Who am I?...I don't know. Looks like you've got some things to ponder

In the upcoming weeks i will be posting papers that i've been required to write for the deacon process at Mars Hill Church. I hope you find them educational and informational. I'm sorry for the long absence too, writer's block and too much going on are bad combinations.

Proving the existence of God:
The existence of God can be proven in several different ways; following is a summary of arguments for the existence of the true God.

Ontological: Brought forth by the philosopher Anselm of Canterbury, this argument proves the existence of God by stating that humans are constantly aware of a perfect and greater being than themselves. This being is as perfect as humanly imaginable. Also, since humans are only able to envision that which exists, God must exist. To summarize this argument states that God exists because humans can imagine he exists.

Teleological: This argument takes the avenue of creation and the intelligent mind that created it. It is hard to escape the beauty and order of creation, and to ignore that is to ignore its creator. The amount of intricacies and exactness in the world are not mechanical but creative processes being orchestrated by God. The illustrations of a watch or an airplane have commonly been used to illustrate this point. Watches and airplanes are not randomly brought together by powers outside of them, they are however created by humans, much like the world was created by the hand of God.

Cosmological: Simply stated this argument follows the relationship between cause and effect. There is no reaction if there is no action. God spoke the world into existence, and the world was created. Things are not created from themselves, but rather things or in this case, beings outside of them. God is eternal; he has no beginning or end allowing him to be the creator and sovereign ruler of the world.

Kalam: This argument originated with medieval Muslim philosophers, which argued that since time exists God must exist. Similar to the Cosmological argument in that in order for time to exist, something outside of time had to create it. The reference point of time beginning was created by God.

Morality: Every (sane) created being has a sense of right and wrong built in, referred to commonly as a conscience. Where does this conscience come from? We are created in the image of God, which gives a moral compass helping us to determine what is right and wrong. It is when we ignore our consciences that we fall into sin and reject God.