Is God's Essence His Existence?

Dr. Craig discusses Divine Simplicity with Ryan Mullins and Cameron Bertuzzi.

#williamlanecraig #reasonablefaith #philosophy #divinesimplicty

We welcome your comments in the Reasonable Faith forums:

[TheBrunarr]

Really poor argument considering there are various modes of knowledge in Thomistic epistemology. Simply from the fact that men cannot know God _in the same way_ that we know material things (by abstracting their forms from phantasms) does not at all mean that we cannot know God or cannot know anything about God, because there are various modes of knowledge. The active intellect's abstraction of form is only one way of knowing. Sense knowledge is an obvious other way, as brute animals know by sense but lack the ability to know by abstraction. If we can naturally grasp God's essence, then that would simply mean we have natural access to the beatific vision (heaven) and sin would be impossible, it would also mean we have natural knowledge of the Trinity, since the Trinity belongs properly to the understanding of God's essence as opposed to the understanding of His existence, but the Trinity cannot be known naturally and must be revealed. Denying that we cannot conceive God's essence entails many heresies.

[STREEEEEET]

God is existence himself. Acts and Colossians i think makes that very clear but it's also very intuitive since if God weren't the very existence himself, he would have to exist "inside" this thing that can hold his being. Note that i'm not saying God is everything that exists, i'm saying that everything exists in Him.

[theoldpilgrimway]

Not sure if Thomistic understanding of the divine essence is completely inconceivable. Isn't that Karl Barth, and not Thomism?

[AidenRKrone]

I'm having trouble following the conclusions from their premises. I don't understand how it all ties together. I'm not saying Craig's argumentation is sloppy or incorrect, I'm simply saying that the doctrine of divine simplicity itself is hard to grasp (at least for me).

[theone]

God is a simple being. This means he has no composition of parts and simple just is without anything else. On top of that he has the attribute of being good in his being. His being is goodness. This leads to all the positive attributes or pure perfections such as omniscience, omnipotence and infinite beauty. His acts are effortless and automatic. This is God in all honesty. All his good characteristics flow from the goodness of his being. And these perfect personal characteristics flow from the fact that he is all knowing and can act as a most ideal or perfect being.

[neiljones]

I often find myself wondering why comments for videos on this channel are sometimes allowed, sometimes not? For example "The Logical Incoherency of Atheist Sam Harris" doesn't allow comments. Is this because many comments can actually offer very strong arguments against the content?

[kentheengineer]

1:20 exactly but i have overcome that notion

[EricBryant]

I think God's essence is Love (1 John 4)

[michelangelope]

The nature of a perfect religious god is deterministic. A religious god knows the future, meaning that could not have not created the creation knowing the outcome, meaning that free will would not exist. I know I have free will therefore a religious god doesn’t exist. We couldn’t prove a religious god wrong doing what is not established according to a perfect deterministic plan. We could not have been who we are, eliminating all responsibility for our actions. Murderers could not have not committed murder to prove a religious god wrong.

Why a perfect religious god created the creation? Was he imperfectly unsatisfied with his own existence? A religious god knows the future so the creation had to be created to not prove himself wrong. Reality according to the religious understanding is meaningless since absolutely everything that happens is determined, like growing nails in a corpse.

[LoveLoveVii]

Trinity/Biblical theology against natural theology/divine simplicity concept! This what i thought since long time ago! 😉👌

[beardan]

Why hasnt anyone considerred that if God's powers are limitless, he is the God of all religions and only the atheists are wrong?

[LM-jzvh]

*The Enuma Elish would later be the inspiration for the Hebrew scribes who created the text now known as the biblical Book of Genesis.* Prior to the 19th century CE, the Bible was considered the oldest book in the world and its narratives were thought to be completely original. In the mid-19th century CE, however, European museums, as well as academic and religious institutions, sponsored excavations in Mesopotamia to find physical evidence for historical corroboration of the stories in the Bible. ***These excavations found quite the opposite, however, in that, once cuneiform was translated, it was understood that a number of biblical narratives were Mesopotamian in origin.***

*Famous stories such as the Fall of Man and the Great Flood were originally conceived and written down in Sumer, * translated and modified later in Babylon, and reworked by the Assyrians ***before they were used by the Hebrew scribes for the versions which appear in the Bible.***

***In revising the Mesopotamian creation story for their own ends, the Hebrew scribes tightened the narrative and the focus but retained the concept of the all-powerful deity who brings order from chaos.*** Marduk, in the Enuma Elish, establishes the recognizable order of the world - *just as God does in the Genesis tale* - and human beings are expected to recognize this great gift and honor the deity through service.

