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Proof.html
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<!DOCTYPE html>
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<meta property='og:title' content="On the existence of God and testimony of Him" />
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<meta name="description" content="It is proved that it is impossible to strictly prove both the existence and non-existence of God. The understanding of the relationship between God and creation is deepened. Instead of proof, we should consider testimonies, which are everywhere.">
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<title>On the existence of God and testimony of Him</title>
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<author>Oleksandr Zhabenko, Zhytomyr, Ukraine</author>
<h2>
Thesis I. The impossibility of strictly proving the existence of God.
</h2>
<p>One of the early teachers of the Church, Clement of Alexandria, writes: <q>Neither can He [God] be revealed by proofs, because they are based on previous principles and higher concepts, but nothing can exist before the uncreated Being.</q> In the work <a target="_blank" class="links2" href="https://oleksandr-zhabenko.github.io/en/existence-cognize-by-faith.html" target="_blank">'Existence is Cognisable by Faith',</a> the author interprets the same words independently of Clement of Alexandria as follows: <q>It is impossible to prove the existence of God strictly, and such a proof would be false and contrary to the very essential belief of the Church in the existence of the Lord and God by Himself completely and with no other reason. A strict proof of existence requires an indication of what is the basis, or cause, or condition, or some other prerequisite for the existence of something. This is from the point of view of the science of logic. With regard to God, the Self-existent One, Who is Supreme, Self-sufficient, Self-existent, All-satisfied, there is no other cause or condition, precondition, etc. of His existence other than Himself. Pointing to Himself is not enough for a strict logical proof, because it leads to a "vicious circle" in the proof: "God exists because He exists," which is rejected as proof by the science of logic.</q>
</p>
<p>To put it in other words, then… The proof of the existence of something is based on the principle of premise-reasoning-conclusion. The premise must contain all the information necessary for the reasoning and conclusion, the latter being the consequences of the former. In the case of God, it is impossible to specify such premises that would not lead to the above-mentioned circle in the proof. If there were any such premises, then the existence of God in the proof would be a logical consequence of these premises, and this is contrary to the Self-sufficiency and Self-existence of God, i.e. His complete independence from anything outside Himself. If there were such premises, then God would depend (logically) on them, which would mean that belief in Him as Self-existent is wrong if such premises exist. Someone could propose a variant of logical dependence, but one that does not exist in reality (i.e., in fact, when there is an error in logic as such). But logic is the doctrine (science) of correct thinking and its laws. If there is a mistake in it, then any reasonable proof loses its significance, because it does not even allow you to use its results. If someone proposes a proof in which logically (but in reality fictitiously) God depends on something else, but in reality we know that He does not, then this discrepancy between truth and logic is not in favour of the latter. And such a proof will again have to be rejected as such. If we reject logic and its laws, then there will be no proof, because proof is a phenomenon of thinking that exists according to logic.
</p>
<p>So, it is impossible to prove the existence of God strictly (and non-strict <q>proofs</q> are not really proofs at all).
</p>
<h2>
Thesis II. Impossibility of strictly proving the non-existence of God.
</h2>
<p>An attempt to prove the non-existence of God will face a problem that can be briefly characterised in five words: <q>something is wrong with creation</q>. Since God is invisible, unlimited, unbounded, unbearable, and so on, the person who wants to do this has to deal not with Him directly, but with His creation, to try to show that the (whole) world is not as it should be according to belief in God. But such an attempt presupposes that God is completely predictable, predetermined, and the world has no own freedom in any sense. Something like the world is a stick in the hands of God, Who seems to be waving it. But it is not so. Orthodox (and traditional Christian) belief is that it is impossible to <q>fit</q> God and the world into such schemes. Suffice it to recall apophatic theology, which denies any such schemes in principle. And if we accept the idea that something is wrong with creation, but this does not deny the existence of God, then everything falls into place. It is simply logical to see what we have found as a property of creation, not of God, and to look for the cause in creation itself.
</p>
<p>Thus, it is also impossible to prove the non-existence of God, and such an attempt should in fact lead to the knowledge of one's own imperfection.
</p>
<h2>Thesis III. The co-operation of God and creation according to the example of Jesus Christ and the consequences for cognition.
