Does God Exist?

Almost everyone at some particular point in his or her life has

challenged the existence of God. This may happen for a number of

reasons. For example he or she might have been at a point in

their life when their faith alone was just not enough for them to

believe. Humans have a natural instinct to find reasons for

events that can't be explained. For some, the existence of God

may help give them the answers they are looking for.

Philosophers spend a great deal of their time trying to prove or

to disprove the existence of God. One philosopher that

confronted God's existence was Anselm.

Anselm was the Archbishop of Canterbury and was a very

influential philosopher between Augustine and Aquinas. He

proposed his argument for God's existence. His ontological

argument is based on the thought of God as the highest being.

Anselm's argument is different from other philosophers

simply because of it's premise.

Italy

St. Thomas Aquinas (c. 1225-1274), the eponym of T...

Thomas Aquinas depicted in stained glass

He saw a need for a precise

logical philosophy as a way for making faith mature, not as a

substitute for faith. Because Anselm already believed in God, he

was only looking for rational support for this belief. Therefore

Anselm's method of proving God's existence is called "Faith

seeking understanding." He proclaims "I do not seek to

understand in order that I may believe, but I believe in order

that I may understand" (Stumpf, 372-372). Anselm had to believe

in God in order to support his own rational for God's existence.

To help prove his belief, Anslem he uses his mind. He

claims, "Now we believe that You are something than which nothing

greater can be thought." He then questions, "Does this

something, than which nothing greater can be thought, really

exist?" (Stumpf 373). Anselm also sites Psalm 13:1 which reads,

"The fool has...