Google *"Enuma Elish - The Babylonian Epic of Creation - Full Text - World History Encyclopedia"*

Also discussed by Professor Christine Hayes at Yale University in her 1st lecture of the series on the Hebrew Bible from 8:50 to 14:30 minutes, lecture 3 from 28:30 to 41:35 minutes, lecture 4 from 0:00 up to 21:30 minutes and 24:00 up to 35:30 minutes and lecture 7 from 24:20 to 25:10 minutes.

From a Biblical scholar:

"Many stories in the ancient world have their origins in other stories and were borrowed and modified from other or earlier peoples. *For instance, many of the stories now preserved in the Bible are* ***modified*** *versions of stories that existed in the cultures and traditions of Israel’s* ***older*** *contemporaries.* Stories about the creation of the universe, a cataclysmic universal flood, digging wells as land markers, the naming of important cultic sites, gods giving laws to their people, and even stories about gods decreeing the possession of land to their people were all part of the cultural and literary matrix of the ancient Near East. *Biblical scribes freely* ***adopted and modified*** *these stories as a means to express their own identity, origins, and customs."*

*"Stories from the Bible"* by Dr Steven DiMattei, from his website *"Biblical Contradictions"*



In addition, look up the below articles.

*"Debunking the Devil – Michael A. Sherlock (Author)"*

*"The Greatest Trick Religion Ever Pulled: Convincing Us That Satan Exists | Atheomedy"*

*"Zoroastrianism And Persian Mythology: The Foundation Of Belief"*
(Scroll to the last section: Zoroastrianism is the Foundation of Western Belief)

*"10 Ways The Bible Was Influenced By Other Religions - Listverse"*

*"January | 2014 | Atheomedy"* - Where the Hell Did the Idea of Hell Come From?

Watch *"The Origins of Salvation, Judgement and Hell"* by Derreck Bennett at Atheologica
(Sensitive theists should only watch from 7:00 to 17:30 minutes as evangelical Christians are lambasted. He's a former theist and has been studying the scholarship and comparative religions for over 15 years)

*"Top Ten Reasons Noah’s Flood is Mythology – The Sensuous Curmudgeon"*

*"The Adam and Eve myth - News24"*

*"Are The Ten Commandments Based On The Forty-Two Principles Of Maat That Appeared 2, 000 Years Earlier? - Ancient Pages"*

*"Before Adam and Eve - Psychology Today"*

*"Gilgamesh vs. Noah - Wordpress"*

*"No, Humans Are Probably Not All Descended From A Single Couple Who Lived 200, 000 Years Ago"*

*"Adam & Eve: Theologians Try to Reconcile Science and Fail - The New Republic"*

*"Adam and Eve: the ultimate standoff between science and faith (and a contest!) – Why Evolution Is True"*

*"Bogus accommodationism: The return of Adam and Eve as real people, as proposed by a wonky quasi-scientific theory – Why Evolution Is True"*

*"How many scientists question evolution? -

*"What is the evidence for evolution? - Common-questions - BioLogos"*
(A Christian organisation)

*"Why scientists dismiss 'intelligent design' - Science"*

*"Old Testament Tales Were Stolen From Other Cultures – Griffin"*

*"Parallelism between “The Hymn to Aten” and Psalm 104 - Project Augustine"*

*"Studying the Bible"* - by Dr Steven DiMattei
(This particular article from a critical Biblical scholar highlights how the authors of the Hebrew Bible used their *fictional* god as a mouthpiece for their own views and ideologies)

*"How do we know that the biblical writers were* ***not*** *writing history?"* -- by Dr Steven DiMattei

*"Contradictions in the Bible | Identified verse by verse and explained using the most up-to-date scholarly information about the Bible, its texts, and the men who wrote them"* -- by Dr. Steven DiMattei

[LM-jzvh]

If anyone thinks the Bible is the "word of God" and not ancient authors speaking for their imaginary god, they need to read the below article from a critical Biblical scholar and spend some time reading the other articles on his website.

"So for example, when we read carefully what Yahweh says in the book of Leviticus, namely that the Aaronids (the sons of Aaron only), are high priests contrary to the Levites, that they alone are Yahweh’s mediators and the Levites are reduced to mere ministers of the Aaronids, that only through sacrifice can one atone for sins and not confession as preached by the Levites, or more precisely the Levite’s Yahweh, etc., *it can be no coincidence that in these laws and commandments, * ***which are placed on the mouth of Yahweh, *** *that Yahweh himself is presented advocating and legitimating the very views and beliefs of the specific priestly guild writing the text, and, contrary to the views and beliefs of their rivals, the Levites and the Levite’s Yahweh!* We will examine this more closely when we get to the contradictions in these books. But in short, this was the function of ancient literature, and we are allowing these ancient texts to speak for themselves. *In this particular case, the Levites and Aaronids wrote specific texts that each advocated their religious beliefs, views, and their position as high priests* ***by writing these sentiments directly into the mouth of their god!***

But just studying the Bible alone, scientifically, affords us the occasion *to see that many of these so-called words of Yahweh are* ***actually the very words of the texts’ authors.*** When we see numerous texts employing this ancient literary technique, and moreover, ***presenting Yahweh as the spokesperson for their own views and agenda, *** *and* ***contrary*** *to Yahweh’s other words in other texts written by other authors employing the same technique, * how can one conclude otherwise.

