The Perfect Pie: God Transcends Quality
Imagine, in front of you, is the most perfect pie that you could ever see. Its
roundness is so perfect that you cannot even see a single crease on the pie. However,
once it is sliced, the flawless curves have vanished, then you start to wonder, “where
did my perfect pie go?” You see that your perfect pie has become a crooked Pacman
figure–can you still consider that as a perfect pie? The perfect pie can be analogized
with St. Anselm’s Ontological argument; for the pie to remain perfectly circular, the
pie should not be sliced. Similarly, anyone knows that the only perfect being one
could imagine is God. To say that He’s not existing is as if slicing a portion of that pie
and leaving a gap. With that space, it is as if God lacks a quality making him not
perfect. For God to be perfect, God must have the quality of existence.
Yet, the quality of existence is somehow not believed by many people like
Immanuel Kant, a famous philosopher, affirming that existence is not a quality; it
should be settled only by observation, not by logic as St. Anselm is proposing. If
scientists observe Big Bang Theory’s evidence by finding its cosmic remnants,
Catholics can also observe God’s existence by simply looking at each other.
Remember that humans are the peak remnant of God’s creation, made by His own
image and likeness; humans can simply prove God exists by saying they look like
God.
Nevertheless, God is beyond quality. Quality is just only in the human mind.
These are words just to describe human and worldly things. You can say a mumbo
jumbo of words like a square circle, but those qualities will not make any sense
because it is mutually exclusive. Speaking of mutually exclusive, the Ontological
argument states that the phrase “does not exist” and the word “God” can never be
used at the same time, for as the Lord is forever and always perfect, and for Him to be
perfect, He has to have the quality of existence.
Mere humans describe things using words, but as St. Anselm Said, God is that
than which nothing can be thought. No words, no quality, can be thought of just to
describe God. The word “existing” is just the way for humans to understand Him. If
man created God, human language is sufficient enough to understand him, but the
reality is God created man, so human language is inadequate to describe God.
In the end, St. Anselm’s Ontological argument is teaching people that
imagination and reality combined are greater if they are individually separated; it
indicates that a being that exists outside of the mind is greater than one that is just in
the imagination. The only difference between the perfect pie and God is that the pie
does not exist because you just imagined it, but God does exist because He is perfect–
He is in mind and in reality. Yet, no matter how many arguments or analogies
scholars will make, people have to remember that this two-palm-sized brain can
never fit the true nature and meaning of God. It is only through Him that people can
perfectly understand him better.
Five Ways of St.
Thomas
Acquinas
Explanation
Argument from
Motion
(God as the
Prime Mover)
According to the First Law of Physics, an object at rest stays at
rest, and an object in motion stays in motion unless acted upon
by an unbalanced force.
We would not come into this age if someone did not cause a
force. And the only being who is powerful enough to move all
things and make this universe is no other than a powerful deity,
God.
So how would that BIG COSMIC BALL from the Big Bang
theory have exploded if that cosmic ball was only by itself
billions of years ago? That would be contradicting with the First
Law of Physics because a force is needed for something to move
or even explode.
With that said, God is the primary mover. The First mover, the
creator of all things.
If you are wondering who created God, remember that it is
impossible: First, it will create an infinite loop if you think about
that. And second, to say that there is something before the First
Mover is faulty. As God is perfect, He is the Prime Mover.
Argument from
an Efficient
Cause
(God as
Uncaused Cause)
From the word Prime, meaning First, it is no wonder why God
is Called an Uncaused Cause because He is the First Mover.
If you were to think that God is caused by another entity then
meaning there is something stronger and better than God,
which contradicts the belief that God is perfect. And if He is
perfect, then he should be the strongest, he should be the cause
of all causes.
So for an atheist to say that the cosmic ball causes itself to
explode is impossible because it would exist prior to itself which
is not sense because science said that before the Big Bang there
is no space and time.
