The existence of God according to Aristotle and Avicenna

Difficult things

I’m a big fan of doing hard things. I’ve run many ultramarathons, a 12-hour event and even a 23-hour event. In my 30s, I went back for a second master’s degree while raising small children. This week’s post on a philosophical concept will be one of those difficult things. This week I want to look at Aristotle and Avicenna’s Proofs of God. Although I am quite familiar with Aristotle, Avicenna and other Sufi and Muslim teachers only recently came onto my radar.

The existence of God

Arguing or investigating the existence of God has taken up a significant amount of space and time in the world of philosophy. God is a transrational reality. For me, belief in God is a subjective experience of this transrational reality. Let’s unpack this.

A philosophical metaphysics taking into account the existence of God

Aristotle

Aristotle lays out his argument for the existence of God in his book: Metaphysics. His argument rests on the idea that there must be some kind of eternal and imperishable substance and then everything in the world would be impermanent. Because the world and time are not transient, he said suggests the idea of ​​a single driving force. Although this driving force is the source of all processes and changes, it is not itself subject to processes or changes. Aristotle states that this substance then does what the highest forms of life do: think.

Aristotle’s two views of God reflect the Greek “defining aspects of classical Greek philosophy: on the one hand, the experience of the intelligibility of the natural order and the search for the first principles responsible for its intelligibility, and on the other, the experience of nous. both as the ability to contemplate the intelligibility of nature and as the source of order in the human soul, the soul itself being a source of well-formed movement in the natural order” (Olson, 2013).

We should read to the end Metaphysics in Book Lambda to find where Aristotle argues for the necessity of an eternal and changing substance. Only here he calls this substance “God”.

Later, Catholic theologian Thomas Aquinas would take up these concepts and apply them to his arguments for the proofs of God, seeing God primarily as the “First Mover” ( https://open.library.okstate.edu/introfilosophy /chapter /aquinass-five-proofs-for-the-existence-of-god/ ).

If this isn’t so clear, let’s consider Avicena.

Avicenna –

Avicenna made an argument for the existence of God, which would become known as the “Proof of the Truthful” (wajib al-wujud). This dThe octrin was formulated by the school of Ibn al-Arabi, which holds that God and His creation are one, since everything created already existed in God’s knowledge and will return to it, making possible a mystical union with God. This was a problematic doctrine for legalistic interpreters of Islam, such as the Wahhabis, who adhered to a strict interpretation of tawhid that did not allow anyone or anything to be associated or united with God (Oxford Reference).

Avicenna argued that there must be a proof of truth, an entity that cannot not exist, and through a series of arguments he identified this with God in Islam. Avicenna’s proof is metaphysical, unlike Aristotle’s cosmological nature.

Wajib al wujud is translated and explained as Wajib al wujud) is “that reality which cannot not be, unlike the ‘possible things’ (mumkin) and ‘impossible things’ (mumtani’). The impossible is that which cannot exist in the cosmos, yet can exist in the mind of man. The Realm of the Imagination is the place of ‘impossible things’. The existence of the ‘possible’ depends entirely on the Necessary Being’s desire (wajib al wujud) to focus His attention on it and bring it about. Wajib al wujud can also mean Finding Necessary. Allah finds Himself and cannot find Himself. The entity may or may not find itself and Allah. The ‘finding’ depends on the extent to which Allah gives priority to the entity’s finding Allah” (ElSenossi),

If we consider my opening thoughts as God as a transrational reality, then the idea of ​​Wajib al wujud somewhat fits. If we consider God as THE creator and with the Holy Spirit as the presence that moves in all life, we can discover together how Aristotle, Aquinas and Avicenna can help shape our understanding of the existence of God.

It is not that Aristotle and Avicenna contradict each other; their ideas are considered to be complementary, with Aristotle stating his ideas and Avicenna building on them from his Islamic point of view.

Why is this discussion important?

In my faith tradition, we view tradition as a pillar of our epistemology of what and how we believe. Given the current discussion surrounding the concept of deconstruction, it is felt that it is important that we see how other people have grappled with questions. For me, I don’t need proof of God’s existence. What I notice people need is better language and theology to talk about the existence of God. Here Aristotle and Ibn Sina give us another example of how.

As we continue to deconstruct our faith and sometimes our views about God, we must reconstruct the meaning of God’s existence. In the work of deep pluralism or deep ecumenism, it is important to note that theologians come to different insights about the divine during their studies. If we view God as the creator and can understand the idea of ​​the fitness of life, we can open ourselves to an expanse of mystical and spiritual riches that remain hidden from us if we keep our beliefs in silos. Faith is an experience; life is an experience. We ask questions. If the study of existentialism and almost thirty years as a pastor or therapist have taught me anything, it is a normal and healthy process to ask questions of meaning.

Reference:

Ali ElSenossi, M. (nd). The language of future Sufi terminology. Retrieved May 8, 2024, from https://www.almirajsuficentre.org.au/qamus/app/single/1629

Liu X. On Evidence for the Existence of God: Aristotle, Avicenna, and Thomas Aquinas. Religions. 2024; 15(2):235. https://doi.org/10.3390/rel15020235

Olson, R. M. (2013). Aristotle on God: Divine Nous as an unmoved mover. In: Diller, J., Kasher, A. (eds) Models of God and Alternate Ultimate Realities. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-5219-1_9

Wahdat al-Wujud. Oxford reference. Retrieved February 17, 2024, from https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/oi/authority.20110803120333715.