</h2>
<p>The fact that we never deal only with God or only with creation, but always with both God and creation, deepens the previous point. God never leaves creation, of which we are a part, completely alone. Therefore, there is simply no way not to look at everything from this point of view. Look at the creation of the world in Genesis. God speaks, creation arises and responds. God creates, and creation, when it comes into being, is immediately involved in creation. And miracles, exceeding the laws of creation, require faith to know God. And so there is always the possibility of <q>misattribution</q>, of mistakenly attributing something to God instead of to creation and/or to creation instead of to God. This is especially characteristic of the blinded mind, but to some extent it can be inherent in everyone, because we are all limited in everything as creatures. That is why people have needed, need, and will continue to need to the end of the age the Revelation of God, both natural and supernatural, for a proper understanding of the relationship between God and creation.
</p>
<p>According to the <a class="links" href="https://www.academia.edu/7842901/Saint_John_Damascus_An_Exact_Exposition_of_the_Orthodox_Faith">Chalcedonian Confession of Faith (451 AD),</a>
there are two natures in Christ in the One Hypostasis, the One Person. According to the dogma of the Sixth Ecumenical Council, each nature is characterised by a natural operation, and in Christ they are combined in such a way that as God He does nothing without the participation of human operation, and similarly, as a human being He does nothing without the participation of God's operation. This union is a paradigm for the whole creation, which at the same time exceeds the whole creation by the very hypostatic union of natures in Christ, but is a revelation of God's design for creation, to which free rational created beings, including humans, are called.
</p>
<h2>Thesis IV. Testimony about God in everything and faith.
</h2>
<p>Although it is impossible to prove the existence of God, everything testifies to it. We may not be intelligent enough to know it. But as a person can testify: <q>Look, there is a God!</q>, so does everything we encounter, either overtly or covertly, testify to God. This idea is at the heart of cataphatic theology. See more on the topic by the following link:
<a target="_blank" class="links2" href="./Cognition.html">On insufficient intelligence</a>
</p>
<h2>Some of the questions that arise when reading the New Testament or thinking about faith</h2>
<h3>Two of the most common questions for reflection
</h3>
<p>Two of the most frequently asked questions in such cases are the following:
<ul>
<li>
<p><a target="_blank" class="links2" href="https://oleksandr-zhabenko.github.io/en/DialogueOnWordsChristFear.html">The question of freedom and the existence of evil
</a></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><a target="_blank" class="links2" href="https://oleksandr-zhabenko.github.io/en/commentaries/15072023.html">The question of suffering
</a></p>
</li>
</ul>
</p>
<h2>A list of links explaining in brief many other questions
</h2>
<p>
<ul>
<li><p><a class="links" href="https://oleksandr-zhabenko.github.io/en/commentaries/27122023.html">https://oleksandr-zhabenko.github.io/en/commentaries/27122023.html</a></p></li>
<li><p><a class="links" href="https://oleksandr-zhabenko.github.io/en/commentaries/26062023.html">https://oleksandr-zhabenko.github.io/en/commentaries/26062023.html</a></p></li>
<li><p><a class="links" href="https://oleksandr-zhabenko.github.io/en/commentaries/30102023.html">https://oleksandr-zhabenko.github.io/en/commentaries/30102023.html</a></p></li>
<li><p><a class="links" href="https://oleksandr-zhabenko.github.io/en/commentaries/23092023.html">https://oleksandr-zhabenko.github.io/en/commentaries/23092023.html</a></p></li>
<li><p><a class="links" href="https://oleksandr-zhabenko.github.io/en/commentaries/22092023.html">https://oleksandr-zhabenko.github.io/en/commentaries/22092023.html</a></p></li>