Also, if you are still asking who created God, He did not create
Himself because that would be against St. Thomas’ second
argument. Just remember that God has already been there for
no time. What I mean is God is already there since the
beginning as he is beyond time; He is the FIRST mover and the
UNCAUSED cause.
Argument from
Necessity and
Contingency
(God as the
Necessary
Being)
There was one time on Earth that everything was contingent or
made by chance. There’s a time that I did not exist, as well as
my parents up to their ancestors. But to say that everything is
contingent or accidental will not make sense because there will
be one time that nothing could have existed.
If all things are contingent then there will be the time that the
massive energy ball from the Big Bang theory did not even
come into existence, meaning the universe will not even be
made.
Always remember there is one that is not contingent, one that
needs to exist, and that is God. So that is why He is necessary
for us to come into being; God is a Necessary Being.
Argument from
the degrees of
perfection in
Being
(God as the
Most Perfect
Being)
I have already been saying that God is Perfect for the first two
arguments. And for you to further understand it. I’ll explain this
to you.
Remember that NOBODY’S PERFECT, and it works out even
in non-living things. Yet, there are things that have more good
qualities than others. In this world, it is reasonable to say that
humans are close enough to the perfect being.
But how could you say something is perfect if there is no
standard?
To say that something is nearly perfect, there should be
something that exists to become a standard. That standard of
Perfection will, of course, be God.
Argument from
the Governance
of the World
(God as the
Governor of the
world)
In addition to the fourth argument, as things and beings are
starting to have more qualities based on the perfect being, God,
then those beings are starting to have the quality of being
intelligent, the quality of having knowledge.
Yet, though we, beings, already have the knowledge, remember
that we’re not perfect; we lack knowledge.
Yet, because we believe in God, and He is the one that is
reigning over us, we reach our goals in life. He governs us and
guides us to the path and the target we beings want to reach in
life.
One True Christian Vote
As years go by, people are becoming more in favor of the separation between
the church and the state. Divorce, same-sex marriage, and the RH bill are some of the
issues that many think should not be relied on by the church because not everyone is
Christian or religious. Although it is nice to see that the world is constantly changing,
people must remember that they have to change for the better; A change that does
not need to step on others’ lives, a change still aligned with God´s moral principles.
No matter how people blind themselves with the illusion that the church has nothing
to deal with the state, they can never disclude God with people’s decision making for
as He is omnipresent, He will always and forever be part of our lives.
So that’s why this upcoming election, it is crucial to base our decision on God;
always ponder if God will be happy with your chosen candidates. During my 7th
grade, I remember when my history teacher told us about the ¨mandate of heaven,” a
Chinese belief that insists that those on the throne are the ones chosen by the
heavens. But I beg to differ with that belief because the lord being omniscient does
not mean He already chose who will be the leader of a certain place; it is the people’s
freedom that places them in that position. Sadly, most Filipinos, including that
teacher, still believe in that ideology that politicians are destined to have those
authorities; for this reason, it blinds them from the corrupt and malevolent doings of
those officials. People should not forget that it is their own hands that put candidates
in their position, not God.
As Christians, as children of God, our duty is to be stewards of one another,
and through voting the righteous ones, we are fulfilling that mission. If God is the
efficient cause of all creation in this world, we too are the efficient cause of what will
happen to ourselves. Through our decision in voting, we are the ones that will make
our tomorrow. Like in the old testament, people offered sacrifices for God; likewise,
the government is the one that should be sacrificing for us. Remember, the
government is not above us; it is the people who should be above them.
In the end, God can never be removed from our lives. Hence we should think
about Him in every decision we make. Let us think of God as our guider in voting for
the right leaders, for they will be the ones that will guide us to have better lives. As
2022 unfolds, let us learn from all the mistakes we did in 2016; let us leave behind those
hypocritical officials and look forward to those Christ-like candidates. Always
remember, our vote is sacred; no money, no bribe, no thing can ever buy your
tomorrow.