This was for our Philosophy of Religion examination which required us to explain the arguments that prove God's existence: ontological argument ,cosmological argument ,teleological argument ,argument from conscience ,pragmatic argument ,argument from life’s crucial junctures , and argument from religious experience. Discoverability Score

1. Marvin Clores Ramirez BSED- English 3
Philosophy of Religion- Final Paper
Generally, the philosophy of religion is a major area in philosophy which deals essentially with the central
question of religion itself (Fernandez & Maboloc, 2013). Hence, the philosophy of religion attempts to investigate
certain religious issues and beliefs, mostly about the issue of God’s existence, with the use of reason and logic. With
this, great thinkers of our time formulated arguments that are, mostly, supported with evidences and are formulated
with the use of logic, experiences and knowledge. These arguments are as follows.
The first argument is what we called, the ontological argument. Saint Anselm's ontological argument claims
to be an a priori proof of God's existence. It is a priori because it is proved without resorting to any sensory
experiences. Anselm starts his argument with premises that do not depend on familiarity for their explanation and
then proceeds by purely logical means to the conclusion that God exists. As what I understood, this argument means
that if one person believes/ knows the concept about God, then automatically, that person simply believes that there
is a God. No matter how many times an atheist says that “There is no God”, still he believes/knows the concept
about God or what the word God means, then it can be concluded that he/she understands the concept about God. A
person who says “there is no God” is indeed a foolish one. For example, when someone hears the word God, that
person conceives God as someone who is omnipotent, omniscient, and omnibenevolent. That person cannot think of
any other being that is higher and more powerful than God for he is “than that which nothing greater can be
conceived”. The statement “There is no God” alone is self-contradictory. In addition, this argument can be
supported with a biblical verse taken from the book of Psalms saying: “Truly there is a God, although the fool hath
said in his heart, there is no God. (Psalms 14:1)”
Next is the Cosmological argument that is supported and explained with St. Thomas Aquinas’s, The Five
Ways. This argument says that everything comes into being with a cause—hence, nothing is this world came into
being by accident. The idea of it being uncaused is irrational for we all know that something comes from something
and nothing comes from nothing. Since the causes cannot go on to infinite regress, the universe must be caused by
something freestanding. The argument believes that the existence of the world or universe is a strong evidence that
God really exists—the One who created it. The existence of the universe, the argument claims, stands in need of
explanation, and the only adequate explanation of its existence is that it was created by God. Also, this argument is
an a posteriori argument because it argues the existence of the Supreme Being by His/ Her creations, which now is
an empirical data. In addition, the five ways that can prove God’s existence are as follows. The first way is from
Motion. Second is from Efficient Causes. Third is from Contingency. Fourth is from Gradation, and fifth is from the
Governance of the World. All of these five ways point towards the conclusion that God exists.
Another argument is what we called the Teleological Argument. One of the most famous variants of this
argument is the William Paley’s “The watch and the watchmaker” argument. Mainly, this argument states that after
seeing a watch, with all its complex parts, which work together in a precise fashion to keep time, one must construe
that this piece of machinery has a creator, since it is far too complex to have simply come into being by accident or
by some other means, such as evolution. Paley used analogy in his argument: Watch is to Watchmaker as God is to
universe. Like watch, with its complex function and intelligent design, must have been created by an intellectual
maker who is the Watchmaker. On the other hand, the universe, with all its complexity and greatness, must have
been created by an intelligent and powerful maker. Therefore, a watchmaker is to watch as God is to universe.
Fourth is the argument from conscience which is different from the previous arguments that are “rational”.
This argument is mainly about the “feeling” that we feel whenever we do something wrong or good. It is said that
there is this commanding, mysterious voice that we hear which affects one’s actions and emotions. An example of
this is whenever we do something immoral (killing, getting things that aren’t ours, perhaps raping), there’s this
“guilt” feeling that disturbs one person that causes him/her to suffer or to confess his/her wickedness. Whenever
someone commits something right, that person immediately feel blessed—it is God’s reward to those people who do
something in accordance to His will.
Blaise Pascal’s Pragmatic argument is the fifth argument for God’s existence. As what its name proposes,
Pascal’s argument is about the consequences or the benefits that one may get, out of believing in the Supreme Being.
He explained God’s existence through a mathematical tool called Pascalian Wager Table. In his table, he explained
the net gain or the benefits of believing God. If God really exists then those people who believe in God can gain an
eternal reward which is the eternal life in heaven. If God really exists then those people who do not believe with
Supreme Being will be eternally punished in Hell. However, if God doesn’t really exist, then those people who
believe in His existence will get nothing so as with those people who argue that He doesn’t exist. In addition,
Pascal argued using probability that one must believe in the Supreme Being. He stated that there’s 50 percent chance
that God really exists. If God really exists, then His believers will gain eternal life in Heaven.
The sixth argument for God’s existence is the argument from life’s crucial junctures by John E. Smith. This
argument proposes that in some point of our lives, people will experience something significant and life-changing
that will make us feel God’s presence and power. This argument suggests that we are not capable of controlling our
fate. As what I understood, it suggests that, even though we have the freedom to decide or to act according to our
will, God is still the one who is in control of our final fate. An example of this is when someone is dying, his/her fate
is not with the doctors’ or any person’s hands anymore—it’s God. In addition, this argument also states that we feel
God’s presence whenever someone who is in silence, deeply praying to God, is in a holy place.
Rudolf Otto’s the argument from religious experience is the seventh argument for God’s existence. Otto
states that despite of people’s diverse cultures and religions, whenever we say GOD, people have this common
significant religious feeling or reaction towards the Supreme Being. People in all religions feel the components of
overpowering, awefulness, and urgency when in the experience of the Holy. In its strong form, this argument asserts
that it is only possible to experience that which exists, and so that the phenomenon of religious experience
demonstrates the existence of God. People experience God, therefore there must be a God; case closed.

2. Marvin Clores Ramirez BSED- English 3
Philosophy of Religion- Final Paper
I have presented on the first part of this paper the arguments that were formulated by great thinkers and
philosophers who argue and believe on the existence of the Supreme Being. In the first part, every argument is
explained and supported with evidences that are persuading and are indeed, true for us theist. God is then described
as the ultimate of all things-- than that which nothing greater can be conceived. He/She is the "omni" of all positive
things—he is omnipotent, omnibenevolent, and omniscient.
Every argument has its weaknesses and strengths. And these arguments were critiqued by great thinkers and
atheists that challenged every evident of these arguments. These critics made people deliberate about these
arguments and gave them the freedom to decide if they're going to believe in it or not. Now, I am going to give an
evaluation and assessment on the arguments presented by these Great Theist Philosophers. I will evaluate these
arguments for God based using the following criteria namely, persuasiveness, organization of content, and content.
In terms of persuasiveness, the arguments presented are persuasive in the sense that, it presents strong
points or evidences that are really evident through human experiences. Most of the evidences are realistic—in the
sense that it can be easily related to human’s daily experiences. Some examples of this are the following. First, is
from the cosmological argument which elaborates that we can prove God’s existence through questioning why the
universe exists? Who made all of these things? Which also, personally, made me think about the purpose of
everything, the purpose of all the creation