God’s Existence: The Ontological Argument

Of the four classical arguments for the existence of God, the ontological argument is the most questioned and least understood. Ontology is the study of the nature of being, or existence. According to definition, the ontological argument is an argument for God’s existence based upon the nature of his existence. Within the bounds of the ontological argument, in order to understand the nature of God’s existence, you must simply define your concept of God.

St. Anselm of Canterbury (1033-1109) came up with the ontological argument and presented it in Proslogian, a prayer that was printed as a book. St. Anselm defines God as “that than which nothing greater can be thought.” This definition is critical to the Ontological argument, so further examination of it is needed.

St. Anselm was attempting to describe God’s nature when he came up with this definition for the concept of God. He says that when anyone, religious adherent or not, claims anything about God, that person has this concept in his head. He is conceiving of God as the greatest possible being. To refer to “God” as anything less than the greatest of all possible beings would be nonsensical, much the same as it would be to refer to a square as round. Therefore, it is only rational to agree that God’s nature is best described as perfect, which would be the best possible. His perfection also entails the idea of omnipresence, omni benevolence, omnipotence, etc. This is what St. Anselm meant when he said that God is “that than which nothing greater can be thought,” and even the atheist denying the existence of God must agree that this definition describes that which he claims does not exist.

After the concept of God has been defined as “that than which no greater can be thought,” Anselm goes on to the next step of his three part syllogism. He claims that if one can imagine the greatest possible being, then that being would be much greater in existence than simply in the thoughts of man. This second step is where the ontological argument finds the greatest trouble and least acceptance. Anselm has moved the issue of God’s existence from the mind to reality through the laws of logic and rational argumentation. Most critics of this argument claim that this is too big of a step to make with any assurance of truth, but the simple fact remains that thinking of the best pizza in the world is not nearly as great as holding the best pizza in the world. Therefore, Anselm holds that to think of the greatest being in the world without it existing in reality is to actually think of the second greatest being in the world, which by definition would no longer be thinking of God.

The final part of Anselm’s three part syllogism is the result of the previous two; God, “that than which no greater can be thought,” must exist in order for him to fit the definition of the concept of “God.” In this final step, Anselm has forced the atheist to admit, based upon their own concept of God, that God’s existence is a logical necessity.

The ontological argument for the existence of God is one that will be met with great skepticism. It relies upon a level of commitment to reason that goes far beyond the average person’s liking. Alvin Plantinga, head of the Philosophy department at the University of Notre Dame, has taken this argument and made it his own. He successfully reasoned with Anthony Flew, a British philosopher by profession, to turn to deism based upon this exact argument. Unfortunately, deism is far from the true nature of God expressed through the Bible, and is completely devoid of the message and person of Christ. This is exactly why it is most vital to remember the main thrust of all arguments for the existence of God, reason. Reason is not what leads to salvation. Only faith can save. Therefore, understand the argument, use the argument, but rely on the work of the Holy Spirit to draw the person to a true faith in Christ.