Topics Religion

Question I hear a lot of people say they believe in God because 'Who made us, the earth and the universe? It had to come from somewhere.' But if that's what you're basing your beliefs on, then shouldn't you want to know the answer to who made God? and who made who made God, and who made that? And shouldn't you be praying 'Oh all the things that made God and all the things that made them?' Ryan Gossger, Pottstown PA

Accepted:
October 16, 2005

Comments

You've made an important observation: explaining something bypostulating the existence of X doesn't take one far if the very samedemand for explanation can be raised about X. Philosophers like to tellthe story of the sage who was asked why the earth didn't fall throughthe heavens. He said: "Because it sits on the back of a giant turtle."His questioner was still a little puzzled and asked the sage what keptthe giant turtle from falling through the heavens. The sage answered:"Ah, you see it's turtles all the way down!" Obviously, turtles all theway down doesn't seem satisfactory. Of course, the sage might insteadhave replied: "This first giant turtle has no need of support!" But ifthat turtle has no need for support, then why not just say that theearth doesn't either? (This kind of argument is common in philosophy;for another application of it, see Question 127.)

A version of the story that Alex recounts about the sage is deployed by John Locke in Book II of the Essay Concerning Human Understanding, in order to suggest that the concept of substance makes no sense. Locke attributes the story to an 'Indian philosopher', and says that "the Indian...saying that the world was supported by a great elephant, was asked, what the elephant rested on; to which his answer was, a great tortoise. But being again pressed to know what gave support to the broad-back'd tortoise, replied, something, he know not what. And thus here, as in all other cases, where we use words without having clear and distinct ideas, we talk like children."

Most theists would not take such considerations to apply to God, because God is a causa sui, a cause of his own existence. In this respect, God differs from all finite beings.

The question now arises what reason there is to believe that God is the one and only causa sui. Arguments have been given to this effect throughout the history of philosophy--one of the most famous is one of Thomas Aquinas' 'five ways', five proofs for the existence of God, which he articulates in the Summa Theologiae.