What do we know about ourselves and the world around us? One thing is certain. We did not originate ourselves. So, how do we explain our own existence? Reason tells us that God is pure being who gives life.
The little boy asks, “Who made God?”
Imagine one boy asks his older brother, “where did the stars come from?” His brother answers, “God made the stars.” So, the younger one asks, “Where did the trees come from?”, and the older brother says, “God made the trees.” The questioning continues, “Where did I come from?”, and the older brother replies, “God made you.” Looking a little puzzled, the younger one asks, “Well, who made God?” His brother tries to satisfy his younger brother’s curiosity and says, “God made God”.
While the older brother’s answer might have satisfied his younger brother’s curiosity for the time being, both brothers would eventually come to realize that God cannot make Himself because He would have to exist before He existed at the same time, which is a clear contradiction.
Dependent beings had to be started by One who is not
It’s natural to wonder how we got started. One thing we know for sure is that we didn’t start ourselves. We are dependent beings, and our parents and their parents are dependent beings. Everyone we know are dependent beings. So, there must be a Being who is not dependent on anyone or anything else for its own existence–a Being who had no beginning. This we know from sheer reasoning.
There are only three possibilities before us when we’re contemplating ourselves and our universe:
- There should be nothing. We can dismiss this option since we cannot even think in terms of nothingness. What is nothing? As soon as we try to describe it, it becomes something.
- A starting of itself. It would be impossible for something to come out of nothing since there would be nothing to cause it to happen. It would be an effect without a cause. Out of nothing, nothing comes.
- There is a being that exists in and of itself. This is the only real possibility for the explaining of the universe in which we live.
This eternal and independent Being who started everything would explain the possibility of our own existence since we are not self-explanatory. This Being does not need any explanation for its existence as we do. While the law of cause and effect requires that every effect has a cause, this Being is not an effect because it has always existed just the way it is. (I’m referring to this Being as “it” because I haven’t yet established whether this Being is something or someone.)
A pure Being is eternal, infinite, and unchangeable
If this Being is responsible for starting all things, it must not need its own starter. It would be pure Being, the one and only Being that never changes in its essence. God is pure being who gives and sustains life. All other beings are dependent on this pure Being for their beginning and continuing existence since they do not possess the power of being in and of themselves.
Unlike the pure Being who started them, these dependent beings exist in changing forms. For example, my state of being began when a sperm and egg united in the womb of my mother, but now I’ve grown up to become a mature adult. We dependent beings are always in a state of becoming.
I would challenge anyone to try to think of this necessary pure Being, who Aristotle referred to as the “unmoved mover“, as anything other than an eternal, infinite, and unchangeable being. This is the ultimate proof of anything–that we cannot think otherwise.
Discover more about this Being and how we relate with Him
For a summary of other proofs of God’s existence and His nature, go to our Posts Directory web page. These posts are listed by major topic for your convenience.
But, if you’re now ready to know what your relationship is before God, Ask yourself two very important questions. First, are you sure that you’ll go to heaven when you die? Secondly, are you certain why God should let you into heaven? If you don’t know for sure, you can settle that matter today. Visit my post, How to Begin Your Life Over Again and you’ll know where and how you’ll spend eternity.
And for crystal clear YouTube presentations of the gospel message from several trusted sources, click here.