Hey Deacon

There are many arguments for the existence of God. Some suggest that the mere existence of the universe requires a cause, a Big Bang (Cosmological Argument). Some claim that the order and complexity of the universe is evidence of a creator (Design Argument). Others assert that objective morality exists and requires a moral lawgiver (Moral Argument). Others begin with what it means to be human and infer the existence of God (Religious Experience). Still others rely on simple logic. 

Each different argument provides a different way of looking at the evidence for God’s existence, and each has its own strengths and weaknesses. While the existence of God cannot be objectively proven, these arguments show that there are good reasons to believe that God exists. I use Church documents, the Catechism, and sacred scripture to support my reasoning. An atheist would poo-poo my arguments. St. Thomas Aquinas, a great theologian and Doctor of the Church, summed up five so-called proofs for the existence of God. One of his proofs is the logical conclusion that all creatures must ultimately come from a cause that itself was not caused. The “Uncaused Cause” is God. The First Vatican Council affirms that God's existence can be known with certainty from the created world by the natural light of human reason (CCC 36). 

St. Paul and the Church assert that humans are able to discover the hidden God through rational thought because “ever since the creation of the world, the invisible existence of God and his everlasting power have been clearly seen by the mind’s understanding of created things (Rom 1:20). The belief in God is not unreasonable. Putting aside the various philosophical arguments for God’s existence, our own personal experiences can guide us to God. Our feelings of dependency; our sense of wonder, awe, and joy, our openness to truth and beauty all speak to God who has made us to discover and love him. Our thirst for happiness, our sense of justice, our desire to be love must come from somewhere – the spiritual being we call God. God not only exists, but He freely chooses to communicate Himself and His divine plan for salvation to us. 

The Second Vatican Council teaches: “In His goodness and wisdom, God chose to reveal Himself and to make known to us the hidden purpose of His will by which through Christ, the Word made flesh, man has access to the Father in the Holy Spirit and comes to share in the divine nature.” (Dei Verbum - Dogmatic Constitution on Divine Revelation, 2) This free gift of God’s self-communication is known as divine revelation. The story of God’s self-disclosure, His saving action in history, is known as salvation history. Salvation history reaches its highest point in the coming of Jesus. Jesus is the Word of God made flesh, the Son of God who lived among us, taught us In human words and deeds about his Father, and completed the Father’s work of salvation. 

We need to respond to God’s self-communication and the revelation of God’s plan for us. This response is known as faith. Faith, like revelation, is a free gift from God that gives us the conviction, commitment, and trust to believe in realities that we can neither see nor clearly prove. Faith, cooperating with grace, enables us to know God and believe what God reveals through scripture and the teaching of the Church. Through faith, we commit our whole person – intellect, will, words, and actions -- to the God who reveals. “For those with faith, no evidence is necessary; for those without it, no evidence will suffice.” – St. Thomas Aquinas

Author Bio:
 Deacon Dan Vaughn