THEOLOGY PROPER: EXISTENCE OF GOD III - Page 1

1A. The Moral Argument

1B.     Context of the Argument

1C.  Two Types of Ethics

1D.   Teleological Ethics

   "The first type may be termed teleological. The moral

   value of any act, according to this type of theory,

   consists in the tendency it has (or is intended to have)

   to produce a good or bad result.

Everything that is morally praiseworthy, according to this type of theory, is so because of its tendency to realize that which is intrinsically good: the intrinsically good is the end (telos), or goal, toward which all behavior having moral value is aimed." Halverson, Intro. Phil., p. 307

THEREFORE:

2D. Deontological Ethics

1E.     Explanation

     "Some acts are 'morally right' in and of themselves;

     they are not right merely by virtue of their tendency

     to realize some other good."

2E.     Example: The Categorical Imperative of Kant

3E.  POINT:

2C.  The Summum Bonum

1D.     Definition of the Good

     "If I am asked, What is good? my answer is that good is

     good, and that is the end of the matter. Or if I am

     asked, How is good to be defined? My answer is that it

     cannot be defined, and that is all I have to say about it

     . . . My point is that "good" is a simple notion, just as

     "yello" is a simple notion; that, just as you cannot, by

     any means, explain to anyone who does not already know it,

     what yellow is, so you cannot explain what good is." G.

     E. Moore, Principia Ethics, pp. 6‑7

2D.     Delineation of the Greatest Good

1E.  Example

  Medicine, for example, is good only because of its

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consider health. Why is it good? if we say that health is good because it is a precondition of being able to engage in enjoyable activity, then it too is an instrumental good (though it may also be an intrinsic good). well then, why is enjoyable activity good? Is it instrumentally good in that it contributes to the realization of some higher good? If so, where does this process come to an end? What is humanity's 'highest' good?" Halverson, Intro. Phil., p. 308

2E.     Elements

1F. worthy of being desired in and of itself.  

2F.  It’s not instrumentally good.

3F. The cause of the goodness of other things insofar as they contribute to its realization.

2B. Consideration of the Argument

1C.     Explanation

1D.   If a person violates his conscience, then he feels morally responsible.

2D.   If man feels morally responsible, then there must be Someone to whom he is actually responsible.

3D.  Man violates his conscience.

  OBSERVATION:

2C.     Elaboration

1D.     origin of the Conscience

     "Conscience recognizes the existence‑of a moral law which

     has supreme authority: known violations of this moral law

     are followed by feelings of ill‑desert and fears of

     judgment: this moral law, since it is not self‑imposed,

     and these threats of judgment, since they are not self­

     executing, respectively argue the existence of holy will

     that has imposed the law, and of a punitive power that

     will execute the threats of the moral nature." Strong,

     Sys. Theo., pp. 82‑83

2D.     Operation of the Conscience

     "Our moral judgments, or, in other words, the conscience,

     has an authority from which we cannot emancipate

     ourselves. We can neither deny nor ignore it. It has a

     lordship. It commands, and it forbids. And we are bound

     to obey. It has power also to enforce its decisions. It

     can reward and punish. Its rewards are among the greatest

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blessings we can enjoy. Its punishments are the most intolerable agony the human soul can endure." Hodge, Sys. Theo. 1: 238

NOTE:

3D.  opposition to the Conscience

  "There is such a permanent moral law and it has supreme

  and abiding authority over us. Evolutionists do not like

  to admit this. They like‑to think of everything as in a

  flux and constantly changing. But that conscience is not

  self‑imposed nor developed from our primitive instincts by

  our life in society, is evident from the fact that the

  sense of duty has no regard to our inclinations,

  pleasures, or fortunes, nor to the practices of society,

  but is often in conflict with them. Yet conscience does

  not tell us what to do; it merely insists that there is a

  fundamental moral law in the universe and that it is our

  duty to observe it." Thiessen, Lec. Sys. Theo., pp. 61‑62.

3B. Conclusion of the Argument

1C.     Extent: Universal

     "What is universal cannot be accounted for by peculiarities of

     culture. All men are moral beings; all have this sense of

     moral obligation, and of responsibility; and no man can free

     himself from these convictions." Hodge, Sys. Theo. 1: 239

2C.     Expression: Guilt

     "Our moral nature involves, therefore, a sense of

     responsibility. We must answer for what we are, and for what

     we do. This responsibility is not to ourselves, not to

     society, nor to being in general. It must be to a person; that

     is, to a Being who knows what we are, what we do, and what we

     ought to be and do; who approves of the right, and disapproves

     of the wrong; and who has the power and the purpose to reward

     and punish us according to our character and conduct. Sin,

     from its very nature, as it reveals itself in our

     consciousness, involves not only a sense of pollution, or moral

     degradation, but also a sense of guilt; i.e., a conviction that

     we deserve punishment, that we ought to be punished, and,

     therefore, that punishment is inevitable." Ibid., p. 238

4B.     Consequences of the Argument

1C. Acknowledgement of Moral Values

1D.     Argument

     Moral values do not have to be acknowledged

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2D. Answer

2C. Appraisal of Moral Values

1D.     Argument

     If they are acknowledged they can be fully explained by

     human desires or by the needs of society or by the very

     structure of human nature.

