as an answer to what most assuredly points to something very incredible, something that we must recognize to have certain attributes. To claim to be at the end of an infinite amount of moments is to claim to be the last number of π. Math will tell you there is no such thing, so why should one accept a detachment between the universe and the metaphorical language of math? If we cannot apply this instance as perfectly analogical to the motion of the universe, in time, then we cannot truly apply math to such a mundane thing as two apples and three apples will be five apples together. Always, or never, that is mathematical theory in short. One and one will always be two, in an absolute sense we must contend this is true, even while on points out the symbol, the metaphor, for one is something derived entirely within the human mind. But, to reason against reason is to have already lost, and so there is no reason to disprove the disproof of disproofs, as it has already defeated itself.
So, there must be a beginning to the universe. What then shall we have to recognize this thing to be? We need not worry about the method by which the universe came into existence, whether that be the Big Bang or something other. We only need to worry that there was a preceding cause to all that is caused, and this something itself cannot be caused, for if it is caused, it must rest eventually on something that is uncaused. We shall call this uncaused thing the Alpha, the beginning, the first before all things. So, we have this momentous, monumental first, that cannot be bound by the material physical time that dictates all material things exist because of an initial cause.
We must then disregard the idea that this Alpha is material, for if it is material, it is bound by the same unchanging laws of the universe that we see now. Even above that, if there were laws then that are different now, being a universally bound thing, bound by the material universe, there must some higher law, some initial Alpha even to these things that gave initial absoluteness to these things, such as gravity, momentum, etc. To find the beginning of these laws is directly comparable to the beginning of the universe; there must be an Alpha to put these things into being, into existence, to have power between each other and to be perfectly constant, even so far as to co-operate with what is breaking them.
So, recognizing the absolute need for this Alpha, this beginning to all things, this first, this necessitated thing, what can we recognize about it? A good question would be, What sort of force does this thing contain? There are two possibilities as we recognize; it may have an impersonal force, just as gravity works mindlessly, simply existing and causing reaction between itself and other forces. But, on the other hand, if this thing contains only an impersonal force, what should cause it to move? There would have to be a prior decision by some other unmoved mover to move this force. However, we cannot have two Alphas, we can only have one. If there were two Alphas, then how can these two things exist next to each other self-existingly without there being interaction between the two, with the one causing reaction on the other, just as electricity and matter? There can only be one. The solution, then, to this problem of the impersonal force is to contend that this Alpha is personal, that is has the ability, of its own choosing, to move itself. Just as a person can of its own choosing move itself, this Alpha must be a personal force, unlike gravity, unlike all things in the universe. It is an atom with a mind, a universe with a will. It is the only thing that exists, the only thing that can exist, so it need not be considered big or small, for there is nothing to compare it to, as there is no other eternally existing thing by which it can be judged against. As a mountain is big compared to a hill, the universe big to an atom, if there even was only a quirk in all existence, it should very well be neither be great or small, it would be just existent.
Now we have recognized that this Alpha must be personal, and it is neither great nor small. We have recognized seven necessary traits to this Alpha already; it is self-existent, without cause; it is immaterial, and yet existent; it is the only thing that can exist as it does; it is not greater or lesser, for there is no other existent thing by which we could judge it against; it must be personal, for impersonal forces could not move themselves, only a person force could move itself; it is the origin of all matter, of all force.
Allow us to continue.
Now, considering in reflection that there is nothing for it to be judged against, and that it is the only thing, and there is nothing else, what does this leave of nothing, that which is not it? Nothing doesn’t exist; quite literally, nothing other than this Alpha exists. Even nothingness doesn’t exist; this Alpha fills all that there is, we might understand it that way. At the same time, we might understand that this Alpha is the very nothingness itself, for we must recognize at the least that nothing exists if something exists, for nothing is simply the lacking of something. So, this Alpha is very nothingness itself. But, what is nothingness?
This nothingness might be said so because there is nothing for which it can be compared to, so it is not something against nothing; but at the same time, it is not nothing against something. This Alpha quite simply is, without distinction between something and nothing. It is neither something or nothing; it is the very thing by which these things that come into existence are measured against! There is nothing in existence, and yet there is no essence. But yet, there now is essence, and there now is existence. This thing, that is neither something nor nothing, neither existence nor essence, is both something and nothing, existence and essence! It is primal to all things, all things are understood in relation to it. If there is no Alpha, no ultimate object of which both very essence and existence are in itself defined, then there is no essence or existence, no nothing or something. What is now material is itself the Alpha, yet that cannot be so. The universe did not start itself, for as we already have shown, there must be a beginning to itself, and this Alpha absolutely requires that there is nothing that came before it.
So then, in quick recap, this Alpha is personal, both essence and existence in the same. However, this does not yet answer for other things we might recognize as being eternally existing things; what of good, what of truth, what of beauty? what of love? If all things understood are understood in relation to this Alpha, then these things must also find their understanding in comparison to this Alpha.