<li><p><a class="links" href="https://oleksandr-zhabenko.github.io/en/commentaries/18092023.html">https://oleksandr-zhabenko.github.io/en/commentaries/18092023.html</a></p></li>
<li><p><a class="links" href="https://oleksandr-zhabenko.github.io/en/commentaries/10092023.html">https://oleksandr-zhabenko.github.io/en/commentaries/10092023.html</a></p></li>
<li><p><a class="links" href="https://oleksandr-zhabenko.github.io/en/commentaries/09092023.html">https://oleksandr-zhabenko.github.io/en/commentaries/09092023.html</a></p></li>
<li><p><a class="links" href="https://oleksandr-zhabenko.github.io/en/commentaries/02092023.html">https://oleksandr-zhabenko.github.io/en/commentaries/02092023.html</a></p></li>
<li><p><a class="links" href="https://oleksandr-zhabenko.github.io/en/commentaries/22082023.html">https://oleksandr-zhabenko.github.io/en/commentaries/22082023.html</a></p></li>
<li><p><a class="links" href="https://oleksandr-zhabenko.github.io/en/commentaries/12082023.html">https://oleksandr-zhabenko.github.io/en/commentaries/12082023.html</a></p></li>
<li><p><a class="links" href="https://oleksandr-zhabenko.github.io/en/commentaries/10082023.html">https://oleksandr-zhabenko.github.io/en/commentaries/10082023.html</a></p></li>
<li><p><a class="links" href="https://oleksandr-zhabenko.github.io/en/commentaries/06082023.html">https://oleksandr-zhabenko.github.io/en/commentaries/06082023.html</a></p></li>
<li><p><a class="links" href="https://oleksandr-zhabenko.github.io/en/commentaries/04082023.html">https://oleksandr-zhabenko.github.io/en/commentaries/04082023.html</a></p></li>
<li><p><a class="links" href="https://oleksandr-zhabenko.github.io/en/commentaries/02082023.html">https://oleksandr-zhabenko.github.io/en/commentaries/02082023.html</a></p></li>
<li><p><a class="links" href="https://oleksandr-zhabenko.github.io/en/commentaries/27072023.html">https://oleksandr-zhabenko.github.io/en/commentaries/27072023.html</a></p></li>
<li><p><a class="links" href="https://oleksandr-zhabenko.github.io/en/commentaries/26072023.html">https://oleksandr-zhabenko.github.io/en/commentaries/26072023.html</a></p></li>
<li><p><a class="links" href="https://oleksandr-zhabenko.github.io/en/commentaries/13072023.html">https://oleksandr-zhabenko.github.io/en/commentaries/13072023.html</a></p></li>
<li><p><a class="links" href="https://oleksandr-zhabenko.github.io/en/commentaries/27072023.html">https://oleksandr-zhabenko.github.io/en/commentaries/27072023.html</a></p></li>
<li><p><a class="links" href="https://oleksandr-zhabenko.github.io/en/commentaries/08072023.html">https://oleksandr-zhabenko.github.io/en/commentaries/08072023.html</a></p></li>
<li><p><a class="links" href="https://oleksandr-zhabenko.github.io/en/commentaries/04072023.html">https://oleksandr-zhabenko.github.io/en/commentaries/04072023.html</a></p></li>
<li><p><a class="links" href="https://oleksandr-zhabenko.github.io/en/commentaries/02072023.html">https://oleksandr-zhabenko.github.io/en/commentaries/02072023.html</a></p></li>
<li><p><a class="links" href="https://oleksandr-zhabenko.github.io/en/commentaries/28062023.html">https://oleksandr-zhabenko.github.io/en/commentaries/28062023.html</a></p></li>
<li><p><a class="links" href="https://oleksandr-zhabenko.github.io/en/commentaries/20062023.html">https://oleksandr-zhabenko.github.io/en/commentaries/20062023.html</a></p></li>
<li><p><a class="links" href="https://oleksandr-zhabenko.github.io/en/commentaries/17062023.html">https://oleksandr-zhabenko.github.io/en/commentaries/17062023.html</a></p></li>
<li><p><a class="links" href="https://oleksandr-zhabenko.github.io/en/commentaries/09062023.html">https://oleksandr-zhabenko.github.io/en/commentaries/09062023.html</a></p></li>
<li><p><a class="links" href="https://oleksandr-zhabenko.github.io/en/commentaries/08062023.html">https://oleksandr-zhabenko.github.io/en/commentaries/08062023.html</a></p></li>
<li><p><a class="links" href="https://oleksandr-zhabenko.github.io/en/commentaries/06062023.html">https://oleksandr-zhabenko.github.io/en/commentaries/06062023.html</a></p></li>