2D. Answer

3C. Asymmetrical Nature of Moral Values

1D.     Argument

1E.  Recognized

  1F.  "The prevalence of moral and physical evils

    among men

  2F.  The unequal apportionment of providential

    favors, and the absence of all proportion

    between the measure of happiness allotted, and

    the respective moral characters of the

    recipients." A. A. Hodge, Out. Theo., p. 42

2E.  Resulting View of God

  "A Being of great but limited power, how or by what

  limited we cannot even conjecture; of great and

  perhaps unlimited intelligence, but perhaps also more

  narrowly limited than his power: who desires and

  pays some regard to the happiness of his creatures,

  but who seems to have other motives of action which

  he cares more for, and who can hardly be supposed to

  have created the universe for that purpose only."

  John Stewart Mill, cited in A. A. Hodge, Out. Theo.,

  p. 43

2D.  Answer

     "It is unquestionably true that God has not created the

      universe for the single purpose, or even for the chief purpose,

 of promoting the happiness of his creatures. Our

 reason and observation, and Christian Scriptures

 unite in revealing as far higher and more worthy ends of

 divine action the manifestation of his own glory, and the

 promotion by education and discipline of the highest

 excellence of his intelligent moral creatures. It is

 evident that the operation of inexorable general laws, and

 the mystery and sufferings incident to this life, may be

 the most effective means to promote those ends." Ibid.,

 pp. 43‑44

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2A. Anthropological Argument

     1B.     Evidence for the Argument

1C.  Existence of the Soul

  "Every man has in his own consciousness the evidence of the

  existence of mind. He knows that he is an intelligent,

  personal being. He knows that his personality does not reside

    in his body, but in his soul." Hodge, Sys. Theo. 1:234

2C.  Distinction Between Soul and Body

  "it is included in the facts of consciousness that the soul and

  body are distinct, that they are different substances having not

    only different but incompatible attributes. That such is the

  general conviction of men is plain from all languages

  recognizing the distinction; and from the fact that it is never

  denied except by speculative or theoretical writers. ‑The

  common consciousness of men as revealed by their forms of

  speech, and by their avowals, and by the universal belief, in

  some form, of a state of conscious existence after death, bears

  witness to the truth that the soul is something different from,

  and far superior to the body." Ibid.

3C.  origin of the Soul

  "How is the existence of this immaterial, thinking, immortal

  substance which we call self, to be accounted for? That it has

  not always existed is undeniable. If it began to be, it must

  have the cause of its existence out of itself. That cause

  cannot be the soul of the parent, for that also is an effect.

  It began to be. And it is universally admitted that an

  infinite series of effects is unthinkable. If the soul cannot

  be accounted for by derivation in unending series of steps from

  those who preceded us, neither can it be conceived of as a

  product of the body, or of physical forces and combinations.

  It would seem to be a self‑evident proposition, that the effect

  cannot contain in it more than is in its cause; that

  intelligence cannot be the product of what is unintelligent.

  This also is confirmed by all experience." Ibid., pp. 234‑35

  POINT:

2B.     Evaluation of the Evidence

1C. Principle

  1D. Stated "The first of these laws is that whatever Capacities, necessities, or desires exist, or are found in any organism, adequate provision is made to meet and satisfy them all." Ibid., p. 286

2D.   Supported

   "His physical necessities are all met by the present

   circumstances of his being. His body becomes all that it

   is capable of being, in this stage of existence." Ibid.,

   p. 287

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2C.      Problem

1D. Explanation of the Problem

"But these things are not true with regard to his soul.

It has capacities which are not fully developed in this

world, and never can be. It has desires, aspirations, and

necessities for which the world does not furnish the

appropriate objects. It is, therefore, as evidently

designed and adapted for a higher and spiritual state of

existence, as his body is adapted to the present order of

things." Ibid.

2D. Elaboration of the Problem

"human beings are 'over‑endowed' if this life is the only

life for which they wore intended. The evolutionary

process has, in general, equipped each organism with just

those qualities that it needs to survive in the struggle

for life. Human beings, however, are a remarkable

exception. Their capacity for abstract knowledge, their

moral aspirations, their love of beauty, their spiritual

ideals, go far beyond what is needed to secure their mere

earthly survival. Those endowments mark human beings as

creatures destined for higher things ‑ destined, indeed,

for a life of eternal blessedness." Halverson, Intro.

Phil., P. 382

3D. Elements of the Soul

1E.  Intellect

  "The soul of man has, in the first place,

  intellectual powers capable of indefinite expansion,

  which in this world never reach their utmost limit.