In other words, when in the composite text that we now call the Bible we find: Yahweh declaring that only Aaronids can officiate as his priests and Yahweh declaring that all Levites can officiate as high priest; Yahweh declaring that sin is atoned through confession and Yahweh declaring that sin is only expiated through the sacrificial cult, no exceptions; Yahweh declaring that he gave laws and commandments at Sinai and Yahweh declaring that he only gave the Ten Commandments at Sinai; Yahweh commanding to exterminate all the Canaanites without pity and Yahweh declaring to tolerate them and live in their midst; Yahweh declaring that the wilderness generation were disloyal and rebellious and Yahweh declaring that they were a paradigm of loyalty and faith; Yahweh declaring that he may be offered sacrifices at any altar and Yahweh declaring that there is only one altar where sacrifices are to be offered up; Yahweh declaring that the people saw him at Sinai and Yahweh declaring that they only heard his voice; Yahweh declaring that circumcision is an eternal covenant and keeping the land depends on observing this very commandment and Yahweh declaring the Mosaic laws as the covenant and keeping the land is dependent on keeping these laws; Yahweh declaring that he dwells in the midst of the people and Yahweh declaring that he only resides in heaven; Yahweh commanding Passover to be celebrated by all at Jerusalem and Yahweh commanding it to be celebrated at each person’s home; Yahweh commanding that animals for consumption must be ritually sacrificed and Yahweh commanding that they don’t have to be sacrificed ritually, etc. ***one must conclude that Yahweh is being used by these authors, each with their own contrary views and beliefs as a spokesperson for each of these authors’ agendas.*** These are all the personal, and competing, views, theological beliefs, and religious systems of our biblical authors. And this is only the tip of the iceberg."

*"Studying the Bible"* - Dr Steven DiMattei

*"Contradictions in the Bible | Identified verse by verse and explained using the most up-to-date scholarly information about the Bible, its texts, and the men who wrote them"* -- by Dr. Steven DiMattei

[billyhw]

In a thousand years, people will still be reading Aquinas, and nobody will even remember who William Lane Craig was.

[markhill]

if you fellas cant even define what god is or is not .. why do you think there are any gods at all?

[savedbymylovegodthelordjes]

praise the only true living LORD and GOD bless you all glory be to the HOLY TRINITY forever and ever amen 💖✝✝✝

[jackalsgate]

The Semitic religions, including Christianity and Muslim, confuse the One True God with Yahweh.
Yahweh (Jehovah) can be known.
The One True God (The Infinite) can't be named or known.

[williammabon]

God's essence?
Today we have a mathematical proof "who" tells us what is and who is in the mind of God.

This is that equation.
INFINITY = 1/X(CHANGE) + 1

The science in this equation says a number, any number is a set-in space that change with space. This is exactly what we do when we count or measure anything.

THIS EQUATION IS GOD'S MATHEMATICAL NAME!
God's name in this equation reads: GOD'S MIND IS MAN CHANGING WITH GOD.

The Breakdown:
A. God is infinite therefore; His mind is infinite, "Infinity."
B. We are a child of God therefore we are a fraction of God i.e...."1/x."
C. Change in math is customarily represented by the Greek letter (delta). Change denotes a difference of some kind. Therefore; Infinity = 1/x(Delta) + 1 is permissible.
D. Plus (+) in math means: “with the addition of another identity of some kind."
E. There is only one God. In mathematics the number “1” represents a single entity.

Spelled out: GOD'S MIND IS MAN CHANGING WITH GOD

Scientific Method
Step 1 Observation: Math can deliver unbreakable truths such as 2+2 will always = 4

Step 2 Question: Do math and Divinity share a common truth?
Step 3 Hypothesis: If God exist, He should be found in the house of mathematics.
Step 4 Prediction: God's Mind Is Man Change With God is an equation that tell us what is a number!
Step 5 Test: ANY NUMBER IS A SET- IN SPACE THAT CHANGES WITH SPACE. Is a true a true statement.

We know now the infinite mind of God. He loves us so much that He named Himself in a proof for loving us!!!!