For, now, as has already been shown, there cannot be another self-existing, eternally existing thing, there can only be the Alpha. If we are to contend that these things don’t exist, we must be forced to admit this flies in the face of what we must recognize even in their very denial. If one denies truth, he admits there is truth in his very statement, for it must be true before it is true that there would be no truth. So there must be truth. If one denies good, he admits there is good in his very statement, for it must be good before it is good that there would be no good. So there must be good. If one denies beauty, he admits there is beauty in his very statement, for it must be beautiful before it is beautiful that there would be no beautiful. So there must be beauty.
Before I go on, I would like to recapitulate my points, for I understand they do not have a preciseness that one usually desires when speaking of truth. However, these things, good and beauty, may be truthfully existent, yet one cannot prove them to exist through truth. They must be proved through themselves. Why do I say this? I say this because these three things are self-defining.
What is true? It is that which is true. What is good? It is that which is good. What is beauty? It is that which is beautiful. A person might like to offer other explanations for these things, but I would like to show these things as coming back to these things being self-defining.
The person may like to say that that which is true is that which is not contradicted in nature or supernature, but this does not prove that there is any truth to his statement. Then, if this standard is true, one must contend that it is true that this standard is true, and yet it is not able to be tried by itself. It is only true if it itself is true. And so, we must be only able to say that that which is true is truth, which is truth.
The explanation around good is those things that have the greatest ends. However, what first shall be these good things that are good? For there is only good value if first good exists, not that it may be sought as an end. Something must exist before it can be sought, and so be responsible to. One does not walk down the street and happen to be hit by a bus without their own attempt at it and say they are responsible for it. It is the same with good; one does not find this implacable good in things other than which is good itself. What is good is that which is good; humans may be good, but from which first good thing did this good come from? Good must exist before the human, before the value could be imparted into humans. Therefore, it is good that good exists, otherwise it would be evil that good doesn’t exist, but how can evil exist if there is no good? That alone should force one to admit that good must exist outside of man’s making of it, that man cannot make it but only recognizes it, just as truth.
Now, as to beauty, I must first define. Beauty is that which is meant to be. So, this definition in mind, one might contend that all this is was meant to be, but how can one say that is beauty? It is just like good; how can one say the end is good without there first being good as a part of some part of the equation, some part of the means, process, reasoning? This beauty must exist as a self-defining thing, or else beauty becomes not at all, it becomes ugly. But, ugliness is those things which were not meant to be ordered, and if there can be things not meant to be, there can be things meant to be. Therefore, there is beauty, that things are meant to be and so are also in being.
So, these three things, truth, good, and beauty, being sufficiently proved as self-defining, must have a relation to each other, for if they cannot possibly exist as a self-existing thing alongside the Alpha, they must exist alongside each other in this Alpha, as attributes of what this Alpha is. And in fact, one might go further as to say that these three things constitute that which is Love. What is love, then? Let me answer.
Love is that which is true, which is good, and which is beautiful. Love must be a true thing, it cannot be an intended good while ignoring the truth of the situation. If truth is missing, we might very well say that it is always good to buy children lollipops. However, the truth of the matter must be dependent upon the child, and from that truth we then make judgment and act on good in our knowledge of truth. Love must be good, as one does no evil thing in the name of love. If evil is done, love is not done, and we might call this thing hate, as it is willed. On the other part, that of the feisty beauty, it ultimately must exist as because it is that which is meant to be, love must meant to be before it exists. Love does not happen accidentally. Loving acts may be conditioned in the person, but love even in this way was at first a choice, a will to be meant as something, to impart some being of fact of reality. If love is purposely missing truth, it is misguided. If love is purposely missing good, then it is hate. If love is purposely missing beauty, then it is apathy. And these three vices, when understood as the lack of some part of love, all cause an equal amount of continuing error, and that is why there are not love.
So then, if there is love, and it is not self-existent, and yet its parts self-defining, it must exist as an intrinsic part of this Alpha for, like all things we understand, it must be defined against this Alpha, or else it produces the logical contradiction of two or more self-existing things, which cannot be.
This Alpha, then, has as its attributes these things, listed in number;
One. This Alpha is before the universe.
Two. This Alpha is immaterial.
Three. This Alpha must be both essence and existence as the same.
Four. This Alpha must be personal.
Five. This Alpha is the origin of all that is.
Six. This Alpha is self-existing.
Seven. This Alpha must be the only thing that is before all other other things (that is, there are no other self-existing things).
Eight. This Alpha is love, which is good, which is true, and which is beautiful.
Nine. This Alpha is the only thing that can give choice. (See points on infinity and moments in the universe)
Nine. That which is opposed to this Alpha is not of this Alpha, though may be by the Alpha’s allowance, as it is personal. As it is not of the Alpha, it does not truly exist as those things that are defined in the Alpha (i.e. good and evil, truth and falsity, etc).
Ten. This Alpha is the only thing that substantiates all the prior point’s existences. (i.e. personality, essence/existence, etc)
Eleven. This Alpha is all that the Christian God is recognized as.
