Knowing God through Creation

Can we know God through created things?

Before diving on the topic let us differentiate between knowledge and faith.  Knowledge is based
on evidence. We know facts by using our senses and our reason. While faith is believing person
because of trust. We believe for what a person claims not only because it is reasonable for what
he claims but because he is trustworthy. A child trusts his parents for his everyday needs and for
his future. The child does not look first for reasons why the parents are doing a great deal of
service for him rather he put faith first then somehow as his knowledge increases with time the
child will find out the reasons as he matures. Faith and reason do not contradict but sometimes
what reason can not explain faith can.The child is free to speculate through his reasoning alone
what the parents think unless the parents divulge what’s in their mind, the child can not in
anyway know it. Therefore, it is important to remember that faith is above reason.

“Can man by his power of reason alone know God?”  Some of you might say only through faith
we can know God and there is no other way. Really? There are actually many ways to know God
through creation by just human reason alone. We know for sure that there is painter for every
paintings, however, we can not truly know who the painter is unless we have a chance to chat
with him and tells us what it’s in his mind. We can either choose to believe him or not for what
he says. Likewise, knowing God through creation will only help us to find out that there is God
but we fall short to find out what He thinks. That is why we have to have faith in Him. What
about people who have no faith? Creation is their starting point to know that there is a Creator.
They can know God through creation as a door to faith. Saint Thomas Aquinas gives us five (5)
proofs on the existence of God in his Summa Theologiae. We will discuss three or more if time
permits.

The Kalam Argument

This is the simplest method to know God through creation and is a very powerful argument. Let
us state some simple arguments then we draw the conclusion.

Everything that begins to exist has a cause, namely the universe. Take note of the word ‘begins
to exist’ and remember it because if you forget this phrase like saying ‘everything that exist has a
cause’ forgetting the word ‘begins’ then you are also saying even God has a cause for His
existence. If then the universe before it began to exist can not cause itself to exist because it is
yet nothing. Who cause it to begin to exist? When we say the universe we mean time, space, and
matter. The only answer is someone who is outside of time or infinite, not confined in one place
or transcendent, immaterial or spiritual; He alone who is God can cause the universe to begin to
exist.

Let us make the Kalam Argument simple to remember in three easy steps:

1. Everything that begins to exist has a cause.

2. The universe begins to exist.*
3. Therefore, the universe has a cause and God is the cause.
*Most scientists agree that the age of the universe is 13.8 billion years.

The Contingency Argument

This is another way to know God through creation and is a more powerful argument than the
Kalam argument. Why? Because it deals with everything that is known by man and that includes
even the universe existed from eternity as some skeptics may claim. Kalam argument on the
other hand only limits itself on the premise that the universes begins to exist from nothing. Let us
find out the difference between the two and why contingency argument is more powerful.

Let us begin by giving the meaning of two terms; 1) contingent being and 2) necessary being. A
contingent being is a being dependent upon another being or beings. For example, my existence
is dependent upon my parents, they are the reason I came into this world. Also, I continue to
exist because I am dependent on the food I eat, the air I breathe, the earth we live, etc. A
necessary being exist by a necessity of its nature. Its impossible for it not to exist. It follows that
a necessary being is a being by which its existence is self sustaining and its existence is
necessary so that contingent beings dependent upon it have their existence.  Do you understand
the two terms? Well to simplify, let us say there is only one super book where every question
you might have can be answered. We would like to read that book at least to have one of our
hardest question answered. But to whom we can borrow that book? We heard that one of our
neighbors borrowed this book. So we ask him but he said that he returned the book to whom he
borrowed it. We are persistent to borrow that book and come to find out that there is a very long
line of borrowers. This can not continue forever. There is a necessary person who has the book.
The long lines of borrowers are the contingents and the one who has the book is necessary. Got
it?

Contingency argument goes like this;

1. If something exists, there must exist what it takes for that to exist.
2. The universe (space-time-all beings) exists.
3. Therefore, there must be a necessary being to exist what it takes for the universe to
exist. This being must transcend both space and time we call God.

The Moral Argument

Finally we have the third and the last argument of knowing God through creation. The previous
two arguments involve the grand universe while moral argument involves us humankind, closer
to home in the core of our hearts. If there is any being known in the universe that has somehow a
faint resemblance of the divine is us humans.  We are free and capable to do many great things.
And the most powerful quality we have is the freedom to love, this is the highest good.

Why is it that we have this sense of right and wrong? Why do we have like friendship, fidelity,
love, heroism? Can we ask fidelity for a chat? Where all these inherent goodness from within
comes from? Are these just accidents only, and just pop up into our hearts? Why we have all
these? It is because there is a law written in our hearts which compels us to do the right thing and
avoid the wrong. If there is no law in our hearts, why there is a feeling of guilt when we do
wrong as if someone accuses us and why there is feeling of lightheartedness when we do right as
if someone approves us? Observe a toddler when you grab her toys, she will grab it back or just
cry because what is done to her is simply wrong and her sense of justice manifests from very
core of her young heart,.

The standards that guide us what is right or wrong are moral values and those actions that we
ought to do are called moral duties. At least some of the moral values and duties we have must
be objective; these are moral values and duties we ought to apply in all places and time.
Example, killing a helpless child is wrong in all places and time and protecting her from harm is
right in all places and time. This is an example of what we call objective morality. But why there
is objective morality, where does it come from? Why there are moral values and duties we are
compelled to do? Could it be from us humans? Not from humans, because humans are very
subjective. If moral values and duties are left to us humans, we can judge an act as right will be
right and it does not matter what others say. And on the next day if we decide the same act as
wrong it will be wrong. Our world will be like eating ice cream that we can put any flavor we
want anytime to suit our taste likewise we act in any way we want and say it is right to suit our
actions. This kind of world without standards and very subjective one is bad, there will be chaos
everywhere. Where objective morality comes from then, the natural moral law we ought to
follow? This lawgiver is God as the Bible tells us ‘God has written the law in our hearts’. If God
is the author of goodness He must be all good.

In short moral argument is;

1. If God does not exist, there is no objective morality.

2. Objective morality exists.
3. Therefore, God exist.

These are the three powerful arguments to know God through creation. These are presented so
that we will have a better insight of the reality of God. From Kalam argument we come know
that God is eternal, is All powerful, is Omnipotent. From Contingency argument we come to
know that God is the Alpha and Omega, beginning and end, holds all things in existence,
Omnipresent and Omniscient. And in Moral argument we come to know God is all good. As we
said, we always fall short to know God because our intellect is finite and He is infinite. When
God told Moses His name I am Who am, a name that is incomprehensibl and mysterious in itself
leaving us to search for Him all the more. But God knows our limitations and shortcomings; He
himself will search for us by Divine Revelation. That will be our next topic. Stay tune.