The Existence of God & God the Father

Today Many Live As Though God Does Not Exist.

Others believe God acts as though we dont exist, He does nothing. Faith In God and Knowing Something We cannot See --Faith in Gods existence can be as certain as tomorrows sunrise. --We are capable of knowing with certainty something we cannot see, such as anger, joy, love and beauty. We cant measure them or weigh them, but we know they exist. --We know for certainty that all of us yearn for happiness, we desire everlasting happiness- to live forever.

All humans are created with a fundamental capacity for God. For Example: plastic bag has a capacity to hold food or water. A sheet of wax paper has no capacity to be filled with water. --We also have a fundamental desire for God. --We all seek truth, beauty and love.

The Existence of God & God the Father There Are Questions We Ask Ourselves And These Questions Are Religious.
Who am I? Why am I here on earth? What is the meaning of life? The Baltimore Catechism states why we are here on earth and the meaning of life. Q. Why did God make you? A. God made me to know Him, to love Him, and to serve Him in this world, and to be happy with Him for ever in heaven. Q. Who is God? A. God is the Creator of heaven and earth, and of all things. Q. What is man? A. Man is a creature composed of body and soul, and made to the image and likeness of God.

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We Can Come To A Certain Knowledge of God Through The Created World.
There is an order and beauty we come to enjoy. The earths natural beauty and appeal is not a cosmic coincidence. Do the Mountains of Colorado, just happen to be beautiful against the sky line? The Kansas sunsets just happen to be awe inspiring? We take delight in what we see.
St. Paul said, Ever since the creation of he world His invisible nature, namely, his eternal power and deity, has been clearly perceived in the things that have been made: (Romans 1:19-20)

(Wisdom 13:1-9) For all men were by nature foolish who were in ignorance of God, and who from the good things seen did not succeed in knowing him who is, and from studying the works did not discern the artisan; But either fire, or wind, or the swift air, or the circuit of the stars, or the mighty water, or the luminaries of heaven, the governors of the world, they considered gods. Now if out of joy in their beauty they thought them gods, let them know how far more excellent is the Lord than these; for the original source of beauty fashioned them. Or if they were struck by their might and energy, let them from these things realize how much more powerful is he who made them. For from the greatness and the beauty of created things their original author, by analogy, is seen. But yet, for these the blame is less; For they indeed have gone astray perhaps, though they seek God and wish to find him. For they search busily among his works, but are distracted by what they see, because the things seen are fair. But again, not even these are pardonable. For if they so far succeeded in knowledge that they could speculate about the world, how did they not more quickly find its LORD?

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We Can Also Arrive at the Knowledge of God, by our own Natural Reason, Especially Through Conscience. Reason prompts us to arrive at the knowledge of God by our natural light of reason. Our reason propels us toward God by helping us to make sense out of everything. For example, when we try to make sense out of 9-11, we turn to God for an answer. Why did it happen? Clearly it was evil. Wasnt there a good that came out of the horrible evil, many came back to God and were searching for an answer. There was a kind of spiritual awakening that occurred in our country. By way of our conscience we naturally strive to be good and avoid evil. Through our reason and our conscience, we enjoy doing good and feel ashamed when we do evil. In our pursuit of goodness, we come to know there is someone who is goodness Itself, someone who loves us and cares for us and daily takes care of us.

The Existence of God & God the Father Evolution Vs. Creationism
You will be surprised to know the Catholic Church doesnt have a formal decree on creationism or Darwinism. The Catechism of the Catholic Church gives the principles for God creating things, such as God created out of nothing, etc.. But it doesnt directly address the theory of evolution. The reason for this seems to be given in Pope Benedicts words. For example he said, We are not some casual and meaningless product of evolution. But he also said, Currently, I see in Germany, but also in the United States, a somewhat fierce debate raging between so-called creationism and evolutionism, presented as though they were mutually exclusive alternatives: those who believe in the Creator would not be able to conceive of evolution, and those who instead support evolution would have to exclude God. This antithesis is absurd because, on the one hand, there are so many scientific proofs in favor of evolution which appears to be a reality we can see and which enriches our knowledge of life and being as such. But on the other, the doctrine of evolution does not answer every query, especially the great philosophical question: where does everything come from? And how did everything start which ultimately led to man? I believe this is of the utmost importance. A thought to consider: There doesnt seem to be any current evolution taking place, especially in the past 500 years or more. So if Darwinism were true, why is it no longer occurring? That being said, a Catholic could believe in it, if one were to believe that God would be the one who would be the cause of it.

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GOD THE FATHER Who is He? He is the first person of the Blessed Trinity. The Trinity is one God, who are three person, Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
Attributes of God In scripture, we see God one who is almighty, strong, protective of His Chosen People. He commands obedience and holiness, yet He is tender and compassionate. God is seen as Father in many places in scripture, but was not fully revealed until Jesus came to reveal the Father. Jesus Sent by the Father Jesus as God always existed, yet He was sent by His Father to reveal the Father to man and to save mankind. The Holy Spirit is also revealed as Jesus comes into the world.

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Perfections of God God is eternal- God was and always will be and will always remains the same. God is all Good- God Himself is love. God is all knowing- Omniscient-He knows, all things past, present, and future (even secret thoughts) Jesus often told others their secret thoughts. God is All Present- Omnipresent -God is everywhere. We do not see Him because He is a spirit. God is almighty- Omnipotent-God is all-powerful and can do what He wants when He wants with no limitations and at the moment He thinks it. God is all wise, all holy, all merciful and all just.

