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Our world cannot exist by its own power. The laws of nature demand a self-existent, eternal Being from whom and by whom all things come into existence. Today, R.C. Sproul reveals the necessity of God’s existence.

#Renewing Your Mind #Necessary Being #R.C. Sproul #June 25 #2022 #renewingyourmind.org

Necessary being...

Next, we should note that the question “Why does God exist?” never does, in fact arise. Those who do not believe that God exists will not, of course, ask why He exists. But neither do believers ask that question. Outside of theism, so to speak, the question is nonsensical, and inside of theism, the question is never asked.

But it is not that the religious person fails to ask why God exists through inadvertence or because of lack of interest. There may be many beings about which the question “Why do they exist?” is never in fact asked; and not all such beings are necessary in the sense in question. “Why does God exist?” is never in fact asked (either by religious or non-religious people) because it is a bogus question. If a believer were asked why God exists, he might take it as a request for his reasons for believing in God; but if it is agreed that God exists, then it is less than sensible to ask why He does. And the explanation is not hard to find.

Essential to theism is an assertion to the effect that there is a connection between God and all other beings, a connection in virtue of which these others are causally dependent upon God. And this proposition is analytic; it is part of the Hebraic-Christian concept of God the He is “Maker of heaven and earth.” But it is also a necessary truth that if God exists, He is Himself uncreated and in no way causally dependent upon anything else. God is a causally necessary condition of the existence of anything else, whereas His existence has no necessary conditions.

Now the absence of a necessary condition of the existence of anything is a sufficient condition of the nonexistence of that thing; and if a being has no causally necessary conditions, that its existence has no causally sufficient conditions. And hence if God does exist, His going out of existence could have no causally sufficient conditions and is therefore causally impossible. If God has no necessary conditions, then it is analytic that His going out of existence, if it occurred, would be an uncaused event; for it is analytic that there can be no causally sufficient conditions of its occurrence.

Similarly, His beginning to exist is causally impossible for since it is analytic that God is not dependent upon anything, He has no cause; and hence His coming into existence would be an event which could have no causally sufficient conditions. So if God does exist, He cannot cease to exist; nor could He have begun to exist.

Now it becomes clear that it is absurd to ask why God exists. To ask that question is to presuppose that God does exist; but it is a necessary truth that if He has no cause, then there is no answer to a question asking for His causal conditions. The question “Why does God exist” is, therefore, an absurdity.

~ Alvin Plantinga, Faith and Philosophy

#Alvin Plantinga #Faith and Philosophy #necessary being #God #theism

Our world cannot exist by its own power. The laws of nature demand a self-existent, eternal being from whom and by whom all things come into existence. Today, R.C. Sproul reveals the necessity of God's being.