Ontologically Proofless

No god?

An all-knowing-good-powerful god is the ideal conceptualization of the highest power in religion. One could argue that, if an all-good-powerful-knowing being exists, then evil does not exist. But there have been many cases throughout world history to prove the existence of evil. The Holocaust (if we assume evil as the loss of human life) was possibly the most evil atrocity to ever take place. Thus, an all-good-powerful-knowing being (God) cannot exist. For the said being would be morally obligated to intervene in all instances of evil, however small. For instance, imagine a single mother with four children wrongfully terminated from her job. Wrongful termination is a morally reprehensible offense. Any action that is morally reprehensible is an instance of evil. Therefore, God does not exist. This argument, though seemingly more intellectually engaging for those opposed to the existence of god than the believers’ appeal to faith, (“I just believe,”) is flawed. The argument that an all-good-powerful god would not allow evil to exist operates under a fallacious presumption that divine intervention is a moral obligation in all cases of evil.

God?

Perhaps God is aware of the consequences that would occur if he did intervene, and the all-good solution would be inaction. One could argue that God is an all-good-knowing-powerful being and also that said being is autonomous. If God is indeed autonomous, he possesses the ability to act or not to act. God, as an all-good being, can only perform universalizable actions. An action is only universalizable when it is morally right in all instances; any action that is not universalizable is morally wrong. Thus, the problem of inaction in any instance of evil, however small, is irrelevant to the existence of God.

Another factor that must be considered when examining ontological proof of God is the truth of free will in human beings. If an all-powerful god created people, then it was he who made them autonomous. Our free will adopts an intellectual curiosity at birth that has only grown throughout history. Many religious followers may like to think of earth as a testing ground for the afterlife-a sort of prerequisite for heaven. If earth is a testing ground for faith, God then has the incentive to make his existence unlikely in the eyes of the creation (humanity). If the existence of God is actually proven, faith would become meaningless. If a creator wanted true faith, he would need the faith to be easily doubted. Logic works against religion in that it is not logical that God exists; however logic works for faith. If it were not doubted that God indeed exists, then what would be the point of existing at all on earth? If everyone accepted the existence of God, faith would have little importance in judgment.

Under the assumption that God is all-powerful, he has the power to make his existence unlikely and nevertheless, still exist. Therefore, a god who creates autonomous beings with intellectual curiosity is likely to test the faith of those beings in a prerequisite realm to the continuum of an afterlife. An all-powerful creator of humanity would shroud his existence in doubt.

The Inevitability

Finally, an all-good-knowing-powerful god may choose never to act upon any of the aforementioned traits. Earth, for many, is viewed as the test of faith in God. Thus, God exists. The more we think we know, the more we think we’ve ruled out. Put simply by Socrates, “The only true wisdom lies in knowing that you know nothing.” Even if we think we know there is no God, we truly have no way to ever find out (during our life time, that is). Assuming life ends and so too does existence, we will never truly know if God exists.


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