The Existence of God & God the Father God and the Christian Family Adam and Eve were created in the image and likeness of God. God is not a man or woman and it is wrong to depict God as mother God, which some do today. God is a totally spiritual being and has no gender. Human masculinity and femininity do reflect in a limited way, things that are true about God. When a man and a woman are married and have a childthis is an image of the Blessed Trinity. Man gives Himself to His wifehis wife to her husband and the love between them is a child. The family provides our first experience of God. Our father and mother reflect in a limited way about God. Man as a provider, care-taker, protector and guardian of the family. Woman, who is tender, compassionate caring, and gentle.

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Fatherhood Finds Its Origin in God the Father God the Father is the origin of all that ever existed and will exist. Some think that when we call God our Father, we are projecting merely human concepts on God. God is the one, who has said, He is Father. He wants us to call Him Father. God is the first and perfect Father. Human fathers are imperfect. Some are harsh and maybe even mean, otherwise are weak and fall into sin. Yet, they are imperfect images of God the Father. They are like faint reflections of the perfect, all-powerful, and all-loving Heavenly Father. Young boys are often times astounded at their fathers strengththey think no one could beat up their father. When we come to understand the imperfections of our fathers, we can place these on God the Father, for example see God the Father, as one who harshly punishes when we do something wrong. Or expects us to be perfect.

The Existence of God & God the Father GOD THE CREATOR
In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. (Gen. 1:1-3) Scripture shows that God as creator, created all things out of nothing. God Himself is uncreated-He always existed. God created heaven and earth. He created the entire material universe as well as every spiritual being. Everything God creates is good. Noting exists apart from Him.

God sustains all things living and material.

All that is not God is a creature or His creation. Why did God create anything at all? Not to increase His glory, for His glory is infinite, but rather to show it forth and communicate it. God creates out of His goodness and superabundant love. Everything from the laws of the universe gravity, science, even the lowliest creatures in its own way, reflects Gods goodness and beauty. The beauty of a butterfly that was once an ugly caterpillar, to the beauty of bumble bee with its black and gold rings.

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Justice Justice is to give to a person what is due to the person. As His creatures, and the fact that God made us means we are bound in justice to obey Him and to give an account of our lives. God did not create us out of necessity. God is infinitely perfect and has no need of creatures.
God Sustains God sustains us and if He did not want us to exist, we would immediately cease to exist. If God were to withhold His providence, we would not survive for a minute. We are entirely dependant upon His taking care of usFruitful and Multiply God blessed our first parents Adam and Eve and said, be fruitful and multiply, fill the earth and subdue it. (Gen. 1:28). Men and women are able to cooperate with God in creating the greatest possible gifta new human person.

The Existence of God & God the Father Man Can Participate in Gods Creative Work
Human work, building things, inventing things-of which man receives his knowledge from God to invent. Mans Stewardship of the World Its a great blessing to be able to care for the earth, but there is a great responsibility to do so. God made us Free It only through suffering We have the freedom to choose Him and His will or to that we become holy. not choose Him. We do not have to love God, we do And become holy is our not have to obey Him, but we choose to do so because only purpose in life, our He deserves it and because we love Him and desire to only preparation for honor Him. heaven.

God did not create Evil, or suffering or death. They were brought into the world by the disobedience of Adam and Eve. But, God can and does bring good out of evil and suffering which is seen most clearly with the Cross of Jesus- the cause of our salvation.

Blessed Fr. Seelos ---------------------------God judged it better to bring good out of evil than to suffer no evil to exist. St. Augustine

The Existence of God & God the Father Does God Exist? - 5 Ways of St. Thomas
First Way: The Argument From Motion St. Thomas Aquinas, studying the works of the Greek philosopher Aristotle, concluded from common observation that an object that is in motion (e.g. the planets, a rolling stone) is put in motion by some other object or force. From this, Aquinas believes that ultimately there must have been an UNMOVED MOVER (GOD) who first put things in motion. Follow the argument this way: 1) Nothing can move itself. 2) If every object in motion had a mover, then the first object in motion needed a mover. 3) This first mover is the Unmoved Mover, called God. Second Way: Causation Of Existence This Way deals with the issue of existence. Aquinas concluded that common sense observation tells us that no object creates itself. In other words, some previous object had to create it. Aquinas believed that ultimately there must have been an UNCAUSED FIRST CAUSE (GOD) who began the chain of existence for all things. Follow the argument this way: 1) There exist things that are caused (created) by other things. 2) Nothing can be the cause of itself (nothing can create itself.) 3) There can not be an endless string of objects causing other objects to exist. 4) Therefore, there must be an uncaused first cause called God. Third Way: Contingent and Necessary Objects This Way defines two types of objects in the universe: contingent beings and necessary beings. A contingent being is an object that can not exist without a necessary being causing its existence. Aquinas believed that the existence of contingent beings would ultimately necessitate a being which must exist for all of the contingent beings to exist. This being, called a necessary being, is what we call God. Follow the argument this way: 1) Contingent beings are caused. 2) Not every being can be contingent. 3) There must exist a being which is necessary to cause contingent beings. 4) This necessary being is God. Fourth Way: The Argument From Degrees And Perfection St. Thomas formulated this Way from a very interesting observation about the qualities of things. For example one may say that of two marble sculptures one is more beautiful than the other. So for these two objects, one has a greater degree of beauty than the next. This is referred to as degrees or gradation of a quality. From this fact Aquinas concluded that for any given quality (e.g. goodness, beauty, knowledge) there must be an perfect standard by which all such qualities are measured. These perfections are contained in God. Fifth Way: The Argument From Intelligent Design The final Way that St. Thomas Aquinas speaks of has to do with the observable universe and the order of nature. Aquinas states that common sense tells us that the universe works in such a way, that one can conclude that is was designed by an intelligent designer, God. In other words, all physical laws and the order of nature and life were designed and ordered by God, the intelligent designer.