<li><p><a class="links" href="https://oleksandr-zhabenko.github.io/en/commentaries/30052023.html">https://oleksandr-zhabenko.github.io/en/commentaries/30052023.html</a></p></li>
<li><p><a class="links" href="https://oleksandr-zhabenko.github.io/en/commentaries/20052023.html">https://oleksandr-zhabenko.github.io/en/commentaries/20052023.html</a></p></li>
<li><p><a class="links" href="https://oleksandr-zhabenko.github.io/en/commentaries/08052023.html">https://oleksandr-zhabenko.github.io/en/commentaries/08052023.html</a></p></li>
<li><p><a class="links" href="https://oleksandr-zhabenko.github.io/en/commentaries/07052023.html">https://oleksandr-zhabenko.github.io/en/commentaries/07052023.html</a></p></li>
<li><p><a class="links" href="https://oleksandr-zhabenko.github.io/en/commentaries/04052023.html">https://oleksandr-zhabenko.github.io/en/commentaries/04052023.html</a></p></li>
<li><p><a class="links" href="https://oleksandr-zhabenko.github.io/en/commentaries/30042023.html">https://oleksandr-zhabenko.github.io/en/commentaries/30042023.html</a></p></li>
<li><p><a class="links" href="https://oleksandr-zhabenko.github.io/en/commentaries/28042023.html">https://oleksandr-zhabenko.github.io/en/commentaries/28042023.html</a></p></li>
<li><p><a class="links" href="https://oleksandr-zhabenko.github.io/en/commentaries/23042023.html">https://oleksandr-zhabenko.github.io/en/commentaries/23042023.html</a></p></li>
<li><p><a class="links" href="https://oleksandr-zhabenko.github.io/en/commentaries/17042023.html">https://oleksandr-zhabenko.github.io/en/commentaries/17042023.html</a></p></li>
<li><p><a class="links" href="https://oleksandr-zhabenko.github.io/en/commentaries/15042023.html">https://oleksandr-zhabenko.github.io/en/commentaries/15042023.html</a></p></li>
<li><p><a class="links" href="https://oleksandr-zhabenko.github.io/en/commentaries/11042023.html">https://oleksandr-zhabenko.github.io/en/commentaries/11042023.html</a></p></li>
<li><p><a class="links" href="https://oleksandr-zhabenko.github.io/en/commentaries/24032023.html">https://oleksandr-zhabenko.github.io/en/commentaries/24032023.html</a></p></li>
<li><p><a class="links" href="https://oleksandr-zhabenko.github.io/en/commentaries/19032023.html">https://oleksandr-zhabenko.github.io/en/commentaries/19032023.html</a></p></li>
<li><p><a class="links" href="https://oleksandr-zhabenko.github.io/en/commentaries/16032023.html">https://oleksandr-zhabenko.github.io/en/commentaries/16032023.html</a></p></li>
<li><p><a class="links" href="https://oleksandr-zhabenko.github.io/en/commentaries/14032023.html">https://oleksandr-zhabenko.github.io/en/commentaries/14032023.html</a></p></li>
<li><p><a class="links" href="https://oleksandr-zhabenko.github.io/en/commentaries/10032023.html">https://oleksandr-zhabenko.github.io/en/commentaries/10032023.html</a></p></li>
<li><p><a class="links" href="https://oleksandr-zhabenko.github.io/en/commentaries/09032023.html">https://oleksandr-zhabenko.github.io/en/commentaries/09032023.html</a></p></li>
<li><p><a class="links" href="https://oleksandr-zhabenko.github.io/en/commentaries/08032023.html">https://oleksandr-zhabenko.github.io/en/commentaries/08032023.html</a></p></li>
<li><p><a class="links" href="https://oleksandr-zhabenko.github.io/en/commentaries/03032023.html">https://oleksandr-zhabenko.github.io/en/commentaries/03032023.html</a></p></li>
<li><p><a class="links" href="https://oleksandr-zhabenko.github.io/en/commentaries/28022023.html">https://oleksandr-zhabenko.github.io/en/commentaries/28022023.html</a></p></li>
<li><p><a class="links" href="https://oleksandr-zhabenko.github.io/en/commentaries/19022023.html">https://oleksandr-zhabenko.github.io/en/commentaries/19022023.html</a></p></li>
</ul>
</p>
<p>
Glory be to Thee, our God, glory be to Thee!
</p>
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<p><sources><a href="sources.html">List of Used Sources</a></sources></p>
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