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This looks like something copied from Aquinas. And Aquinas’ argument, in particular the one about pre-existing source of good or truth, is copied from Plato’s world of “forms”. As Plato himself acknowledged, to a certain extent, his logic for his world of “forms” theory is rather circular. To make it simple, if good cannot exist unless there is a source for good, then the source for good cannot exist unless there is a source for good for source for good, ad infinitum. In your first few paragraphs, you attempted to eliminate the problem of infinite regression, but your arguments have, ironically, perpetuate this problem of infinite regression. The snake eats its own tail.
I do not see what you mean at all, nor do I believe that anywhere was I making a circular argument. I eliminated the problem of infinite regression via the Alpha being self-existent, and my application of God being good came from the fact of the existence of good. I admit there is no way to conclusively prove that good does indeed exist, only that if it does, then it must be found in the Alpha. How is that circular?
I see that you have attempted to eliminate the infinite regression by pinning it on the Alpha. However, the reasons for the existence of this Alpha is rather half-baked, inconclusive and unconvincing. It is forcing the reader to accept your false dichotomies, just to site one of its flaws. I mean, how sure are you that casual loop cannot exist?
First, what would be my false dichotomy? That the Alpha exists, or the universe can’t exist? How is that false? The evidence of the universe is that there must be a beginning, so I don’t see how its false, nor how it could be ‘half-baked, inconclusive, and unconvincing’ unless you could actually show where I have made an inconclusive conclusion without proper reasoning.
And what about a causal* loop? I am sure that it can exist, and I even use the fact that some things are self-proving, and so themselves causal loops, that they are self-existing, and being self-existing entities, they must be found within this Alpha, for it is the fount of order and existence in the universe. (The Alpha is also the Logos, but my use of Alpha as opposed to Logos here has to do with my search for finding a first cause, at which the Alpha is proved to be God, who so happens to be the Logos)
I need to know this: On what grounds are you saying that there “cannot be an infinite amount of moments to have passed before now”? You seem to be basing this on certain obscure maths principle. Where do you get this from? Are you a mathematician or a physicist in the style of Stephen Hawkings?
No, I’m only a person applying common principles of reason. There is no end to infinity, so if there was an infinite amount of moments before now, then we must admit to being at the end of an infinite sequence of moments. Therefore, since this is impossible, there must be a beginning. (Not to mention the ridiculous uber-determinism that results of an infinitely prior universe)
There are other ways to prove this. Speaking of Stephen Hawkings, he made a mathematical proof proving that time cannot extend indefinitely into the past. “Astronomer Ed Hubble’s discovery that galaxies were moving away from each other in a celestial expansion and Roger Penrose’s and Stephen Hawking’s proof that time does not extend indefinitely into the past certainly support the view point that the big bang beginning is, “the ultimate cataclysm, beyond which our cosmic ancestry cannot extend” (Ref 6).” (http://www.arn.org/blogs/index.php/2/2008/09/04/darwinian_universes_and_colliding_branes) Not that I myself have the knowledge of this proof, I believe that we should be allowed to accept Hawking’s word as a physicist.
There is an infinite amount of numbers between the integers 1 and 2. Still we can be at 2.
Second, the Alpha does not have to be personal. Things, such as atomic decay all happen on apparently completely random points in time, with a certain probability curve concerning the certain materials chance of staying undecayed.
Why can the Alpha be self-existent and nothing else can? There is NO way to close a causal loop. There had to be something there from nowhere, or from always. Either way, why make it one step more complicated? What about Occam’s Razor?
There is a potential amount of numbers between 1 and 2. These numbers are included in the set of all integers between 1 and 2. We can reach 2 from 1 because we are more or less skipping all (or at least most if you aren’t counting by whole numbers) the numbers between 1 and 2.
Jan, the primal cause must be personal. See my revised proof.
Bryce, I still don’t agree. The assumption that our normal logic applies to a “being” which is atemporal seems ridiculous. In our temporal world, things act when acted upon, etc. Why is this true outside of time? Where there cannot be a cause effect type of relationship. In fact, the idea that something exists outside of time seems kind of ludicrous, no? Why is that idea any more valid than something causing itself?
So why can’t time do the same thing (skip)?
Or what if time is discrete?
Why can’t the “universe” be atemporal, and everything in it be normal?
Why is there axiomatic order?
It must stem from a foundational existent logos.
This logos exists without time.
Therefore, if God exists, and this logos exists, God and the logos must be one and the same.
If God is the logos, then He is logical. (This is a tautology, btw)
If God is logical, then He can be logically reckoned.
Because we recognize that nothing can cause itself where it did not first exist (it caused itself into existence from without), the recognition of a being outside of time is hence warranted. When faced between our choices (the universe began itself when it did not exist or something outside the universe [and hence time itself] began it), which is more logical?
And if time is discrete (which is a nonsense notion, IMO), then the fact of motion still rules out an infinitely priorly existing universe.