My List of LinksSome of my Bible studies.:Some of the special messages of Abraham Lincoln. In 1861.:
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Some arguments for the existence of God Evidence of the existence of an Infinite Being is to be
found in the Bible, in the facts of human
consciousness, and in the physical universe. Dr. Charles Hodge sets
forth as follows the principal arguments used to maintain the
existence of a God: I. The _a
priori_ argument which seeks to demonstrate the being of a God from
certain first principles involved in the essential laws of human intelligence. II. The cosmological
argument, or that one which proceeds after the _posteriori_
fashion, from the present existence of the world as an effect, to the necessary existence of some ultimate and
eternal first cause. III. The
teleological argument, or that argument which, from the evidence of design in the creation, seeks to establish the
fact that the great self-existent first cause of all things is an
intelligent and voluntary personal spirit. IV. The moral
argument, or that argument which, from a consideration of the phenomena of conscience in the human heart, seeks to establish the fact that the self-existent Creator is also
the righteous moral Governor of the world. This argument
includes the consideration of the universal feeling of dependence common
to all men, which together with conscience constitutes the
religious sentiment. V. The
historical argument, which involves: (1) The evident providential presence of God in the history of the human
race. (2) The evidence
afforded by history that the human race is not eternal, and therefore not an infinite succession of individuals, but created. (3) The universal consent of all men to the fact of
His existence. VI. The Scriptural argument, which includes: (1) The miracles
and prophecies recorded in Scripture, and confirmed by
testimony, proving the existence of a God. (2) The Bible itself,
self-evidently a work of superhuman wisdom. (3) Revelation, developing and enlightening conscience, and relieving many of the
difficulties under which natural theism labours,
and thus confirming every other line of evidence.” [WILLIAM "THE EXISTENCE OF GOD A FIRST TRUTH. 1. That the knowledge of God’s existence answers the first criterion of universality, is evident from the following considerations: A. It is an acknowledged fact that the vast majority of men have actually recognized the existence of a spiritual being or beings, upon whom they conceived themselves to be dependent. B. Those races and nations which have at first seemed destitute of such knowledge have uniformly, upon further investigation, been found to possess it, so that no tribe of men with which we have thorough acquaintance can be said to be without an object of worship. We may presume that further knowledge will show this to be true of all. C. This conclusion is corroborated by the fact that those individuals, in heathen or in Christian lands, who profess themselves to be without any Knowledge of a spiritual power or powers above them, does yet indirectly manifest the existence of such an idea in their minds and its positive influence over them. D. This agreement among individuals and nations so widely separated in time and place can be most satisfactorily explained by supposing that it has its ground, not in accidental circumstances, but in the nature of man as man. The diverse and imperfectly developed ideas of the supreme Being which prevail among men are best accounted for as misinterpretations and perversions of an intuitive conviction common to all. 2. That the knowledge of God’s existence answers the second criterion of necessity, will be seen by considering: A. That men, under circumstances fitted to call forth this knowledge, cannot avoid recognizing the existence of God. In contemplating finite existence, there is inevitably suggested the idea of an infinite Being as its correlative. Upon occasion of the mind’s perceiving its own finiteness, dependence, responsibility, it immediately and necessarily perceives the existence of an infinite and unconditioned Being upon whom it is dependent and to whom it is responsible." [Strong].
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