  With these is connected a desire of knowledge which

  is never satisfied." Hodge, Sys. Theo. 1:236

  NOTE:

2E.     Affections

     "In the second place, the soul of man has a capacity

     for happiness which nothing in the world, nor the

     whole world could it be attained, can by possibility

     fill." Ibid.

3E.     Aspirations

     "In the third place, the soul has aspirations to

     which nothing in this life corresponds. It longs for

     fellowship with what is far above itself; what is

     boundless, and eternal." Ibid.

4E. Security 1F. Preservation "There is in us, finally, as Spinoza has beautifully put it, a desire to 'persevere in our being... (through] indefinite time.' we do not want our life to come to an end, and we

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demonstrate this by taking all sorts of measures to protect ourselves from danger and to guard our health. Yet, we know that this earthly life will eventually come to an end." Halverson, Intro. Phil., p. 330

2F.  Protection

  "In the fourth place, with all these powers,

  desires, and aspirations, it is conscious of its

  weakness, insufficiency, and dependence. It

  must have an object to worship, to love, to

  trust; a Being who can satisfy all it.

  necessities, and under whose guardianship it can

  be safe from those powers of evil to which it

  knows that it is on all sides and at All times

  exposed; a Being whose existence, and whose

  relation to itself, can explain all the

  mysteries of its own being, and secure its

  felicity in the future, on which it knows it

  must soon enter." Hodge, Sys. Theo. 1:237

4D.     Evaluation of the Argument

     "Just as certainly as hunger in the animal supposes that

     there is food adapted to still its cravings, so certainly

     does this hunger of the soul 'suppose that there is some

     Being in the universe to satisfy its necessities. In both

     cases the craving is natural, universal, and imperative."

     Ibid.

3A.  The Experiential Argument

Review of the Argument "Among all the peoples and tribes of the earth there is a sense of the divine, which reveals itself in an external cultus. Since the phenomenon is universal, it must belong to the very nature of man. And if the nature of man naturally leads to religious worship, this can only find its explanation in a higher Being who has constituted man a religious being." Berkhof, Sys. Theo., p. 27

2B. Refutation of the Argument

1C.  "In answer to this argument however, it may be said that this

  universal phenomenon may have originated in an error or

  misunderstanding of one of the early progenitors of the human

  race, and that  the religious cultus referred to appears

  strongest among primitive races, and disappears in the measure

  in which they become civilized." Ibid.

  BUT:

2C.  If it were true, there still would be great disagreement about

     the conception of God which the accumulated experiences of man

     would project.

     OBSERVATION:

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3C.    Also, there is no way of telling a revelatory experience from a non‑revelatory one. How can we decide what is genuine?

4C.  POINT:

4A.     Argument from Scripture

     B.     Necessity of Special Revelation

1C.  Evaluation of the Arguments

  "The attempt to prove God's existence is either useless or

  unsuccessful. It is useless if the searcher believes that God

  is a rewarder of those who seek Him. And it is unsuccessful if

  it is an attempt to force a person who does not have this

  pistis by means of argumentation to an acknowledgment in a

  logical sense." Kuyper, cited in Berkhof, Sys. Theo., p. 21

2C.  Evidence and Faith

  "The Christian accepts the truth of the existence of God by

  faith. But this faith is not a blind faith, but a faith that

  is based on evidence, and the evidence is found primarily

  in Scripture as the inspired Word of God, and secondarily in

  God's revelation in nature. Scripture proof on this point does

  not come to us in the form of an explicit declaration, and much

  less in the form of a logical argument. In that sense the

  Bible does not prove the existence of God." Ibid.

3C. Expression of Special Revelation

"Since man is a finite and guilty and morally corrupt creature

it is unavoidable that the self‑manifestations of God in nature

should be imperfectly apprehended by him. That supernatural

revelation which God has disclosed through an historical

process of special interventions in chronological successions,

interpreted by a supernaturally endowed order of prophets, and

recorded in the Christian Scriptures, supplements the light of

nature, explains the mysteries of providence, and furnishes us

with the principles of a true theodice." A. A. Hodge, Out

Theo., pp. 44‑45

2B.     Nature of Special Revelation

1C. In the Written Word

"It does not seem to have occurred to any of the writers of

either the Old or New Testaments to attempt to prove or argue

for the existence of God. Everywhere and at all times it is a

fact taken for granted." Evans, cited in Thiessen, Lec. Sys.

Theo., p. 56

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2C.  In the Living Word

     "The God whom nature veils while it reveals him, stands before

     us unveiled in all the perfection of wisdom, holiness, and love

     in the person of Christ. He who hath seen Christ hath seen the

     Father. The truth of Theism is demonstrated in his person, and

     henceforth will never be held except by those who loyally

     acknowledge his Lordship over intellect and conscience and

     life." A. A. Hodge, Out Theo., p. 45

3B.  NOTE: