Proving God’s Existence | In Pursuit of Conviction II
بِسْمِ اللهِ الرَّحْمٰنِ الرَّحِيْمِ
Introduction
Throughout history, theologians and philosophers have enumerated the many evidences and proofs for God’s existence. In response, atheist philosophers have attempted to critique these arguments and provide their own proofs for non-belief. Departing from this project that relegates God’s existence to an abstract hypothesis requiring philosophical arguments, this treatise explores an alternative epistemology that conceptualizes belief in God as a fundamental human need and ontological necessity.
1
In the previous article, we examined how human beings are guided to God and His revelation first through the primordial spiritual intuition embedded within our nature. But what is the ontological and epistemological framework that makes that belief justified? It is that faith in God serves as the anchorage to any meaningful conception of reality or of our lives. For indeed, the idea that spiritual intuition is what leads us to God can be readily misconstrued to suggest that faith has no firm grounding beyond a subjective feeling. To the more astute reader, however, what should become evident is how faith functions as an ontological necessity—the bedrock of what constitutes meaning.
2
Faith in God is the necessary building block of all that makes up meaningful human experience. Three dimensions of human life are explored: spiritual, intellectual, and moral. Muslim tradition and scholarship have identified these as core aspects of the human experience.
3
The manner in which these dimensions of life are experienced by each and every one of us is through the first-person perspective, which is the subject matter of phenomenology, rather than the third-person perspective which is the artificial manner in which we are often accustomed to deliberate on life. A phenomenological analysis demonstrates humanity’s absolute need for God, regardless of whether they profess belief in Him. This approach enables the reader to appreciate that the justification for God’s existence is firmly rooted in the epistemology of meaning, the phenomenology of our lived experiences, and our dire need of Him, rather than potentially contestable rational proofs. Therefore, believing in God becomes synonymous with the choice to pursue meaning in life using our innate human capacities. Faith in God is intimately connected to the core of our being, and its strength is based on the purity of our spiritual, intellectual, and moral dimensions.
About The Author
