The Existence of God

The Existence of God

1991 2 February 12-13 The Existence of God (458) The greatest proof of the existence of God is the existence of man himself. It is just as improbable to believe in a being like man as it is to believe in a being of the nature of God. If we believe in man, then there is nothing to stop us from believing in God as well.

The Qur’an tells us that God breathed His Spirit into man (15:29). This means that man is a human specimen of the attributes of God. The real manifestation of these divine attributes existence, life, knowledge, power, intention, authority and other such perfect attributes – derives from the being of God alone. A reflection rather than a share, however, of these attributes has been bestowed upon man. Man, in no respect, is a part of God. But he is, in his being, a tangible proof of the invisible God in whom he is asked to believe. That is to say, the very same attributes of God are present in man in visible form in which he is asked to believe as being inherent in an invisible God, who possesses those attributes in their real form.

Man has a permanent and separate existence of his own. He is capable of seeing, hearing and talking. He thinks and makes plans. He acts on his own initiative: By his personal will, he converts barbarism into civilization. He operates space ships by remote control. He is a conscious being, fully aware of his own existence. He knows what ‘I exist’ means. The perfect manifestation of these attributes is called God.

The difference between man and God is that man’s existence is unreal while that of God is real, Man is the creature, God is the Creator. Man is finite and God is infinite. Man’s power is an illusion, whereas God’s is a reality. Man is mortal, God is immortal. Whatever man has is a gift bestowed upon him; whatever God has, however, is His own. It is not given to him by anybody.

To believe in the existence of man is to believe in the existence of a “mini-God”, so to speak, without any ascription of divinity to him. Then what reason can there be for not believing in the “bigger God”? One who does not believe in God does, however, believe in his own self. He certainly admits the existence of man One who believes in his own self has, therefore, no argument for not believing in God With his belief in the existence of man, he has already demonstrated his belief in the existence of God, whether he admits it verbally or not.

The truth is that the denial of God involves the denial of his own self. And who can reject his own self?